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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReporter Sept 08© City of Georgetown, 2008 VOL. 6 • NO. 9 A Publication of the City of Georgetown SEPTEMBER 2008 Up the Chisholm Trail Chuckwagons will gather and cowboys on horseback will drive a herd of longhorn cattle along the scenic San Gabriel River on Saturday, September 27. The 3rd annual Up the Chisholm Trail event, hosted by the Williamson Museum, recognizes Georgetown’s location on the historic Chisholm Trail, as well as Williamson County’s rich cattle-driving and ranching heritage. All events occur in San Gabriel Park this year. Cooking up authentic cowboy cuisine with a side dish of trail music, the chuckwagon dessert cook-off begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, September 26. On Saturday, festivities begin at 9 a.m. at the park and will continue until midnight, concluding with a ranch rodeo and live performance by Grammy-win- ning singer and songwriter Rick Trevino. In addition to the cat- tle drive, there will be a chuck- wagon cook-off throughout the day on Saturday with authentic trail drive cuisine available for The City Council gave prelimi- nary approval in July for two sets of projects to be presented to the voters in a November 4 bond election. The preliminary bond package includes seven road projects and six parks projects. Project lists and costs should be finalized in August. See the City website at www.georgetown.org for the latest details. Bond Election for Parks and Roads Cattle Drive & Chuckwagon Cook-off San Gabriel Park September 26 & 27 the public, live cowboy music and entertainment, animal exhibits, and Western craft demonstrators. Learn about our cowboy her- itage from Western authors, historical trail drive re-enactors, and exhibits by modern-day cattle-raisers. Details at UpTheChisholmTrail.org, or call the Museum at (512) 943-1670. Downtown Happenings The Palace Theater Nunsense, weekends thru Aug. 31 The Producers, weekends Sept. 26 - Nov. 2 Details atwww.TheGeorgetownPalace.org,or call (512) 869-7469. Farmers Markets Fourth St. and Austin Ave. every Thursday, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sun City Activity Center, 2 Texas Drive every Tuesday, 10 a.m. until noon First Friday, September 5 Downtown shops, galleries, and restaurants open 6 – 8 p.m. Market Days, September 14 Handmade arts & crafts, jewelry, woodcrafts, ironworks, Animal Shelter adoptions, food, and more, on the streets around the Square, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Georgetown Citizen Academy Graduates Fourteen Georgetown citizens completed the eight-week Georgetown Academy program in which they learned about all aspects of City of Georgetown operations. Pictured are (left to right) Curt Bailey, Susan Bailey, Yvonne Mautner, Joanne Schiller, Glenn Mautner, Carla McNeece (in front), Janet Hewlett, Fred Carlton, Shelley Nowling, Matt Plocica, and Edward Hahn. (Graduates not pictured are Zachary Gill, Steven Proesel, and Michelle Widis.) Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1 City offices closed Regular trash pickup Up the Chisholm Trail Discover the latest news about the city at www.georgetown.org Did you know that if you installed solar panels or a wind turbine on your home, that you could be credited on your bill for the electricity you generate? That’s right. It’s called residential distributed generation, and it was approved last year by the City Council for City of Georgetown electric customers. If you are a homeowner and you install a photovoltaic solar unit or a wind turbine of 10 kilowatts or less to generate electricity for your house, your bill will be credited for the electricity that you produce. In the future, Georgetown could The Georgetown Parks and Recreation Department is proud to offer a new Recreation Passport program that will allow you to earn a certificate for 20 In 1998, a fire nearly destroyed the historic Lockett Building on the Square. Luckily no one was injured in the fire and the exterior walls were left intact. The building was soon renovated and is now home to the County Seat restaurant. Reducing fire dangers in our historic downtown structures is the topic for a Fire Safe Downtown Initiative Workshop on September 24. Don Jansen will share some fire prevention strategies and lessons learned from his 33-year career as a firefighter and fire inspector. The free workshop begins at 8:30 a.m. in the County Commissioner’s Courtroom in the Courthouse at 710 S. Main Street. The workshop will include infor- mation on fire alarm systems and fire suppression strategies, such as sprinkler systems. Jansen says sprinkler systems have sensors and will activate sprinkler heads only where they are needed. “Ninety- eight percent of all structure fires in buildings with sprinklers are extinguished with one sprinkler head,” says Jansen. He adds that in the U.S., there’s never been a documented death in a building percent off memberships at the Recreation Center. Enrolled participants can earn points by completing selected recreation programs. Earn enough points and you will receive a gift certifi- cate for 20 percent your next membership purchase! Register before October 1, 2008 to qualify. Contact Georgetown Parks and Recreation for details at (512) 930-3596 or parks@georgetowntx.org. The Georgetown City Reporter is a publication of the City of Georgetown Public InformationOffice located in City Hall, 113 E. Eighth Street, Georgetown, Texas, 78626. For questions or comments, contact KeithHutchinson, Public Information Officer for the City of Georgetown at (512) 930-3690, or by email at pio@georgetowntx.org. provide a significant portion of its own power needs from its own residents. Interested in installing solar panels or a wind turbine on your home? Contact the City of Georgetown Inspection Services Department at (512) 930-2550 to talk to a build- ing inspector. Currently, the City of Georgetown does not offer rebates for the purchase and installation of solar panels or wind turbines. Home solar panels installed before Dec. 31, 2008, could be eligible for a federal tax credit. See the State Energy Conservation Office at www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us. Recreation Passport Five long-time members of the Georgetown community will share their experiences about the effort to desegregate Georgetown’s schools in a panel discussion at the Georgetown Public Library on August 16. Douglas Benold, Harvey Miller, Birdie Shanklin, Norman Spellman, and Paulette Taylor will talk about their memo- ries of events during the 1950s and 1960s. The panel discussion will be video-recorded and will air on Channel 10. (See schedule at www.georgetown.org.) The event kicks off the library’s oral history project focusing on the educational experiences of Georgetown’s African-American Credit for Solar or Wind Power at Your House citizens from the 1940s through desegregation in the 1960s. The library is seeking people who are willing to share their memories of attending Marshall-Carver School or Westside School during the seg- regation period, as well as those of any race who remember the effort to desegregate Georgetown’s schools. The Williamson Museum and Dr. Marsha Farney, who recently completed her doctoral dissertation on the history of black schools in Georgetown, are assist- ing with the project. Volunteers are needed for the oral history project. Contact Judy Fabry at (512) 930-3552 or jkf@georgetowntx.org. Fire Prevention Workshop Focuses on Historic Square with a fully-functioning sprinkler system. “A fire sprinkler system is like having a firefighter on duty in your building 24-hours a day,” says Jansen. Jansen says that another top con- cern is having a safe exit. In many buildings on the Square, there are no fire escapes on the second floor. “You have to walk to the first floor to get out.” One tool that Jansen will provide at the workshop is a self-inspection checklist that building owners can use to help identify and remove fire hazards. The workshop on September 24 is sponsored by the Georgetown Main Street Program and the Georgetown Fire Department to kickoff Fire Prevention Month in October. Football team at Marshall-Carver High School in Georgetown circa 1962. Photo courtesy of the Williamson County Historical Museum. Georgetown Public Library History of Black Schools and Desegregation in 1960s