The Historic Downtown Strand Seaport Partnership held its 3rd annual Santa by the Sea Nov. 28 from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Santa Claus’s sleigh touched down in Galveston to help bring in the holiday season and to wish a very Merry Christmas to all the boys and girls in the area, who, he said, have been “very, very good this year.”
This year Santa Claus heard requests for everything from toys to puppy dogs to a pet mouse.
“I want a puppy,” said Hunter Peck, 4, who plans to name his puppy Penelope. Hunter, an outgoing youngster, was the very first one out of his group to sit on Santa’s lap and announce to Santa what he wanted for Christmas. He also said he had been “very, very good this year.” Continue Reading
Santa by the Sea is an annual event in Galveston that lets children have an opportunity to visit Santa and tell him what they want for Christmas presents.
A slideshow created by reporter Jeffry Tupa for The Signal’s special green edition showing the litter that mars the beaches in our surrounding communities.
The dalmation carved by sculptor James Phillips from one of the many dead oak trees in Galveston. This sculpture, as well as Phillips’ fire hydrant carving, are located next to Galveston’s city hall building.
Christine Crump
The Signal Staff
Hurricane Ike tore through Galveston Sept. 13, 2008, with a storm surge of 15 feet covering the island with petroleum laced salt water. Ultimately, the salt water from the storm’s surge left thousands of trees dead, including the 100-year-old live oaks that lined Broadway Boulevard.
On the city of Galveston’s Web site, there has been an estimated 11,000 trees that have died as a result of Ike. Of those trees, 3,400 have already been removed from public right of ways.
The Galveston Island Tree Conservancy started a committee because they did not want to see the dead trees end up in a landfill. Instead, they are using the wood to recycle, reuse and create works of art. Continue Reading
Debris scatters the yard in the storm’s aftermath.
Courtney Brodbeck
The Signal Staff
The power had gone out and the sounds outside were like the sound track to a bad disaster film. My mother and I, along with three others, hadn’t evacuated very far from our home on the west end of Galveston Island; we were in Santa Fe and about to use every ounce of strength our bodies possessed.
We were all downstairs in our friend’s home when the water started seeping in through the cracks of the French doors. The wind was beating ferociously at the house and it was only a matter of minutes before the doors would blow open, letting the chaos outside rush into the haven we made inside.
We all scurried to find anything to barricade the doors. First was the couch, then the chairs, and finally, as a last resort, we flung our bodies across the furniture to make sure the doors were secure. It was man versus nature, and for a second it seemed nature would win.
All my mother and I could think about was our little beach hut we called home.
“Please let it be standing, let our neighbors be OK and let our island still be home,” we prayed. Continue Reading
