Harold’s Blog: The Masters

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From the blog of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, covering the week through April 1, 2012. Photo by Keith Allison.

Cary, NC – This was a very short week for me since it was a vacation week. Most of my week was spent in Augusta, Georgia.

Monday – Fire Station #8

Monday I was joined by several dignitaries in the groundbreaking of Fire station #8 at Mills Park.

Joining me was Congresswoman Renee Elmers, NC Representative Weiss, council member Smith, council member Robinson, council member Bush, a representative from Senator Burr’s office, a representative from Senator Hagan’s office, and a representative from Congressman Price’s office. Each of us gave a few remarks and then we donned hard hats and turned over dirt.

Afterwards there was a small reception with the more than 50 attendees which were mostly fire fighters, police officers, and town employees.

Tuesday-Saturday: The Masters

Tuesday I headed to Augusta, Georgia for my 34th year of working at the Masters Golf tournament. I am honored to be a volunteer at the Masters which is one of the greatest sporting events in the world. The following are some of my memories that I took away from this year. Some aren’t even golf related:

  • There was a storm on Tuesday night with winds that were in excess of 60 mph that knocked down several trees on the course. Most of the trees were several feet in diameter. One crashed through a restroom the size of a small house. The tree was removed and the roof rebuilt and shingled within 24 hours. All trees were removed and the course was in immaculate shape by tournament time. How’s that for fast!
  • This year all employees were uniforms (including me). I thought it looked very nice.
  • The weather was incredible with warm days and cool nights. I thought it was perfect. The only downside was that the azaleas bloomed too early this year so the color was missing.
  • There were several memorable golf moments:
    • Bubba Watson winning his first major golf tournament in a 2 hole playoff.
    • Louis Oosthuizen making the first double eagle EVER at hole 2.
    • The crowd favorites throughout the tournament that included: Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Freddie Couples, Tiger Woods, and Matt Kuchar.

It was a great tournament! I returned Sunday night fully charged and ready to tackle mayor and work duties.

Mailbag

In the mail this week I received a letter from State Treasurer Janet Cowell saying that Cary was chosen as a winner in the 2011-2012 State Treasurer’s Award for Excellence in Accounting and Financial Management. The letter touted our responsible fiscal management and said that an award will be presented at a future council meeting. Just another accolade for the best staff in the state!

Emails this week included a complaint about a water line on Dabney Road, a complaint from a UNC graduate student that said “Cary is a failure”, a complaint about handicapped parking at the train station, and concerns about the Wake County school assignment plan.

Next week includes a meeting with Triangle area mayors, dinner with the Cary NC delegation, a meeting of the mayors and the Wake County school board, a staff meeting to be briefed on proposed budget items, a litter sweep, and several other meetings and events.

Well that is all for this week. My next post will be on Sunday, April 15th. Please feel free to email me with a comment. Email all Town of Cary questions or comments to Harold.Weinbrecht@townofcary.org. Email personal comments to augustanat@mindspring.com.