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2020 • A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER

Below is a snapshot of 2020 in the Brentwood/Crestview area of Austin. Treasured neighbors passed away and are fondly remembered; a few of them are mentioned below. By March, everyone’s lives were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, with hope on the horizon by the end of the year as vaccines began to be distributed. Still, some popular local spots closed permanently. Others remain open or have reopened; links to some of them are below.

Thanks to neighbors, organizations, and businesses for creating and contributing to special events throughout 2020 that gave us opportunities to celebrate together safely.

A very special thanks to parents, teachers, administrators, and all others who help make life as normal as possible for the kids in our neighborhood during this very challenging time.

In Remembrance

May 19: Margie Eichelberger Daugherty, 97. She was the granddaughter of Frank and Julia Richcreek, whose large farm began to be developed as Crestview in 1947. In September 2014, with Susan Burneson and Nancy Chico Butlin, Margie visited the small house at 1405 Justin Lane and confirmed it was the original Richcreek farmhouse. It was built in the early 1930s near the northwest corner of North Lamar Boulevard and Justin Lane on the Richcreek farm. It survived the nearby Capitol Prefabricators fire in July 1947 and was moved to 1405 Justin Lane in November of that year.

July 9: Jon Carl Becker, 46, a popular employee at Arlan’s Market (now Fresh Plus) on Woodrow, died. He also worked at Cap City Comedy Club and Alamo Drafthouse. Violet Crown Clubhouse held a memorial service, and neighbors installed a banner with his photo outside Arlan’s, near a bench where Jon took breaks. His family held a celebration of life for him on August 15 in Manchester, Tennessee.

December 30: Ginny Kalmbach, 85, owner and proprietor of the Little Longhorn Saloon on Burnet Road from 1993 to 2013 (and a bartender there for a decade before that), died.

Open and Serving Our Community

Arlan’s Market, Woodrow Avenue, 512-459-6203.
Brentwood Social House, Koenig Lane.
Crestview Barber Shop, Woodrow Avenue.
Dia’s Market, Justin Lane.
Eldorado Cafe, Anderson Lane.
Enchiladas Y Mas, Anderson Lane.
Lala’s Little Nugget, Justin Lane.
Little Deli, Woodrow Avenue.
Little Longhorn Saloon, Burnet Road.
Ricky Wilson Jewelry, Woodrow Avenue.
Stiles Switch BBQ, North Lamar Boulevard.
Texas Folklife Resources, Houston Street.
Top Notch, Burnet Road.
Violet Crown Clubhouse, Woodrow Avenue.

Welcome Reasons to Celebrate

Spring: Installation of a new rope climber, playscape, climbing blocks, sidewalk, and berm was completed at Brentwood Park—thanks to the dedication of volunteers with the Brentwood Playground Improvement Project, a subcommittee of the Friends of Brentwood Park. Still to come: A public celebration and opening of the new playground.

Fall: The Austin Parks Foundation selected Friends of Brentwood Park, established in 2009, as the Adopt-a-Park Team of the Year.

A Longtime Tradition Postponed

May 2: The Violet Crown Festival, coordinated by Violet Crown Community Works since 2003, was cancelled in 2020 (and 2021) due to the pandemic, with plans to return again.

Still Going Strong

Ongoing: Local Buy Nothing Project Facebook groups, providing opportunities to give and to receive free items and to encourage friendly and supportive connections between neighbors. Local groups include: Crestview, Brentwood (North), and Rosedale / Allandale (South) / Brentwood (South). (Or, learn more about Buy Nothing here. The project has groups in neighborhoods around the world.)

Ongoing: Violet Crown City Church continued renovations to its new home, the former Crestview United Methodist Church on Morrow Street, while online services continue. Read more about Crestview Methodist, part of Crestview for more than 65 years, here and here.

October 31: Halloween. Despite the pandemic, kids still dressed up in costumes and happily strolled neighborhood streets, and neighbors still handed out treats. To keep the holiday safe, we and other neighbors set out tables full of goodies in individual bags (along with hand sanitizer) near the street and sat safely distanced in their yards to greet kids as they came by. Other neighbors created long chutes to send treats to trick-or-treaters, and many yards were decorated extra eerily for the occasion. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Hildebrandt)

November 7-14: The Austin Parks Foundation’s It’s My Park Day, coordinated locally by Friends of Brentwood Park since 2010. Usually just one day twice a year, last fall it was held for a week with volunteers safely distanced.

November 26: St. Louis King of France Catholic Church Social Ministries Annual Feast of Giving. Boxes of canned goods were handed out to neighbors in need, this year by drive-through only. More about the church’s social ministries here.

December 9: Friends of Brentwood Park volunteers planted seeds for a new wildflower bed in the northwest corner of Brentwood Park.

December 22-25: Luminarias along Arroyo Seco, coordinated in 2020 by neighbor Deb Copas in Brentwood (south of Justin Lane) and the Airhart family in Crestview (north of Justin). Link to more about this and other local holiday traditions here.

New in 2020

March 26: The Violet Crown Care Network was established by Brentwood, Crestview, and Allandale neighborhood leaders to provide support to the community during the pandemic.

May: Neighbor Shane Reilly began a project in his yard to place a flag for each Texan who died of Covid-19. When he began, there were 973 deaths. By December 30, 2020, that number had almost tripled to 27,088. (As of March 2021, more than 47,000 Texans had died of Covid-19. Reilly decided to remove the flags from his yard and focus on creating a permanent remembrance in a more public spot.)

May 29: Just north of our area, residents of the North Lamar Mobile Home Park, mostly lower-income, immigrant families who do not speak English, reached a significant milestone for their community. They closed on a $7 million loan to purchase the property. In 2015, residents formed ARNL (Asociación de Residentes de North Lamar), to fight rent increases and eviction. Over the next five years, they continued their efforts to ensure quality of life in the community, with ongoing support from the City of Austin. In late 2019, when residents learned the property soon would be sold, they were ready and purchased it themselves.

May 30: Rock n Stroll, coordinated by the Violet Crown Care Network, featured live music by local musicians in a number of Brentwood and Crestview front yards.

June 24: Spotted along Woodrow Avenue in Brentwood: a sign directing drivers to “Groover Avenue.” Texas musician Doug Sahm wrote a song about Austin called “Groover’s Paradise.” Who knew our neighborhood had such a street? (It should have read “Grover,” of course, but it was on two separate signs. Somebody must have been having fun with the sign-making machine that day.)

Summer: The Brentwood Elementary School mosaic wall, Flying Together, was carefully removed and preserved for a future installation by artist and neighbor Jean Graham, with help from Ralph Castillo, David Johns, and Justin Lott. Jean designed the wall, and she and Brentwood Elementary students and teachers created mosaics for it. The wall, completed in 2004 on the west side of the school, had to be removed by August 31, before demolition and renovation of parts of the school began. A brief history of the mosaic project can be found here, at the bottom of the page. [The mosaic wall was installed in the newly renovated Brentwood Elementary School in 2022.]

Summer: Art-on-the-Corridor, a project of the City of Austin Art in Public Places Program, City of Austin Corridor Program Office, and the Civic Arts team, gathered history of Burnet Road and North Lamar Boulevard, the west and east boundaries of Brentwood and Crestview, from area neighbors. The ultimate goal of the project is public art or cultural spaces created along these and other Austin roadways.

September 30: Neighbor Kat Correa formed a new Facebook group, Haiku Together [now called Your Inspired Words].

December 11 through January 3, 2021: Lil’ Lane of Lights, along Justin Lane near The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection (just east of Burnet Road). Displays were constructed by volunteers with Brentwood Elementary PTA, Brentwood Playground Improvement Project, Brightside Eco School, The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Juice Real Estate Group at Compass, Violet Crown Care Network, Violet Crown Clubhouse, Violet Crown Community Works, and others. QR codes at each display gave visitors a chance to donate to the nonprofits involved.

December 19: The Violet Crown Clubhouse sponsored the Buddy the Elf Christmas Carol Sing-a-long Walk, benefitting the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM). You also can donate to HAAM here.

Permanently Closed

April 20: Threadgill’s, North Lamar, established in 1933. Eddie Wilson, owner of Threadgill’s for 40 years (and formerly owner of the Armadillo World Headquarters), announced that he planned to retire. Memorabilia from the restaurant was sold at an auction, and a final concert was held there. Plans for demolition and new construction are underway. [In 2022, the City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission decided to preserve part of the building that originally housed Threadgill’s.]

July 17: Dart Bowl, Grover Avenue, a bowling alley and restaurant for 62 years.

July 26: Thunderbird Coffee, Koenig Lane. Bird Bird Biscuits will open at the same location in 2021.

A Landmark in Transition

First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 6800 Woodrow Avenue. The church was an active part of the Brentwood community for more than 60 years. A Texas Historical Marker was erected there in 2004. The property was first offered for sale in 2019. The church was approved for demolition by the Historic Landmark Commission on March 22, 2021. [As of 2023, new homes are being built on the large property.] The church, first established in 1853 in downtown Austin, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2003. See a video of a former minister describing the church’s mosaics on the Wall of Welcome here.

More history to come . . . in the future!

(What’s a WABAC Machine? Find out here. Begin reading this history, with Part 1, here.)