Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2011 > May > 19 > Entry
Lady Bird Lake and Trail Marker Unveiling
Incongruity ruled. Sweaty folks in running or biking gear by around the celebrants in business or after-work clothes. Some joggers and bikers paused to ogle. The occasion was the unveiling of an historical marker on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge.
Not just any marker, but one festooned with metal elaborations taken from natural forms by sculptor Lars Stanley. And it told a story that still astonishes. How the weedy, ravaged Colorado River floodplain was turned into the centerpiece of Austin’s urban life: Lady Bird Lake and Trail.
I know, it’s still officially Town Lake Trail, but that won’t last for long. Anyway, there stood Ann Butler, wife of the late Mayor Roy Butler, who talked about how things were done in the old days, when she and Lady Bird Johnson could sweetly knock heads together to landscape the shores of the lake.
And it wasn’t that long ago that they recruited garden clubs from all over town to split up the planning and planting. Present at the ceremony for the first of several markers aimed for the lakeside were Will Meredith and mother his Lynn Meredith, whose family foundation funded this piece of art.
Also former Mayor Bruce Todd, community activist Margo Thomas, Ann Richards School Foundation executive director Michelle Krejci, Austin Parks & Recreation director Sarah Hensley and Downtown Austin Alliance executive director Charlie Betts.
No small thing: An appeal was made for private donations, not only for future markers, but for the pined-for boardwalk trail extension. For more information, head to the Trail Foundation.
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By Michael Barnes
May 20, 2011 11:48 AM | Link to this
You are right, Philip, we should never forget Robert Crenshaw. Amazing leader.
By philip scott
May 19, 2011 11:02 PM | Link to this
Let's not forget Roberta Crenshaw and her contribution to the creation of the Trail....