via the Advertiser

ROUND ROCK – The UIL pulled back the curtain Thursday to unveil its biennial redistricting and it wasn’t a shock to most of the areas schools.

Bastrop, Cedar Creek and Elgin joined Georgetown – which dropped from Class 5A –former District 16-4A opponents Hutto, Connally and Manor and new school Georgetown Eastview to make up District 17-4A.

Just as predicted.

While the district alignment was what most coaches were expecting, the move to Region III (Houston) was kind of surprising.

“I wasn’t expecting Region III,” said Bastrop head coach Gerald Perry. “We are up against a good Brenham district for our bi-district and we have never seen those teams before. It’s what makes the day exciting.”

Elgin head coach Wade Griffin said he thought there was a possibility of a couple of changes, but figured it was going to be just how it turned out.

“It’s about what we expected,” he said. “Moving to Region III was a bit of a shock, but if you look at it, we could have gone to any of the three regions (Dallas, Houston or San Antonio.”

Georgetown and Eastview replace Hendrickson, which jumped to Class 5A, and Bryan-Rudder, which was aligned with Brenham, Conroe Caney Creek, Huntsville, Magnolia, Magnolia West, Montgomery, Waller and Willis in District 18-4A.

The move to Region III will make most regional competitions much closer in Huntsville while when Elgin and Bastrop were part of Region II, the schools traveled over 200 miles.
The new alignment also brings a much greater challenge, according to Perry.

With the addition of Georgetown, which is a state powerhouse in baseball and girls basketball, 17-4A will be much more competitive.

“Georgetown is good in a lot of sports,” Perry said. “This is going to be a good competitive district.”

Griffin welcomed the addition of Georgetown, where he served as defensive coordinator prior to being hired by Elgin in the summer of 2011.

“I’m pretty excited about getting to play Georgetown,” he said. “Competitive wise, this district is going to be tough, which is a good thing.”

Another interesting side note, both Perry and Griffin were candidates for the head coaching job at Georgetown East View in February 2011 when the district was looking to hire East View’s first football coach.

Thursday was an exciting time for Cedar Creek’s coaches as they took part in its first district realignment in the school’s short two-year history.

The Eagles will play their first football varsity schedule in the fall, while the other sports will play in their second varsity season.

Cedar Creek head coach Dan Hernandez said it was a good day for Eagle football.

“I’m pretty excited and look at this as a challenge,” Hernandez said. “Our kids were excited (Wednesday) at our banquet and they were already talking about what they needed to do. Now that we know where we are going, we have something to work with to get ready for next year.”

District 17-4A coaches met Thursday after realignment was set and finalized their schedules.

Schedules will not be official until Feb. 21 when coaches can officially sign two-year contracts, but all three area schools in District 17-4A tentatively set their schedules.

Bastrop’s non-district schedule will be Vista Ridge, Gonzales and Akins (Sept. 13).

Elgin’s non-district schedule will be Rudder, Lehman and Vista Ridge.

Cedar Creek’s non-district schedule will be Travis, Lanier and Lockhart.

Notable district games are Bastrop at Cedar Creek (Oct. 12); Bastrop at Elgin (Nov. 2) and Elgin at Cedar Creek (Nov. 8).

Bastrop and Cedar Creek will share BISD Memorial Stadium for all varsity football games.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULES
BASTROP
Aug. 31    Vista Ridge    A    7:30 p.m.
Septl. 7    Gonzales    H    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 13     Akins    H    7 p.m.
Sept. 21    Manor*    A    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28    Eastview*    H    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5    Open
Oct. 12    Cedar Creek*    A    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 19    Hutto*    H    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 26    Connally*    A    7:30 p.m.
Nov. 2    Elgin*    A    7:30 p.m.
Nov. 9    Georgetown*    H    7:30 p.m.

CEDAR CREEK
Aug. 31    Travis    A    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 7    Lanier    H    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14    Lockhart    H    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 21    Hutto*    H    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28    Connally*    A    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5    Open
Oct. 12    Bastrop*    H    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 19    Georgetown*    A    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 26    Manor*    H    7:30 p.m.
Nov. 2    Eastview*    A    7:30 p.m.
Nov. 8    Elgin*    H    7 p.m.

ELGIN
Aug. 31    Bryan-Rudder    H    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 7    Lehman    H    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14    Vista Ridge    A    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 21    Georgetown*    H    7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28    Hutto*    A    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5    Open
Oct. 12    Manor*    A    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 19    Connally*    H    7:30 p.m.
Oct. 26    Eastview*    A    7:30 p.m.
Nov. 2    Bastrop*    H    7:30 p.m.
Nov. 8    Cedar Creek*    A    7 p.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Associated Press) – Texas is getting $31 million in federal funding to help with wildfire recovery. At least 80 percent of it will go to Bastrop County, which was devastated by fires that began late last summer.

Community development block grants will help pay for housing, business and infrastructure needs beyond other public and private help.

The money is part of $400 million in nationwide natural disaster assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

According to the Texas Forest Service, last year’s wildfire season was the worst in the state’s history, covering nearly four million acres and destroying 4,000 structures, and resulting in ten deaths.

via the Advertiser

The Lost Pines Recovery Team stresses the use of only native (or indigenous) species of grasses, wildflowers and trees to replant.

“The Lost Pines ecosystem is unique and every effort should be made to retain its integrity.  Maintaining the diversity of wildlife in the area depends on restoring native habitat,” said Roxanne Hernandez, administrator of Bastrop County’s Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan.

One of their recommendations is the Lost Pines Restoration Mix of eight native grasses and wildflowers, which should be planted between Feb. 15 and March 15, as these are warm season plants and contain eight varieties of seed. A little more than three pounds will cover an acre of severely or moderately burned territory.

A more immediate choice that can be planted right now – especially with the rains – is the Native American Seed Company’s Southeast Recovery Mix, which contains 56 native species of grasses and wildflowers – most harvested from a prairie remnant conservancy 60 miles from Bastrop – and all indigenous to the local environment. This mix contains both cold- and warm-season grasses and wildflowers, so something will grow all year round. Five pounds of this mix is appropriate for one acre, or one pound will cover 8,700 square feet.

Look at this mixture on the company’s Web site, www.seedsource.com or at their local distributor for the mix, Bastrop Gardens, www.bastropgardens.com.  Bastrop Gardens is providing the mix at what it costs to get it here, to cut shipping costs to the consumer.

Bastrop Gardens is also stocking at cost Cereal (Elbon) Rye as a grass cover crop, which is mixed five parts rye to one part Southeast Recovery Mix so that the rye can act as a nurse crop to the recovery mix.

Elbon Rye (or Beardless Wheat) is the most economical and immediate grass-growing method, because it is fast-growing. With a bit of rain, Elbon Rye will give quick coverage and help prevent erosion, while holding down the recovery seed mixes from washing away. For an immediate solution to erosion problems, especially on sloped areas, use erosion blankets, also available at Bastrop Gardens, to provide a light mulch after seed sowing and to keep the seeds from washing away.

via KVUE

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas — The Emmy-award winning ABC show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” begins work Wednesday on a home in Bastrop.

Crews will have a week to completely overhaul one home that was affected by the September wildfires. The lucky family found out Wednesday morning with the show’s signature door knock by host Ty Pennington.

That family is the Zdroj family. Mizzy Zdroj is an unpaid hero from the Heart of Pines Volunteer Fire Department that along with countless local and national firefighters, fought the flames that consumed her own home as well as her farm and art studio.

During the week of construction, the Zdroj family will enjoy a New York City Christmas dream vacation.

 Local builder EFC Custom Homes will be in charge of the project and will oversee 3,000 volunteers who signed up to help.

There are still needs for skilled volunteers including framers, painters and dry wall installers. For more information on opportunities to get involved, visit www.efccustomhomes.com.

via KXAN

Bastrop continues its recovery from the fires

via the Advertiser

There were more than a few misty eyes in the audience at the Jerry Fay Wilhelm Center Tuesday night when film clips from the popular television show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” were shown during a pep rally to recruit volunteers for a planned local makeover.

During the clips, members of families who received the makeovers in the past could be seen collapsing in tears of joy on their front lawns as spectators cheered wildly.

The show’s producers have said they brought the show to Bastrop County to help out a local family in the aftermath of the Complex Fire. That family will get the now-famous knock on the door Wednesday, Dec. 7.

As “Makeover” senior producer Milan Vasic was explaining the format of the program – and the need for more volunteers – during the pep rally, it appeared many in the audience were already huge fans of the feel-good show.

Rock McNulty, superintendent for Smithville ISD, got the crowd going when he called out from the stage, “It’s time to get fired up for the next Extreme Makeover here.”

The crowd roared their approval.

Bands, drill teams and cheerleaders from Bastrop, Cedar Creek and Smithville high schools definitely got the audience “fired up,” if they weren’t already. Their enthusiasm was contagious.

Vasic praised the overwhelming support he said he had already received from Bastrop County and city officials, as well as local custom-home builder Eric Christophe. Christophe has been chosen by the show’s producers to help coordinate the build using volunteer construction crews.

“We’ve had the help of an incredible team here,” Vasic said. “We couldn’t do what we do without the help of the entire community. We are in the ninth season of this show. There is something about this show and what we do that people are longing for – and that is helping your neighbors out and making a difference in your community.”

Christophe seconded that support.

“We’d like everyone to reach out and volunteer,” Christophe told the audience, adding he had been “completely humbled” by being chosen to help coordinate the build.

Christophe, owner of EFC Custom Homes, said volunteers can range from carpenters, painters and regular handymen to “anyone willing to donate food or come out and lend a hand, help move building materials or check people in.” To volunteer, see his website, efccustomhomes.com.

Out in the lobby, Bastrop Middle School 8th-grader Alexus Gonzales and her mother, Kizzie, were indicative of the local support. They wore T-shirts that read, “Rebuild Bastrop County,” that captured the spirit of the evening.

“Look at you all, you’re absolutely fantastic,” Vasic called out to the audience during the pep rally. Once again, the audience roared their support.

via the ABJ

ABC-TV’s Emmy-winning reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is coming to Bastrop County in December.

Several Bastrop County residents are finalists under consideration for the build, according to the show’s producers and the contractor doing the build.

The recipients of the home makeover will be revealed on Dec. 7 with the signature “door knock.” The show’s team leader is Ty Pennington, along with the official designers for the project, including Paul DiMeo, Johnny Littlefield, Tracy Hutson and Jeff Dye.

Bastrop-based EFC Custom Homes was selected as the contractor for the build, and Donovan R. Davis, architect with Austin-based Danze & Davis Architects Inc., will design the home.

Volunteers and donations — such as building supplies — are needed. Information is available here.

The Extreme Makeover team will officially roll into town on Nov. 29 to stage a pep rally for the public at the Jerry Fay Wilhelm Center for the Performing Arts from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

via the Statesman

BASTROP COUNTY — Josh Van Buren of Taylor’s Tree Service is listening to two contractors explain the bureaucracy involved with felling a tree burned in September’s wildfires.

The charred 70-foot pine in the public right of way has been designated a risk and must come down. But Van Buren, with a chain saw in hand, can’t just cut the tree down.

Because the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires it, there are photographs to take, GPS information to record and paperwork to fill out.

Van Buren, the tree guy wearing goggles and a hard hat, says: “I just want to cut something. Can we get started?”

No, not until Rebekah Fox, a field monitor for Science Applications International Corp., documents it all.

After taking a picture, she notes the coordinates — N30.17511 W97.2285 — and measures the trunk of the tree — 75 inches around — and records the date and time. The information will all go into a computer later.

Only now is it ready for Van Buren and his partner Trent Gilbert, both Bastrop residents.

Taylor’s Tree Service owner Vince Taylor calls them the “A” team because they’re a productive tandem. On a good day, they take down between 25 and 55 trees.

Van Buren is the tree climber, who is hoisted to the top of the tree in a bucket on a truck owned by TFR Enterprises of Leander. TFR’s business is debris removal. Gilbert, who is on the ground, directs the fall of the tree with the help of a rope tied to the section that Gilbert is cutting. That’s to prevent the tree from damaging the paved road.

Afterward, Fox, the monitor, takes another picture to show it’s been cut down.

When the TFR driver hauls the tree debris to a nearby disposal site, the truck, which is marked with a number and the driver’s name, is weighed and accounted for. This is how TFR gets credit for removal of the tree.

Why all the documentation? Bastrop County, which has contracted with Science Applications International and TFR, will apply with FEMA to be reimbursed for debris removal. FEMA will pay the county 75 percent of the cost.

Taylor, whose livelihood depends on cutting down trees, is conflicted.

“I live here; I love the pines,” he says. “I wish that none of them had to come down.”

via Community Impact

The Community Renaissance Market is hosting the fifth annual Harvest Mandala Thanks Giving, a food and clothing collection for Bastrop wildfire victims and the Capital Area Food Bank, from Friday, Nov. 11, to Sunday, Nov. 20.

The celebration features an interactive living art sculpture made of donated canned goods, non-perishable food items and clothing, according to a market statement.

Community Renaissance Market CEO Ruth Glendinning said this is the fifth year Austin artist Luanne Stovall has put on the festival through her organization, Peace Through Pie.

“We have already had some collections come in,” she said. “We invite the whole community to bring in canned foods and clothing.”

Glendinning said the festival kicks off at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, when Stovall will read an Austin City Council proclamation recognizing the event.

There will be music celebrating the harvest on Saturday, Nov. 12, and Sunday, Nov. 13.

The following weekend, there will be a Natural Family Fun Fair Friday, Nov. 18, through Sunday, Nov. 20. The festival’s closing ceremony will feature a drum circle and take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20.

Local merchants and artisans will participate throughout the festival.

The event is cosponsored by the National Coalition for the Homeless and National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness.

Local partners include: Austin Green Art; Eastside Community Connection; UT’s Phi Delta Chi Fraternity; Foundation Communities; Community Renaissance Market; and Peace Through Pie.

According to a market statement, the event began four years ago as a University of Texas campus project. In 2010, the event generated 3,089 pounds of donations for the Capital Area Food Bank.

via The Austinist

On October 17th, a slew of Texas music legends including Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks, and George Strait played a benefit show at the Erwin Center for the victims of the Central Texas fires. That event raised a staggering $725,000 to go towards the Central Texas Wildfire Fund. The CTF and the Austin Community Foundation have gathered upwards of $1.2 million dollars together for fire relief, and now they’re starting the grant process.

The grants will go out on a rolling basis. The Austin Community Foundation is urging qualified non-profit, religious and government organizations that are involved in the community to apply. They are not accepting applications from individuals.

For more information about the CTWF Grant Application, or to apply, visit Austin Community Foundation’s site.

Also, the Central Texas Wildfire Fund is still accepting donations to help fire victims in the recovery process online. Go to www.austincf.org/wildfirerelief to contribute.