Hope you took advantage of attending our Spring Luncheon held on April 26 in Kerrville, Texas. Our speaker, Kelly Bender, Urban Wildlife Biologist of the Texas Parks and Wildlife, presented the topic of Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife which was most informative and very well received by all in attendance. Looking ahead your Board has planned a special summer event which promises to be a relaxing and enjoyable opportunity for those members and their spouses/friends who would like to take in a privately chartered boat cruise on Town Lake in Austin, TX. It will be a 1¼ hour boat cruise on the “The Little Star” during the sunset hours of Wednesday, August 8th which will include a spectacular bat watching opportunity to see one million Mexican free-tailed bats make their nightly flight from under the Congress Avenue bridge. The cost is $6.00 /person with pre-registration required since there is a limited occupancy of 34 passengers on the boat. The departure will be at 6:45 PM from the boat dock. Directions to the boat dock and locations of free parking are shown on the following website: http://www.lonestarriverboat.com/charters.html or can be obtained by calling the following phone number: (512) 327-1388. For those who would like to get a bite to eat before the cruise, a HCC Chapter group will meet at the adjacent Hyatt Regency Hotel for an informal dinner at 5:00 PM. Those desiring to eat at the Hyatt will need to plan to pay for their own meals. So, if you are interested, please contact Rick Hoenerhoff with your pre-registration information no later than July 30th. Pre-registration will be handled on the first come, first serve basis and payment made in either cash or check at the boat dock. If you do not show up after registering, you will be responsible for paying the registered fee to our Chapter since the Chapter is obligated to pay for a full boat occupancy. However, should there be a rain cancellation of the cruise, no payment of fees will be required. So don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy a delightful sunset cruise on Town Lake and to see Austin’s spectacular bat flight.

I encourage all our Chapter’s members, particularly those of who have not

previously participated in our Chapter events, to take advantage of the

benefits offered through participation in our Hill Country Chapter’s events and

activities.

Bill Dodge 1

President’s Message:

July 2007

Hill Country News A newsletter published by the Chevron Retirees Association, Hill Country Chapter

Contents

1 President’s Message

Boat Cruise Planned

2 Update on Scheduled

Events:

2007 Schedule of Events

3 SPECIAL FEATURE:

Spotlight on HCC Retiree

Hobbies and Interests

4 Spotlight on HCC Retirees

on the GO !

5 Chevron Tidbits and other

News of Interest

2007 Officers

Bill Dodge, President

(512) 996-8202; wndodge@sbcglobal.net

Bob Bowie, Vice-President

(830)935-3373; krbotx@gvtc.com

Norm Blanchard, Treasurer

(512)793-6592; clairenorm@281.com

Rick Hoenerhoff, Secretary

(512) 608-0120

rhoenerhoff@academicplanet.com

2007 Directors

Paul Skakun, Austin Area

(512) 327-4397; pskakun@austin.rr.com

Dave Schaefer, Highland Lakes Area

(512) 793-6421; davscha@wildblue.net

Kerrville/ San Antonio Area

Vacant

Past President John Bocek

(512) 869-1153

john_ednabocek@msn.com

Chevron

Special Town Lake Boat Cruise Planned For August, 2007

Update on Scheduled Events:

2007 Schedule of Events (Mark your calendars)

Published by the Hill Country Chapter of the Chevron Retirees Association

Copyright © 2007 Chevron Retirees Association.

2

Our second event of the year includes a special privately charted boat cruise on beautiful Town Lake in Austin, Texas.

Contact Rick Hoenerhoff with your pre-registration information no later than July 30th.

Pre-registration will be handled on a first come, first serve basis.

Our fall luncheon is scheduled for September 19, 2007 and will be held at the Onion Creek Club in Austin. Our special guest speaker will be Jim Barnum, General Manager, Operations in Midland, Texas, within Chevron‘s Mid Continent/Alaska Business Unit. Jim will provide us an update on Chevron’s operations. A special invitation to this event will be sent to all members.

Our Christmas luncheon will be held at the Barton Creek Country Club in Austin again this year and it is scheduled for December 4. Your Chapter’s Board is currently reviewing several options for your holiday entertainment. As the holiday celebration draws near, we will have more information to provide on the entertainment.

Summer Event

When: August 8, 2007

Where: Austin, Texas

Venue: Town Lake

(near Hyatt Regency Hotel)

Event : Boat Cruise on Town Lake

Fall Luncheon

When: September 19, 2007

Where: Austin, Texas

Venue: Onion Creek Club

Speaker: Jim Barnum

General Manager

Chevron

Holiday Luncheon

When: December 4, 2007

Where : Austin, Texas

Venue: Barton Creek Country Club

Entertainment: TBA

Here are the particulars:

Spotlight on HCC Retiree Hobbies and Interests 3

Penmaking by Paul Skakun

The purpose of this section of the newsletter is to spotlight those Chapter members who have special

hobbies or interests. Any members who have hobbies or interests which they would like to share with

our membership in future newsletters are STRONGLY encouraged to send an article with any photos to

Bill Dodge via email with photo attachments to wndodge@sbcglobal.net or using US. Mail to the

following address: 1416 Redden Cove, Cedar Park, Texas 78613

I have enjoyed woodworking for many years, which led me to one of the more interesting hobbies in retirement, namely penmaking. I was encouraged to try this unusual hobby by Doug Van Buskirk, a Chevron Retiree in Houston. Penmaking includes finding, collecting, drying (possibly), drilling, turning, sanding and finishing woods of different characteristics. It requires, at a minimum, a mini lathe, turning tools, a drill press and a vise or a pen press. Supplies needed are pen kits that may be obtained from various woodcraft shops, in addition to fine grit sandpaper, finishing compounds and glue. The total time required to make a pen depends on several factors such as quality of turning, finishing and the type of wood. Collecting wood is an enjoyable part of the process. As Irene and I travel to different countries we are continuously looking for exotic wood with striking grain patterns and color. We have also collected wood from friends who worked in forest rich areas like Africa and South America. We even had boxes of wood delivered to us from friends that we met on recent cruises! Sometimes the most exciting discoveries are in the back yard, for example, a pen made from a Caragana bush that may be found around most garden areas in western Canada. This pen (middle pen) exhibits vivid grain patterns and unusual wood colors unlike any that I have made to date. Making pens from exotic woods provides endless hours of learning about the workability, durability and finishing qualities of wood. Wood pens are beautiful and make one of a kind gift for friends and family. They become keepers and family treasures. With over 150 pens made thus far, my greatest treasure is a pen made from an ancient oak (top pen) dated to be 5000 to 7000 years old! Thanks to a friend in Holland. To accommodate the increasing collection, I designed and built a mahogany pen chest to hold 350 pens. As a result, I have a few more pens to make !

Should you want more information about this hobby, please contact Paul Skakun at 512-327- 4397 or email at pskakun@austin.rr.com

Special Feature

4

Gluing Turning End Squaring

Sanding

Finishing Pressing

Identifying Displaying Storing

Drilling Blanks

PENMAKING PROCESS

Collecting

Spotlight on HCC Retirees on the GO!

5

Our Jordan Adventure by Jim Tait

The wealth of historic sights and people that are part of Jordan's history leave the visitor with many travel choices. Pre-Christian,

Christian, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Sultans, Lawrence of Arabia, and Indiana Jones (well, OK, Harrison Ford); all have impacted

the country.

Our Jordan adventure began as we were greeted at the Amman airport and joined our group for the downhill ride to the Movenpick

Dead Sea resort. The fun really began as we took turns photographing and floating, arms, legs and head bobbing out of the salty

water. The lights of Jerusalem were visible on the far bank.

During the next two days we visited Greco Roman ruins around Amman and the Kerak Crusader castle. Jordan is a major crossroad

for ancient trading civilizations from Mesopotamia, Arabia, Anatolia, and Egypt. The castle was strategically placed to control ancient

commerce on "The King's Highway". Exploring it's battlements at 1000 meters elevation, you could look out over the desert plains to

the East and West down a steep valley to the Dead Sea, 400 meters below sea level. In one of the castles last great battles, Saladin

captured the castle from the crusaders in 1273.

We proceeded South to Petra, the primary tourist destination in Jordan. The steep red sandstone canyon walls are honeycombed with

carved tombs of the Nabateans, an ancient Arabian civilization. Indiana Jones introduced many of us to Petra as he searched for the

Holy Grail in "The Last Crusade. We followed his path through the Siq, a winding narrow canyon with 100 meter high sandstone wind

and water eroded walls. Finally, a slit in the pass ahead gave us our first views of the Treasury, the most famous of the Valley's tombs.

Sun and shadows played with the majestic sandstone carvings, providing many photo ops.

After standing in awe of the ancient wonder, we continued through the valley and its many wonderful tombs. The total hike was about 8

miles round trip. Enterprising boys were ready to provide donkey, camel or a very bouncy horse cart ride for those in need of

assistance.

From Petra we continued South through the desert toward Aqaba, Jordan's only outlet to the sea. On the way we joined a caravan of 4

wheel drive Toyotas to explore the desert scenery of Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum provided the backdrop for the incredible sand and rock

scenery for the epic movie, Lawrence of Arabia, and inspired Peter Otoole's I-am-insignificant-in-this-vastness gaze he made famous

as Lawrence. Our desert and Jordan visit ended with a gourmet meal served under windblown Bedouin tents, accompanied by

traditional music and dancing.

Tents in the rear view mirror, we were off to Aqaba to meet our cruise ship. With such a parade of history and historic figures, I was

almost surprised that we hadn't seen Michael Jordan's birth place.

Jim Tait

630 Blanco River Ranch Rd.

San Marcos, TX, 78666

512-392-7871

Chevron Tidbits and other News of Interest

Popular

Websites &

Phone numbers

Chevron Retirees Website:

http://chevronretirees.org/

Chevron Human Resources:

http://hr2.chevron.com/

Chevron Home page:

http://chevron.com

Chevron Human Resources (HR)

Service Center at

1-888-TALK2HR (1-888-825-5247)

Chevron Retirees Association

Hill Country Chapter

For information contact:

Bill Dodge, President

Tel 512- 996-8202

Email: wndodge@sbcglobal.net

Chevron Retirees Association

is not a subsidiary of the Chevron

Corporation but an independent

organization of retired employees of

Chevron or its predecessor companies.

6

We have received a lot of very positive feedback on the new name and format for our Chapter’s newsletter, Hill Country News. This issue features a most informative article and photos in “Spotlight on Retirees Hobbies and Interest” on the subject of Penmaking provided by Paul Skakun of Austin. There is also new section in this edition titled “Spotlight on Retirees on the GO!” featuring travel experiences of member retirees. This edition features an interesting article and photos provided by Jim Tait of San Marcos on his adventurous trip to the Middle East.

Please share your hobbies, interests and travel experiences with our other members by sending in your articles and photos. Also let us know what you think about this new newsletter name and format. Would you like to include anything else? Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

As a reminder, please help us reduce our Chapter’s costs for future mailings by emailing us your email address. Send this to Rick Hoenerhoff, Chapter Secretary, at rhoenerhoff@academicplanet.com. If you don’t already have one, consider the many benefits offered by having and using a personal email address. Email is easy to learn and a fun way to keep up with your family and friends too, which is important to all of us retired folks.

Send us your Stories

Chevron Tidbits includes synopsized information from Chevron’s website, Line Rider and other items of interest to retirees, selected and summarized by the CRA Communications Committee. To read Line Rider articles go to www.chevronretirees.org and click on the LINE rider button at the top.

Chevron addresses the rising price of gasoline

We all know the price for gasoline has risen dramatically over the past few

months. As former petroleum company employees, many of our friends

and relatives come to us first with questions, if we are lucky and

sometimes accusations, about gasoline pricing. Chevron Corporation has

published a brochure which includes factual data concerning motor fuel

pricing. It is called “Hearts and Minds.” Copies of this brochure will be

available at our fall luncheon. In the meantime, Chevron’s new Policy,

Government and Public Affairs Vice President Rhonda Zygocki has sent

out a two page fact sheet that may prove helpful in answering gasoline

pricing questions. If you would to receive a copy of this fact sheet, please

contact Rick Hoenerhoff, Chapter Secretary, at

rhoenerhoff@academicplanet.com or (512) 608-0120 for assistance.