Hello, Balcones Village/Spicewood neighbors! I am Jane Howard Bynum, one of the many pioneer residents in our great community. In 1972, I moved to a new home in Balcones Village with my late husband, Jack Howard, our two young daughters, Janna and Jolie, and our dog, Bogar. The area looked much different back then. Our subdivision was outside the city limits, and Highway 183 was a two-lane road with stoplights. Balcones Country Club (BCC) was the primary social hub, offering an 18-hole golf course, two tennis courts, one swimming pool, dining, bingo, parties, and a meeting place for its members. Ballard’s convenience store, located across Highway 183, provided the only shopping in the area. Later, we welcomed a Dairy Queen next to Ballard's. The closest grocery store was 11 miles away, on Balcones Drive in Austin near FM 2222. There was no Mopac or Loop 360. The airport was located near UT where the Mueller development is now. In retrospect, Austin was a nearby sleepy little town.

Janna started first grade at Pond Springs Elementary. We saw many traditions begin in BV/S, but my favorite began in the 70s with households purchasing trees and kits with colorful lights and PVC pipe from the HOA for simple curbside decorating. Now we have elaborate and beautiful displays of holiday lights!

Jack was from Coffeyville, Kansas, and graduated from Kansas University. I am from Odessa, Texas, and graduated with a psychology degree from Texas Western College (UTEP). We met in Kansas City, Missouri, through mutual friends at a party. He worked for a national CPA firm, and I was a TWA airline hostess (flight attendant). Our first house was in Overland Park, Kansas, where we started our family. Jack's new job with National Western Life Insurance Company brought us to Austin. I was so happy to return to Texas!

In 1975, we moved from our Balcones Village house to a custom home in the newly opened Spicewood subdivision. I still live in that home after 49 years. We were active in the kids' activities at Spicewood, Grisham, and Westwood, which were all built after we moved here. I was an assistant Camp Fire Girl leader for the girls’ troops. Jack coached both girls in Town & Country softball, where they also played soccer. They swam for a season with the BCC Sharks. Jack played golf at BCC. The whole family fell in love with tennis after BCC added four new courts on the Spicewood side; those courts are now named for Dan Weger, longtime pro who coached the kids. An additional 18 holes of golf were added. The pro shop was located in a rustic old hunting lodge with a porch swing and large screened porch where the tennis families barbecued after tournaments and the kids gathered after clinics. Eventually, BCC built four additional courts, a clubhouse, and a swimming pool. It was a special time with a close-knit group of tennis families. Jack and I played in leagues and tournaments, and I played club team tennis. The girls began playing competitively at BCC and all over the Austin area and Texas with several friends from the BCC tennis program. Jolie even qualified for some national tournaments that took us to California, Florida, and Tennessee. Janna and Jolie both played on the Westwood High School tennis team, which was a Texas championship level team even back then. Jolie and her doubles partner were the first Westwood tennis players to go to State.

In 1983, I began work at That Occasional Affair gift shop and worked there for 19 years, first as a salesperson and later as the manager and buyer. I still have a tiny business called Ladies’ Choice with a former co-worker; we offer personalized stationery and gifts. For many years, Ladies' Choice participated in BCCWA Market Days.

The girls both graduated from UT and received law degrees from the University of Houston. Jolie lives in Houston and is an estate planning attorney. Janna practices commercial real estate law and has lived in the adjoining subdivision of Northwest Balcones for over 25 years with her husband, Rus Melton, a graduate of Texas A&M, Professional Engineer (civil) and hydrologist. They raised our second generation of Westwood Warriors in the neighborhood: granddaughter Allison, who graduated from Rice and is working on her doctorate in neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, and grandson Jackson, who graduated from the University of Arkansas and is working on his master’s degree in supply chain management. I have always loved the fact that Janna and Rus chose to raise their family in this neighborhood where Janna and Jolie grew up.

Sadly, Jack passed away in 1995, but I remained in our family home. In 2000, I married

Bill Bynum. We met through mutual friends, a couple I had known since Jack and I were newlyweds in Kansas. Our Kansas friends subsequently joined Jack and me in Texas after visiting us in the 70s, falling in love with our neighborhood, and buying a new house in Spicewood where they lived for about 20 years before eventually relocating to Costa Rica for a few years. They had known Bill for years, and that evening, upon inviting him to visit them in Costa Rica, Bill accepted, responding that he would "bring Jane" with him. (After we married, we did visit them in Costa Rica, just as he promised!)

My husband Bill has been a resident of Spicewood at Balcones Village for 24 years. He was born in Oklahoma and graduated from Northeastern State University. He is retired after a career mostly in the automobile industry, both for manufacturers and in retail. Bill has two sons and daughters-in-law, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. We cherish our times together with both sides of our blended family. Bill settled into life in BV/S and golfed for many years at BCC. Our grandson Jackson picked up the love of golf and still plays with his Pop and his Dad at BCC.

We have always had dogs and are now having fun with Sweetie, who was featured in STROLL last month.

Bill and I are happy and proud to call Balcones Village/Spicewood our home...the right choice made so many years ago!