papha december 2014 newsletter.indd

The Road to the Future Begins in the Past
Volume 8, Issue 12
PAPHA Newsletter
December 2014
FARLEY NOTE
...GONE!
PAPHA celebrated being debt free
Wednesday, Dec. 10, when PAPHA
hosted the Chamber Mixer with all merchants. It also will be celebrated at the
annual fundraiser in March 2015.
Since being reestablished in 2011,
the Farley Boat Works has produced 30
boats, lots of great memories, and made
many friends. It also has students scheduled through 2016. With PAPHA’s annual March fundraiser and donations
from many admirers, it was able to pay
off its loan to City Bank this month!!
PAPHA is very proud of all of its accomplishments since the beginning in
November 2002, and the fact that Port
Aransas has two debt-free museums
devoted to preserving the history of our
community is something all the citizens
of Port Aransas should celebrate.
PAPHA thanks everyone who has
contributed by being a PAPHA member, or by donating an item or money for
fundraisers. It could not have been done
this without everyone's help, so thank
you from the bottom of our boats!!
Inside this Issue:
Director's Report............................. Page 2
Home Tours ..................................... Page 3
Save the Date .................................. Page 3
Tender.............................................. Page 3
PAPHA shopping ............................. Page 4
More burning photos....................... Page 4
Board members
Rick Pratt, Mark
Creighton,
Greg Smith and
FBW volunteer
Alex McAllister
burn the FBW
mortgage.
More photos on
Page 4 & 5
Museum Director’s Report
November was another very busy
month at the Museum and Boat Works.
Farley Boat Works
Frank Coletta, FBW Manager
The Farley Boat Works team started
the 30th boat in November with David
Gillette’s 10-ft dinghy kit. Colby Jones’
skiff has a bottom, and we are building
sponson boxes on the transom. David
Eggelston’s 18-ft Port A skiff will have
the bottom on by early December, and
we are in the early stages of building a
Tango Skiff with Harry Martinez. Alex
McAllister’s 20-ft flats boat is expected
to be finished by the end of the year.
Plans are taking shape for a youth
boatbuilding program. We will test interest with a youth boatbuilding camp
for Spring Break and/or the summer
months by offering a small surf boat
build, commonly referred to as a surf
ski. This type of craft can be enjoyed
on our beaches by kids of all ages. We
have ordered plans, and will do a testbuild before the camp.
We are refining our boatbuilding
program by developing a catalog of
limited yet diverse designs. This will
allow us to better manage shop space
and resources. The catalog will provide
prospective builders with estimated
building times and costs to help them
decide which boat to build. Some of
the designs will be unique to the Farley
Boat Works. We are currently designing
a Port Aransas sailing/rowing skiff.
The 2nd Annual plyWooden Boat
Festival will be held Oct. 16-18, 2015,
which is the weekend before the Harvest Moon Regatta. It will once again
be part of the Old Town Festival, and
we are planning to better blend the two
festivals.
Our next First Saturday Party at the
Boat Works is Jan. 3. Roasted oysters
are on the menu as we begin celebrating
the 100th Anniversary of the Farley
Boat Works.
Denny Larkin and Mark Muellerweiss
are busy getting projects ready for auction at our annual fundraiser. Denny’s
contribution is, as always, top secret
until it is finished. Mark is constructing
several Farley fighting chairs, including one version that folds.
Mark is also underway with the new
Farley Skiff Building Manual after putting the final touches on Doyle Marek’s
How to Build a Port Aransas Skiff. This
has taken a lot of careful work converting a handwritten manuscript into Word
format and adding photos to augment
the original pencil drawings done by
“Coach” Marek. The proposed new
manual will be the textbook for our
students who wish to build a traditional
island skiff. We plan to add manuals for
each boat in our new catalog as designs
are finalized and prototypes are built
and tested.
Downtown Branch
(We only thought we had ghosts)
Several evenings after closing time this
month we heard noises from upstairs. We
looked around in and under everything,
but found nothing. Then burglar alarms
began interrupting our evenings. I met
Port A Police Officer Seth Rosebrook at
the museum around 8pm one night and
he checked it out thoroughly, upstairs
and down. No burglar.
Two days later we found, caught and
jailed the culprit. It was a young raccoon. Over the next two weeks Thrash
Pest Control caught two more. They are
now doing time at the Port Aransas Nature Preserve.
But the story hasn’t ended. Docent
Bill Behrens heard rustlings and the
sound of fur against the wall a few days
ago, so at least one of our captives has
returned. Not surprising, as it is a short
walk to the museum from the preserve.
It appears they have found a way in
from under the house. We will locate
and close this uncharted entrance. It
will take someone who is young, thin
and very supple to crawl under and do
the deed. I don’t fit that description
very well.
Never a dull moment at the Port
Aransas Museum!
Visitation has been good as Winter
Texans and locals alike drop in to view
the exhibits and use the archives. The
gift shop continues to be popular; $350
worth of Farley Boat Works t-shirts went
out the door on one very brisk day.
R ick Pratt
(December 2014)
Winner
FBW manager Frank Coletta congratulates Mike Stockinger, the happy
new owner of the raffle for the flats boat, electric motor and trailer. He is
from Houston and has a home in Port A.
Page 2
PAPHA Newsletter
Get your 2014 tax
deduction by donating
now to PAPHA!
December 2014
GARDEN CLUB HOME TOURS
Come visit the beach and enjoy a “Glimpse
of Island Life” with the Port Aransas Home
Tour Saturday Jan. 31, 2015. This year’s tour
features a diverse collection of nine homes
as Port Aransas continues to grow in varied
directions. From Island Resort properties to
cottages with historical significance you will
visit homes showing off island living at its
best with remodeled and new construction
exemplifying life in the Coastal Bend.
The Port Aransas Home Tour is one of
few remaining tours offering a ‘bus tour
party’ in the morning as well as a self-guided
tour in the afternoon. The bus tours which
start at 9am and again at 11am, leaves the
driving to the professionals and allows the
‘round. . ." The bus agenda also allows you
plenty of time to see the town and explore
exceptionally
knowlthe area’s fine shops and restaurants
edgeable, verbose, and
If the bus tour party isn’t your cup of tea,
hyperactive Garden Club
then join us in the afternoon for the selfmembers to guide you
guided portion where you can see all nine
on your journey and prohomes from 1-5pm. A map and brochure is
vide you with a world of help and entertain- provided to keep you on the path to our wonment along the way. Any guest, who takes derful homes. Each home will have hosta morning tour, is welcome to return on the esses/hosts who can answer your questions
afternoon self-guided tour to see the bal- about the historical and decorating signifiance of homes not included in the morning cance. The self-guided tour ticket is $20.
tour. Your $25 ticket covers the bus tour and
Tickets can be purchased via our website
the self-guided tour making it an all day ex- www.portaransasgardenclub.org using Paycursion. Relax, sit back and enjoy the semi- Pal, at both Gratitude and Mustang Island Art
narrated, sometimes hilarious antics of the Gallery, and on tour day at the Community
Port Aransas Garden Club’s Cruise Staff, Center located at 408 N. Alister. For ticket
while "the wheels on the bus go ‘round and information call the PAGC at 361-813-2508
or email [email protected].
Look forward to seeing you on Jan. 31.
PAGC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is a member of
the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce, the Corpus Christi Garden Council and KPAB.
Tender
David Gillette (second from left) is building a tender
for his 38-foot Hunter sloop from plans he purchased
at the plyWooden Boat Festival in October. Earlier
this month he celebrated installing the Whiskey Plank
with FBW co-workers Bronnenberg, Jim Johnson and
Charlie Ferguson. The 10’ long dinghy has a 4’6”
beam and is constructed out of plywood using the
stitch-and-glue method, and will be coated with cloth
and epoxy resin. He’s naming the little craft “Indie”,
after his youngest granddaughter, and will paint it red,
as is her wish.
Page 3
PAPHA Newsletter
December 2014
SHOPPING WITH PAPHA
You can do all your holiday shopping with one stop at the
Port Aransas Museum gift
shop! We offer distinctive items you won’t find
anywhere else, like the
PAPHA commemorative
ornament. This beautiful glass ball is decorated
with Flint Reed’s painting of the museum. It is the perfect gift for friends
or family and is sure to become a cherished keepsake. Made in the U.S.A.
$12 ea. Call 361-749-3800 or email
[email protected] for
shipping information.
We have gifts that will reawaken
memories of your good times spent on
the island, such as the book Hard Heads
and Half Gales: Tales from Tarpon,
Texas by Jim Wiggins. Jim captured
the very essence of Port Aransas and her
inhabitants in this delightful collection
of essays, illustrated by his friend and
gifted watercolorist Ivan McDougal.
Another great book you’ll want to give
(and get for yourself) is Mercer Logs:
Pioneer times on Mustang Island, edited
by John Guthrie Ford, Ph.D. This one
takes you back to the earliest days of island living through the daily journal entries of our earliest citizens. Both books,
published by PAPHA and printed in the
U.S.A., are $49.95+tax, or you can order
them for $60, which includes shipping.
Then there are the gifts that are a testament to your admiration of family and
friends. Honor them
with brick ($50) or
block pavers ($300)
placed in the walkways around the
Museum and Community Center, or give them a museum
membership starting at $25. These lasting gifts are easy to purchase online by
simply clicking on the following links.
BRICK & BLOCK PAVERS
MUSEUM MEMBERSHIP
So when it’s time to start shopping,
stop by the gift shop or send in an order. In addition to the ease of getting all
your shopping done in one nifty place,
every purchase supports our wonderful
museum! Open Thur, Fri, Sat 1-5 p.m.
Background-Value Bank, Bradley
Thompson, Chamber of Commerce
Women: Shelley Mayer Witcher
and Tricia Perrine enjoy the party.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER.
Board members Nancy Donley, Bev
Bolner, Rick Pratt are excited
about being debt free.
PAPHA Board Member David
Gillette, Farley Boat Works
volunteer Mark Muellerweiss chat
about exhibits in the museum.
Page 4
PAPHA Newsletter
Cam Pratt, Pam Klee, Debbie
Sweatman want Santa to
take them fishing.
December 2014