Jack Kerouac hovers from the store wall as 263 manager Sarah Hannon and owner Dennis Liddy charm grocery customers with plenty of smiles and personal service.

Dennis Liddy drove past the old Mi Gordi taco stand on Cuernavaca Drive every day going to and from his landscaping projects. The empty place reminded him of a long lost love.

For nearly 20 years off and on starting as a teenager, Liddy had been a food guy, before taking some side steps that eventually landed him his own landscaping business. He spent those two decades in love with flavors, textures and delicious aromas. The lure of that never-forgotten love affair was enough to give him the courage last year to take a life-altering step – he decided to open 263 Restaurant and Provisions, his own upscale celebration of food.

“One day, I just looked at the place and thought – ‘Sunday brunch,’ ” Liddy said. “It was too big for the kind of restaurant I wanted, so I thought we would open up the specialty store we wanted too.’”

Liddy has jumped through quite a few hoops and followed many paths to realize his dream of owning a restaurant.  A year into his vocational agriculture studies at Texas Tech, he set aside his books for a more hands-on learning experience in Alaska.  Landing in Eagle River at the In January 1986, the teenager talked himself into a job at the hardware store by working three days free to prove himself. When summer came, Liddy jumped on an All Alaskan Seafood ship to try his hand at fishing.

“I went to Alaska to find the story of my life,” said 46-year-old Liddy, smiling broadly.   “I wanted to see the Aleutians and the Kodiak Islands. I loved it. You’re out on a ship with people from all over the world – people who are doing just what you are doing.”

After his year in Alaska, Liddy moved to New Mexico to reconnect with his father, who he hadn’t seen since high school. It was in New Mexico that he fell in love with the food business, working with Robbie Day at the San Francisco Street Bar and Grille.

“I wanted to learn how to really cook, and I got very passionate about it,” Liddy said.

Aiming for Austin, he landed a job at the West Lynn Café in the early 1990s. There he learned the delicate nuances of how to treat a vegetable. Liddy went on to become the Sous Chef at the Granite Café for owners Reed and Betsy Clemens. Then he auditioned for world-renowned chef David Tanis and earned a job at the prestigious Café Escalera in Santa Fe.

“At Escalera, I learned about flavors,” he said. “I learned about connecting with food, where it comes from. It was not about combat cooking, it was about the highest quality.”

Back in Austin, Liddy added to his experience with Chef Raymond Tatum at 612 and Emmett Fox at the Bitter End. During his varied restaurant expeditions, he learned about more than food.

“I learned that I didn’t want to run another restaurant for someone else,” he said. “The next one was going to be mine.”

It was while he was pondering the financials of that idea that Liddy’s life was again interrupted. His father asked him to help with a general store he purchased in New Mexico, and he went back to help.

“It was hard to do; I was totally in love with food by then,” he said.

After six years, Liddy decided to head back to Austin and learn the landscaping business from icon and Gardens owner James David, whom he had met in New Mexico. He thought the new line of work would offer more time for family than the restaurant business. After starting a landscaping business of his own, he picked up important new clients and eventual friends, John Paul and Eloise DeJoria.

Eventually, the lure of the food business was too much for Liddy. Earlier this month, he opened 263 Provisions to a waiting and excited crowd. The shop carries everything from fresh organic vegetables to anchovy paste to gluten-free pasta. A cross between a tiny Whole Foods and a neighborhood French grocery, 263 offers food that makes everyday life special.

“I like the vibe of this place,” said Bella Lago resident and author Rich Tyson during a recent stop for coffee. “I’ve been waiting for something like this to show up for years. He has an incredible assortment of healthy foods.”

A woman walked into the store and asked Liddy for a fresh shallot. Beaming, he got one for her. That’s all she bought, an expenditure of 29 cents. Liddy couldn’t have been more excited.

“That’s what we are all about,” he said beaming. “That’s what we are here for.”

Box Info:

263 Restaurant and Provisions

1705 Cuernavaca Drive

The263.com and on Facebook

512-263-7330

Store – now open.

Organic and natural groceries, coffee bar, pastries, sandwiches, beer and wine

Open Seven Days a Week, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Restaurant – opening soon.

Comfort food and daily specials.

Tuesday-Saturday: 5 p.m.- 9 p.m.

Sunday brunch: 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

BELOW: The Liddy family, from left, Dennis, Kate, Bridget, Jude and Jones, showed up in force to welcome morning patrons to the new 263 Provisions and Restaurant on Cuernavaca Tuesday.

Is it close to home? What do they offer? How much does it cost?

We invited local camp operators to tell us about their offerings this summer and put them in one place to help bring a little order to the chaos.

Rowing Dock Summer Camp, 2418 Stratford Drive, Austin. www.rowingdock.com. 512-459-0999.

There’s a reason loyal campers return every year: Rowing Dock Summer Camp is the best water adventure camp in Austin. Located near Zilker Park on Lady Bird Lake, the camp is a source for thrilling, action-packed fun! Camps fill quickly, and organizers advise registering now.

Visit rowingdock.com/summer-camps for more information.

Paddle & Play (third–fifth grades):

Your camper is sure to leave camp smiling and tuckered out. Certified counselors lead new adventures each day. Campers will swim, kayak, hike, play games (including Dragonball), and make great friends. Excursions include kayaking, the Austin Nature Center, Deep Eddy Pool, and much more. Camps run M-F, 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Middle School Multisport (sixth–ninth grades):

Your camper will begin each day with rowing instruction from our certified rowing coaches, followed by swimming, kayaking, hiking, paddle-boarding, volleyball, kickball and much more. Campers will visit Zilker Park, Barton Springs Pool, nearby eateries, and Red Bud Island for Capture the Flag! Camps run M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

High School Multisport (ninth–12th grades):

This camp is for high school students who love the outdoors and want to enhance their rowing skills. Each day begins with rowing instruction for multiple skill levels and team boats, followed by swimming, hiking, paddle-boarding, playing sports and much more. Excursions include kayaking and visiting Barton Springs, Zilker Park, nearby eateries and Redbud Island for Capture the Flag! Camps run M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Umbrella Summer Camp. The camp is offered at Forest Trail Elementary, 1203 Loop 360. To reserve your spot or for questions, contact Lynn Brooks at 327-3770 or creativityumbrella@austin.rr.com.

Cost is $215 which includes snack and supplies:

Invention Dimensions Dates: June 11- 15. Times: 9 a.m.-noon

Calling all inventors. Create your own battery operated motorized invention. Campers will begin by taking apart an electric fan and a motorized toy to see how they work. Using different materials, campers build a toy car, boat, rocket and a Grabber I. At the Toy Zoo, campers explore a wild toy menagerie. For the final project, you’ll reengineer random parts from our Parts Department into your own unique battery operated invention. Team based activities will reinforce creative building skills. If you like working with motors, batteries, switches, PVC, tools, and thinking outside of the box you’ll love this camp! (Previously offered as DI Inventors I) Ages: 8-12

Invention Expansions Dates: July 9-13. Times: 9 a.m.-noon

Inventors ready for new challenges will take apart a candy dispenser and an electric toothbrush to see how they work. You’ll build a catapult, spring-loaded Grabber II and a battery operated Jittery-Bug. At the Toy Zoo, campers explore a wild toy menagerie. For your final project, campers reengineer random parts from our Parts Department and choose motors, springs, PVC and recycled materials to create your unique invention. Team based activities will reinforce your creative building skills. If you like tinkering with tools, messing with motors or inventing with intention you’ll love this camp! (Previously offered as DI Inventors I) Ages: 8-12

Inventions in Play Dates: June 11-15 and July 9-13. Times: 1-4 p.m.

Create a world. Bring it to Life. Join in a fun-filled week of story building, set design, lighting and special effects on a miniature scale. Discover different ways to construct imaginative 3-dimensional model landscapes that pop-up and stand out. Utilize decoupage, paint and novel, messy materials to create your own unique characters and bring them to life. Leave with your newly created world and inhabitants. A different theme each week. Great skill development for anyone interested in creative problem solving and performance. Age 8-12

The following camp is offered at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, 6500 St. Stephen’s Drive, Austin.Cost is $500 (includes lunch, snacks, feast and supplies)

Hero Training Camp: Mythology in Action Dates: June 18-22. Times: Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. -5 p.m.; Friday 2 p.m.-10 p.m. Journey with the heroes of Greek mythology on a five-day adventure to Mount Olympus. With the help and hindrance of the Greek Gods, solve a series of mythological tasks using your skills in archery, rock climbing, ship building, Trojan horse construction, catapult launching and more. Celebrate the journey’s conclusion with a night of feasting, star gazing and magic fit for the gods. This camp offers a special opportunity for kids to experience St. Stephen’s unique resources – pristine, natural environment, facilities including the Observatory and rock climbing wall and faculty who will adapt their specialties to the theme of Greek mythology. Like the ancient Greeks, campers engage with the arts and sciences through their natural world – and have a blast. Ages: Students entering fifth-eighth grade.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Summer Camps. 6500 St. Stephen’s Dr., Austin. sstx.org.

Summer Camp 2012 includes camps for baseball, basketball, classical guitar, field hockey, lacrosse, football, mythology, art, photography, pottery, soccer, strength conditioning, tennis, Texas art project, volleyball and wizardry. Dates and costs vary. Visit sstxcamps.org for complete listings and to register online.

“I have made the decision to retire in order to spend more time with my family and to pursue other interests,” she said. “I have so enjoyed my time in this community and will always consider these years as the pinnacle of my educational career.”

Rawlings came to the Eanes school district to take the WHS helm in 2006 from Clear Lake High School in Houston, where she served as principal for three years. She has 34 years of experience in education and holds a bachelor of arts degree with an emphasis in English and Latin from Texas Tech University, a master of philosophy degree from St. Andrews University in Scotland and a master of education degree from the University of Houston at Clear Lake.

Rawlings is credited with spearheading the nationally acclaimed Westlake Initiative For Innovation pilot program, which put iPads in the hands of juniors and seniors this school year.

“The pilot provided hands-on technology for students and teachers so that instruction was mobile and tailored to the fast-paced environment of high school students,” said Nola Wellman, district superintendent. “As a result, students changed their educational experiences with improved organizational and time management skills, 24-hour access to files and notes and experienced better collaboration opportunities with other students and teachers on assignments.”

Because of the success of the WIFI pilot, the program will be expanded to include all WHS students for the 2012-13 school year, Wellman said. School board members decided Monday that additional tablets will be distributed to middle school and elementary students in phases beginning next year.

The district has begun the process of finding a replacement for Rawlings, Wellman said. District human resources head Lester Wolff attended a WHS Principal’s Coffee Wednesday (after press time) to meet with parents who wanted to contribute input on what they want to see in a new principal for the district’s only high school.

“Linda is an outstanding leader in education, and she will truly be missed,” Wellman said. “For more than six years, she has set a clear vision for Westlake High School, emphasizing a rigorous and relevant education that prepares students with 21st century skills. Her leadership has brought prestige and accolades to Westlake and to Eanes ISD on a local, state and national level.”
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Visit eanesisd.net/communityeducation/camps/teanestime for registration details or more information.
We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Susan Dawson of E3 Alliance summarizes community dialogues at an Eanes school board meeting Monday.

Eanes school board members swore in new board member Mike Frost and continuing board member Kal Kallison at a special meeting Monday night and designated Kallison president, Rob Hargett vice president and Colleen Jones secretary for the coming year.

The meeting began with a report by Susan Dawson from the E3 Alliance on the recent community dialogues organized by E3 and local parents. The organization has compiled a 90-page report that captures ideas brought fourth during the community meetings. The meetings were developed to allow parents, students, educators and other local community members to identify what they believe needs to be done to successfully prepare local students for the future.

“This is a very powerful process, a very important process,” Dawson said. “We hope and believe the information you will get out of the report will be useful in taking the school district forward.”

A final report should be available in about two weeks, said John Havenstrite, one of the local parents who helped organize the discussion.

Dawson identified eight key ideas on future education that came from the community dialogues:

• Relevance to the future is key in curriculum choices;
• Foundational skills for the workplace are important;
• The surrounding community should be involved in education and supporting students;
• Academic rigor needs to be balanced with a more holistic approach to education;
• There need to be opportunities for all students;
• The district should look at new methods of assessing and measuring the right elements of education;
• Needed support and resources should be identified and the proper integration of academics; and
• Soft skills should be accomplished to make learning fun and help foster innovation.

Board members discussed options for incorporating the ideas coming from the community meetings into the district’s long range master plan, including the option of hiring an outside expert to work with the information. Kallison said that the board planned to involve the community in the process.

The board approved a phased-in elementary and middle school technology pilot plan that would use $1.1 million of bond money for a  the purchase of iPads and an additional $537,574 for the purchase of Dell desktop and laptop computers.

“I think this has been a good process in talking back and forth with where we want to go,” Wellman said. “We had an ‘Aha’ moment several years ago, realizing the importance technology was going to play in our classrooms.”

The phase-in program would equip all students in two grade levels at each elementary school with iPads. The grade levels that receive the tablets at each school will be chosen by campus technology teams.  Both district middle schools will receive iPads for eighth grades next year. The district will distribute a few extra tablets to each middle school for classroom use. Again, those classrooms will be selected by campus technology staff.

The district is waiting to see how textbook companies will eventually decide to provide their information online.

“The textbook companies are in business to make money,” Wellman said. “They are trying to figure out how they are going to do that.”

Digital textbooks are a given for the future, said Kevin Schwartz, district director of technology services.

“We’ve gotten rid of that backpack, and it’s a better richer device,” Schwartz said.

In 2011, voters approved $15.3 million in bond money for the purchase of district technology. Including the new $1.6 million expenditure approved by the board Monday, the district has purchased $4.1 million in computers and tablets. New infrastructure and other technology costs have brought the total district use of bond money to $7.1 million, leaving $8.2 million for future technology purchases.

Wellman said she may be bringing a request for more iPads to extend the elementary and middle school pilot program into additional grade levels as early as October of this year.

“I see our students being interested in their own individual projects, learning and interests,” Wellman said. “This device marries that individualized interest with education; it moves that whole transition of education forward. This device facilitates that.”

Kallison said the phased approach would allow students who receive the tablets next year to demonstrate the benefit to parents and teachers and allow the district to learn things rather than go all the way with purchases in one step.

“I think this is a very rational approach,” he said. “There are some parents that did voice some pretty significant opposition to a complete one-to-one roll out. It’s still not 100 percent across the board in terms of complete acceptance of a device they are not completely comfortable with.”

District head of business services Larry Keiser told board members the Chapter 41 recapture payment to the state would be approximately $1 million higher, around $54.3 million, next year due to higher than expected property values and thus anticipated higher tax collections. In the last few years, budgeted amounts for general fund balance withdrawals to balance deficit budgets have been overstated. Fund balance pulls will likely be closer to budget in the future, due to increasing costs, state-mandated frozen revenues and tighter budgets, Keiser said.

Board members nominated Wellman for the Texas Association of School Boards Superintendent of the Year Award, eliciting applause from the audience. The honor is awarded based on outstanding achievement and excellence in public school administration.

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Moore had 361 votes to Weingarten’s 236. Moore will join council newcomer Taylor Holcomb, who ran unopposed for the Place 2 seat, on the dais later this month.

Councilman Earl Broussard did not seek re-election to the Place 5 seat that he was appointed to last year following the resignation of Davin Fillpot, who left to take a job with the city.

The bond passed with 475 votes, 91 percent of the total vote.

City officials estimate the purchase of the system will save the city about $100,000 a year in maintenance and operations costs and financing costs.

Hutson, who will be serving her second term on council, had the most votes at 323 and 34 percent of the overall vote. Bain had 282 votes and 30 percent of the vote.

Pam Opiela had 180 votes and 19 percent of the vote. Mark Welker had 154 votes and 16 percent of the vote.

With Alderman Barry Bone’ victory in the mayoral election on Saturday, his at-large City Council seat will be open. In the past, the council has appointed people to fill council vacancies until an election can be held. Attention is typically paid to people that have run in previous elections.

Bone, an alderman on the City Council, defeated incumbent Mayor Bill Hamilton in Saturday’s election. A total of 502 votes were cast in this small town of about 1,500 people.

Bone had a strong lead of 8 percentage points coming out of early voting, and while Hamilton had slightly more votes in Election Day voting, Bone came out on top.

The final count from the town’s single precinct was 257 votes for Bone and 245 for Hamilton.

Bone will assume office later this month, leaving his at-large seat on the City Council vacant.

Photo by Dane Anderson

Rollingwood Shell station owner Randy Coe leads a simpler life on weekends, traveling by horseback with wagons and friends on historic Texas trails.

On the last Friday in April, Randy Coe left his Rollingwood Shell station on Bee Cave Road a little early. He wanted good start on the weekend.

Coe wasn’t looking forward to a Saturday morning golf game or Friday night with beer and the boys. Nothing that tame. He was high-tailing it out to a stable on his property near Buda to load a gray stallion named Pasqual into his trailer. The two were heading to the Gillespie County Fairgrounds in Fredericksburg to join the annual spring Texas Heritage Trail Ride -17 wagons, 100 other people and more horses and mules than you could shake a stick at on a trek from Fredericksburg to New Braunfels. It’s a five-day, 79-mile journey back in time, with stops in Luckenbach, Sisterdale, Kendalia and Spring Branch. It’s a chance for day-long conversations with friends and family to the sound of turning wagon wheels and the pattern of hooves through fields of tall grasses and wildflowers, down back roads and along the wide shoulders of Farm-to-Market roads. It’s long nights under the stars and trailers with warm bunk beds. It’s mornings that start at 5 a.m. with fresh coffee, neighing horses and waiting roads.

This isn’t Coe’s first rodeo. For nearly 20 years, he and his brother, Darrell Coe, have been joining trail rides. When he met up with his cousin, Paul Ihlenfeldt, and Paul’s wife, Jean, two years ago, he began spending even more time in the saddle.

“I love to ride horses whether it is trail riding , roping or just piddling around at my pasture,” Coe said. “I just have a general love for the animal, but the trail rides are just special, and the people you meet are the most genuine people in the world. To me, there is just something about people and horses that seem to make the people better. Will Rogers said that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man. I really believe that.”

Paul Fensky and L.D. Durbin came all the way from Missouri to sit around the camp table with the Coes and Ihlenfeldts Friday night.  Durbin runs three  hospital gift shops in Joplin. Fensky is a cattleman. He brought two mules and a wagon for the ride.

“I like the science of the mules and the wagons, watching what they are doing and figuring out why,” Dubin said. “It’s as far away from the hospital as it gets. It’s a whole other world.”

There is a lot of camaraderie to be found in the camps and on the rides. Somehow, everyone seems like family. It’s like a family reunion where only the good relatives show up.

“Most of the people are just plain old country folks or as close to country folk as you can get,” Coe said. “I have met so many good people. If I needed something today, I could call on any one of them and they would be here to help before you know it, and I would do the same. It just seems like you build a relationship with these people in a short period of time that last a lifetime.”

Before dawn on Saturday, most people are up, saddling horses and harnessing teams. Some wagons have the traditional wood or metal wheels, some have modified with rubber wheels that make the rough terrain an easier ride. Before 8 a.m., everyone had formed a line. Randy rode at the back of the line, making sure that everybody keeps up. Darrell and Paul rode point ahead of the line.

“Used to be the point riders watched for Indians,” Randy said. “Today it’s cars.”

“What we do is make sure that everybody gets down the road safely,” Darrell said.

The Comal County Sheriff’s Posse and the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce started a trail ride from Indianola to New Braunfels in 1970 on the 125th anniversary of the founding of New Braunfels, said Sandy Self, a member of the Heritage Trail Ride Association. HTRA took over the ride in 2001, as well as the annual ride from Fredericksburg to New Braunfels. HTRA holds the Indianola ride every five years, retracing the steps of the German settlers who landed in Indianola in 1845 and, led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, trekked on foot to found New Braunfels. Some of those German immigrants went on to found Fredericksburg in 1846.

There are numerous trail rides in Texas, at least one during most months of the year. The HTRA annual ride is one of the most popular. More than half the people who came this year had been on the ride before.

“People like the view, with the wildflowers and the cooler weather,” Self said. “It’s a shorter ride than some, and it’s a good ride for wagons.”

Coe goes on as many rides as his business will allow. He might have been born a century too late.

“I think that in the back of everyone’s mind that they really would like to be a cowboy and ride the open range,” he said. “This is the only way to do it. I like the open country, the vision of the wagons and horses and the fact that I am doing something that my forefathers used to do. I like the peacefulness, old and new friendships. There is no stress, no cares or worries, no hustle and bustle where everyone is trying to be better than the next guy or girl, no competition and no bull crap. It’s me, my horse, the country side and the good Lord above.”
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