AUSTIN VOLLEYBALL GIRLS THE TOAST OF FORT BEND

Modest Amy Cataline is well aware of the honor and pres-tige which her winning S.F. Austin High School Lady Bull-dog volleyball team has brought to the school and all of Fort Bend County. The Austin Lady Bulldogs’ record has improved every year since 2008, with Amy as head coach, and this year Austin lost a rigorous state finals match to Lewisville Hebron, 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, last No-vember 21 in Garland, TX. This ended a 2015 season with these stats: • A 46-3 record • A third straight first place finish in district, second unde-

feated season • A 31-match winning streak before losing to Hebron,

avenging two earlier losses to Clear Creek and Bellaire • Finished second among the 243 6-A schools in the

state • Ranked No. 5 out of more than 1,000 Texas high

schools by Lonestar Volleyball • Ranked 23rd nationally by Prep Volleyball • Advanced a match further in the state finals than any

Fort Bend ISD team ever has gone. (Eighteen years ago the 1997 Clements girls went to the Final Four)

Before the girls traveled to the finals in the 3,000-plus ca-pacity Curtis Cullen Center in Garland, the school and the

(Continued on page 4)

Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Association

N e w s l e t t e r January, 2016 Volume XV, No. 01

Message from the Board

Happy New Year

The HOA Board had its monthly meeting Monday Decem-ber 14th at Pool House Room B. During the open session, the Board had a great conversation with one of our neighbors in respect to 2016 assessments. The Board reviewed financials and our action item list. Project updates: Fence behind Aztec Rental will receive a gate, courtesy of the business. Thank you, VOL neighbor who helped with this matter. Lap pool re-plaster is done however only 3 lanes were installed. Turns out the Asso-ciation Manager we had in June didn't turn in the proposal we approved for the forth lane. We are thankful for our new manager, Becky Salinas, who is on the ball. Pool parking lot, we are waiting the results of the survey we approved several months ago. The Board executed 2016 Annual Contracts with Planta-tion Landscaping ($71,413.92) and Texas Aquatics ($59,953.04). Plantation is our current landscaper but we are happy to announce that Texas Aquatics is our new pool manager. We hope to have them for many years. Via email the Board approved a proposal from A-Fueller Electric for $357.23 to address our Holiday light electrical issues at SH6. The electrical issues have been truly frus-trating but we will continue to do what we need to do to make this right. In the executive session we discussed financials and deed restrictions. The Board discussed several issues including

(Continued on page 4)

2016 VOL HOA Annual Meeting

February 8th, 2016 at 7 PM Oak Lake Baptist Church

We will have two open Board positions and we are grateful to have two VOLunteers.

Incumbent Joe Hernandez & 28 Year

VOL Resident Leo Furman

We thank you and we are honored to have such great VOLunteers.

Coach Amy Cataline

Stephen F. Austin High School Volleyball team celebrating their quarterfinal victory.

2

Hats off to the VOL HOA for adding more holiday lights to the neighborhood this season. Why don’t we leave them on a couple of weeks after the holidays. It’s a nice touch.

***** The S.F. Austin Lady Bulldog volleyball team has had suc-cess this year like no other in the entire Greater Houston area. Read about its young, inspiring coach on Page 1.

***** Harris County very likely will adopt a policy which Fort Bend Elections started last year: allowing voters to vote at any polling place, either early or on election day. Now in Harris County and most counties in the state, voters must vote in their own precinct on election day. To vote anywhere is a con-venience, and saves a lot of frustration for voters who find , at the last min-ute, that they may be in the wrong precinct, Why didn’t we all think of this earlier?

***** Have you ever been in a traffic jam like this? Probably not. Thousands of cars were involved in a slowdown on the monstrous 50-lane G4 Expressway that stretches from Beijing to Hong Kong in China. Drivers returning home last October 9 at the end of a “Golden Week” holiday found the 50 lanes reduced to 20 lanes because of a newly-installed toll plaza! Despite the enormity of the jam, it was far the China’s worst. In August 2010 roadwork caused a 60-mile traffic stoppage that left drivers stranded on the Beijing-Mongolian expressway for 10 days, according to the monthly maga-zine, International Travel News.

***** Two church bulletin bloopers:

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5—prayer and medication to follow. *****

Who’s foolin’ who? It ain’t me. Why do all the gas stations keep listing their prices at $1.75.9 per gallon when everyone knows it’s $1.76? I guess it’s because $19.99 for a tee-shirt seems a lot less than $20. The gas stations might as well drop the 9/10 from the price and just round it off at whatever they want. We’ll pay it, any-way.

***** You really don’t have to smoke, drink or gamble to have a fun time in Las Vegas. See Travel Time on Page 6. ***** A retired teacher’s answers: Q. In what battle did Napoleon die?

(Continued on page 3)

The LetterWorks

...the letter works

Steve McHale Publisher

Wayne Chandler Editor

This newsletter is published privately, but with the concern and support of the Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Association. It is delivered, door-to-door, to 1,150 homes in VOL the last two days of each month. For advertising information, call

281-277-5267. The Newsletter reserves the right to reject, edit or omit an ad for any reason, and is not liable for any losses sustained as a result of printing errors.

For newsletter matters, call

281-277-5267 or e-mail to: stmchale@yahoo.com waynechandler@windstream.net

For matters regarding the Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Assn., Including Architec-tural Control and Landscaping Committee. Sterling Association Services, Inc One Avalon Place Sugar Land, Tx 77479 Becky Salinas Phone: 832-678-4500 Fax: 281-966-1785 E-mail: servicedesk@sterlingasi.com

FOR VOL WEBSITES : WWW.VOLHOA.COM

WWW.STERINGASI.COM

AROUND THE ‘LAKE’

VOL OFFICERS

L. Montalvo, President lauravol@windstream.net

JR Garcia, Vice President Ygarcia@pgal.com

Dan Wingerson, Treasurer danvolhoa@wingernet.com

Joe Hernandez, Secretary joehdez@hotmail.com

Walter Young, Director YOU1996@yahoo.com

RENT THE VOL SIGN

Rent the VOL sign at the entrance of the subdivision.. Use it for birth announcements, birthday wishes, awards, wedding congratulations, bon voyages, anniversaries, special occasions, welcome home, etc. It's $10 a day per side. Contact: Alan Ligh by e-mail at ajl.vol13@yahoo.com

3

A. His last battle. Q. What is the main reason for divorce? A. Marriage. Q. What is the main reason for failure? A. Exams. ***** I think this is pathetic. The Fort Bend Star, which , for years, was a great weekly newspaper and was delivered free in all of our neighborhoods, now is asking for contributions. The editor wrote in the November 25 Star, “a voluntary contribution tradi-tion” is being initiated which he hopes will get a response from the neighborhoods which still get the newspaper in their drive-way. That doesn’t include us. He says, “The purpose of this program is two-fold: it helps sup-port the day-to-day operations of The Star. Because we do not charge for subscriptions, our revenue is completely reliant on advertising… The second purpose of this program is to use 15 percent of the proceeds as a holiday tip for the hardworking men and women who deliver your newspaper.” I’ve mentioned here several times that all newspapers are on the way down. Even The New York Times and Houston Chronicle ain’t what they used to be.

***** Thanks to everyone who took advantage of the one-day Crazy Christmas Sale at the Tri-Cities Human Needs resale shop in Stafford. The total sale was $1,783, virtually all from one-dollar purchases on real bargain items. This ministry serves all of our neighborhoods, and those of you who did some shopping there are to be commended.

***** An anonymous donor came to Sheriff Troy Nehls last week, asking deputies to deliver 50 $100 gift cards to needy families in Fort Bend. The sheriff said that the donor was a longtime resident who appreciated life in Fort Bend and wanted to help needy families here. The deputies distributed the gift cards throughout the county including some to the Four Corners area.

*****

(Continued from page 2) All of you who frequent Duhascek Park, you are to be com-mended for keeping it looking neat and pretty. You’re putting your trash scraps in the right place, in one of the many trash drums. ***** Have a safe and Happy New Year! -wayne chandler

LEARNING EARLY - Youngsters at Sugar Mill Montessori School are learning the meaning of sharing and Thanksgiv-

ing. Here are a few of their photos from their big celebration.

4

district were well aware of their elite status.

“We’ve really gotten great support,” Amy said. She recalled that on the Thursday morning as they were leaving for the state finals, the entire Austin student body was lined up on either side of the long school hallway, clapping and cheer-ing to a stirring drum-roll, and followed them to their depart-ing bus. Austin Prin-cipal Mary Ellen Eid-son, most of the ad-ministrative staff, FBISD Supt. Charles Dupre and the FBISD president, Grayle James, along with parents and scores of well-wishers were at the finals. On Friday night, Austin won its state semifinal match over Oak Ridge Conroe, while Hebron was defeating New Braunfels Canyon. The finals on Saturday were played, de-servedly, before the largest crowd of their experiences. It was a thrilling final match, and a bittersweet loss. This was a final high school season for 11 seniors on a 15-girl team. Five of the seniors have committed to college athletic scholarships. “I believe that eight of the girls may end up with scholarships,” the coach said. “Normally, it’s great if one of your girls can get scholarships.” This 2015 squad topped Amy’s best season which has im-proved ever since she became head coach in 2008. The records are a testament to the coach’s dedication: fourth in district in 2008 with a 23-17 record; third in 2009 with 25-15; second in 2010 at 27-12; second in 2011 with 25-17, sec-ond in 2012 with 29-11, first in 2013 with 35-10; first in 2014 with 32-6, and this year’s 46-3. Well, what about 2016? Coach Cataline is looking forward to it, although only the starters from this year’s team, 6-4 Kayley Hollywood and University of San Francisco commit, 5-8 Erin Anthony, return. The coach believes that there’s an eager bunch of underclass athletes ready to compete. This year’s reserves got a lot of playing time as The Lady Bulldogs were very dominant early in many games, allowing the coach to give reserves much needed experience. “It always was much more fun when everyone could play.” Amy said. “It was a whole team effort.” The coach recognizes that volleyball is very much a whole team effort, and she and her staff have developed her teams to play hard for every point. It shows! Amy also teaches a couple of business courses, in addition to spend-ing the hundreds and hundreds of hours dedicated to volley-ball. Amy is a 1998 graduate of this school, went on to Houston Baptist University and played four years for the Huskies as a setter. She was two-time Conference Setter of the Year, and four time All-Region. She was recipient of HBU’s Jan Edds Female Athlete of the Year in 2001 and 2002, and was inducted into HBU’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 2004. She became an assistant coach at Austin in 2005, and has been the head coach since 2008. Amy Cataline always has been a winner! - wayne chandler

(Continued from page 1) an issue with Sterling's process and procedures. Turns

out we had a home that was no longer in bank-ruptcy flagged in their system as still being in bankruptcy, which means no letters were being sent for their deed re-strictions. Therefore one of our worst deed restriction of-fenders has not been receiving letters for over 9 months. Truly disappointing to the Board but at least now we can move forward. Lesson learned. If you wish to get email notices from the Board, please send an email to: webmaster@volhoa.com. Sincerely, VOL HOA Board

(Continued from page 1)

5

OCE January Calendar

7 Winter Craft Night

14 Science and Health Night

18 Holiday

School Health BY NANCY CARTIE, RN

Starting the New Year with clear vision can make a huge difference in the life of a child. I have completed vision screening on all the children. I’ve sent

home vision referrals for all students who did not pass their screening. I guess in this case….no news is good news!!

I have some students who can’t wait to get glasses

and will purposely not do well on the screening. The availability of cute non prescriptive glasses has helped with this issuetremendously! There are also students who are resistant to wearing glasses because they feel self-conscious or are concerned about other kids making fun of them.Many children wear glasses and have gone through similar feelings. With encouragement, love, and support they soon realize how much their glasses help them do better in the classroom and adjust quickly. Tips for Children:

If you wear glasses it's a good idea to always put them in a special place so that you can always find them.

Never put them on the ground or in your pocket. Keep them safe from younger kids and pets. Put glasses in a case when you’re not wearing them

so that you can protect them from being damaged Clean your glasses every day.

Tips for Parents: If you have received a vision referral, please have your

child examined by an eye doctor as soon as possible and return the completed referral form to the clinic.

Notify the teacher when your child starts wearing glasses so they can ease the transition and make sure your child is wearing them in the classroom.

Teach and encourage your child on how to safely clean and care for their glasses.

6

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TRAVEL TIME

By Vi Chandler

(NOTE: I’ve asked Wayne to tell you about our fun week in Las Vegas while I try to catch up on some of my travel duties). OK, let me give you my view of Vegas. Everyone who visits Las Vegas probably gets a different view. You know, it’s called Sin City. It’s proud of its slogan “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.” Well, I wanted to tell you my impressions of Vegas which I’m obviously not leaving in Vegas. You don’t have to smoke, drink or gamble there to have a great time. Vi and I, guided by our grandson, Konrad, and his girl, Krystin, not only traipsed through the monstrous hotel lobbies and casinos, but had great experiences outside of the immediate Vegas area. It’s a must to go a few miles east to the Hoover Dam and to the west end of the Grand Canyon. The dam is a manmade miracle, and the 277-mile- long canyon is a wonder that ar-cheologists say was carved by violent wind and water millions of years ago. Now, the dam can be appreciated more from a special by-pass, completed about four years ago, which is a great link between Nevada and Arizona. You can get off this highway in the sky and get a great new look at the dam. And now, at the Grand Canyon there’s spectacular glass-bottomed walk-way which extends some 70-plus feet out into space, offering breathtaking view that never was available before. We braved it, and laid down on the clear glass, 2,000 feet above the rug-ged bottom rock. There’s a charge for this walkway, in order for them to recoup the $30 million and four years of design and labor that made it possible. On another day we traveled south some 50 miles to the Val-ley of Fire National Park which offers another fascinating ex-ample of natural beauty. The burnt red rock has been left in variety of structures, some of them almost grotesque-looking. There are samples of the petrified wood which have been left there after millions of years of what must have been searing sun. Wind-driven silt has etched beautiful designs through acres of rock. There’s a park visitors center which is a must,

which de-scribes with words and artifacts what has happened here in previ-ous centuries. But back to busy Vegas. We saw sev-eral shows, including KA, a Cirque de Soleil $650 million production, which is the best show that I’ve ever seen. It has been at the MGM Hotel Theater for a dozen years and has a performing troupe of some 50 actor- athletes of which about half are women. They present a 90-minute saga, the history of man, that you can’t take your eyes off. They fly, dive, spin, and plunge to dramatic music accompani-ment. Then, at the Mac King comic magic show, Vi was randomly selected to go up on stage. This clever veteran showman asked Vi to select a card, mark her name on it and put it back in his deck. Some several jokes later he asked Vi to open a tightly-sealed box of breakfast food, and her marked card, the 2 of spades, was in the box. He asked others to help him, too, as he” swallowed” a worn, goldfish and even a guinea pig. He later pulls these out of his purple plaid suit, made of material that must have come from a sofa. Funny. Vi got to pose for a photo with Mac after the show. Vegas continues to be a tourist magnet. Terrific sights, a wide, wide variety of entertainment and food. Lots of celebrities. Pete Rose was at his Pete Rose Sports Bar on Las Vegas Boulevard Strip on the day that the baseball commissioner an-nounced that he was refusing Pete’s most recent bid to be ad-mitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. And, another Republican campaign debate happened while we were there. Vegas gets its share of conventions and made-made events. On a personal note, I’ve always disdained the smoking, most of it in the casinos, but it wasn’t a factor this time. I think that there is less smoking even in the 24-hour casinos. Many of you have been to Vegas, but if you need help in book-ing a trip there, Vi can help. Call her at 281-277-5267 or email her at vitravel@gmail.com Thanks for listening to me this month. - wayne

Vi, Krystin, and Konrad resting in the Valley of Fire

7

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The 31st Class of the Gus George Law Enforcement

Academy was honored during graduation ceremonies held Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 at the Rosenberg Civic and Convention Center.

This class is the first of its kind for the academy. A second class in the same year was inaugurated in 2015, enabling cadets to take classes during hours that allowed them to continue working at their jobs. Eleven cadets are employed as full-time personnel in the Fort Bend County Detention Center and one graduate is a full-time firefighter with the Sugar Land Fire Department.

The 31st class included 12 graduates, all of whom passed the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Examination on their first attempt. This is the sixth year in a row where 100 percent of the class members passed the State Licensing Exam on the first attempt.

The class began on March 18 and concluded with graduation on Nov. 19.

Graduates and instructors for the 31st Class and staff of the Gus George Law Enforcement Academy include: front row, from left, Sgt. Carlos Castillo, Cadets Angelica Guerrero, Travis Hearne, Cadet Alex Adams, Danielle Lilly and Megan Leger; and Sgt. Casey Schmidt. Second row, from left, Captain James Burger, Sgt. Judy Cervenka; Cadets Jimmy Lopez, Warren Phillips, Rafael Ramos, Jason Denby, Jonathan Bosworth, Matthew Graham and Logan Monsegue; Major Chad Norvell and Sheriff Troy E. Nehls.

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TEN 2016 RESOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER NEIGHBORHOOD

10. I won’t have a garage sale until the dates that

the neighborhood association announces. 9. I’ll abide by the stop and speed signs, and

show respect to pedestrians and other drivers. 8. I won’t try to repair or sell my vehicle in my

driveway. 7. I’ll not have my car in the driveway block the

sidewalk. 6. I’ll always park my car in the right direction. 5. I’ll ask by visitors not to park their cars in

front of cluster mailboxes. 4. I’ll be sure that the yard people don’t begin

before 8 a.m. 3. I won’t put out my trash until a few hours be-

fore collection time. 2. I’ll promptly return my trash container behind

my fence, out of sight. 1. (a drum roll please, this is the one that gets the

most complaints)…When walking my pet, I’ll clean up after it, rather than have it dump in someone else’s yard!!

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SHERIFF TROY NEHLS FILES FOR REELECTION

Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy E. Nehls has filed for reelection to the office he has held for one term. Prior to his election as Sheriff, Nehls served two-terms as the Fort Bend County Precinct Four Constable. “I am proud of what we accomplished in my first term and I hope to serve the citi-zens of Fort Bend County for four more years”, stated Nehls. Achievements in the first term:

• Improved the clearance rate on burglaries by 200%. In 2012 the prior 10 year average for clearances at the Sheriff’s Office was 4% and it now averages 12%.

• There has been a reduction in burglaries each of the past four years. It’s on a pace of a 36% reduction now, even with increased population growth in the county.

• Developed a working partnership with all law enforce-ment agencies in Fort Bend County.

• In 2013 the amount of overtime spent in the Criminal Investigations Division was averaging over $280,000 per year. This has been reduced each year. In this last fiscal year overtime has been reduced to $86,644 (a reduction of over $193,000).

• Began accepting inmates from the federal government to be housed in our county jail with more than $5,000,000 in net proceeds from this initiative with an expenditure of only $640,000.

Sheriff Nehls has served for more than 20 years in law en-forcement and also served 21 years in the U. S. Army Re-serve, retiring with the rank of Major. While in the military he was deployed to Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan and was awarded two Bronze Stars. Nehls also has a Masters in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston-Downtown. His wife, Jill, is the Principal of Jane Long Elementary and they live in the Richmond area with Jenna, Cambry, and Tori.

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