HometownGeorgetown.com

From a press release submitted by the Palace Theatre: The Georgetown Palace Theatre Guild, in cooperation with the Palace Theatre in Historic Georgetown presents: A Night On The Red Carpet, a Gala Event. This special performance is one night only and features Palace favorites such as Joe Penrod, Rick Felkins, Cliff Butler, Wendy Zavaleta, Patty Rowell, Cathie Sheridan and other special guest artists. This one night only event features songs from such Classics as South Pacific, Cabaret and Annie, and Palace choreographer Jessica Kelpsch rounds out the evening with beautiful choreography to pluck the heartstrings. Join us for a night of song and dance that will leave you wanting more.

The Gala Event is open to the public Saturday, June 6th with a 7:30pm Curtain.

Tickets for this exclusive event are $10.00 for all seats. The Palace seats about 295, with reserved seating paid for in your ticket price. The Palace office in the lobby of the theatre is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. for your convenience. Purchase tickets and select seating on-line at www.thegeorgetownpalace.org or by calling 512-869-7469 or 512-869-5081. Visa and Master Card are accepted.

The Palace Theatre is located at 810 South Austin Avenue in Historic Georgetown, just a half-block off the Square.

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.

Matt Bertling, owner and chief instructor at Bertling’s ATA martial arts studio on Williams Drive in Georgetown, TX, announced at our networking group today that he’s hosting a child safety event on May 9 at 11 a.m. at Forbes Middle School. This event, Kids ‘N Power, is free to the public. Kids will learn about stranger dangers and some simple self-defense techniques that could mean the difference between abduction and escape. This is vital information that every kid should have. In addition, representatives from the Georgetown Police and Fire Departments will be on hand to help educate the kids about what they should know to stay safe.

Every child will leave with a fingerprint kit, dental records, DNA swabs, hair follicle samples, Child ID cards including a photograph… and it’s all completely free! If you have kids, I hope you’ll plan on attending this very valuable day.

Let’s start with facts, and then I’ll let myself rave at will. Mama Fu’s Asian House at Wolf Ranch Mall in Georgetown opens to the public today. At lunchtime, they’ll offer counter service so you can get in and out quickly. At dinner, a waiter or waitress will come to your table to take your order. The atmosphere is casual, so come as you are. The Georgetown location does deliver, and I called the restaurant today to verify that they are already offering delivery. I spoke with Randy Murphy, the President and CEO of Mama Fu’s, and he said he’s been surprised by the number of people who have asked them if they’re going to deliver here in Georgetown. They’re trying to decide on what delivery areas make sense for them, but Randy did feel that they might deliver to some neighborhoods that weren’t all that close to the Mama Fu’s location. (I’m guessing that means Sun City Texas, but Randy didn’t specify.)

You can order for pickup or delivery online at www.mamafusonline.com. Check out the Mama Fu’s menu. The online menu doesn’t show their prices, but they were pretty reasonable. Looks to me like there will be a $5 delivery charge, and don’t forget to tip your driver!

Okay, and now for my raving…

I am so lucky! I write the articles on HometownGeorgetown.com as a hobby, basically. Sure, it serves as an online writing sample for clients who may be looking for freelance writing services, but really, I write the articles in HometownGeorgetown.com simply because I’m so enthusiastic about Georgetown, Texas.

So when something nice comes my way because of my hobby, I feel really tickled. Last week, I received an email from the folks at Mama Fu’s because of the article I wrote about them recently. They were inviting me to their preview event this past weekend. My husband, our neighbor, and I went Friday night, and we had a wonderful time! The food was everything I’d hoped it would be.

Because the goal of the preview event is to train the waitstaff and the kitchen staff, we were asked to make sure that everyone at the table ordered a variety of items from the menu. At our table, we started with the lettuce wraps and dumplings. Both were excellent. I could have happily made a meal out of the lettuce wraps. The lettuce was crisp and fresh. In fact, everything is fresh. The produce is delivered daily, and the food is cooked to order, so you won’t have any of that too-long-on-the-buffet Chinese style food here. For our entrees, we had Vietnamese crunchy noodles with shrimp, Thai cashew stir fry with chicken and fried rice, and Thai basil with beef. (Each entree comes with your choice of meat or tofu.) And then we all shared each of them. Yum! The Thai basil was ranked as “whoa, mama!” on the menu’s spice meter. The other two items were very mild, and the wait staff can help you choose something that won’t burn your tongue (or something that will burn it just right.) The wine we ordered hit the spot, too.

If you haven’t tried Vietnamese or Thai food before, don’t let that stop you from venturing into Mama Fu’s. If you like Chinese restaurants, you’ll like Mama Fu’s. Try it once, and I guarantee you’ll return. If you already have eaten at Mama Fu’s, whether in Georgetown or elsewhere, please post a comment on this article.