PORT ARANSAS, Texas —
The Bollard Buddies project out by the Horace Caldwell Pier has continued to thrive and grown to be a favorite for both locals and winter Texans in Port Aransas.
About a year ago, the founder of the Bollard Buddies spoke with 3NEWS after over a dozen art pieces were stolen from the shore. Today, she tells us that since then, the Bollard Brigade has had zero issues with theft.
Diana Vondra is the head of the Bollard Buddies community and said that this year, a lot of new yarn creations have made their way to the shore.
"We have had people mailing them in. A lot of people just come down and add them. Sometimes they tell me who they are, and sometimes they're just anonymous. It's just great fun to come down and see a brand new one," Vondra said.
When the project started eight years ago, there were only 82 Bollard Buddies on the shore. Vondra said that number has grown immensely.
"This year, we have 419. No, I didn't think it would grow that fast and that much, but it's just wonderful," she said.
This time last year, Vondra was battling breast cancer. Now that she's done with chemo, she's excited to be helping out her Bollard Brigade.
"It's just wonderful, this year, to be able to come back and take care of some of my own responsibilities, so it's great fun," she said.
Vondra says without the group of 30 volunteers that come out weekly to upkeep the bollard buddies during the winter months, the success of the project wouldn't be possible.
"If I didn't have volunteers, we couldn't do it because there's over 400 of them now. There's no way I could keep these clean, looking good and new. So, we got a lot of people who are taking ownership of this project, and I really love that, " Vondra said.