The Road to the Future Begins in the Past Volume 7, Issue 2 PAPHA Newsletter February 2013 Hurricanes Next Exhibit The next museum exhibit has been decided on: hurricanes. The heart of the exhibit will be a dozen or so panels that tell, by narration, and show, by images, the history of the major storms that swept through Port Aransas. The narration includes eye witness accounts that take you into the wrath of the hurricanes. The exhibit will focus on the 1875, 1919, 1933, 1942, 1945, 1961, and 1970 whirling and flooding monsters that took lives and battered all forms of property. But that is not all. The Exhibit Committee will also create The Chronology Series, a collection of panels that address the major historical facets of Island and Town in a time line format. These panels will be mounted on the perimeter walls of the Port Aransas Museum. It is anticipated that the Hurricane Exhibit will be hung in Summer 2013. If you have information, photographs, or objects related to our hurricanes, it would be great if you contacted Mark Creighton, town archivist, markwcreighton@gmail.com. He will promptly copy the material. See you at the Museum! Inside this Issue: 'Liza Belle'... Page 2 Boat painting... Page 3 Director's Report... Page 4 Heirloom Orange Tree... Page 4 Hard Heads... Page 5 Lectures... Page 6 Auction items... Page 7 PAPHA Annual Benefit FAQ s 1. What is Island Black Tie? Remember, you re going to Port A where it s always fun and casual! Wear what you darn well please and be creative. Previous benefits have seen Herb Lancaster wearing a tuxedo shirt with board shorts. The surfing trunks were such a hot item that they became an impromptu -to auction item! 2. What time does it start? 6:00 PM sharp. This gives plenty of time to enjoy some libations, check out the live auction items, visit the Museum, have your picture taken in a Farley boat, and bid on the silent auction items. 3. When does the silent auction end? During desert; before the live auction. 4. How will I know what to bid on? There will be a list of live auction items at your table. Many items are posted on our website at http://portaransasmuseum.org/news-and-events/2013-auction-dinner 5. How will I know if I win a silent auction item? Winning bids will be listed on a big board in the Community Center; you can then pay at the pay table. 6. What form of payment can I use to pay for my treasures? We accept cash, checks and credit cards. Which ones? VISA, MasterCard, Discover, AMEX 7. Who is the Auctioneer? Joe Adams of Cuero, Texas. 8. What s for dinner? Salad, steaks, marinated shrimp, green vegetable, potatoes by Jay Jones of Castaways, service by the Jr. Boatmen. A Desert of Kahlua milkshake by Jon Lindskog of Cheesy Jane s in San Antonio. 9. How can I become a PAPHA member? Join that evening or fill in this convenient form and mail back to us.
The Liza Belle These are photos of the Liza Belle, a 16' x 5' boat we built in ten days with Jack and Liza Lewis of San Antonio and Rockport. They contributed $5000 to the Boat Works on the day they took the boat home. Letter to Museum Director Rick Pratt Rick, Liza and I wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for a boyhood dream finally fulfilled. I had mentioned to my wife, Liza several times over our now nearly 33 years of marriage that building a boat was on my bucket list. We heard about Farley Boat Works from a good friend and dropped by last September to see what it was all about. I shall never forget walking into Farley and, though the shop was busy, you dropped what you were doing and spent the next hour giving us a tour and sharing your vision and enthusiasm for the art of wooden boat building. Needless to say we were both impressed and hooked. Liza offered to give me a boat for Christmas and we set out to find a time where we could clear our calendar for two weeks to spend building a boat. On January 22nd we pulled into the yard at Farley Boat Works (accompanied by our 3 dogs) and were greeted by Darrell, Charlie, Curlee, Pat, Denny you and a host of volunteers. Within minutes we were knee deep in the ambitious task of completing a 16' skiff in 2 weeks. Never having built anything with our own two hands in our entire lives, we both remember feeling nervous and anxious about being able to learn how to work with wood. Our anxieties were quickly laid to rest by Darrell and your remarkable group of volunteers - 23 in all- who for the next two weeks worked 12 hours a day and had the patience to teach us how to build a boat. All I can say is that the next 13 days flew by. We have never worked so hard or slept so well. This experience left us with many new friends, wonderful memories and a beautiful new boat - Farley Boat Works hull #8 Liza Belle - that we shall treasure for the rest of our days. As we pulled out of the yard at Farley on our 14th day, we were both fighting the tears in our eyes as we realized that this wonderful little time in our lives was coming to an end. We miss each and every one of you and we can t wait to return to help your crew build a new memory for the next lucky boat owner. We applaud you and your wonderful group of volunteers for keeping the art of wooden boat building alive in Texas! Thanks, Jack & Liza Lewis Cont. on Page 3 Page 2 PAPHA Newsletter February 2013
Farley Boat Painting Auction Item Johnny Roberts stopped by the Mustang Island Art Gallery the other day to view a new painting depicting his family s former Farley Boat. Flint Reed created the painting for the upcoming March 2 nd PAPHA annual dinner and auction, using a photograph from the museum s archives as a model. Pictured in the painting of the Fred Farley and Sons Boats shop, circa 1937, is Little Fred Farley, Jr. and Jim Farley with the Roberts new Farley boat. The boat had a 10 beam, 30 length, and a draft of 36. The vehicle beside it is typical of the jeep-style Port A all-terrain vehicles built back in the 1930s. (Jeeps were not available until after World War II, so Port Aransans would strip down an auto, add wooden plank for floor boards, sometimes fashion a body of scrap wood and metal, or no body at all.) Johnny s father was George Edward (aka Slim) Roberts; his grandfather was George Everet (aka Florida) Roberts. Johnny and his father traveled to Aransas Pass in 1936 to select the wooden planks for their Farley boat. The boat eventually passed onto Florida Roberts. Although their Farley boat weathered many un-named storms, it met its demise when Florida took it fishing about 20 miles off Port Isabel with no Memories of a Farley boat Johnny Roberts poses with Flint Reed's painting of his family's Farley boat up for auction at the upcoming PAPHA benefit scheduled for March 2nd. LIZA BELLE Cont. from Page 1 Artist Flint Reed and his wife, Jill. running lights. The Coast Guard ran into him and sliced his Farley in two. Florida Roberts survived, the boat did not. Johnny Roberts was born in 1924 at Long Island, New York. At the age of 2 ½ he moved with Florida Roberts his family to St. Petersburg, Florida. After serving in the Air Force during World War II and working as an electronic engineer specializing in televisions, he relocated to Texas, Dallas, then Corpus Christi, and eventually was able to move to Port Aransas. Page 3 PAPHA Newsletter February 2013
Museum Director s Report It has been a busy month, and things are working well for both branches of our little museum. Farley Boat Works Farley Boat #8, aka Liza Belle was delivered the 2 nd of February to the proud new owners, Jack and Liza Lewis of San Antonio. In doing so, we helped them check one item off their bucket list. They had never built a boat before and declared the experience one of the best of their lives! It went from being just a pile of lumber to a 16 x 5 skiff in 11 days. That is a new record. Our just hired, part time manager Darrel Lynn was lead man on this one and it was an impressive first effort. With Darrel now on board, I can put more time into the next exhibit and into the next initiative for PAPHA, which is: Saving Old Town We have announced our intention to keep our wonderful old town looking like Port A and not let it drift into the amorphous strip-center kind of place so common these days. We are building a team of architects, real estate professionals and craftspeople to aid folks in creating new houses and businesses that look right for old town. We have defined the boundaries, designed new street signs (a map and a picture of the signs will be posted on our website www.portaransasmuseum. org) and are asking the city council to officially designate the area. The South Jetty ran a great article along with a strong endorsement in their editorial this past week (www.portasouthjetty.com). Join up with us on this important new initiative. Any comments or questions can be emailed to me, rickpratt45@gmail.com. Museum Gift Shop Our little gift shop is really steaming now and is producing enough income to nearly pay for the monthly costs of keeping the museo open. It brought in $33,000 this past year following the remodel. Income this past month was $2135. Annual Auction Fundraiser We are well underway with production of the annual fundraiser scheduled for March 2. We are nearly sold out only two weeks after sending out announcements. Jane Gnazzo, Nancy Donley, Bev Bolner Moorhouse and Cameron Pratt are driving this one. Committee members include Pat Farley, Patti Henry, Barbara Conklin, David Gillette, Denny Larkin, Carolyn Curlee, Susan Sheehan, Mark Creighton and Christine Burns. Rick Pratt (February 2013) Meta and Boo Hausser, front porch of the Hawkins Ranch home Hawkins Ranch Heirloom Valencia Orange Tree #5 Meta and Boo Hausser hosted the hard working Port Aransas Museum and Farley Boat Works benefit committee to personally inspect Meta s family s Hawkins Ranch and authenticate the heirloom Valencia Orange grove that produced tree #5 for the upcoming PAPHA auction. Page 4 PAPHA Newsletter February 2013
Tarpon Tales Tell Earlier Port A Order Form Date: Billing Address Name on Credit Card: Address: City/State: Zip Code: Phone: E-mail Address: Contact Name: Deliver To Name/Company: Address: City/State: Zip Code: Phone: E-mail Address: Contact Name: Cost of book includes tax and shipping Hard Heads and Half Gales: Tales from Tarpon, Texas, by the late Jim Wiggins, will make its public debut on March 2 during our annual fundraising dinner and auction. A special leather bound edition, book #1, presented in a custom wooden box built out of wood from the Mercer House, will be the featured item in the live auction. Return form to: Port Aransas Museum/att: C Pratt PO Box 677 Port Aransas, Texas 78373 Phone: 361-749-3800 Email: paphanewsletter@gmail.com www.portaransasmuseum.org Description Quantity Unit Price Amount Hard Heads and Half Gales: Tales from Tarpon, Texas 60.00 $0.00 I would like to make an additional donation to PAPHA Payment Check payable to PAPHA Credit Card Discover Mastercard Visa Card Number: Expiration Date: Cardholder Name: Grand Total Internal Order Use Only Completed: Ship Date: Page 5 PAPHA Newsletter February 2013 $0.00 This is the second book to be published by PAPHA, the first being The Mercer Logs: Pioneer times on Mustang Island, Texas which came out at last year s event. Like the Mercer Logs, Hard Heads and Half Gales gives us a look at an earlier Port Aransas. However, with this book, many readers might find themselves reflecting on memories of their own as they turn the pages. In Hard Heads and Half Gales, Jim Wiggins presents a delightful look at the strong, self-reliant, and often eccentric folk who make up this small, island community in the years between WWII and the 1970s. In lovely vignettes, he reflects on how the forces of nature, from the amazing beauty and bounty of the surrounding bays and gulf to the powerful forces of wind and water, sculpted the landscape, the town, and the people who live there. Mr. Wiggins commissioned Ivan McDougal to paint 10 beautiful watercolors to illustrate this fine collection of tales about his favorite place in the world to spend time with those he loved. The book will go on sale at the museum and other locations about town for $49.95 plus tax, or by mail order using the a ached form for $60, which includes tax and shipping. All mail orders will be processed after the March 2 nd debut.
Planning Pre-party Pleasurable Jerry and Jane Gnazzo hosted a pre-party in their home at the Moorings at Mustang Island for about twenty members of the Port Aransas Museum and Farley Boat Works Benefit planning committee on Thursday, February 7 th. Jane Gnazzo, Cameron Pratt, Nancy Donley, and Beverley Bolner Moorhouse, Committee Chairs, wanted to impress upon the volunteers just what the fun in fund raising means. Miss K s pork & ginger sliders and secret recipe guacamole, along with Jerry s unusual Margarita Meets Paris and Mayahual Margarita, put the hard working volunteers in the mood for the fun times ahead at PAPHA s annual dinner and Two more lectures remain in this year's Winter Lecture Series offered by the Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association and the Port Aransas Museum. Each lecture begins with a social in the Port Aransas Museum with wine, cheese and fruit. The public is encouraged to browse the Museum and shop in the Gift Shop when we open the doors at 7 pm. At 7:30 pm, everyone moves next door to the Community Center for the lectures. Dates and topics for the auction at the Community Center and Port Aransas Museum, Saturday, March 2 nd. Expecting over 200 attendees at the benefit, PAPHA has set their fund raising goals on high again, hoping to top last years total of over $100k. Steaks and marinated shrimp by Jay Jones of Castaways and Kahlua milk shakes by Jon Lindskog of Cheesy Jane s in San Antonio will delight all. Beverly Bolner Moorhouse and Cameron Pratt promise wonderful live and silent auctions. Preview many of the items on our website. We ll be adding to it as we get closer to March 2nd, so check in often! http:// portaransasmuseum.org/ news-and-events/2013- auction-dinner Texas Frontier, Boats, Topics for Next Lectures upcoming Winter Lecture Series include: Monday, February 25 Museum Director Rick Pratt will talk about the evolution of the Island boat type. Monday, March 11 Herndon W i l l i a m s will review his new book, 800 Years of Stories from the Texas Frontier. Committee Chairs Nancy Donley, from left, Jane Gnazzo, Cameron Pratt, and Beverley Bolner Moorhouse receive words of wisdom from Museum Director Rick Pratt, center. Relaxing Volunteers take a break from partying. Janet Selby, Keith Donley, Carolyn Curlee, Blake Kappel, Susan Sheehan, Linda Morgan, Ken Curlee Cut ups Charlie Fisher has a good laugh while Cameron Pratt thinks yea sure Keith, whatever you say. Ha Page 6 PAPHA Newsletter February 2013
Don't Miss This Great Opportunity to Support the Best Little Museum in Texas! Join PAPHA for the annual dinner/ fundraiser Island Black Tie party at the Port Aransas Museum and Community Center, Saturday, March 2nd, Texas Independence Day. Cocktails and silent auction begin at 6:00 PM. Live Auction with Auctioneer Joe Adams of Cuero, Texas begins after a delicious dinner of steak and shrimp by Jay Jones of Castaways, followed with a surprise dessert by Jon Lindskog of Cheesy Jane s in San Antonio. Contact Nancy Donley at nancydonley1@gmail.com for reservations or more information. Saturday, March 2 Live Auction: Leather-bound presentation copy of the 2nd PAPHA publication, Hard Heads and Half Gales: Tales from Tarpon, Texas by the late Jim Wiggins, illustrated by the late Ivan McDougal. Forewords by Mark Grosse and Lee Ricks, edited by Cameron Pratt. Original oil painting by Flint Reed of the historic Farley Boat Works Original framed watercolor by Ivan McDougal, used as the cover illustration for Hard Heads and Half Gales Heritage Orange Tree Number V, from Hawkins Ranch, est. 1840 Custom kitchen island built by Herb Lancaster The infamous guitar duo of Rick Pratt and Dick DeGuerin to play at your private party Offshore fishing trip for 4 Cheesy Jane s hamburger party for 30... And MORE! Silent Auction: Great art, including prints and original paintings by Tina Bohlman, Flint Reed, Clay McGaughy, Ivan McDougal, Sarah Searight and others, photography by Tim Burdick and Bill Edwards, whimsical fish sculpture by John Barber, etchings, book by Kent Ulberg, and more Flounder gigging with Trey Clark, bay fishing with Butch Findley, and fly fishing with Charlie Fisher Custom fishing gear, trickedout tackle boxes, a very long al & ss gaff Cancelled stamp with envelope depicting President Roosevelt s fishing trip to Port Aransas Clothing and jewelry Restaurant and spa packages, shopping spree at the Family Center/IGA An evening cocktail cruise, history tour by air, day-sailing trip, weekend golf cart rentals 2 nights at the Omni Parker House and tickets to a Boston Red Socks game, weekend accommodations at Cinnamon Shores, The Tarpon Inn, Cline s Landing, tickets to a Texas Rangers game, and more Furniture, including a pair of Farley boat chairs w/end table built by the Farley Boat Works crew, a coastal art coffee table by Cecelia Hager, a skiff coffee table by the Farley Boat Works crew Green Egg BBQ pit loaded with Bolner spices Surfing lessons for 2, surf board from The Board House, standup paddle board built by Blake Kappel of the Farley Boat Works Lots of fun items like handmade rope fenders, Texas cigar collection, wine collection, redneck wine glasses, pair of Verona bronze pirate bookends, sandcastle building les-sons, landscape planter, and a whole lot more Page 7 PAPHA Newsletter February 2013