Home Page for Friends of the Parks

April 2021

April Workday!!!
This Saturday 4/10!!!
Workday on Sat. April 10th is ON!!!.

Please arrive at City Park at the upper parking lot by the Pavilion at 8AM. We will be continuing our effort of hauling cut brush and storm damaged vegetation so leather gloves and heavy denim clothing would be advised. Travis County is in Stage 3 so we have to stay in small groups, wear face masks and other protective gear and maintain a safe distance whenever possible. Most work will continue to be focused in City Park with projects including removal of dead cedars throughout the park, trimming of dead plants in the various garden areas and hopefully planting new ones in the Butterfly Garden, mowing around the wildflower meadow area (not the wildflowers of course), and potentially continuing the split rail fence going down from the pavilion to the walking path area. Lunch will be available at the Pavilion around 11:30-11:45 and is TBD as to what it will be. We will conclude our workday by noon after the summary reports. We will need to maintain social distancing while we eat. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Take the time to enjoy City Park after the workday activities, enjoy the flowers, birds and the open spaces.

~FoP

Upcoming Events

Apr. Board meeting Monday, Apr. 5 was done using the ZOOM app.
Apr. workday Sat. Apr. 10.
The City of Lakeway is sponsoring "I (red heart icon) Park" Day Sat. May 1st.
May Board meeting Monday, May 3rd.
The last workday before our summer break will be Sat. May 13.
We have a Facebook page being administered by Dan Moyer
Lakeway Friends of the Parks
For those who shop on Amazon, FOP is now a listed charitable organization and can receive 0.5% of your Amazon purchase.
Navigate to smile.amazon.com, login, select "Change Your Charity" and search for "Friends of the Park" located in Lakeway, TX and click on the Select button.
Family membership dues for 2021, pay by mail, click here or pay in person at our workday, contact our Treasurer Sondra Morton.
FOP encourages you to purchase an annual family membership for the Lakeway Activity Center, it helps FOP retain access to the meeting rooms at LAC plus providing you with discounts at LAC events.

Butterfly visiting a flower (click to enlarge)

Butterflies are here. Photo by Jim Dunn.

March 2021
Workday Report Twenty-five volunteers signed in on Carl's clipboard at the start of our workday. Carl got the volunteers assigned to various clean-up sites through out City Park. It was warm with light drizzle the whole morning of the workday. Bill Freas lead a crew pulling, dragging and hauling cut cedar from the Challenge trail. The volunteers then loaded the dump trucks with the debris. Elmer Tyler and Dave Cross used their chainsaws to continue cutting down storm damaged cedars. Elmer and Shirley will be gone the rest of the year. They hope to return for a visit in January 2022. Dar Moneyhon and Dan Moyer drove the dump trucks from City Park to Public Works and back. They each had two such trips. In addition each of the dump trucks were loaded and left at the FOP shed at the end of our work day. The two dump trucks and two Kubotas were provided by the City of Lakeway. Brush piles stacked along the trail to the Wildflower Meadow were loaded into the dump truck. Some of the brush piles along the middle trail going by the Butterfly/Barnes Garden area were hauled out by Jim Dunn in one of the Kubotas to the waiting dump trucks. submitted by Jim Dunn The crew consisting of the Waite family and Bernie Reding spent the entire workday trimming or removing all storm damaged agaves in City Park starting at the entrance and going done the road. Assisting, when not busy elsewhere, were Ed LaLone and John Wilkins. The back of Bernie's pickup was loaded with the dead agave parts. Some agaves were determined to be definitely dead. Others are on the wait-and-see list for the next workday. submitted by Bernie Reding We had worked at Hamilton Greenbelt entrance twice before the FOP workday on Saturday for about two hours each time. The first mini-workday in the week at the HGB entrance was with Allison Winchester, Doris McDermott, and Sondra Morton. The next one was with Kathleen Christensen, Doris, and Sondra. Dead plant material was removed from the water fountain and pond. They also worked in the garden areas at the entrance. We cleaned up the Butterfly Garden under the guidance of Kathy King who had to leave early. We cut down and/or removed all dead debris from the winter months. We also cleaned out dead rosemary behind the Butterfly Garden. We then moved on to the Barnes Garden and cleaned it, too. Those that helped were Doris McDermott, Carol Linn, Joyce Levine, and Sondra Morton. The Butterfly Garden was full of Bluebonnets. It will be beautiful soon! submitted by Sondra Morton Clare Freas picked up 6in. club subways sandwiches and small bags of chips and bagged cookies for the lunch at the pavilion. Doris McDermott provided iced down beverages. submitted by Bill Freas Elmer Tyler, Dave Cross, Bernie Reding, Bill Freas, Mike Light and Dar Moneyhon worked about four hours Tuesday March 16 to continue clearing downed branches in City Park. Adding to the four dump truck loads of mostly cedar brush hauled to Public Works on the March Saturday workday, two more loads were removed today. More brush remains! Thanks to Lance Eilers of Parks and Recreation for providing a Kubota and a dump truck for the FOP effort and Clare Freas for delivering lunch to the work crew. submitted by Dar Moneyhon More photos of the City Park workday and damaged trees in HGB can be found here.	Carl and volunteers at the beginning of the workday on the wet pavement. Photo by Jim Dunn. The Waite family and John Wilkins assisting Bernie Reding with agave trimming. Photo by Bernie Reding. Butterfly Garden clean-up crew of Sondra, Joyce, Carol and Doris under Kathie King's direction. Photo by Sondra Morton. Dar, Dave, Bill along with Mike Light and Elmer Tyler put in a mid-week workday. Photo by Dar Moneyhon.
Workday Summary Twenty-five volunteers signed in Saturday morning despite the misting weather. Workers focused on removing storm-damaged cedars and last year's dead growth. The Butterfly, Barnes and Kathryn's Corner Garden had dead growth from last year's vegetation cut and removed. Broken cedars and other trees were cut down along the middle asphalt trail that runs by the Butterfly Garden, the Challenge primitive trail and the asphalt trail leading to the Wildflower Meadow and the Purple Martin nests. The City of Lakeway provided two Kubotas to haul the storm damaged vegetation from the trails to the road where two City dump trucks were loaded and the loads taken to the City's Public Works location to be dumped. Six dump truck loads were made before adjourning for the day. In addition one pickup load of storm damaged agave leaves/petals were also taken to Public Works site for disposal. The volunteers ended the workday at the Pavilion and enjoyed a lunch of packaged Subway sandwiches, chips and canned beverages. Workday Activities Workday on Sat. Mar. 13th is ON!!!. Please arrive at City Park at the upper parking lot by the Pavilion at 8AM. We will be hauling cut brush and storm damaged vegetation so leather gloves and heavy denim clothing would be advised. Since Travis County is still in Stage 4 we have to stay in small groups, wear face masks and other protective gear and maintain a safe distance whenever possible. Our main focus will be on cleaning up storm damage in City Park only. Elmer Tyler, Dave Cross and Carl Christensen plus others are already working on cleaning up City Park starting last week and continuing into this week. They have already hauled out five truck loads of brush and trees limbs. Carl has requested two truck and two Kubotas for our Sat. workday to haul out the damaged vegetation. Work in HGB I and Porpoise Park will have to wait until April or for special work groups during the upcoming week and week-ends. Packaged snacks and beverages will be available at the Pavilion around 11:30-11:45. We will conclude our workday by noon after the summary reports. We will need to maintain social distancing while we eat. This will be a good time to pay the membership dues of $15 for 2021. Our Treasurer Sondra plans on being there. Dues will need to be paid in cash or by check.	Early bluebonnets! Photo by Jim Dunn. FOP volunteers loaded cut cedars and then the truck dumped the cut vegetation at Public Works. Photo by Jim Dunn. Storm damaged cedar tree blocking the HGB I trail near the large Hurst Creek waterfall. Photo by Jim Dunn.
The Wilderness Run for 2021 has been canceled, we hope to resume the Wilderness Run in April of 2022. We may do a Volksmarch activity in late October depending on COVID situation. Family membership dues for 2021, pay by mail, click here or contact our Treasurer Sondra Morton. FOP encourages you to purchase an annual family membership for the Lakeway Activity Center, it helps FOP retain access to the meeting rooms at LAC plus providing you with discounts at LAC events. Because the annual membership meeting scheduled for the end of January 2021 was cancelled the Board decided to email in the near future a newsletter covering some of the items normally highlighted during that meeting. The FOP Board is asking that members take a look at the City of Lakeway's Adoption of the Master Plan Proposal found in the Dunaway and Associate's Preliminary Parks and Open Space Master Plan pdf file. The Board is interested in your feedback on how this will impact the Friends of the Parks of Lakeway (FOP) organization. Bird Blind Updated Thanks to Laura at the Wildbird Center of Lakeway Carl was able to replace two feeders, one new and 1 repaired. Laura had just received new parts and Carl purchased one. She is putting together another finch wise feeder as well. Birds were on them right after we put them up. Laura may have the finch wise feeder ready since those parts came on as well. Carl also worked on the water feature by adding the pond clarifier. Pump was running and he scooped out the leaves. As noted in the Feb. section below the bird blind suffered vandalism either just before the Feb storm or during that week of bad weather.	New bird feeders have been installed in the Hamilton Greenbelt bird blind. Photo by Carl Christensen.
Upcoming Events Apr. Board meeting will be Monday, Apr. 5th. Apr. workday is scheduled for Sat. Apr. 10th. The City of Lakeway is sponsoring "I Love the Park" day at City Park on Sat. May 1st starting at 8AM. We have a Facebook page being administered by Dan Moyer Lakeway Friends of the Parks For those who shop on Amazon, FOP is now a listed charitable organization and can receive 0.5% of your Amazon purchase. Navigate to smile.amazon.com, login, select "Change Your Charity" and search for "Friends of the Park" located in Lakeway, TX and click on the Select button. Family membership dues for 2021, pay by mail, click here or contact our Treasurer Sondra Morton. FOP encourages you to purchase an annual family membership for the Lakeway Activity Center, it helps FOP retain access to the meeting rooms at LAC plus providing you with discounts at LAC events.	Hurst Creek waterfall near Sailmaster trailhead in the Hamilton Greenbelt during recent cold spell. Photo by Ryan Dunn

February Post Snow Storm 2021 What to do to storm damaged plants?
Another article on outdoor plants, click on the following link Mary Kay Pope's article titled "After the Freeze 2021". Here is an additional resource, click on the following link The Natural Gardener's article titled "Maintenance after the Freeze". This is in no way expert advice, but this is what I am going to do: For woody plants cut off any broken branches, twigs etc. Leave everything else alone until the weather warms, stays above freezing and things begin to bud out, then prune out what is truly dead. One way to check to see if you plant is still alive is to scratch the wood with your finger nail and if you see green it is still alive. For soft tissue plants such as succulents trim back the mush now. For Sago palms, I have been told that you should not cut off the dead/brown fronds until it starts putting out new growth. I have no idea whether this is correct information or not. Like I said above my advice is only what I am doing. One more thing about thinking a plant is dead, don't be to anxious to take it out. 11 years ago after a snow storm on 2/23, I thought a shrub was dead and started to take it out and to my surprise under ground were new shoots. So one just has to be patient. submitted by Jerry Cooper My Sandawkwa viburnum are brown, but I will wait an see if they get new growth. Don’t be in a big hurry to yank your shrubs out of the ground unless they are true tropicals. I have sent a question to Travis Cnty Extension office, but you can look at https://www.realgreenlawns.com/austin/freeze-protection/ Jerry Naiser the owner was in my Master Gardener Class years ago. submitted by Cindy Berdan I feel Cindy and Jerry are more qualified to address this. Our big cactus were mush so had them cut back yesterday. Otherwise I have heard not to cut shrubs for several weeks in case of another freeze. Garden centers are looking forward to a busy spring retail business! submitted by Judy Hazen For What Its Worth, my parents are master gardeners and sent me the following: Hi DCMGA Veterans & Interns: Janet Laminack, our Denton County CEA, let us know there will be some events on the Aggie Horticulture Facebook site about assessing and recovering from freeze damage in your landscape. Here's a link to a currently posted video: Aggie Horticulture - Assessing Freeze Damage Other events are planned for Wednesday and Friday at 1pm CST. Find those events at this link: Aggie Horticulture Facebook Events There's also an Aggie Horticulture Facebook Live Event at 4pm CST this Friday, February 26 "CWGA: Urban Landscape Winter Storm Recovery" where "a team of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialists and agents, will be hosting an emergency webinar session at 4 p.m. Feb. 26 to address questions and concerns related to recovering turfgrass and plants in urban landscapes and gardens following the winter storm." You can register for this event at this link: CWGA: Urban Landscape Winter Storm Recovery Please take advantage these and share them with friends and family, too. Cheryl Huckabee DCMGA Communications Director, Systems This email was sent from the Master Gardener Volunteer Management System. submitted by Dan Moyer 2/24/21 I hope you all survive last week without major damage to your homes, other than frozen plants outdoors. I just wanted to bring you up to date on some things that I found at the bird blind. Unfortunately, we had more vandalism at the Bird blind sometime during the week. I walked down there on Saturday to fill the feeders. The trail was in terrible shape with several cedar trees down. The LTFR had gone through and pushed all downed trees to the side to open up the HGB I and II. When I got to the bird blind there was still a lot of snow and ice around the blind. I realized all of the Braun feeders were gone. The only feeder left was the green barn and it was empty. I took a few pictures and also realized a large cedar tree next to the water tank had fallen into the ravine but it did not damage any of the blind structure. Yesterday, Bernie, Pat, Bill and I went down to see if we could find any of the feeders. Pat found one down the cliff behind the picnic table. It was badly damaged and had been thrown about 20 feet over the edge. We all looked around and didn’t find the other two feeders. This was definitely a vandal activity and I’m going to file a report with Lakeway police. I took the broken feeder into the Wildbird Center of Lakeway and Laura said she could repair it for us. These feeders are guaranteed and the manufacture will send her replacement parts. She said they may have enough parts to put 2 other feeders together. They have been so s upportive of FOP. And I hope you refer all of your neighbors to them. submitted by Carl Christensen	Heron wading in Hurst Creek. Photo by Ryan Dunn. Snowy Clubhouse Trail. Photo by Bob Schooler. View more photos taken in the Hamilton Greenbelt here.
February 2021 Workday on Sat. Feb. 13th is CANCELLED BUT FOP Board wishes to form small working groups on any day of the week to get together to do various activities at City Park and the Greenbelts within the guidelines of Travis County COVID-19 Stage 4. Carl Christensen is looking for volunteers for these small groups, please call him at 512-783-8304 or email him if you want to be on his CALL List. Upcoming small projects Mowing in City Park Loading cut brush piles into dump truck at City Park City Park garden trimming, weeding and mulching, Barnes, Butterfly, Retama and Kathryn's Corner HGB I entrance garden trimming, weeding and mulching Purple Martin bird house maintenance HGB bird blind maintenance Assisting Elmer cutting invasive trees/brush and hauling to dump truck in HGB The Wilderness Run for 2021 has been postponed, a new date has not been decided. Family membership dues for 2021, pay by mail, click here or contact our Treasurer Sondra Morton. FOP encourages you to purchase an annual family membership for the Lakeway Activity Center, it helps FOP retain access to the meeting rooms at LAC plus providing you with discounts at LAC events. Because the annual membership meeting scheduled for the end of January 2021 was cancelled the Board decided to email in the near future a newsletter covering some of the items normally highlighted during that meeting. The FOP Board is asking that members take a look at the City of Lakeway's Adoption of the Master Plan Proposal found in the Dunaway and Associate's Preliminary Parks and Open Space Master Plan pdf file. The Board is interested in your feedback on how this will impact the Friends of the Parks of Lakeway (FOP) organization.
Upcoming Events Mar. Board meeting scheduled for Monday, March 1st using Zoom. Mar. workday Sat. Mar. 13th TBD Feb. Board meeting was held Monday, Feb. 8th using Zoom. Feb. workday Sat. Feb. 13th has been cancelled We have a Facebook page being administered by Dan Moyer Lakeway Friends of the Parks For those who shop on Amazon, FOP is now a listed charitable organization and can receive 0.5% of your Amazon purchase. Navigate to smile.amazon.com, login, select "Change Your Charity" and search for "Friends of the Park" located in Lakeway, TX and click on the Select button. Family membership dues for 2021, pay by mail, click here or contact our Treasurer Sondra Morton. FOP encourages you to purchase an annual family membership for the Lakeway Activity Center, it helps FOP retain access to the meeting rooms at LAC plus providing you with discounts at LAC events.	Bill Freas spreading mulch at the bird blind in the Hamilton Greenbelt. Photo by Carl Christensen.

December 2020

Workday has been CANCELLED

Upcoming Events

Jan. Board meeting Monday, Jan. 4th.
Jan workday Sat. Jan. 9th, TBD.
The annual membership meeting in late January has been cancelled.
We have a Facebook page being administered by Dan Moyer
Lakeway Friends of the Parks
For those who shop on Amazon, FOP is now a listed charitable organization and can receive 0.5% of your Amazon purchase.
Navigate to smile.amazon.com, login, select "Change Your Charity" and search for "Friends of the Park" located in Lakeway, TX and click on the Select button.
Family membership dues for 2021, pay by mail, click here or pay in person at our workday, contact our Treasurer Sondra Morton.
FOP encourages you to purchase an annual family membership for the Lakeway Activity Center, it helps FOP retain access to the meeting rooms at LAC plus providing you with discounts at LAC events.
View photos taken in December here.

cardinal feeding at bird blind (click to enlarge)

Female cardinal feeding at bird blind. Photo by Jim Dunn.

Dear Friends of the Parks of Lakeway (FOP) Volunteers

On behalf of the FOP Board of Directors, we would like to wish all of you the happiest and healthiest of Holidays. We hope this finds you and your families in good health. This has been an unusual year for all of us and unfortunately, we have not been able to get together on a regular basis. That said, the parks and trails in Lakeway have seen very high usage by fellow citizens of Lakeway as well as from the surrounding neighbors and cites of Texas that are hundreds of miles from Lakeway. I met a group of visitors in the Bird Blind who were from Fort Worth and they were thoroughly impressed with our trails and the Parks amenities. We have also been approached by other villages and cites in Texas as to why we have been so successful in our community activity. This is a tribute to all FOP volunteers and what you have accomplished over the years here in Lakeway as members of the FOP.

Because of the COVID pandemic, we must cancel our annual volunteer meeting in January 2021. And the Wilderness Walk Run that was postponed in April 2020 is still in doubt for 2021. We will resume these functions as soon as it is safe for us all to congregate again. With the new vaccines being close at hand, we are hoping to become more active in Spring 2021. We will keep you posted.

Better days are ahead of us and we want to thank each and every one of you who had worked with us over the years. Our efforts are greatly appreciated by the Parks and Recreation Department of Lakeway and by the people of Lakeway. You should be proud to call yourself a FOP Volunteer.

Until that time Stay safe and be well.

Sincerely,
Carl Christensen, PhD
FOP Chairperson

Carl,

A heartfelt 'Thank You' to you and each of the members of FOP for your tireless support of parks and recreation in Lakeway. We are grateful for your time and heart of service.

I know this past year has been challenging at times and in varied ways, but one of the positive things we have taken from this experience is that more people than ever before are out and enjoying our parks and trails. If there is one thing that the entire nation rediscovered this year, it is parks. For the first time, people openly acknowledged that what we do is essential to their health and wellness (physical, mental, spiritual, and social). This has been exciting, as more people discover all that Lakeway has to offer! I believe 2021 holds some great things for us.

In the meantime, I hope that you and yours have a safe and enjoyable holiday season. We look forward to working with you in the New Year!

With kindest regards,
Andra Bennett
Director of Parks & Recreation
City of Lakeway

12/8/2020

I have run into people from all over in the past year while in our greenbelts. I remember Bill talking with folks from Sweden. Yesterday, in Canyonlands, I ran into three young guys speaking German.

Dar Moneyhon
FOP Vice-Chair

Images courtesy of Free Christmas Animations

Christmas decorations along HGB I trail, photo by Carl Christensen

Bill Freas spreading mulch inside the bird blind, photo by Carl Christensen

Trail Maps for the Parks of Lakeway

Friends of the Parks is a group of citizens who enjoy the rewards of volunteer service in the parks and greenbelts areas of Lakeway. Monthly Saturday morning work sessions provide opportunities for all levels of service, whether it is tree maintenance, general cleanup or tending memorial gardens at City Park. A few of the hardier members help build and maintain hiking/biking trails in the Hamilton Greenbelts and the Canyonlands Natural Area. Still others provide food for our workday picnics. For information contact Sondra Morton 713-870-5462 or email Skmgran@gmail.com.

Friends of the Parks sponsors one annual community event which is the annual Wilderness Run/Walk event on the Hamilton Greenbelt trails on the third Saturday of April. The goal of this event is to encourage citizens to get out and enjoy the beauty of the greenbelts and parks of the City of Lakeway.

Friends of the Parks of Lakeway is a 501 (c) 3, Federal Tax Exempt Organization. Donations made to this organization may be tax deductible; check with your tax advisor.

News April workday Sat. Apr. 10th @ 8AM Details here March Workday went as planned, details here. Dec. workday Sat. Dec. 12th @ 8AM CANCELLED Renew your membership for 2021, click here !!! Contact FOP Treasurer Sondra Morton 713-870-5462 or email Skmgran@gmail.com Submit your photos and volunteer stories ! ! !

Lakeway Area Parks Map Lakeway City Park Map Lakeway City Park Map (older version) Lakeway City Park Map Interactive Version Hamilton Greenbelt Trails Map Updated 12/30/2010 Canyonland Trails Map (pdf) Updated 2016 Canyonlands Interactive Map Link. Mt Lakeway Trails Map Sep 2012 Rough Hollow Trails Map Apr 2018 (pdf). Lakeway Weather Forecast

Lakeway, Texas

April 2021

March 2021

Workday Report

Workday Summary

Workday Activities

Bird Blind Updated

February Post Snow Storm 2021

February 2021

January 2021

December 2020

Dear Friends of the Parks of Lakeway (FOP) Volunteers

Trail Maps for the Parks of Lakeway