The third Monday of the month rolled around as it always does bringing with it the Austin Pond Society monthly meeting. Although we are still missing a Hospitality Person on the Board, Barb Lenhardt, our new President, stopped by her local HEB SuperMarket and ordered a bunch of sandwiches of different varieties and flavors. This coupled with the deserts brought by the members made for an adequate meal to start off the proceedings.
There were around 32 members in attendance to hear the speaker, Cindy Cassidy talk about Night Skies and Light Pollution, a subject that not too many of us ever think about. It was a very interesting presentation as she described the way that light from various sources is wasted by poor planning and the use of the proper shading. When you consider that wasted light is wasted money, then things take on a different perspective. She also spent some time talking about the effects that lighting has on wildlife especially birds that are known to crash into buildings by the hundreds. She also discussed how plant life is affected when the proper hours of darkness are not sufficient to stimulate growth. All in all, very much food for thought.
Following her talk, we had a discussion on String Algae hosted by BJ Jenkins which the Members joined in with their opinions and questions. This is an idea that BJ has come up with to hold at every meeting based on whatever subject is important at the time. If you have something that you would like discussed, contact BJ Jenkins at this link.
The last item of the meeting was the business section when several items were covered including the upcoming 25th Annual Pond Tour. Ted Paone, the Pond Tour Chairman, outlined the plans for this event including the fact that several more ponds are still needed. This year’s event will not be as big as previous Tours and will host anywhere from 6-8 ponds on either day, the idea being that guests can spend more time at each pond and have more time to travel between the ponds. Volunteers are still needed to welcome the guests and sell the tickets. If you are interested in helping out, contact Ted Paone at this email address.
The meeting ended with the Raffle, always a popular event as three lucky Members won a gift chosen by Barb, our President. The next meeting is on March 18th, same time, same place. The scheduled Speaker is Reeve Hobbie from Travis County Master Gardeners and he will be speaking about “If Plants Could Talk “ – unusual facts about native plants. Hope to see you there. BTW, if you are interested in the Hospitality position on the Board, contact Barb at this link.
Below are the three videos of the evening. The first is the full coverage of the talk given by Cindy Cassidy.
Texas Night Skies
The second video is of the Business part of the meeting and is broken into two separate videos. The first video is of half of the business discussion. The second video is of very poor quality and sound due to not using a tripod and not hooking up the microphone. This was unfortunately brought about by no break between the Speaker and her presentation and the Business section as I had no time to replace the battery and had to switch cameras. My apologies for the very poor content of the second video.
Listed below are the Sponsors for the Austin Pond Society. We encourage you to give them your business and support. You can reach them by clicking on the link to their email. If they have a website, you can reach that by clicking on their business card.
JP & Associates, Realtors
Realtor Located in Austin
Barb Lenhardt with JP and Associates, Realtors
Cell: (512) 820-8210
Office: (972) 836-9295 ext 1418 barblenhardt@gmail.com
Matt Boring
Located in Austin and Houston Website:https://www.texasponds.com/ Austin – (512) 782-8316 Houston – (281) 668-4077
Hill Country Water Gardens
Located in Cedar Park steve@hillcountrygardens.com
1407 N Bell Blvd, Cedar Park, Texas 78613
Phone: (512) 260-5050
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
Water Garden Gems
Located in Marion, Texas
3230 Bolton Road, Marion, TX 78124
Phone:(210) 659-5841
Hours:9:00 am – 5:00 pm
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card You can contact them using this link.
Bamboo Bistro
Located in Austin (Two locations)
Bamboo Bistro 11101 Burnet Rd, Ste A-100
Austin, TX (512) 821-0022
and Bamboo Bistro West Gate
6818 W Gate Blvd,Austin, TX (512) 243-5588
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
Come celebrate the 25th Austin Pond and Garden Tour on June 1 & 2, 2019. The Austin Pond Society is once again sponsoring our charitable tour of spectacular ponds and gardens throughout the greater Austin area. The ponds include some of the classics as well as ponds new to the tour. The tour starts on Saturday, June 1 at Mayfield Park, recipient of a previous tour where the ponds were rejuvenated with the help of the pond society. Explore the ponds at your leisure, talk with the owners and be inspired.
Tickets for the tour will be available from this website on April 1. Earlybird prices are $20, a savings of $5 over the tickets bought on the tour days. Groups of 15 or more can get their tickets for $15.
We still need a few ponds for the tour. If you are interested in putting your pond on the tour, please submit the form that can be found here
Part of the Library available for our Members to check out. Our Librarian is Holly Hargraves and she can be reached at librarian@austinpondsociety.org
The Austin Pond Society held their first meeting of the year this past Monday Jan 21, 2019 at the usual place, Zilker Botanical Gardens here in Austin, Texas. This Society has been in existence since 1993 catering to the interests of many of the Pond enthusiasts in the Austin area..
The one position that is still vacant after the recent Board changes is that of Hospitality which is responsible for providing the group with the light meal at the start the meeting. In lieu of this, we settled for pizza from one of our Sponsors, Jet’s Pizza with the membership providing salads and deserts. As usual, the pizza was delicious and although I don’t eat pizza very often, I grabbed two large slices this time around.
I counted 28 members there which included the new Board, a little less than what we hoped for. Some of this was due to our scheduled Speaker, Katie Boyer from the US Fish and Wildlife Services unable to show due to the Government shutdown. In her place, BJ Jenkins, our Programs and Special Events Coordinator put together a contest. This consisted of the logos from the different Pond Tours for the past 16 years each sub titled with the year which in turn had to be linked to specific statements. At the end of the contest, the winners were Glen Hubenthal and Mary Word who had paired up to work together as the contest was designed for pairs.
Thanks to BJ and all of the other people involved for all of their work on gathering together these 16 Logos. Many are from actual tee shirts, 2008 for example.
Having fun at the Logo Contest. The entry screen should read 2019….
Following the contest, there was a short Q&A from members who had a couple of pond questions. Many people had differing views on advice offered to resolve the questions which made for interesting listening. We heard the sad story of a member who left the hose running while topping up his pond resulting in the death of all of his fish due to the chlorine in the water. This sparked off a discussion regarding the varying amounts of chlorine that the City uses especially during times of drought. Unfortunately, almost everyone early in their ponding careers learns this lesson the hard way. I suggested that pond owners should attach a water timer between the faucet and the hose as they are reasonably cheap at Home Depot or Lowes generally costing less than $20.00.
Ted Paone and BJ Jenkins with Andy Filtness
Ted Paone is the Pond Tour Chairman for this years Tour. He graciously offered to perform this duty for a third time having had this role for both the 2016 and 2017 Tours. He outlined the need for additional volunteers on the Pond Tour Committee. The plan is to have 6-7 ponds each day, North and South and he is still looking for ponds to show.
There was no real business other than the urgent need for a Hospitality volunteer. There was a brief discussion of the upcoming meetings and then Madam President, Barb Lenhardt called the meeting to a close.
The Business section of the meeting.
Pictures of the meeting to music
The next meeting will be on Monday February 18 at the usual place and time, Zilker Botanical Gardens at 6:30. The scheduled Speaker is Cindy Cassidy from the Texas Night Sky Festival and her subject will be Night Skies and Light Pollution. Hope to see you there.
With the rewriting of the ByLaws this year,the makeup of the Board has changed a little as positions have been moved around or removed. Under the Revised ByLaws, the Board is made up of three Officers, President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Parliamentarian position has been eliminated and the President can appoint one as needed.. The revised ByLaws allow for up to six Directors with the Board having the ability to decide on an annual basis, which Directors to appoint for the upcoming year. The positions selected for 2019 are as follows: Membership, Programs and Special Events, Public Relations, Pond Tour Director, Historian/Photographer/AKCA Rep and a new position named Sponsors. There are currently three Volunteer positions, Hospitality, Webmaster and Librarian. These are appointed positions and are non voting. Neither are they required to attend the Board Meetings. Note: Board Meetings are held the second Monday of the Month at Zilker Gardens Meeting Room. Any registered Member or non member can attend.
OFFICERS
Proposed Board for 2019
The Committee led by Nancy Reinert did a wonderful job of finding new and returning members for the Board for this upcoming year,2019.They are all listed below after having been ratified at the last meeting on October 15.
Nancy Hall has graciously chosen to run again as our Publicity person. She post articles on Facebook and other publications around town of important events. publicity@austinpondsociety.org
Margaret Boeneke has switched from Librarian to Membership and is bringing our Membership system into the 21st Century membership@austinpondsociety.org
Historian/Photos,AKCA Rep – Glen Hubenthal
Glen Hubenthal is continuing on in his role as the Official Photographer and Historian for the Association historian@austinpondsociety.org
VOLUNTEERS. These are appointed positions
Hospitality – Vacant
This person is the most popular person in the club as they provide us with the delicious food every month. hospitality@austinpondsociety.org
Listed are the dates for both the Board Meetings and the Members General Meetings. There are no meetings in December. All meetings start at 6:30 pm and all are held at Zilker Botanical Gardens
BOARD MEMBERS ONLY MEETING DATES.
The dates below are to remind the Board when their Meetings are for 2019
All held at the Zilker Botanical Gardens Clubhouse, starting at 7:00 pm
For public meetings, see the list below or check the front page. Monday – Jan 14 Monday – February 11 Monday – March 11 Monday – April 8 Monday – May 13 Monday – June 10 Monday – July 8 Monday – August 12 Monday – September 9 Monday – October 14 Monday – November 11 No Meeting in December
Monday – Jan 21 Monday – February 18 Monday – March 18 Monday – April 15 Monday – May 20 Monday – June 17 Monday – July 15 Monday – August 19 Monday – September 16 Monday – October 21 Monday – November 18
Member Holiday/Christmas Party
No Meeting in December
DISCLAIMER: While the information contained in this newsletter was carefully collected and compiled to be as accurate as possible, there are no expressed or implied warranties that the information contained herein, including paid advertisements, is correct, of any value, or suitable for any purpose. If you use this information in any way, you assume full responsibility for the results of your actions. In no event will the author or others be liable for any results or the lack thereof.
The outgoing President, Jeannie Ferrier on the left with the incoming President Barb Lenhardt
Another month, another meeting of the Austin Pond Society held at the usual place, the Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin, Texas. As usual, we were treated to a meal provided by our Hospitality person, Steven. He is one of those who is giving up his volunteer position at the end of the year and we thank him for his contributions to the cause. Tonight, his offerings were corn dogs with deserts provided by the members. As I am not into corn dogs, I made do with several cookies to satisfy my sweet tooth.
Due to the bad weather, our numbers were down by quite a bit and I counted only 22 people in attendance. We started off with Barb introducing our speaker, Alex Rabadan, a local pond builder whose company is named Oasis Water Features and Landscaping. He held a question and answer session which kept everyone occupied for 30 minutes or so.
Alex Rabadan, Oasis Water Features and Landscaping.
This was followed by Steven Monfrini, acting in the absence of the chairperson Nancy Reinert, to announce the new Board members for 2019. All the positions were filled and required a vote from the Membership to appoint them which passed without dissent. To review the new Board who will take office January 1st, 2019, use this link.
This was the only major piece of business for this evening and with a little more discussion about other minor items, the meeting came to a close.
The next meeting to be held on November 19 at the same location, will be our Christmas End of the Year Party. Blue Santa will again be in attendance so we are asking all of our members to bring a small gift preferably in the 12-14 year age bracket for the kids in Austin who do not receive much on Christmas morning. The theme this year will be Mexican and the food will also reflect the theme. Members can still bring along desserts or their contribution to the Mexican main meal. We are hoping for a Mariachi Band from one of the local high schools but that is not yet confirmed. Keep looking for more on this and we hope to see you there.
This will be the last meeting for the year as we do not meet in December.
True to form as September 17th rolled around so did the Austin Pond Society monthly meeting held at the usual place, Zilker Botanical Gardens Clubhouse. There were about 34 people in attendance plus several of the Sponsors as this meeting was dedicated to them to give everyone a chance to meet them in person.
John from Jet’s Pizza with Steven Monfrini
The evening started with a light meal in the form of Pizza with all of the fixins delivered by the owner John. Member’s brought deserts as they usually do which I for one am very grateful. About the only time I eat deserts is once every month at the Austin Pond Society Meetings.
Following the meal, the Business section of the meeting started with the President Jeannie, going around the room and taking comments and questions. The high spot of the evening apart from the opportunity of meeting the Sponsors, was the announcement and presentation of a list of names compiled by the Nomination Committee ably led by Nancy Reinert for the 2019 Board of Directors. Much to everyone’s surprise, this Committee had managed to find willing people to serve in all of the vacant positions which included, President, Treasurer and Pond Tour Chairman, the three most difficult positions to fill. There was some shuffling around as people switched positions but in the end, all of the Officers and Directors positions had nominees. These need to be ratified which will happen by the Membership at the next meeting in November. None of these nominees are cast in stone and if there are any other candidates willing to run at that meeting, then the positions will be decided by a vote of the membership. There are still two other outstanding positions that are classified as Volunteers meaning that they do not have to attend Board Meetings and neither do they get a vote if they do choose to attend. Those positions are Hospitality and Librarian. The Hospitality position is the most popular person in the Club as that person is the one that feeds us every month. The other vacant position is the Librarian who brings the books and maintains the records of those that are loaned out. If any of you are interested in either of these positions, contact Nancy Reinert at parliamentarian@austinpondsociety.org
Time was given to mix with the Sponsors to see what they had to offer and ask questions about their products. My favorite was Barb Lenhardt who is a Realtor as she had the best chocolates. Actually, the Sponsors who were in attendance or had representation at a table were as follows, the aforementioned Barb Lenhardt, Realtor, Water Garden Gems from Marion who brought several goodies that they offered for sale, Taylormade who builds ponds and Kirk Perry with Perry Aerial Photography. Both Jet’s Pizza and Bamboo Bistro had tables but were not in attendance due to the calls of business.
The meeting finally came to a close with the business out of the way as it was time to turn attention to the other important part of the evening namely the judging of the pictures that will go into the Calendar. As Calendar sales have been dropping off with the advent of the internet and cell phones, this item will eventually go the way of the DoDo even though the Photo Contest will remain as an integral part of the organization with the pictures getting posted on the website, the modern way of showing off prints. There were a lot of pictures on display split into four different categories, fish, ponds and pond features, wildlife and pond plants. The participants were each given four stickies with a number that they affixed to each of their pictures. The voters wrote down their selection by number and the votes were tallied up and the winners announced. These winning pictures will all go into the Calendar and will be posted on the website usually as the heading picture for the month. This is always a very popular occurrence every year and regardless of the Calendar survival, will continue as an integral part of the Austin Pond Society.
Jeannie thanked everyone for attending including the Sponsors and for making the evening a huge success and called the meeting to a close. The next meeting is October 15 at the same place and the Speaker will be Alex Rabadan, Owner of Oasis Water Features & Landscaping (512-630-6786). Alex offers services such as Pond Installations & Monthly or Yearly pond & water garden maintenance.
This will be the last real meeting of the year as the November Meeting is dedicated to having fun and partying.
With the rewriting of the ByLaws this year,the makeup of the Board has changed a little as positions have been moved around or removed. Under the Revised ByLaws, the Board is made up of three Officers, President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Parliamentarian position has been eliminated and the President can appoint one as needed.. The revised ByLaws allow for up to six Directors with the Board having the ability to decide on an annual basis, which Directors to appoint for the upcoming year. The positions selected for 2019 are as follows: Membership, Programs and Special Events, Public Relations, Pond Tour Director, Historian/Photographer/AKCA Rep and a new position named Sponsors. There are currently three Volunteer positions, Hospitality, Webmaster and Librarian. These are appointed positions and are non voting. Neither are they required to attend the Board Meetings. Note: Board Meetings are held the second Monday of the Month at Zilker Gardens Meeting Room. Any registered Member or non member can attend.
OFFICERS
Proposed Board for 2019
The Committee led by Nancy Reinert did a wonderful job of finding new and returning members for the Board for this upcoming year,2019.They are all listed below after having been ratified at the last meeting on October 15.
Secretary – Julienne Smith
Julienne Smith is the current Secretary and has been for the past eight years. .
BJ Jenkins is returning as Programs/Special Events person after a couple of year hiatus.
programs@austinpondsociety.org
Historian/Photos,AKCA Rep – Glen Hubenthal
Glen Hubenthal is continuing on in his role as the Official Photographer and Historian for the Association .
historian@austinpondsociety.org
Director at Large – Cat Bilberry
Cat Bilberry. This is a new position and its prime purpose is to locate new Sponsors
sponsors@austinpondsociety.org
Publicity – Nancy Hall
Nancy Hall has graciously chosen to run again as our Publicity person. She post articles on Facebook and other publications around town of important events.
publicity@austinpondsociety.org
Membership – Margaret Boeneke
Margaret Boeneke has switched from Librarian to Membership and is attempting to bring our Membership system into the 21st Century with the introduction of a new software system.
membership@austinpondsociety.org
Pond Tour Chairman – Ted Paone
Ted Paone, veteran of the 2015 and 2016 Tours returns for another go.
pondtour@austinpondsociety.org
VOLUNTEERS. These are appointed positions
Hospitality – Vacant
This person is the most popular person in the club as they provide us with the delicious food every month.
Webmaster – Francis Allcorn
Frank has consented to carry on at least for one more year…
Librarian – Holly Hargraves
Welcome to Holly Hargraves who will be in charge of the Library at the meetings
Looking for a new home or want to sell your old one. Contact Barb Lenhardt and she will help you find the home of your dreams.You can reach her by phone at (512) 820-8210 or by email at barblenhardt@gmail.com.
You can reach her website here or click on the Business Card above..
8405 Siskin Cove – Click on the picture for a link to the slide-show
186 Trail Rider Way – This beautiful house is for lease. Click on the picture for a link to the slide show.
THESE HOUSES WERE RECENTLY SOLD.
Deborah Drive – Just Sold
503 Swanee – Just Sold
The map above represents all of the properties that Barb Lenhardt has recently sold. If you are looking to sell your property or are in the market for a new house, please contact her at (512) 820-8210 or barblenhardt@gmail.com
TESTIMONIALS
KRISTINA & HUEY
She did a great job !
• On a 1-10 scale ~ ” She was awesome! I would give her a 20 if I could. She 100% was above and beyond, patient, professional. She always made me feel like everything was under control. It was great working with her ! “
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
KRISTINA & HUEY
She was awesome !
TIMOTHY
5 STARS!
Local knowledge: 5 stars; a great resource
Process expertise: 5 stars; helped us along every step of the way.
Responsiveness: 5 stars; always available.
Negotiation skills: 5 stars
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
TIMOTHY S.
5 Stars!
CHASITY & GAINES
“Barb was on top of everything quickly. Our house sold in 4 days”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
CHASITY & GAINES
Sold in 4 days!
EILEEN & JERRY
I would give her a 13
“I would give her a 13! She is the best realtor I have probably ever worked with. I even went on Facebook to tell the whole world how wonderful she is. She went above and beyond and way always positive. She met with us day and night. She just did everything she could to make it a positive experience. ” E & J
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
EILEEN & JERRY
I would give her a 13.
Lou Cuneo
Barbara has been a close family friend for about 10 year now and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to patiently help my family with Real Estate needs. I have been considering selling or leasing my condo to buy a bigger home for my growing family. This has been a long process and Barbara has never rushed me or tried to move the process along faster. As a salesperson myself, there is nothing I dislike more than a pushy salesperson with their own agenda as priority. Barbara has been very patient and understanding throughout this long decision process. I would highly recommend Barbara to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, patient, and caring professional.
We had tried to sell our home before and she sold it in four days. She also helped with the purchase of our home and we basically only had 15 days to find a new place. We looked at the home the day it went on the market and we able to get it although there were others interested. She did a great job.” L & K
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
LYNDSEY & KEVIN
She did a great job!
John from Jet’s Pizza with Steven Monfrini
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