Friends of the Parks 

FOP Present Awards and Elect New Board Members

at their Annual Membership Meeting

The Annual Membership Meeting of the Lakeway Friends of the Parks was held at the Lakeway Activity Center on the evening of January 27. Board Chairman Jesse Gutierrez called the meeting to order and began by recognizing individuals and groups who had made special contributions to the Friends of the Parks during the past year.

Among those recognized were the Hospitality Committee chaired by Judy Hazen and Phyllis Hook, who provided food and refreshments for the workdays and the annual meeting.  Board members who had completed their terms were also recognized.  The outgoing board members were Frieda Albert, Ernest Altgelt, and Mary Ellen Roche.  Each of these individuals received a plaque of appreciation for their excellent service.

The new board members elected for 2005-2006 were Lew Carlson, Jim Dunn, George Ferrie, and Kay Kimball.  Kay was also elected as the new Treasurer.  Ron Harrist was elected as the new Secretary for 2005-2006.  Current board members who will complete their two years term of office in 2005 are Jesse Gutierrez (President), Mickey Wright (Parks & Recreation Liaison), and Fred Hazen (past President & Publicity Chairman).

Jesse then reviewed some of the notable accomplishments by Friends of the Parks during the past year.

Among the accomplishments highlighted were the maintenance and improvements in the Lakeway City Park .  FOP volunteers made major contributions to the beauty of the park by cleaning trash and storm debris, trimming trees and shrubs, and endless mulching of the walking trails.  Special work crews maintained the Tree Trust (Marv and Peg Hein), the Cactus Garden and the Butterfly garden (Wayne and Kathy King).

The trails in Hamilton I and II Greenbelts were maintained and improved by the Trail Rangers (Fred Hazen, Mickey Wright).  George Blume and the Trail Builders completed Texas Parks and Wildlife grant work by finishing the work on the Lower Canyon Trail in the Canyonlands Natural Area.  George designed a 40 foot span bridge that was built by volunteers over a creek crossing on the Lower Canyon Trail.  Future 2005-2006 projects include building a dike and spillway to repair a badly eroded earthen dam to save a large wildlife pond in the Canyonlands and the construction of "swamp bridge" walkways over areas of trails exposed to heavy water conditions.

Jesse Gutierrez and Mickey Wright installed directional signs made by Kevin Roche marking the four major trail loops in the Canyonlands.  Thanks and appreciation was extended to Kevin for his excellent work on preparing signs for the Canyonlands and HGB I & II primitive trails.  George Blume and Janet Wright finished aerial maps of the Canyonlands trail system.   George also served as engineering consultant on Canyonlands and other trail building projects.

Carrie Burns, the evening's guest speaker, gave an excellent presentation on the prevention of oak wilt in Lakeway.    

Fred Hazen

jfhazen @ earthlink. net

Map of Hamilton Greenbelt

Map of Lakeway Park