Friday, August 5, 2005 - It's that time again, time for more home improvement. This weekend, Nassau West President Kelly K. Bartram was to host former First Lady Heather Hutchison at the Capitol. However, those plans have changed.

Hutchison recently quit smoking and is not quite ready to risk her progress by spending an evening in the Spread Eagle Saloon at the kbartram.com Arena. Knowing that drinking tends to drop one's defenses, Bartram grudgingly agreed that rescheduling the meeting was in her best interest.

Bartram, who has attempted to quit smoking on numerous occasions and thus far has failed to actually quit, wishes Hutchison the best of luck and health in her endeavor. October is rapidly approaching, as is the President's (32nd) birthday (Oct. 9), which is when he sets a deadline annually to quit.

With the planned shenanigans and mayhem cancelled, the Nassau West Capitol staff will instead concentrate on further improvement. Some of the planned areas of interest this weekend include, but are in no way limited to, further improvements to the Copper Creek Recreation Area, work on phone line burial for the Capitol, and minor construction in the Spread Eagle Saloon.

Last weekend, major improvements were made to the Copper Creek Recreation Area. Hundreds of pounds of dead and dying material were removed from trees and plants around the park grounds. The creek was deepened and widened to allow flood waters to more freely pass through the park. A large amount of the plant waste still needs to be compacted and removed.

If time permits, Department of the Interior staff will plant new creosote and other plants in the park to fill the void created by the removal of dead branches and other debris. Benson Ambassador Sara Bartram has volunteered flowers and labor to plant them within the park, as well.

As for the telecommunications nightmare being experienced at the Capitol, it will be thoroughly investigated this weekend. A trench was started last weekend to bury the cable from the pole to the building. However, the trench was not completed as time (and light) ran out. The trench is mostly finished and will be completed and the cable will be installed this weekend.

After that is done, the entire phone system from pole to phone will be inspected and tested at each connection. Currently the phone line is operational, but there is a loud humming or buzzing in addition to the dial tone, making it impossible to hear callers on the line. The DSL line has functioned while the voice line has not.

If by the end of the work day on Sunday the phone situation has not been alleviated, a final call (via cell phone) will be made to Qwest Communications with the option for them to either correct the problem or disconnect the service. A request will also be made to credit the three weeks the phone has been out of service.

The Spread Eagle Saloon will also be getting some attention this weekend. Although no money is permitted to spent on its construction, monies gained from other sources would be exempt from this rule. The Department of the Treasury had allotted $150 for the cancelled weekend visit of Hutchison, and since that didn't happen, those budgeted funds go to the general fund, which can be used for anything deemed necessary.

Now, a new 2"x4"x10' board (about $4.50) can be financed for use in making a shelf for a small TV in the Spread Eagle. A shelf made of used lumber is already in place, but has been determined to be insufficient to support the weight of the TV. If time permits, the third mirror of the back bar will also be installed.

This should be a very productive weekend, assuming the people involved in the projects are not hungover for the entire weekend!