Survey says: Community Answers

This has been one of those be careful what you ask for weeks. We asked our readers what they wanted and two of the most common responses were for a Visitors Guide and a map showing outa towners where to find the business they are looking for.

Sounds easy if you say it real fast.

But sit down and start listing the business on The Island and think about writing a short summation of each one. To paraphrase Hillary Clinton it takes a village to write a visitors guide. Once I got into it the process was actually fun. It’s surprising how much information you store up from just wandering around The Island talking to people.

The map was another matter. We were a bit overwhelmed at the response we got from business owners. We thought we would kind of do a trial run this time out and get ready for the Memorial Day issue. That plan quickly went by the boards when requests to be included on the map came in by the dozen. We sent it out the door to the printer only after checking it over several times but pretty sure that we’re going to leave somebody off. I apologize in advance to whomever it turns out to be and we’ll fix it next issue in time for the holiday.

Things are looking up

My friend Robert Bob called from Oklahoma the other day to inform me that he had effectively dodged the recent spate of tornados that blew through the square states.

“I just run into the nearest bar,” he said. “Stay away from churches and trailer parks when there are tornados around.

They always hit those but when’s the last time a tornado ever hit
a bar? See what I mean?”

It started me thinking. Literally, before he calledI was just sitting there staring at the wall. But every now and thenwe need to stop and smell the ocean. Yea, literally. It seems the longerI live on The Island the less time I spend at the beach and that justflat out stinks. Isn’t the beach the reason most of us moved here?I like a canal as much as the next fellow but there is nothing as purely relaxing as a day spent at the beach, just sitting there staring at the ocean.

We’re doing all right

And while I was staring at the ocean the other day
I started thinking that I’ve been living on The Island, on and off,
for ten years now. I came to town to work OTB but ended up staying on
The Island. We’ve had our share of ups and downs in that time; we’re
still first in line when it comes to paying taxes and last in line when
it comes to getting some of them spent, but things look like they may
be coming around.

It looks like we’re finally getting some traction
with the city and the county, initially due to the Island Political
Action Committee but now through the Island Strategic Planning Committee.
We need infrastructure on The Island of the sort that has already been
funded to the tune of $200 million plus downtown. The way to get it
is by demanding it through political process.

Hopefully the PAC will find its way by the next round
of city elections next year. In the meantime we need to keep The Island
on the OTB political radar. We’ve already seen the results of not
doing that in the past.

OTB

I went OTB the other day and man it was scary. I drove
all the way up Navigation Boulevard and Up along Up River Road. If you
ever wonder what is the engine that drives the OTB local economy just
drive up that way and you’ll see for yourself – it’s the Port
and the refineries.

The amount of investment that has gone into the infrastructure
along the Port is staggering. It ain’t real pretty, but the amount
of money and manpower needed to keep things running is that of a small
country.

Every bar in this town

When I used to work at a refinery there was –
still is – a place called Lou’s Saloon which had been in place
since before Corpus had liquor by the drink. There was a dumbwaiter
that brought drinks from an unseen source on another floor. The place
had three levels to allow more time for people to exit in a hurry if/when
the cops came in one door. My friend from the refinery John Ely went
there after work every day and one day a fellow well into his cups came
in the bottom floor and the bartender refused to serve him. “Go home
buddy, you’re drunk,” he said, and the fellow left.

A few minutes later they heard a noise on the second
level and they looked up to see the same guy leaving over the railing
looking down. “Go home buddy, you’re drunk,” the bartender
said and the guy left again. A few minutes later he appeared way up
on the third level and was again told,” go home buddy, you’re
drunk.”

At that point the drunk leaned out over the rail and
shouted down, “Dang buddy, do you own every bar in this town?”

I met many characters busting bolts on refinery row.