OUR NEW
VICE PRESIDENT SPEAKS

My name is Ron Mattison and I have “volunteered” to serve as Vice President of COVNA. My wife, Karen, our new Austin Neighborhood Council representative, and I have lived on Queenswood for over twenty years and before that lived on Comburg Castleway from 1975 thru 1985.

The news this week about the postal service got us thinking about Ruth. As many of you may remember, Ruth was Castlewood’s mail carrier for many years. Ruth knew Castlewood. Bless her heart; she could keep all the comings and goings of our family straight! No “cheat notes” were written on the inside of our mail boxes during her time. You see, there have been 4 generations of our family receiving mail at 4 Castlewood addresses over 37 years. I know Ruth didn’t deliver to Castlewood for 37 years but she still knew all our life changes and moves. Sadly, she was reassigned a while back so she did not get the chance to deliver our new baby grandson’s birth certificate and bills for his birth last fall.

Ruth meant business when she stopped the mail truck to write a note about tree branches hanging too low or cars and stuff in her way. She could be a little “crusty” but she never was too busy to smile and chat for a few minutes. We frequently had to update her on changes to who was living where. Ruth knew a bunch just by looking at the names on those envelopes. She knew when Karen’s dad died in 2000. She knew what was happening when Karen’s name was added to her mom’s mail. Addresses were changed when our girls went to college and again when they came home. Weddings, births, deaths, retirements and graduations all showed themselves in those mailboxes. Oh well, bureaucracy won and Ruth got transferred and no mail carrier has known us so well. We can’t help but laugh a bit while observing a new mail carrier trying to figure out how to tell the difference between mail for my parents and mail for Karen and me (next door neighbors with the same name). Castlewood and Oak Valley—A GOOD PLACE TO BE A FAMILY and we do miss Ruth.

From many e-mail postings, it seems that crime is a primary concern for our neighborhood. We have Neighborhood Watch signs posted as you drive into the neighborhood, but signs are just a passive deterrent. Please help keep the COVNA neighborhood safe and family-friendly by joining COVNA ($10), by joining the discussions at our COVNA meetings and e-mails, and by getting to know your neighbors. COVNA is the active problem-solving organization for our neighborhood. We’re pretty good at being a social connection as well!

CRIME STATS

BARTON SPRINGS/EDWARDS AQUIFER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
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