BCFNS NEWSLETTER/REPORT TO THE MEMBERSHIP

January 2020

Sometimes one gets so busy actually doing things that it is difficult to make the time to tell others what is going on. Such has been the case with these occasional newsletters. Several members of our little organization have been working hard at accomplishing what is summarized below. Others have supported us with words of encouragement and sorely needed dues and contributions. We appreciate everyone’s efforts at whatever level they have been able to help! Here are some of the things that are going on in the world of night sky preservation in Blanco County and beyond.

IDSC Application

A new year for the Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky begins with a major milestone. The City of Blanco’s application to the International Dark Sky Association to be designated an International Dark Sky Community (IDSC) was submitted on January 15. The application, signed by Mayor Martha Herden, Libbey Ally (Executive Director, Blanco Chamber of Commerce), and yours truly, came to 112 pages of text and had 20 appendices. The application documented community night sky preservation efforts back to 2007. We are hopeful for a speedy approval although we have been told that some applications have taken as long as two years to be approved as they have had to be revised and then the revisions revised multiple times. This, hopefully, will not be the case with Blanco’s application. Membership. Our little organization continues to grow. We now have 66 members (45 2019 paid memberships as one membership covers the whole family). Unfortunately, 25 of those memberships have not yet paid their 2020 dues ($20 a year…come on, folks!). We use those dues for things like prize money for the contests we run for school children, to purchase “I Love the Night Sky” stickers to give away to students, to buy business cards, pay for printing and web services and all the other stuff needed to make things go. Twenty bucks a year is not much to save the night sky. And, as a member, you get to buy a nifty, reflective BCFNS metal membership sign suitable for mounting on your front gate or porch to let the world know that you support the night sky!

Membership

Our little organization continues to grow. We now have 66 members (45 2019 paid memberships as one membership covers the whole family). Unfortunately, 25 of those memberships have not yet paid their 2020 dues ($20 a year…come on, folks!). We use those dues for things like prize money for the contests we run for school children, to purchase “I Love the Night Sky” stickers to give away to students, to buy business cards, pay for printing and web services and all the other stuff needed to make things go. Twenty bucks a year is not much to save the night sky. And, as a member, you get to buy a nifty, reflective BCFNS metal membership sign suitable for mounting on your front gate or porch to let the world know that you support the night sky!

Web Site and Facebook Page

Both these are going like gang busters. The website (blancocountynightsky.org), run by Board Member Larry Seiler, has a ton of useful information on it, everything from Light Pollution Education to Outdoor Lighting Ordinances to where to buy night sky friendly lighting fixtures to how to deal with neighbors from the “city.” We even have night sky fashions! We consider it our “ library.” Our “newspaper” is our Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky Facebook page facebook.com/groups/BCFNS/) run by Board Member Bob Heinonen. If you “do Facebook” and follow us, you know all about it as Bob posts two or three times a week to keep people “in the know” about night sky preservation.

Organizational Status

We are an official, State-recognized non-profit organization. Thanks to Board Member Barbara Hudson, we are in the process of becoming a 501(c)3 organization. This will let us do all kinds of things we can’t do now…such as being able to apply for certain grants and accept tax exempt donations.

Night Sky Essay Contest

Run by Board Member Linda Whitlow and BCFNS Member Gloria Campos, this contest, concluded in December, challenged Blanco High School students to express their thoughts on the need to preserve the night sky. BHS Principal Keitha St Clair reasoned that her students needed to know something about the topic before they wrote about it, so she arranged for us to talk to all 400 or so students at Blanco High School! The programs (one for each entire grade level) were accented by the Wizard of the Night Sky, aka Board Member Bob Heinonen, and were well received. The first-place prize of $100 was won by Ashlee LaRue; Kelly Karnes won the $75 second place prize. Well done, Ashlee and Kelly!

Night Sky Songs

We are in the process of recording the 13 original songs about the night sky we received during the Night Sky Song Contest we ran late last year. If you missed the event down in Liz on the Square’s basement in Blanco, you missed a real treat. But don’t despair, you can catch the songs on the CD, Deep in the Dark of Texas™ Volume 1. BCFNS Board Member Larry Seiler has put in hours and hours on this fundraising project at his recording studio Los Senderos Studio and is almost finished with it. BCFNS Member Peter Mangan has donated a terrific, original painting that we’ll put on the front. We're including the lyrics to all the songs as they are really thought provoking. We plan to do a Volume Two in the Fall so if you’re a songwriter, start thinking about it! AND — artists, listen up — we'll be looking for another neat painting for the cover.

Night Sky Art Contest

We are working with the Middle Schools in Blanco and Johnson City to again have an art contest focused on the night sky. BCFNS member Leta Garcia, assisted by several other BCFNS members, ran a great contest last year and we know this year’s effort will be even better.

HOT Money to Protect the Night Sky

Last year we worked with the Hill Country Alliance to mount a major effort to get legislation through the Texas Legislature that would allow us to tap municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax to retrofit certain outdoor lighting to be night sky friendly. Sponsored by State Representatives Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood), with the bipartisan support of State Representative Kyle Biederman (R-Fredericksburg) and State Senators Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway) and Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), the legislation, HB 4158, passed! It is applicable, however, only to the cities of Blanco, Johnson City, and Dripping Springs. We will soon be working with owners of motels and B&Bs in Blanco and, hopefully, in Johnson City in a cooperative effort to retrofit their aberrant outdoor lighting. If this initiative can be shown to work here, there is scope that it might be expanded for the whole Hill Country and, possibly, the entire State of Texas.

Night Sky Friendly Business Recognition Program

Thanks to BCFNS Member Sandy Switzer and Jennifer Johnson of the Blanco Chamber of Commerce, this program is back up and running. We have recognized 24 businesses so far in Blanco with several more in the hopper. The program is at a transition phase as all the “easy” ones have been recognized. The next stage is to identify businesses whose lighting can be corrected with a relatively modest investment of funds…and then help them do it. [We’re looking for a BCFNS member to set this program up in Johnson City.]

Outreach to Developers

Working with the Hill Country Alliance and the Blanco County Commissioners Court, BCFNS Member Jerry Thompson was instrumental in launching the “Night Sky Friendly Neighborhood Program.” This program has great potential for encouraging developers who are coming to Blanco County to hop on to the night sky preservation train. A dark night sky full of stars is a great selling point! [We’re looking for a BCFNS member to continue to develop this program.]

Outreach to Contractors

We are considering starting a similar program aimed at contractors doing business in Blanco County. Contractors will always, of course, build according to their client’s instructions. However, in too many cases the clients are not aware of light pollution issues in the Hill Country and don’t know enough to ask for night sky friendly outdoor lighting. A Night Sky Friendly Contractor will commit to letting the client know that there are night sky friendly options. [We’re looking for a BCFNS member to take this initiative on.]

Cold Ones for Conservation

On Saturday, February 8, 11am-4pm, the Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky, in partnership with the Hill Country Alliance and Real Ale Brewery, will co-host a fun event at the brewery in Blanco. The event, “Cold Ones for Conservation,” will celebrate the Hill Country’s night sky and will feature a special throwback brew of Real Ale's Full Moon Pale Rye Ale. $1 from every pint sold will go to benefit night sky preservation. In addition, there is a contest to name the soon-to-be-installed Sky Quality Meter atop Real Ale (this is like the opposite of a light meter in that it measures the darkness of the night sky). Check out the contest here: Google Docs. Vicki Guidry, BCFNS VP, has done a great job with this event. So put on your thinking caps, come on out to Real Ale on Feb 8th, and have a cold one for the night sky!

??? Friends of the Night Sky

We are coordinating with the Hill Country Alliance and other night sky advocates in an effort to encourage the formation of “Friends of the Night Sky” organizations throughout the 17 county Hill Country area. Partially modeled on what we have been able to accomplish here in Blanco County, we aim to help others get organized in a true Hill Country-wide effort to preserve the night sky. The Hays County Friends of the Night Sky is up and running. We’re looking for more counties to hop aboard the train.

IDA AGM

Partially because of the substantial progress we and others have made in night sky preservation in Texas, the International Dark Sky Association is holding its worldwide Annual General Meeting in San Antonio in November. [We will be looking to our membership to provide some of the “personpower” needed to pull this off!]

A Final Thought

We need your time, talents, and money to protect our night sky. If you have received this Newsletter, it means that you have paid your annual BCFNS dues for 2020. We thank you for that! We know that remembering to pay dues can slip through the cracks of our busy lives so we’ve set up our website (blancocountynightsky.org) so you can renew your membership online. You can even set it up for auto pay for next year so you don’t have to hassle with it! You can also mail a check to us at P.O. Box 1402, Johnson City, Texas 78636. Or just grab a Board member and stuff a 20-dollar bill in his (or her) shirt pocket. If you renew (or join the BCFNS) in October, November, or December, you get credit for the entire following year. Such a deal!

BCFNS Board

On behalf of the entire Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky Board of Directors (l to r, Vicki Guidry, Linda Whitlow, Barbara Hudson, Larry Seiler, Bob Heinonen, and Wayne Gosnell), I want to thank you for your support of the treasured natural resource that is the Hill Country’s night sky!

Happy Nights!

Wayne Gosnell
President, Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky
(210) 557-6127
GosnellTexas@Gmail.com