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Starlight Success
The 2009 Maudie's Tex-Mex Moonlight Margarita Run
Photo by Kreutz Photography.
Thanks for helping make the 2009 Moonlight Margarita Run
(MMR) fundraiser a huge success! Despite the
101-degree heat, we enjoyed a great turnout at the run and annual gala. Reserved tables gave our guests an
opportunity to bring friends, coworkers, and running buddies together for a
night of fun and community.
Partiers had a great time sipping margaritas, eating fajitas, and
celebrating the Trail.
Congratulations to Derek Yorek and and Catherine Barrera,
the overall male and female 5k winners!
We're delighted too, to announce that the event has
officially "gone green," -- from becoming Austin's first-ever race to offer a
100-percent electronic race packet, to recycling our paper and plastics prior
to and during the gala, and finally, to offering participants the option to
purchase carbon offsets at race registration. In fact, MMR participants purchased 13 Megawatt hours (MWh's)
of renewable energy through carbon offsets, which has roughly the equivalent impact
as recycling more than 44,500 aluminum cans and is like removing some 18,100
lbs of CO2 from the atmosphere (the equivalent of not driving your car 20,000-plus
miles).
Thank you once again to our sponsors who joined us to make
the Trail's annual event such a success:
Maudie's Tex-Mex, Freescale Semiconductor, Maxwell Locke & Ritter,
Roger Beasley Mazda Auto Group, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, RunTex, Greenberg
Traurig, Whole Foods Market, Granite Ranch Events, LCRA, Goodwill Staffing
Services, 96.7 KISS FM, Mediterranean Resources LLC, Community Impact, 98.1
KVET FM, Texas Gas Service, Plains Capital Bank, News8 Austin.
See the race results here. View pictures by Kreutz Photography here.
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| Heads Up: Put Your Thinking Caps On
TTF is embarking upon a major renovation at the
Johnson Creek (North MoPac) Stretching Area. This renovation will
dramatically transform this critical trailhead with an expanded stretching and
exercise area, a public restroom facility, drinking fountains, new native plant
landscaping and retaining walls.
In September we will begin gathering input from Trail Foundation members and
other Trail users. We will reach out to key stakeholders as well provide
you the opportunity to take an online survey about the project to help us
determine its scope. We will also post information signs at the area to keep
the community informed about any suggested renovations. If you know of a user group that should
be contacted, please email us at renovation@thetrailfoundation.org.
We strongly desire and encourage community participation in this process.
The Johnson Creek Stretching
Area is the most used trailhead at the Trail and sets the tone for many of your
Trail experiences. It can and should be improved. Your feedback is important to us and
will help us better design the space to meet your recreational needs and enhance
its natural surroundings. Please keep an eye out for the survey via email in the near future!
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TTF Supporter Turns Clunker into Cash for the Trail
And so can you - learn more.
 Lino Mendiola and his wife Kelly have been TTF supporters since 2005. Lino is a partner at the downtown law firm Andrews Kurth LLP, and has been an active Trail user for 15 years. After a minor accident, Lino decided to donate his car to help the Trail. We asked Lino why he loves the Trail and about his donation experience. Click here to read the entire interview.
TTF: How long have you been using the Trail?
Lino: I've been using the Trail regularly since I moved to Austin in 1994. I remember jogging with my daughter around the Trail in a babyjogger when she was 3. Now she is heading off to college. She learned to run and bike on the Trail. My favorite memories of the Trail are running with a group of friends we facetiously called the "Allstars." It was an ad hoc group of folks that met for 5:30 a.m. runs around the 7-mile loop on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Now I'm doing more running on the greenbelt, but my wife is now training for her first marathon and she runs the Trail a few days a week.
TTF: Why did you choose The Trail Foundation to benefit from your car donation?
Lino: I thought about donating the car to several different charities. I thought about some of the causes that I care a lot about, and I realized that the Trail is something that someone in our family uses nearly every day, and we don't really do enough to give back to the Trail. This seemed like an easy way to make a small contribution to something I care quite a bit about.
TTF: Lino, thank you for sharing your story with us!
The Trail Foundation can accept your car donation immediately. The process is simple, and we take care of all of the details! Click here for more information about this program.
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| Trail Highlight
 This desert willow, planted as part of our Healthy Trees for the Trail program this spring, is blooming in this unrelenting heat at the bottom of the ramp down from the Esplanade. Known pollinators of the desert willow include hummingbirds and bees which are attracted by the flowers' rich nectar. TTF will continue to plant carefully selected native trees to attract birds and other wildlife and enhance the Trail experience.
Thank you to the Travis Audubon Society for helping TTF select beneficial habitat plants for this project.
Photo by Carol Phillips
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Recycle Your Mobil Phone and Help TTF
Donating your cell phone to TTF is a great way to recycle your phone and have the proceeds go right back to your Trail! The next time you pick up a new pair of shoes at RunTex, remember to drop off you used cell phones in the TTF Cell Donation boxes at participating locations:
Riverside: 422 W. Riverside Dr.
Lake Austin: 2201 Lake Austin Blvd.
Gateway: 9901 Capital of Texas Hwy.
The Triangle: 4615 N Lamar Blvd. #301
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The Trail Foundation is Social
Join us on Facebook and Twitter! You can also view beautiful user-shot images of our scenic Austin jewel at Flickr. You can also post your own comments and  pictures out on the Trail. We hope to hear from you soon!
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Gardens Available for Adoption
 TTF currently has two gardens available for adoption through the Lady Bird Johnson Adopt-a-Garden Program. The gardens in need of a thoughtful gardener are at Holly Overlook (left) and at the Butler Shores Raised Bed gardens. If you are interested in designing, planting and maintaining a garden on the Trail, please email us!
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Board of Directors | The Trail Foundation
Bill Kerr, President, Kelly Hart and Hallman
Colin Wallis, Vice President, Lance Armstrong Foundation
Jack Collins, Treasurer, Frost Bank
Peter Huff, Secretary, Blue Sage Capital
Dave Andreas, Silicon Laboratories
Corey Blahuta, vcfo
Bill Curra, P.E., KBR
Lynn Currie, Mercury Mambo
Griffin Davis, MarketHardware.com
Mike Elhaj, Simple Power
Asher Flynn, Asher Flynn, Realtors
Lisa E. Huddleson, LEH Philanthropy Advisors
Christopher Kennedy, LCRA
John Loudamy, Pluck Corporation
Brian Ott, TBG Partners
Sarah Russ, Communications Consultant
Stephanie Shoemaker, Maxwell Locke & Ritter
Jim Sud, Whole Foods Market
Margot K. Thomas, Community Activist
Jesse Weiss, Greenberg Traurig
Susan Plettman Rankin, Executive Director | |
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| Quick Links...
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If you are a member of Facebook, become a Fan of TTF.
We are now accepting donations for our Endowment Fund at the Austin Community Foundation. Endowment funds will assure the long-term maintenance of our projects at the Trail. Donate to the Trail Foundation |
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PO Box 5195
Austin, Texas 78763 512.733.3989
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