HometownGeorgetown.com

If 100 people will bring just $25 to the Williamson Museum before next Wednesday, November 4, the county will be able to purchase 5,000 additional Christmas lights for the east side of the courthouse. My husband and I will bring in our contribution in the morning. Hope to see you there!

On Wednesday, July 15th, residents and visitors can meet Georgetown artist Nick Ramos at the Georgetown Public Library, where he’ll sell limited edition, signed and numbered prints of his “At the Library” series, created to draw children into the library’s summer programs. 20% of the proceeds will be donated to the library.

The five vibrantly colored banners celebrate the joy of reading with whimsical scenes. In one, a boy is dressed as a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder. “Walk the plank at the library,” it says. In another, a girl examines mysterious footprints with a magnifying glass, under the caption “Get a clue at the library.” The banners will be on display outside the library throughout the summer.

“I was thrilled to create pieces that would attract attention to all the wonderful programs the library offers for free to the community,” Ramos said. “They give so much to everyone in Georgetown, especially to the children.”

The Georgetown Public Library offers summer programs for children of all ages. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in June and July, the library offers storytime, performances, and crafts for young ones. Teens will make their own video games, take an animation workshop, create a zine (a short magazine), and more. All age groups will enjoy summer reading programs with prizes.

The staff and volunteers designed the summer programs to show kids that adventures can be found inside the pages of a book. Nick Ramos captured this idea with the illustrations he created for the library. He hopes that Georgetown children will take pleasure in having his artwork decorating their bedrooms at home, as well.

Prints will be sold for $35 each. As a special promotion, the price will be lowered to $25 each on July 15th only. Ramos will be available from 10 am to 2 pm. After that date, prints can be purchased online at graphismo.etsy.com.

I’m a member of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce here in Georgetown, Texas, and a big fan. Our Chamber may be the most active in Central Texas, second in size only to Austin, and is probably in the running for most active in the state. When I first moved to town and started my business as a real estate agent, I joined the Chamber at the recommendation of my office manager. I had never owned my own business before, so it was a whole new world for me. The staff at the Chamber made me feel immediately welcome, and the Chamber membership proved to be enthusiastic and welcoming. We all work to lift each other up. There’s a true spirit of camaraderie at Chamber events.

The best money I’ve spent on my businesses - first real estate, then freelance writing - has been my Chamber membership. I love attending the monthly Business Network Lunch. My experience in Leadership Georgetown was beyond fabulous. Heck, I even joined the Chamber’s summer bowling league at Mel’s Lone Star Lanes! (Team Eat, Drink, and Be Looney.) Whatever I’ve given to the Chamber has come back a hundredfold in connections, education, and honest to goodness money in my pocket.

Now I can make my status as a Chamber fan official. The Chamber has launched a Facebook page. I’m a fan, and I’d encourage all other Chamber members to become fans, as well.

The City of Georgetown Texas has created a page on Facebook, and I’m a fan. (I really am a fan! We’re so lucky to live in this town.) 533 fans so far. It’s a great way to stay up to date on what’s happening in the city. I’ve asked the city if they can give me a direct link to their Facebook page. If they do, I’ll post it here. Otherwise, just go on Facebook and search for Georgetown Texas.

This afternoon, the city posted a message about the many fire hydrants that have been opened in the middle of the night around town, wasting hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. Horrible! Another hydrant was apparently opened in Katy Crossing last night. The city would like all of us to be on the alert, to help catch the water wasters. Here’s their most recent comment in its entirety:

Our hydrants do come with specialized nuts that require a special wrench to open. This is part of the mystery. They are not, however, tamper-proof though the option for a tamper proof nut is available.

In reference to the Katy Crossing incident, unfortunately yes, more hydrants have been opened and more of our water has been lost, and possibly… Read More damage has been done to the roads below the hydrants because of this water flow. Police, Fire and Georgetown Utility Systems are working together in an effort to detect and respond to any future incidents.

If you notice anything suspicious, such as a sudden unexplained, significant drop in your water pressure late at night, please call GUS dispatch at (512) 930-3555.

So if you’re taking a middle-of-the-night shower and suddenly the water slows to a trickle, wipe that soap out of your eyes and rush to the phone. Just remember: Call GUS!

U.S. News & World Report has named Georgetown Texas one of the 10 Great Places to Retire for Wine-Lovers. One of my favorite ways to spend a special evening with guests is to bring them to Vino 100 Georgetown, a delightful little wine bar at Wolf Ranch Town Center. You can buy wine by the glass or by the bottle, and they often have live music entertainment. Vino 100 also has a black bag wine club that meets monthly. Members get to sample wines, mingle, and then go home with two bottles for their home.

I’m curious about how U.S. News & World Report got some of the facts on their fact sheet about Georgetown. For example, they say that just 32% of our days are sunny. That seems off to me, but maybe I’m wrong. I feel like we have a lot more sunny days than cloudy, but maybe my view is skewed by the current drought. They also say we have .470 square miles of parkland or greenspace. Obviously that number is wayyyy off. That decimal point in the beginning may have been misplaced. 470 square miles, I could believe. We have fantastic parks here in Georgetown, and a lot of them.

Some of the numbers are accurate now but will change soon. (The population change is a given, and articles like this one may bring even more new residents. If you’re looking for a Realtor, email me!) They say we have just one college or university in Williamson County. They’re obviously not counting the Round Rock Higher Education Center, which currently offers undergrad courses from Austin Community College, as well as graduate level courses from Texas State. Nearby, we’ll also soon have a medical school and a nursing school. Who knows what will follow after that.

They also say we have just one sports team in Williamson County. When the Texas Stars start playing hockey in Cedar Park, that number will double.

iKnowWare, a software company based in Georgetown, Texas, has been named one of America’s Most Promising Companies on Forbes.com. “iKnowWare aims to simplify things–and then some–by offering easy-to-use software that allows users access to any data, at any time, from anywhere, even via a smart phone,” Forbes says. According to the iKnowWare website, they also won a 2008 Internet Telephony Product of the Year award for their iKnowMOBILE product, which empowers sales staff and project managers who are away from their desks to access all the information they need from their computers.

Exciting technological advances being made right here in Georgetown!

Local computer guru Kenny Gattis of Mind Crafters Complete Computer Solutions here in Georgetown just wrote to tell me about something very cool. One of our very own middle schoolers - Jadon Mann of Tippit Middle School - is a regional winner in the Doodle 4 Google contest. There are only 10 Middle School regional winners in the entire country! This is big stuff, folks. Jadon has a shot at a $15,000 college scholarship! And if he wins, Georgetown ISD will be awarded $25,000 for the establishment or improvement of a computer lab.

Please forward this link to everyone you know in Central Texas and ask them to vote for Jadon! Go here to vote, then click on the Grades 7-9 tab and vote for Jadon in Region 8.

Today I’m wearing a lovely little “I voted” sticker on my shirt. But since I work from home as a virtual assistant and freelance writer, no one will see my little sticker and thereby be inspired to vote. So I’m writing about it here on HometownGeorgetown.com. Shouting proud and strong:

I voted!

There are two early voting locations in Georgetown, Texas, and you can vote at either one of them through May 5, no matter in which district you live. The first is the Williamson County Annex at 301 SE Inner Loop, and the second is the GISD Central Office Administration building on Lakeway Drive. You can also vote early at the Sun City Social Center on May 4 and May 5.

I live in District 1 in Georgetown. I abstained from voting in the school board election because I don’t have kids in GISD and don’t know enough about the candidates to make an educated choice. (No pun intended.) However, I did vote in the City Council election because this district’s seat is contested, and I researched the candidates. Community Impact’s election guide was a helpful starting point.

Most helpful to me in making my decision was when Ric Spencer introduced himself to me while I was working in the yard… but probably not helpful in the way that he had hoped. Mr. Spencer seems like a very nice man. My husband and I were inclined to like him because he said that he was running because he wanted to give something to the community, even though he was a shy person and felt out of his element. I’m a big proponent of community service, so this spoke to me. But then I asked Mr. Spencer what issues he felt were most important to Georgetown, and he said something along the lines of, “I want to be a true representative of the people, and work on the issues that they feel are important.” That told me nothing. Equally vague was his election literature. He spoke about his background, but he didn’t address any substantive issues. As much as I love Georgetown, we do face some serious issues as a community. Mr. Spencer’s response didn’t tell me whether or not he knew what the issues were, much less whether he had an opinion about how best to address them.

Then a few days later, I read an article in the Williamson County Sun in which Mr. Spencer said he wouldn’t talk to the press until after the May 7 election. His opponent, Patty Eason, was interviewed for the article. Every one of the questions was substantive. Why wouldn’t he answer these questions? I wondered. Why wouldn’t he do everything in his power to get his message out to the people whose support he wants? Not too long after that, an article in the Statesman said Ric Spencer had declined repeated requests for an interview.

I read Patty Eason’s responses to the questions in both articles, and I agreed with a lot of her views on the issues that face Georgetown. For all I know, Ric Spencer doesn’t have any views. I simply have no way of knowing how he feels because he has refused to talk about it publicly.

So in case you haven’t guessed it yet, I voted for Patty Eason. I hope you’ll make your own decision, and that you’ll vote, too. Local elections have incredible impact in our day-to-day lives. Voting early is wonderful. I was in the polling station for all of five minutes. It’s quick and easy.

After a long day of sitting on my butt yesterday (working…writing is a sedentary activity), I took a walk with my husband and our dog. One of the nice things about living in Old Town Georgetown is that you can walk to the square and do a little window shopping. We stopped off at Dos Salsas Mexican restaurant to place an order, and then made a loop around the square while our food was being prepared.

On 8th Street, about in the middle of the block, there’s a new store: Tribal Impressions. The window display reminded me of a lot of the stores in the town were I grew up, Hayward, Wisconsin; it was chock-full of Native American gifts. Gorgeous leather Minnetonka moccasins, Indian sculptures, silver jewelry made with turquoise and bone accents. Very attractive. They also sell terrific belt buckles, T-shirts, and even southwestern cell phone cases.

You can take a photo tour of their store on their website. Or better yet, just head to the square and see for yourself.