Category: Uncategorized

Day 35-A Great Week until the end anyway.

We had a wonderful time with Miss Kasey this past week. She visited with several people and kept us well entertained. We had company Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, friends showed up for dinner and visiting. Some even stayed the night one evening. It has been a while since we have had a house full of goofy girls staying over.

Thursday evening Cynthia Guevara and Michael Montoya joined us for supper, and then Steve received an unknown caller asking if we were there and if Kasey was there that they would like to come out and see her. He had no idea whom he was talking to, and invited them out anyway. Then he hung up the phone and recited a number asking if we had any idea whose is was. Luckily the number was in my phone and we discovered it was Quinten Moellering and his friend Gary Hannehmann, who are both friends with the girls. That was a good thing since he had just told someone whom he didn’t know to come out to our house at 10:00 at night.

That turned out to be a really crazy and fun night. All of them started a pillow fight and then used the palate mattresses as shields. There were pillows, blankets, and stuffed fish flying all over my living room. We laughed so hard at all of them. It was truly one of the funniest scenes I had seen in a long time. If only I would have had a video of it.

Friday night, Chelsea came in and we all met at Jalisco’s for supper, and then Kasey, Brett and Cynthia went out to Luckenbach with Michaela and Miranda Alkire and Sean, Miranda’s fiancee’. Later after graduation, Justin Nebgen met them there as well. The rest of us finished getting stuff ready to go to the coast the next day.

The five of us spent Saturday through Monday at Port Aransas. We stayed at the Mermaid Condo at Sunrise Villas where we had stayed 2 years earlier, the last time Kasey had been able to vacation with us. We ate at Moby Dick’s, The Beach Lodge, and the Island Cafe, and spent a little time shopping. Mostly though, we played on the beach and in the pool and Chelsea and Brett even did some night fishing.

The weather was super wonderful. I front had just been through chasing all the rain and humidity away, so temps were in the 80’s and not humid. The sand was packed from the recent rains, so there was no blowing sand in the breeze. The water was warm and clear as glass even when it was chest deep. It was definitely beautiful.

It was so wonderful just being the five of us again. On Monday morning, Kasey and I got up early and walked the beach taking pictures as the sun rose. It was so nice and peaceful.

We left for home just after lunch and then swung through San Antonio to pick up Aaron Chadwick’s Tahoe and bring it along home with us. We tried to go have supper with Grandma Bobbye Burow in Comfort but couldn’t get through on the phones. When we got to Los Jarros we discovered that all phone service was down in the Comfort area.

Tuesday, Chelsea had lunch with us at Porky’s and then headed back to Lubbock. Steve, Kasey and I went out to the park for a while after going to AT&T and getting Kasey a new blue phone identical to her old red phone. She needed a new phone, but still refused to get a smart phone. Later we had dinner with her and Donovan Hawkins and then they went to visit his mom and watch a movie.

Wednesday, we picked up Cynthia and had an early lunch and then headed to Austin to take Kasey to the airport. We left with plenty of time but a wreck on 71 right outside the airport made us miss her flight, then her second flight got grounded twice and she had to stay the night in Austin with her cousins who took her back to the airport at 4:00 in the morning so she could catch a 6:05 flight. She finally made it back to Norfolk at 2:00 this afternoon their time. Thank heavens she finally made it safely, a but the airlines tore her luggage for the second trip in a row and she now has to get another bag after just buying a new one here because they ripped the one coming here as well. I told her she should report it to the airlines, but she didn’t figure it was worth it.

If that wasn’t enough for one day for her, now her truck won’t start. Her dad believes it’s the battery, so she just has to find someone to jump it for her. Let’s pray that is all it is.

I am sorry if this wasn’t the most interesting or educationally informative blog tonight, but I just had to catch it all up for myself this time.

On another note, the Goddard level rocket program at White Sands is coming up in July. More details to come in the future.

Stonewall Peach Jamboree and Father’s Day is coming up next weekend. The Antique Tractor show is this weekend at the fairgrounds. More details to come on these and other things of interest as well as whatever strikes my fancy to write about.

Day 26-Yes, I know, I Missed a Few-“For A Little While”

Well, I was a little busy late last week and managed to miss a few days. Plus at first it seemed really hard to follow that last post about the boys. It was and still is such a tragedy for so many reasons. God rest their souls, and God bless their families.

On the lighter and better side of things, I am super happy right now, because I have a very special young lady from the US Navy home right now. My middle daughter, Miss Kasey Burow, is home for a visit. She came in Sunday evening. We had a nice fajita lunch in Austin at my sisters so that her girls could visit with Kasey. We played some games and had a nice time before heading back home for the evening.

We celebrated a late birthday with Kasey when we got home. She finally got to open the rest of her gifts that we didn’t mail to her since she was coming home. She said we should keep them for her visit. Then she and I played a few rounds of Hell, our favorite card game. It was a nice day.

Monday I spent the day with her as well. We got her truck registered here in Texas instead of Virginia, and then went to Kerrville for lunch and shopping. We even caught a movie while we were there, and then came back to town to Dairy Queen for a shared dinner and ice cream with a friend.
Back at home, we played dominoes with her dad for a while. It was another great day.

Today I had to work, but I did have lunch with her and some of her girlfriends. Later her and Cynthia came to the house, I made supper and then we all watched a movie before the girls ran off to town again. It was really nice.

Kasey will be with us until the 10th. Chelsea comes in this weekend and we will all 5 be together doing family things for once. That will be great. It has been a while since the 5 of us have been together on a non-holiday to just spend time without the hustle and bustle of Holiday schedules. Don’t get me wrong I love having them all here for the holidays too, but they are just so planned and scheduled. This time will just be us doing what we want to do. I can’t wait.

For A Little While

My heart beats with joy,
There is no greater day,
For today my baby is home,
No longer so far away.

I see her smile,
I hear her laugh,
And know she is home again,
For at least a little while.

She makes us proud;
Every day she serves with honor,
This country we love so dear;
Showing strength, proud and clear.

For that we thank her;
For being who she is,
A Navy Airman,
And my beloved daughter.

She is part of the 1 percent,
That live in service for us all,
Living and working so far from home;

Answering the call.

But today she is home,
Making me smile
Sharing her heart with us all
For a little while.

By Ginger Burow
6/2/2015

Ok, I know it wasn’t much, but that’s it for tonight.

Day 21- A Memorial to Young Lives Lost Too Soon

I hadn’t planned to write today, I had just planned to take a break for a day. Unfortunately a tragedy occurred that I feel warrants a few words.
Today, as many of you here in Fredericksburg already know, two young men lost their lives in a traffic accident. Two twenty year olds, Brandon Strackbein, and Hayden Pfiester, with their whole life ahead of them, left this world early this morning, in an instant.

There are no words for this really, only shock and despair. I know that when we finally heard the names, my heart dropped into my stomach and my soul just literally ached for them and their parents and families. No parent deserves to live through such a tragedy.

My heart and prayers go out to both boys’ families. I can’t even begin to know what they are feeling, I only know that I wish I could give some sense of peace and understanding which I know is hard right now.

As a community, I know there are literally hundreds of us that are here, crying with them, and lending them whatever support we can that they may need.

Their children’s friends, and their parents loved and miss the boys, and we are all here as a community to surround these families and help. Lean on all of us. Lean on your family, your friends, your boys’ friends, and your community.

As hard as it is right now, because I know understanding at a time like this is near zero, lean on your faith and your Lord. He is here, and He is holding you up in His arms giving you strength, peace, comfort, love, and even joy at knowing His promises are real. Lean on Him, and lean on Him hard, as you gather together and lean on each other.

Friends and community, put aside what you may know or think you know about things and just be there to support and help these families. They are all good, hard-working, families that need every ounce of whatever good you can show them right now. Just be there for them, however you can.

To the Strackbeins, and Pfiesters, and their extended families, may God bless and keep you, may He give you His strength, may He bathe you in peace, and the joy that comes from knowing that your boys are with Him now. Even though, they are physically gone from your sight, they are forever in your hearts and memories, and in the hearts and memories of everyone that knew them.

Share those memories with each other and keep the good things alive through these memories. Share your love for them and one another with their families. Nothing else matters now except supporting these families and each other through these next few weeks.

God bless them and all who knew and loved them.

Day 20-Rocket Recovery Teams

What would a rocket launch be without a bunch of crazy, fun-loving, competitive people willing to trompe through water, mud, trees, tall grass, and thick underbrush in order to see who can recover the most rockets and bring them back to smiling students? And let’s not forget encounter, pigs, snakes, ants, wasps, bees, chiggers, mosquitos, cows, cup eating donkeys, and any manor of small animals that run out from under foot unexpectedly.

This crews hardest job, is not locating and recovering the rockets, but instead getting the compass to give an accurate azimuth, (sometimes they stick), and inputting the coordinates in the Garman in time to beat the other team to the location.

Finding the rockets depends a lot on good coordinates, a good sense of direction, good eye balling of where you saw it go down, and a whole lot of pure luck.

A perfect launch and recovery deployment can put the vehicle almost back in easy distance and sight to find. On the other hand a high altitude deployment can carry the rocket for a long time, making what  looks like right over there, end up to be a few pastures over, which entails a whole lot of walking and searching. And of course a ballistic landing means searching and digging.

No matter the circumstances, each rocket is a valuable learning tool for each class, and the ultimate goal of these teams is to recover all of it they can, and return it to those students.

Quite honestly, the recovery teams, probably have the most fun, and least stressful job of the group. Most of them are repeat crew members from year to year and wouldn’t miss it given the chance.

They all work closely with the Rocket Cops Crew, who also lend their ears, eyes, and communications to the teams on the ground. Officer Braxton Roemer coordinates the recovery teams.

This years’ teams included: Team 1, Jeff and Tina Landis; Team 2, Jerry and Judith Luckenbach; Team 3, Barry and Ann Bradley; Team 4, Steve and Ginger Burow; Team 5, Todd and Troy Kneese; Team 6, Guy Chadwick, Brett Burow, and Brittany Beisert ; Team 7, Freddie Kruse. There was also a 3 person team from Alpha Search and Recovery out of Houston that was here to observe, and helped in place of Team 7 on Sunday.

This group works and plays hard the whole weekend. They love to have fun while out there searching and recovering rockets. They are each here because they want to help SystemsGo and the students be successful and they all take that very seriously.

Thank you recovery teams for being a vital and important part of the project. This year this group had 97% recovery rate for all the rockets launched. Congratulations and thank you all for all your hard work.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Day 19-Keeping Rockets Live

Three people devote their time out at these launches, to keeping Rockets live. They even have a trailer out there that houses a broadcasting “mission control” to ensure that all live streaming and uplinks stay active.

Zack Pooser is the main force behind allowing internet communications to go out on live streaming to everyone with a desire to watch that cannot be there. His broadcasting control trailer keeps the launch site connected.

Phil Houseal provides daily interviews with staff, students, visitors, Embry Riddle University reps, and volunteers, giving short insights to those watching as to how this program works, who is involved in it and why. He catches the stories behind the scenes that might not otherwise be heard or told about each type of experience and involvement for those in the program in one way or another.

Joyce Bk Abbey is the voice of rockets. She is the voice everyone hears commanding the attention of spectators before, during and after each launch, whether on site or watching on Livestream. She engages the students as they wait and watch for their vehicle to lift off and be recovered.

This crew of individuals is responsible for keeping rockets open for all to see during these launch weekends. They do a wonderful job of sharing this experience with everyone. They are rockets’ broadcasting extraordinaire.

Thank you all for all your hard work. 

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

 

Day 18-Stage 1 & 2-Flight Readiness Crew

Today I want to continue my series of thank yous for all those that helped with the SystemsGo Rockets 2015 launches. I still have a few groups to send these out to, so bear with me, I am trying not to leave anyone out. Each and every participant, is a vital necessity to keeping the program operating to the best possible potential.

The crew in the spot light today, is the group that each school’s students meet up with first. This group sets up shop at the Willow City Fire Station, and the Willow City School and Community Center.

This is where the work begins to qualify each vehicle for flight. Small repairs that are needed and can still be made at this point in order to prepare it for flight are also done here.

The crews at Stage 1 and 2 have the responsibility of determining if the vehicle can be tested safely, and if it is completely ready. They have to determine if the guidelines and specifications given to the classes ahead of time have been met correctly. They do this by following a check list called the “Flight Readiness Review.”

Each vehicle must pass this set of checks and balances to be approved to move on to Stage 3 and ultimately to the launch pad. This crew also has the occasional unpleasant job of having to inform a group that a vehicle has been declined for flight due to simply not being ready or that it has some factor that has caused it to be deemed unsafe to fly at this time.

This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. They try their best to help and correct whatever can be corrected, so that all vehicles will get their opportunity to fly. They never want to disappoint the students, these guys want more than anything to help and see everyone get to a successful test. But, safety and readiness have to come first.

They probably have one of the hardest and sometimes unpopular positions there, but at the same time it is very rewarding for them when the can safely approve the rockets for the next stage. When all the rockets for the day have moved past Stage 1 and 2, then this crew comes to mission control to see where they can further assist the group for the rest of the day.

They have a long day because they usually have schools waiting as early as 5:00 in the morning to have their rockets checked.

This group really deserves a big thank you for all they do. This year’s Stage 1 and 2 operatives were, Captain Gene Garrett, Doug Kimball, Pete Jenson, Harold Vanick, David Miller, and Danny Bell. Great job, gentlemen on another successful year.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Day 17-Hill Country Flooding

Ok, a short change of subject for today. I still have some thank yous to throw out there for rockets, but we have another subject for today.

How about that rain? Facebook is literally “flooded” with pictures and videos of flooding from all the rain this evening. It looks as though, as usual, Gillespie county has been mostly spared.

Comfort has reported at least 5+ inches and the Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek are flooding. Videos show the bridge coming into town off I-10 crossing the junction where the river and Cypress Creek meet and it is well past flood stage. Comfort has multiple outages and CTEC crews have been in the area since around 2:00 this afternoon.

Boerne has reported flooding in town, along Flat Rock Creek, and River Road. One video even showed a small car being swept away and rolling over at Tapatio in Boerne. No report on the outcome of the folks in that car.

The Blanco River in Blanco is encroaching on houses on the banks and well as the river bridge on 281. A flood emergency has been issued for  areas along the banks of this river in the Wimberly. This area  has been designated devastating and life-threatening and residents in this area have been advised to seek higher ground. This river is now 17 feet above flood stage.

The Llano River is flooding over the dam in Llano. Kingsland’s Slab road is well out of its banks and over the bridge. Lake Marble Falls is above flood stage and downstream as at Starke Dam the flood gates have been opened to allow release for the first time in quite a long while.

The Pedernales at Johnson City is at dangerous levels as well and is best avoided.

Rain has been falling for several hours and accumulation reports vary from one to as much as 8 inches in some areas. Most creeks, rivers and streams are affected and caution needs to be exercised when out driving. The ground in most areas is already saturated and run off will continue as rain continues. The first and larger band of storms is passing to the east, but another line is forming and moving this way. Storms are expected to begin again during the overnight. Because the ground is already wet more flooding can and most likely will occur.

The Weather Service has extended the Flood Warning for Blanco and Gillespie County until 6:15 Sunday morning.

Day 16- Stage 3/ Mission Control Crews

Stage 3 and Mission Control are located under a big tent on the main site on Hillview Ranch. Stage 3 is  where all vehicles receive their last  readiness check and flight approval as well as where deployment charges, and GPS units are added. This is the last step before the student engineers take the vehicle to the pad for testing.

Mission Control is located at the pad side of the same tent. This crew controls the electrical system that ignites each vehicle after it has gone to the pad, become vertical on the rail, and completed fill. They coordinate all radio communications for recovery, traffic, the pad, and stages 1 and 2. Mapping coordinates for locating  and recovering the rockets, watching weather, communicating with the FAA, and NASA, and tracking GPS all happen from here as well.

This group of individuals is SystemsGo’s version of the NASA flight control room. It is the vital heart beat of the project. Most of the crew consists of engineers, retired military, computer experts, teachers and SystemsGo personnel. Without these crew members to complete and run operations not one rocket would be able to test. Thanking them for all their hard work, doesn’t even seem ample, they are so important to the making this whole project fly and work together so smoothly and efficiently. Great job crew you are definitely the boss!

Crew member for this outstanding group for Rockets 2015 included Scott Netherland, Robert Dever, Brett Williams, Randy Kuhlmann, Margaret Williams, Jody Kneese, Molly Williams, Austin Walter, and those whose last names escape me, Randy’s friend, Nick, Margaret’s friend, Cody, Jessica, and Patrick.

Because I hate to publish this without all the surnames and regret doing so; I have contacted a few people and asked and had no luck;  I am asking that whomever reads this and knows those names, either comment with the names or PM me on Facebook and I will update the blog with the names.

Some of you may wonder why I am going through this series of articles, thanking all these people in each station of the event. SystemsGo , already thanks all of us, and we know that we are appreciated and needed to help them make this a success, but I am not SystemsGo. I am a parent of two of the former students that went through this program, and a volunteer for it. I am doing this helper to helper because this program has meant so much to both of my girls, and they have benefited from the program and gone on to continue in their career paths because of what they learned here.

I have seen firsthand how SystemsGo’s program of learning can benefit students and enliven their learning and future education. I am here because I want to ensure the continued success of SystemsGo and the STEM and rocket program. I am honored to be a volunteer here and wouldn’t miss it except under uncontrollable duress. It is for that reason that I want to thank all the other volunteers. Many of them like me have had students in the program in the past, but many have not, and yet they are here. They see the benefit and want to help and for that I want to thank them.

I believe we are here to support the future of all students through this program. By supporting SystemsGo and helping these events be possible for our youth we are nurturing young minds in ways that were never available when we were in school. This system of learning helps to better prepare our youth for the business and career world. And more than anything, it inspires them to want to do more and to succeed in what they attempt. It teaches them that there is success even in failure, and that each is only another opportunity to do better.

Thank you all for this exciting time working together to touch the lives of students all across Texas.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

 

Day 15-The Launch Pad Crew

Today’s blog is about the crew that runs the actual launch pad for the rocket tests. Most of this group is made up of past students that have gone through the SystemsGo program. They are all pursuing engineering careers at their respective universities. All three completed the program at Fredericksburg High School and ended that time there with a successful Goddard level rocket launch at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR).

Being at the pad, is both exciting and dangerous. Personnel here have the responsibility of loading each vehicle onto the rail, going for fill and relaying the go ahead for ignition.

These future engineers come back each year for several reasons. First and foremost they all enjoy what they are doing out there. Second as engineering students in college, this is a hands on opportunity to work in the field and have this addition for their resume`s. Lastly, they are big proponents of the program, and know firsthand what it has done for them and what it can do for students in the future so they want to help out and keep the program running, so that others will continue to have this opportunity. Most if not all of this crew will be traveling to WSMR later this summer to help run the launch of the Goddard level rockets being tested there as well.

These students include: Cade Ottmers, Annisa Kneese, and Chelsea Burow.

This year, Annisa brought a group of engineering students from Texas A&M to observe the program here first hand, and  though I do not have all their names,  I wanted to mention them because they also helped at the pad on Sunday. This gave them firsthand experience in what is being done.

Andrew Matthes, the program instructor at FHS, and retired teacher, Ned Butler, also provided assistance, instruction, and monitored safety at the pad throughout the weekend. They help insure that all procedures and checklists are followed to provide the most successful test of each vehicle.

The program wouldn’t be as successful as it is without the willingness and effort of the individuals at the pad. Each vehicle is literally in their hands in the last few moments before the test.  They check for any final issues that might prevent launch, and stand by with each vehicle as it begins fill and watching for signs that the rocket is a go for launch. For this I applaud their hard work and resilience. This year alone they had a 100% launch rate, meaning that every vehicle that made it through the Stages 1, 2, and  3 and down to the pad, left the rail at launch. Congratulations Launch Pad Crew!

Thank each one of you for all you do and are willing to do to help each vehicle complete its launch. You are an outstanding bunch, and so detrimental to the program’s success on launch days.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

 

 

Day 14-A Thank You to our Rocket Cops

This is my second edition of thank yous, and probably won’t be the last because it takes so many people to put on a production of this magnitude. Today’s shout out goes to our 3 Rocket Cops that help us each year.

Officer 95, Braxton Roemer, Officer 93, Chris Ayala, and Officer Shane Purvis, better known as Spotter Hill. Sorry Shane I just couldn’t remember your number so I am remiss to have to leave it out. We all referred to you as Spotter Hill most often through the weekend so that is what I tend to remember.

These officers gave of their time and talents to come head up and help our recovery efforts as well as keep everyone safe. Officer Roemer was our recovery team leader out in the field, assigning us our positions as well as keeping us coordinated and located out in the pastures as we hunted down rockets. He handled our radio communications, and assisted in rocket disarmament.

Officer Ayala provided additional ground support in recovery, front gate operations and traffic control. He commanded the gate in order to keep everyone safe and traffic stopped during testing.

Officer Purvis maintained position on top of Spotter Hill, with a bird’s-eye view of the area. He was quite often the only eye on the rockets at times when altitude and distance took them from the rest of recovery’s view.

I am quite sure that there is plenty more that went on behind the scenes with these gentlemen that I may not be aware of, and for that let me just say that all that they did was needed and appreciated by all the rest of the crew. They are a wonderful group of law enforcement officers, and we were privileged to have them with us.

Thank each one of you for spending these four days with the students, the rest of the volunteers, and the whole SystemsGo group.

We all enjoy working with each one of you, the SystemsGo Rocket Cops!

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.