Features

For the fourth year running St. Stephen’s Episcopal School will host a fun and free Earth Day celebration event for area preschoolers and their families on Friday, April 17th from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Not So Creepy Critters will return to introduce the children to some of Earth’s most interesting friends—and they will be revealing a surprise new addition to their eclectic menagerie.  There will be crafts and activities, including a scavenger hunt on the nature trail that is part of the school’s 52-acre tree filled campus it shares with the church.  And new this year, there will be a very timely, age-appropriate presentation on water issues.  Families are also invited to pack a picnic lunch for afterwards.

When the Wimberley Players unleash the wickedly wacky and wry Greater Tuna, by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, audiences are assured a first class ticket to “the third smallest town in Texas.” This brilliant send-up of small town life was originally a party skit that debuted as a play in Austin, Texas in the fall of 1981, and off-Broadway in 1982. By 1985 it was the most produced play in the U.S. Greater Tuna is onstage at the Wimberley Playhouse weekends, April 24 – May 17.

Directed by Aaron Johnson for the Players, the iconic comedy has enjoyed more than 30 years of success. “It lives deep in the heart of many fans,” Johnson says. “But don’t expect a tame rendering of Greater Tuna here! It is social commentary and I made sure that the darker aspects of Tuna didn’t get lost in all the fun.”

Katherine Anne Porter School students had a busy day prepping for Spring Break by showing off their artistic talents and helping beautify the Wimberley Valley in one busy Friday.

KAPS’ annual Day of Service sent students to locations across the Wimberley Valley last week as they helped with beautification projects like the gardens at Jacob’s Well Natural Area and the Wimberley Village Library. Some students cleaned trash along Cypress Creek among many other projects in town. 

After all the hard work, the students put on an art show to showcase the many talents of KAPS along with a potluck lunch that was open to the community. More than a dozen bands and individuals preformed one after another on the stage while there was also art work shown off to the side. 

Denise Jackson is an energetic, enthusiastic teacher, which is expressed, in her teaching methods. Having been a business owner, and still is a business consultant, brain and also game design camps, she strives to teach business knowledge. “High school students need hands-on opportunities to apply learning.  They need to set high expectations and know that even when they fail they are succeeding if they learn and grow,” says Jackson. “Students who develop their own businesses are getting a jump start on taking their ideas to the next level and reducing their future entrepreneurial risk.”

She decided in her entrepreneur business class, she would take it to the next level with her students. She decided to copy the TV show Shark Tank and have her kids sell their ideas to local business people who would vote on their ideas and marketing skills.

The lights are off and trouble is coming in the new Wimberley Player’s production, “Wait Until Dark.” The play, written by Frederick Knott in 1966, is a suspenseful thriller about three con men and the blind, yet keen, woman they’re trying to fool. Part film noir and part classic con game, “Wait Until Dark” is a show for both film enthusiasts and play lovers alike.

Sam Hendrix unwittingly brings home a doll full of heroin from a business trip as a favor, and three shady guys are out to get it. Ameer Mobarak plays “Sergeant Carlino” and Guy Ben-Moshe plays “Mike Talman,” fake names given to them by third bad guy “Harry Roat,” played by Danny Mosier. As the first two find out, Roat has killed their former cohort Lisa, who they had expected to meet.

The Wimberley Way is how the community takes care of one another, a throwback earlier times when friends and neighbors were depended upon when Wimberleyites found themselves in an emergency situation or trouble. A little community such as Wimberley had a couple of hours ride to San Marcos or Austin, and help was counted on from others in the community.

That spirit is still prevalent. There are many organizations to volunteer for and to help out, directly to fellow community members. One such new organization in town is the Good Samaritan Community Services. Although affiliated with the Episcopal Church, there is no preaching of religion. 

The Wimberley Village Library is always trying to serve the community in every way it can. Now channeling the creative spirit that Wimberley is noted for has another outlet. The library is seeking contributions for a new publication, a publication about Wimberley. 

The book is the brainchild of circulation editor Carroll Wilson who wanted an “opportunity to engage the community as a creative partner” in a paperback book to be published in time for Christmas 2015. 

Wilson had a plan a couple years in the making. As a former book writer, editor and professor at West Texas A&M, Baylor and UT, Wilson saw the potential that technology could offer. 

Thursday’s weather was rainy, cold and perfect for a heapin’ helpin’ of chili.  Throw in a cupcake war and it really couldn’t be any better weather for the Katherine Ann Porter School’s Flavor and Fire Chili Cook-off and First Annual Cupcake Wars. 

On Thursday night, Jan. 22, the heat was flavorful and in the pots of chili and good cheer and smiles of all the participants hoping to lure tasters into voting for their particular brand. There was all different types and spicy-ness from Anglo- Saxon Chili (which ran out early) to Ball Brothers and Showtime chili.  Samples from each one was the way to go and then making a decision on which one to choose for a full bowl was the hard part. Josey Duvall won the First Place Chili.

Wimberley is a socially conscious community and there are many ways residents can volunteer and help those who really are in need of help. It was this way in the beginning. Wimberley was an isolated community and for anything to be done in the valley, such as helping in an emergency or even rounding up a neighbor’s loose cattle, it was up to the local citizens. This became the “Wimberley Way.”

The Society of St. Vincent is one organization that helps those that need help, and as quickly as possible. Although it is a Catholic organization, there are people of other faiths that belong and help. It helps those in the Wimberley area only.

It’s likely that no one will notice the change that is happening at “Kiss the Cook,” the shop that sells kitchen gadgets and essentials of all sorts, located on the Square. There’s hasn’t been anything earthshaking to the naked eye. But nonetheless, it will make a difference. 

Partners Janet Galloway and Brenda “Bren” Isgitt have decided to dissolve the partnership with Galloway owning and managing the “Kiss the Cook” in Boerne and Isgitt owning and managing the shop at the Square.

There’s been no great fall out between the longtime friends and they still consult each other when one needs advice. But the grueling travelling back and forth between Wimberley and Boerne was starting to take its toll. This way each can concentrate on one individual store and cater to the needs that each town has to offer.