Saturday with Santa
Saturday with Santa was a huge hit at Austin Christian Fellowship on Dec. 10. Santa and his elves were hard at work along with a juggler and balloon twister who entertained the crowd. There was a hot chocolate bar and coffee and donuts as well as crafts and a place to write Santa letters.
A shy Sophie Stevens gives her wish list to Santa.
Balloon artist, Jack Byrd, crafts a Christmas rose Claire Washington.
Santa’s helper Blakely Vollmer works the crowds at Saturday with Santa. She adds that for Christmas she would like funds for a mission trip to Guatemala.
Sloane Thomen and her mother, Shae, work on her letter to Santa.
Elissa Kanatzar helps her son, Grant, write a letter to Santa.
Santa’s helpers (L-R front) McLendon Hall and Jennifer Stewart and (back) Hunter Parks and Talen Rose help keep things in order for Santa.
Elfin greeters – Skylar Cheatham and Jordan Hill at Saturday with Santa at ACF.
Jasmine Elizondo had her face painted and picked up a Christmas rose.
Balloon artist, Jack Byrd, fashions a sword for Henry Smetana.
Even as he reviews their lists one-on-one, children still fill Santa’s mailbox.
Patrick Moxon keeps a friendly distance from Christmas’ biggest and bearded elf.
Juggler, Taylor Griswold, has this little one’s full attention.
Travis County had a new pedestrian hybrid beacon installed last week at N. Quinlan Park Road and Canyon Glen Drive. This illustrates how it works.
18,839 vehicle crossings a day
By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News
A new pedestrian traffic signal has been installed at 4001 N Quinlan Park Rd. at Steiner Ranch Elementary — one of the busiest school crosswalks in Travis County.
“This is one of our busiest school crosswalks in Travis County,” said David Greear, Travis County – Transportation and Natural Resources engineering division manager and a local resident. “The crossing guards are having a hard time with so many vehicles and (drivers) not listening and not obeying (crossing guards).”
Homeward bound: Viper community connects lost dog to owners
“Simon Viper” — a deaf and blind, 16-year-old dog — was found by Vandegrift photography students and rescued by a Viper mom before being reunited with his family.
By LINNEA KENNEDY
Vandegrift Voice
Wandering alone through the forest at night is scary enough for a dog, but especially so for Simon, who isn’t an ordinary pup. Simon is deaf and blind, meaning that when he wandered away from his family on a camping trip over Thanksgiving, he was unable to hear their calls and find his way back. Simon was found on the Vandegrift campus on Nov. 28 in a drainage ditch when a photography class stumbled upon him.
“Evidently, the cross country team saw the dog and they thought it was injured on Monday,” said Tara Stewart, assistant principal at VHS. “Animal control was called out, but they didn’t find any dog. Then on Tuesday (Nov. 29), a photography class went out to take pictures and they saw the dog, so a couple of people came up to the office and because when I hear ‘dog’ I come running, I went out there with them. I have two rescue dogs of my own – one with only three legs – at home.”
Steiner Ranch draws many new residents from out of state
By CASSIE MCKEE
FOUR POINTS NEWS
With the Austin region attracting 157 new residents per day, Steiner Ranch continues to gain nationwide recognition as one of the top neighborhoods for newcomers.
Movoto, an online real estate brokerage firm based in San Mateo, Calif., recently named Steiner Ranch as one of the “Six Austin Suburbs to Satisfy Your Moving Must-Haves.”
The September blog post said Steiner Ranch is the “Best Suburb to Scale Up,” thanks to its high-end amenities including golf clubs, leafy neighborhood parks and newly-built schools.
Rebecca Williamson of Austin-based ElevenOaks Realty said that Steiner Ranch has been one of the most popular neighborhoods in Austin for years.