the mueller farmers market - citicite
TRANSCRIPT
The Front Porch Flyer The Mueller Neighborhood Association Newsletter
Fall 2012 Volume 5, Number 4
InsideTown Center Town Hall 2
Know Your Mueller Streets 3
Letter from Your MNA Chair 3
The Mueller Progenitors 4
Filmmaking at Mueller 5
Young Philanthropists 6
Knitting Club and MNA Grants 12
The Mueller Farmers MarketBy Marilyn McCray
On Sunday, September 7th, the historic Browning Hanger buzzed with excitement as the Mueller Farmers Market opened for business. People poured in from around Austin to check out the tables piled high with shiny green peppers, royal purple eggplant, tempting tomatoes and so much more. Along with 40 Central Texas vendors, there was live local music, yoga, storytelling, cooking demonstrations with local chefs, a farm animal petting zoo, pony rides, and face painting.
“Hosting a farmers’ market at Mueller has been a long-standing desire of Catellus, and it absolutely aligns with Mueller goals like sustainability, local business and supporting the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Dee Desjardin of Mueller Marketing and Communications. “Catellus explored possibilities for a market for many years. We looked at a number of locations and the wide variety of events that regularly occur at Mueller. The Hangar was our choice.”
“The Mueller Farmers Market has created access to fresh, locally grown food and an enjoyable community event that includes music and family activities each market day,” said market organizer Carla Jenkins.
While providing PR and advertising services, Jenkins became familiar with the Sunset Valley Farmers Market. She began assisting in the operation and founded F2M Texas, local 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization to provide farmers and ranchers of locally produced foods direct marketing opportunities with local communities in convenient locations. F2M Texas is also dedicated to educating the public about nutritional, economic, environmental and social implications of eating locally and in season. She went on to establish and operate the Cedar Park Farmers Market at Lakeline Mall.
Fresh, seasonal produce, farm-raised meat, baked goods, local products, and plenty of free samples abound at the Mueller Farmers Market. Photos by Dennis Mick.
(continued on page 2)
The Front Porch Flyer Fall 20122 3Fall 2012 The Front Porch Flyer
Mueller Neighborhood AssociationSteering CommitteeChair: Betsy HiltonVice Chair: Kathy SokolicSecretary: Candice McKayTreasurer: Diane GierischMembers: Don Dozier, Ashley Fisher, Corky Hilliard, Kevin McGillicuddy, Travis Michel, Dennis Mick, Jerry Perkins, Shellie Shores and Reem Zoun
The Front Porch FlyerEditor-in-chiefDennis Mick
Layout EditorElizabeth Brummett
Editorial StaffDrew Harris, Dusty Harshman, Woody Lauland, Dan McAtee, Marilyn McCray, Kathy Sokolic, Frosty and Helen Walker,and Garreth Wilcock
Mueller Farmers Market, from front cover
Aldrich Street will be Mueller's destination for dining, shopping, cultural activities, and entertainment. At a town center town hall held on October 24, Catellus announced the Aldrich Street name, inspired by such iconic Austin areas as Sixth Street and South Congress. The town hall included an overview of planning to date and solicited input from residents and neighbors in facilitated discussion groups. The district will include the Austin Children's Museum, currently under construction on Simond Avenue, Austin Playhouse, a movie theater, restaurants, shopping, apartments, and condos. A block-long pedestrian paseo will link Lake Park with an expansive, tree-lined sidewalk along Aldrich Street at the heart of the district. Photo by Dennis Mick.
Know Your Mueller Streets: Aldrich StreetBy Elizabeth Brummett
The former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport was once part of Roy Wilkinson Aldrich’s farmstead on Manor Road. Aldrich Street, named for him, extends from Airport Blvd., around the roundabout and into the heart of the coming Mueller town center.
While best known as the longest-serving Texas Ranger at the time of his retirement in 1947, Aldrich was also a banker, entrepreneur, adventurer, and collector. He was born in Illinois on September 17, 1869, and raised in Missouri. He left home in 1888 for the Idaho Territory where he worked as a miner and lumberjack. He lived in the Arizona and Oklahoma Territories and a coffee plantation in Mexico; served in the Missouri National Guard during the Spanish-American War; delivered horses by sea to South Africa for the Boer Wars; and traveled in Europe.
With his younger brother Jules, he became one of the youngest bankers in Missouri following their father’s death in 1890, and served as deputy sheriff of Barton County, Missouri. In the early 1900s, he was a bank cashier, city treasurer, and deputy sheriff in the Oklahoma Territory. Though he claimed to be a lifelong bachelor, he married Della Dunlap, daughter of the local bank president, in 1903. They divorced in the early 1910s. Aldrich and his brother again went into business together in 1907 in Corpus Christi, where their real estate venture constructed the city’s first resort. In 1909, they and their mother moved to San Antonio. After her death in 1920, Aldrich bought a 20-acre farm on Manor Road near Austin, where he gardened desert plants and raised native fauna.
Aldrich enlisted in the Texas Rangers in the March of 1915, in response
to turmoil in South Texas from the Mexican Revolution. He served as chief inspector for the Selective Service in Texas during World War I, and in 1918, he was promoted to captain and quartermaster. Jules Aldrich also joined the Texas Rangers and served until his death in 1940.
Roy Aldrich retired from the Texas Rangers in 1947 at the age of 78. He died in 1955 and is buried in Oakwood
“It takes a perfect storm to make a good farmers market from arranging vendors, preparing the space, obtaining required permits and the numerous other details,” says Jenkins. She personally conducts farm and ranch visits, meeting with the producers to see how the operations are run. In addition, she has come up with some innovative solutions like hiring pedicabs to take people to the market from distant parking lots.
Jenkins wants to continue to build the market experience with more education components like the children’s petting zoo featured on opening day. “Living in the city of Austin, many children have never seen a goat, a lamb, a chicken or a steer,” she says. “Sure, it’s entertainment, but it’s also educational.” The calendar will include seasonal activities and a variety of celebratory promotions. While shoppers can meet and get to know the people who provide their food, the market is also a great experience for the vendors. “Seeing
everyone at the market makes all our hard work seem worthwhile,” said Colby Smith of Smith & Smith Farms from Burlington, Texas.
“Being here really helps us communicate what our cheeses are all about,” says Ben Guyton from Pure Luck Farm and Dairy in Dripping Springs. “From the number of strollers, it looks like people from the neighborhood are embracing the market.” Sixth generation rancher, Amy Greer of Winters Family Beef in Brady proudly observed, “People are now starting to refer to it as ‘our’ farmers market.”
“The Farmers Market has provided a needed spark to help weave Mueller into the broader fabric of East Austin,”
Letter from Your MNA ChairHappy Fall everyone! It’s an exciting time at Mueller, and a lot is going on around us. There’s construction underway all around—roads, a hotel, another apartment complex, and the Children’s Museum, to name a few projects, and more is on the way. Berkman Street should open to 51st around the end of the year, and we’ll see the Market District and grocery opening next year.
I hope many of you were able to attend the Town Center meeting and/or fill out the online survey. It’s exciting to think about what businesses we might see in the hub of our growing community!
The Mueller Neighborhood Association (MNA) has had a full year and is looking toward election of a new Steering Committee in January. Jerry Perkins, Bobby Gierisch, Ann Jerome, and I serve as the Nominating Committee to bring forward a slate of 13 candidates at the January meeting. Please contact one of us if you, or someone you want to nominate, is interested in serving the neighborhood in this leadership capacity. Of course, we’ll also take nominations from the floor on the day of the election.
To vote in the January election, you need to be a member of the MNA for 2013. Dues are only $5 per year per resident. Please pay your 2013 dues at the December 15th meeting so you can vote. The December meeting will be at Wildflower Terrace in the Community Room. As is our tradition, we won’t conduct much business, preferring to have a holiday party and more opportunity to visit with each other over coffee and snacks. I hope you’ll plan to attend!
It has been my honor to serve as your MNA Chair this past year. I look forward with anticipation to the great things to come at Mueller. MNA plays a key role in fostering community among residents and with our surrounding neighborhoods. I hope you’ll continue to support this worthwhile organization by continuing your membership in 2013.
Cheers,
Betsy Hilton
Cemetery in East Austin. His 10,000 volume library, manuscripts, and Native American artifacts were acquired by Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, and his papers are housed at the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.
From the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, Guide to the Roy Wilkinson Aldrich Papers, and the Handbook of Texas Online.
said Betsy Hilton, Chair of the Mueller Neighborhood Association. “It’s a great place to shop, visit and relax with friends and neighbors.”
While people from the neighborhood are walking and biking to the market, other Austinites make the Mueller Farmers Market a Sunday destination. “We drive from north Austin every Sunday to shop at the market,” said Leslie Lyon-House. “We enjoy the atmosphere, the food and our 2 ½ year-old can see the ducks in the lake.”
The Mueller Farmers Market is held each Sunday from 10 :00 AM to 2:00 PM. For more information, please visit texasfarmersmarket.org.
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The Mueller ProgenitorsPart 2: Mueller Design Principles, Then and Now
By Dusty HarshmanThis article is the second in a multi-part series recording highlights of a conversation with Girard Kinney and Jim Walker, residents of Cherrywood, Rick Krivoniak from Windsor Park, and Ken Ronsonette of Delwood II. In our first installment, they discussed Mueller’s 25-year history from their perspective in the surrounding neighborhoods that made Mueller possible. The conversation shifts in this installment to measuring Mueller’s progress against the Mueller design goals of Fiscal Responsibility, Economic Development, and East Austin Revitalization. I will attempt to relay their conversational tone.
Girard Kinney (GK): “Well, let’s go through these principles and see where it leads.”
Principle #1: Fiscal Responsibility. The Mueller Redevelopment project must create a positive revenue stream that will fund on-site infrastructure and increase the City’s tax base for the benefit of all citizens.
Jim Walker (JW): “My memory of this principle is that Mueller is big enough and its vision is sound such that the city should never have to take money away from other things the city needs to do to pay for anything in Mueller. In the late 90’s, this was important because the business community was picking and choosing pots of public money to put into private ventures.”
GK: “For example, the developer community, on a project of this size, would almost always choose to ‘pay in lieu of ’ for storm water storage and water quality treatment, and yet Mueller does it onsite, in the form of an aesthetic, recreational, and environmental asset. That’s a big win.”
JW: “Financially, Mueller came along at just the right time, before the dot-com bust, when the city could entertain a 770-acre TIF.” Tax-Increment Financing is a tool where tax revenue from a place—current and anticipated—can be used to fund land development and infrastructure of that place. “It’s worked. Mueller has never had to go to the city and beg for general revenue or beg out of a social obligation.”
GK: “We had a long range view. We were willing to wait for property and sales tax financing as we projected a 20-year build out. We knew you’d have to develop the houses to justify the retail and that would take time. We knew the developer community would not do it that way on its own.”
JW: “A second part of the principle should be long-term stability. We don’t want to become a Crestview Station or East Avenue or other places the private sector does on a three- or four-year horizon and it falls apart.”
Principle #2: Economic Development. The project should serve to reinforce Austin’s role in an increasing global marketplace and create a wide range of employment opportunities for a diversity of the community’s citizens.
This conversation turned quickly to local business incentives and empty storefronts in the mixed-use buildings currently at Mueller.
JW: “There have certainly been some stumbling blocks. In the beginning, I had Catellus leasing people tell me that ‘it’s too hard to get a local coffee shop because they can’t pay what a Starbucks is willing to pay,’ but that’s what Mueller’s identity is—taking the extra steps to make it work. Now, we have
these hangovers of empty lease space.”
Ken Ronsonette (KR): “As a community, we never got into the business discussions. We stayed away from that. In some ways, I feel like we need to re-form the Mueller Neighborhood Coalition for cases like this. We’re a little smarter now, and we can have these discussions with the developer and say, ‘You need to factor in incentives for local companies.’”
GK: “I agree, but that said, sometimes social pressures will force a ‘use’ that is probably not going to work financially. I think Catellus has done a good job of simultaneously encouraging local businesses but also helping them understand what it will be like to function in an environment like this. That may mean you’re weeding them out so they don’t go through the agony of realizing that it wasn’t going to work.”
JW: “Mueller’s economic development opportunities were not solely designed for people who live there. I think that’s one of the huge benefits of the hospital here. It’s not going anywhere, it provides a range of incomes, and there will be support for businesses from outside of Mueller.”
Which brings us neatly to…
Principle #3: East Austin Revitalization. The project must promote economic development opportunities within East Austin, giving local residents a direct stake in redevelopment.
GK: “I’m prejudiced about one thing here. I’m very proud of the neighborhood-supported vision for 51st Street.” The East 51st Street Vision Plan was a joint design effort of
Catellus, McCann Adams Studio and Kinney & Associates, and residents from the Windsor Park, Mueller, and Cherrywood neighborhoods. “I think that will do a great deal for economic development north of 51st Street. The current and future business and developments along 51st and north along Berkman will benefit from the vision. It will also be interesting to see what happens to the Value Sky Park in Cherrywood. What was a remote
parking lot for the airport is now transitioning to a multi-family, multi-use development.”
JW: “Mueller is attracting employers and development around it without having to offer heavy incentives. The way economic development often happens in this town is that a company comes in and they ask for a ‘candy list’, and they get it. I like that we’re not needing to do that.”
GK: “Socially, it’s breaking down the I-35 barriers… that was an original goal. I-35 has been a social barrier in many ways, and in general, I think Mueller has done a lot to address that.”
Still intrigued? In our third installment, we’ll explore the social aspects of the Mueller development as these gentlemen discuss the design principles of Neighborhood Compatibility, Diversity, and Sustainability.
From commercials to music videos to feature films, the Mueller neighborhood has become a popular shooting location. In October, director Terrance Malick brought his as-of-yet untitled film to a resident’s home at the corner of Mattie and Scales. The motion picture is described as the story of intersecting love triangles told against the background of Austin’s music scene. Unfortunately, the homeowners were not allowed to take photographs, so we have to turn to the paparazzi for coverage. To see Natalie Portman and Holly Hunter in a familiar alley, check out justjared.com/2012/10/04/natalie-portman-untitled-terrence-malick-project-set.
Untitled
Development is progressing in Mueller's newest residential section and the town center, both north of Simond Avenue. Top left, the Austin Children's Museum rises next to Lake Park, with the second phase of the Mosaic Apartments beyond it, also under construction. Left, in November, a construction crew moved sizable trees down Berkman Drive to transplant in Paggi Square. The square is a pocket park flanked by shop houses, a new building type in this phase of development.Photo by Dennis Mick
Photo by Garreth Wilcock
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Recently, inspirational stories of young philanthropists within our Mueller community have surfaced. Their stories of generosity speak of concern for and a commitment to solving local, national and global problems. Where do the seeds of being philanthropic get planted? When interviewing our own young Mueller community philanthropists, a common theme is that inspiration came about by something or someone leaving a big impression. The other theme is the idea of finding something personally meaningful, thus making it feel good to help others.
Over the last four years, Brandon, rapidly approaching 13, has donated over $1,000 to four different causes that have special meaning to him. His first donation was inspired a few years ago after hearing a story about a young man who, instead of asking for Christmas presents, asked for donations to a special cause. Brandon, whose birthday was coming up, thought that perhaps he too could ask for donations to support meaningful causes in lieu of presents.
That first year, donations of $400 were collected and delivered to Kansas City’s Wayside Waifs, an animal welfare organization, in honor of Brandon’s dog Madison who had recently died. When he and his family delivered the donation, the folks at Wayside Waifs
showered Brandon with recognition and appreciation, thereby reinforcing his generous spirit.
In the years since, amounts between $400 and $600 collected in lieu of birthday presents have been donated annually to the likes of the Town Lake Animal Center, Texas Hearing &
Service Dogs, and Doctors Without Borders. This year, because he likes soccer, Brandon is researching a new organization that creates soccer balls that harnesses kinetic energy for storage in a battery that those in the developing world can use to power appliances.
Brandon’s advice about getting started includes community service to donate time, including looking for meaningful
opportunities at school. His mother’s work at the Ronald McDonald House serves as an inspiration, and Brandon often donates time and attention to needs that surface there. Recently, a young friend needed a bone marrow transplant and Brandon became involved in the bone marrow registry drive at the Ronald McDonald House.
He also sold cards displaying his art as a fundraiser.
You do not have to go far to find a cause that has meaning to your life. “This feels better than receiving material goods,” says Brandon.
Our second young philanthropist, Gage, age 10, was inspired toward generosity while in kindergarten. His teacher showed a video of children in Africa that portrayed their stories of living in very dire circumstances. The story imprinted upon Gage a sense of gratitude for his life.
“I understand how lucky I am and that makes me want to help those kids live in more favorable and sanitary
conditions,” says Gage.
To help the children of Africa, Gage promotes and recommends the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Halloween trick-or-treat boxes program. “A penny here, a nickel there really adds up with just one dollar feeding two to three kids for a day, ten dollars buying three mosquito nets, and twenty dollars buying a first aid kit,” he reports.
In third grade, he introduced the idea of the UNICEF boxes to his teacher, and she liked the idea so much that she asked Gage to bring in more boxes. The next Halloween, the whole school participated in the program.
Gage’s efforts demonstrate the many creative ways there are to earn donation money. For instance, he sells his Halloween candy to his dentist, or his dad. He just recently collected spare change while trick-or-treating for UNICEF. He pulls weeds and waters plants for neighbors, resulting in donations to the Capital Area Food Bank, the Red Cross, and of course his favorite, UNICEF. He has been known to donate part of his allowance to crisis events such as the earthquake in Haiti. Gage’s generous spirit helps both the people of Austin and children living a world away.
Wise beyond her age of 9, our third philanthropist Lucia speaks eloquently and with poise about her motivation for being a generous spirit. “I have running water, food to eat, a nice house and covers. I want to treat others as I would want to be treated if I were in their shoes,” she says.
There is no doubt when speaking to Lucia that her greatest influence and inspiration is her father who runs Green Doors, a not-for–profit here in Austin. Green Doors works to prevent and help end homelessness and poverty housing for those working to achieve independent living in Central Texas including veterans.
Over the last 5-6 years that her dad has worked at Green Doors, Lucia has participated in helping with food banks, cooking “tons of Thanksgiving turkeys”
for those in need, and planting and tending to gardens. Additionally she will on occasion dip into her allowance to help as needed.
This past Halloween, Lucia and her fifth grade class organized a “trick-or-canning” project where cans of food and coats were collected to help others in need. The sum of these cans and coats have been collected into The Pod with different grades competing as to which can collect the most. When asked what she would recommend as a place for others to start the act of generous giving, Lucia replied that one might donate food or other basics to
local food banks, or to The Pod, donate jackets to those who have nothing. She recommends taking advantage of opportunities through school such as making lunches for the homeless.
She once again mentions her dad as the role model for handing out granola bars and his card to those collecting money on the corner so folks can find shelter through the Green Doors program. She
Young Philanthropists Make a DifferenceBy Helen Walker
Through hearing and re-telling of one another’s stories and experiences, we see who we are, and who we might be, how our lives matter, and how we might be better.
–Adapted from Christina Baldwin
believes it is important to intervene with help as early in a person’s life as possible so that there is a good chance for someone to have the time left to have a better life.
“There is a young girl in my school who lives in a homeless shelter and I have so much and she has so little. I have seen a young mother with her baby living on the streets with nowhere to go.” Lucia expressed gratitude and concluded by saying, “It is a good thing to be interviewed as my hope is that others will be inspired to help.”
Jacques Cousteau, as philanthropist, was once asked if he ever got discouraged or worried that the problems he was working on were insurmountable. He said, “It could be that these problems can’t be solved, but what can men and women of good conscience do but keep trying until the very end?”
In closing, young philanthropists such as Gage, Lucia, and Brandon bring new energy, creativity, passion, resources, and perspectives to help solve the problems that challenge our community, nation, and world. Their inspiration and generosity of spirit represents the best in us and gives us hope for the future and for real, long-lasting, and transformational change within the world in which
we live, including the many serious challenges facing our people and our planet.
Our young neighbors are giving back and making the world a better place for generations to come.
Brandon and his mother outside the Ronald McDonald House, where she works and he volunteers.
Gage donates his time and effort to worthy causes, including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
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Calendar
Monthly Neighborhood Meetings:Mueller Neighborhood Association3rd Saturday each month, 10-11:00 AMLocation to be announced
Mueller Commission (RMMA-PIAC)2nd Tuesday each month, 6:00-8:00 PMCarver Library, 1161 Angelina
Mueller POA “Let’s Talk” Sessions1st Wednesday each month, 6:00 PMMueller Central, 4550 Mueller Blvd.
December 15th 10:00-11:00 AMMNA Holiday Party Wildflower Terrace Community Room
December 21st 6:00-9:00 PMMueller Solstice Lights Lake Park
Regular Activities:Mueller Farmers MarketSundays, 10:00 AM-2:00 PMBrowning Hangar
Sunday Yoga at MuellerSundays, 1:00-2:00 PMWildflower Terrace Community Room
Mueller St*tch and B*tch3rd Thursday each month, 7:00-9:00 PM
Book Club4th Tuesday each month, 7:30-9:30 PMCheck Events on muellercommunity.com for activities, new events, and updates.
If you’ve paid your $5 a year Mueller Neighborhood Association (MNA) dues, you have helped give caps to premature babies in local hospitals and cuddly bears to AIDS orphans in Africa. All of these items were handmade by members of the Mueller Stitch ’n Bitch club using yarn purchased with MNA grant money.
The club received two grants, one for the preemie caps and the other for the bears. Dozens of tiny caps were delivered to neonatal wards, and nineteen bears were shipped to the Mother Bear Project. This project is headquartered in Minnesota and
Knitting Club Uses MNA Grants for Life-Enhancing ProjectsBy Katie Lauland
distributes the bears to children in African orphanages, making sure each child receives a bear of his or her own. More than 80,000 smiling boy and girl bears have been distributed so far by the project. You can learn more at motherbearproject.org.
The Stitch ’n Bitch club used money remaining from the first two grants to purchase yarn now being used to knit and crochet chemo caps in a rainbow of colors for cancer patients with hair loss.
See your block captain or any MNA steering committee member for information about the grant program.
What do you want to see in The Front Porch Flyer?
The Front Porch Flyer is the official newsletter of the Mueller Neighborhood Association, which means we are your paper. As we plan for the coming year, we want to hear what you would like to see in these pages. Volunteers are invited to join The Front Porch Flyer editorial team. Email us at [email protected] with feedback, ideas, or to find out more about contributing. Photographs are always welcomed at [email protected].
Lights of LoveIn the fifth annual Lights of Love 5K, the Mueller Community team was number one in participants and funds raised for our neighborhood charity, the Ronald McDonald House of Austin and Central Texas. Team leader Benjamin Kramer's regular updates encouraged the neighborhood's record-breaking registration. A total of 156 Muellerites participated in the event, including families such as Tom, Van, and Carly Truskett, left. The Mueller team contributed $5,516 to the nearly $243,000 raised by event. Photo by Benjamin Kramer.