By MONICA LITTLE
Contributor

Photos by Bill Seitzler, Monica Little

Middle school night was Friday night at the Viper football game where 8th graders, who are in band, dance and football, from Canyon Ridge and Four Points middle schools, were invited to participate with students in the same organizations at Vandegrift.

It is a night the middle school is welcomed to get a glimpse of what is to come. It is a night 8th graders may for the first time dance or perform in front of a full stadium with a packed and spirited student section. A night they can ask a high schooler anything from should I take that AP class to how heavy is that drum? A night for the first time they will trade up their mini tuba for a sousaphone with pride. A night the students of Vandegrift welcomes their brother or sister into their beloved section for just one night.

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Local resident Rodney Reid is a snake wrangler and so far this year, he has removed nearly 150 snakes from the Four Points area like the one shown here.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Brian Jameson found a large rattlesnake in his backyard one evening earlier this month and called snake wrangler Rodney Reid to remove it and relocate and release it.

“He was very calm and handled the situation with professionalism and ensured everyone watching was in a safe place,” said Jameson, of Steiner Ranch.

Just Sunday afternoon, Suzanne Lucas, also of Steiner, found a rattlesnake curled up under her flowers near her front door. She also called Reid to remove it, and that event made his 149th snake removal in the Four Points area since January 1.

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U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Travis Ryan (right) was reenlisted into the Marine Corp by Capt. Christopher White at Vandegrift, because Ryan believes in what the school stands for. Gunnery Sgt. Pichardo was part of the ceremony on Friday night. Photo by Bill Seitzler

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Travis Ryan, the U.S. Marine Corps representative at Vandegrift High School, was reenlisted into the Marine Corp in a pre-game ceremony on Friday at the Viper football game with Capt. Christopher White.

Staff Sgt. Ryan is a Round Rock native and enlisted into the Marine Corps in August of 2005. Since then, he has served his country honorably on four continents and in 15-plus different countries. He has conducted missions that include: humanitarian assistance, non-combatant evacuation operations and combat logistics support.

Over the past couple years, Ryan has been a part of the Vandegrift community as much as many of the faculty and staff. He noticed that this school stands for something greater than itself and has a pride in its namesake Marine Lt. Matthew Vandegrift and its motto “second to none”.

“This school embodies many of the same values of the Marine Corps such as honor, courage, and commitment,” Ryan said.

His time in the Marine Corps was coming to an end so he applied to re-enlist and was approved. He asked to have his re-enlistment ceremony at VHS because he loves the school and what it represents.

The Steiner Ranch Master Association town hall meeting last week was well-attended with 100 residents showing up. More than 20 attendees gave feedback to the divided board.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

About 100 members of the Steiner Ranch community attended the SR Master Association town hall meeting on Sept. 19 at Towne Square. More than 20 residents asked questions or gave feedback to the board about its idea to shift away from its current in-house community management.

This was the second of two town halls. The first one was Sept. 14 with 60 in attendance from the community.

The SRMA board is divided on how the idea to potentially shift the type of community management is being considered, and at the speed that it is being handled.

Many in the community spoke in favor of the HOA being more efficient with the latest technology tools. But many also voiced reservations about the apparent rush to potentially change the way the community is managed when the dust has yet to fully settle from the community shifting from being led by the developer.

The second town hall started with the SRMA president, Naren Chilukuri, going through a PowerPoint presentation which included details from the consultant from Pennsylvania who was hired to give recommendations about how the community should be managed. The consultant recommends a new onsite management model along with integrated software tools.

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