Features

It started with a bowl.  In celebration of its 30th Anniversary of feeding those in need, Crisis Bread Basket is organizing the first ever EMPTY BOWLS WIMBERLEY to bring attention to the issue of hunger in the Wimberley Valley as well as to raise much needed funds for the food pantry.  The EMPTY BOWL event is based on a very successful national model used by food banks all over the country.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School hosted its 12th Annual Fun Run on Saturday, October 29th.  The chip-timed 5K trail run and 1K kiddie run wound around the School’s 52-acre tree-filled campus that it shares with the Church. Runners were encouraged to run in their Halloween costumes and be part of the costume contest!  Head of School, Marsha Acock noted that, “physical education is a critical component of St. Stephen’s mission for each child.  Participation in the Fun Run offers one way to encourage healthy living, and to do it in a fun, family-oriented morning.”   Pre-race fundraising included St. Stephen’s teachers participating in a student pie toss.  With community business sponsorship, student and family support, and over 140 runners, the Fun Run was a fun and successful fundraising event for the School.

Congratulations to the following 5K and 1K Winners: 

Superman, Batman, Cleopatra, a four-legged hippy, friends of Cinderella, mermaids and crabs and a whole lot of other characters showed up at Deer Creek Nursing Home on Saturday, October 29.

“It is the twentieth year this contest has been going on, all for the benefit of Wimberley Adoption Group and Rescue (WAG),” Debbie Nordyke, one of the founders of WAG said excitedly. 

Who wouldn’t be excited with the over thirty dressed-up animals who came to compete, and entertain Deer Creek residents and other interested Wimberleyites.

Wimberley Veterinarian Clinic hosted the event with Deer Creek with the proceeds going to WAG. 

Wimberley Rental also kicked in free rental of table and chairs used. Jim has done this for the past 20 years. There were trophies, ribbons and prizes with divisions for adults and children as well as a non-traditional pet division.  

The Wimberley Community Civic Club (WCCC) really knows how to master a fashion runway and to get the best dressed ladies in town to turn out for their Fall Fashion Preview. State Senator Donna Campbell was the fashion commentator and the models were local ladies who rivaled those of New York and Paris.

Mimosas were flowing freely and breakfast sausage casserole and other cheesy delights were perfect accompaniment to the lavish tables and the fashions presented by local businesses InStyle Accessories, Gracious Ladies, Shop the Tree House, Dovetails, Cedar Chest, Kiss the Cook, Chulitas’s, Gypsy Market,  On a Branch, the Find, and Booby Trap Bras.

Get in the holiday spirit with the “A Taffeta Christmas” which opens on October 28 in the EmilyAnn’s indoor Burdine Johnson Studio Theatre. Directed by Karin Cunningham, the show features a cast of very talented local actresses with beautiful voices: Lindsey Burnett, Devyn Collie, Angie Lassetter and Melissa May Moncus. The four women play sisters who are working on a holiday show for a radio station in their hometown.  The music takes center stage as the sisters sing medleys of Christmas favorites and hits from the 40s, 50s, and 60s dressed up with a holiday twist.

Although last week was National Night Out, the Wimberley Fire Department had a Community Night for area residents. First responders of the area were in attendance to meet and greet for all community members.

Organizations that were in attendance were:

Wimberley EMS, STAR Flight, Texas Division of Emergency Management, Texas Department of Public Safety, Hays County Constable’s Office Precinct 3, Texas Parks and Wildlife, RP Flight Systems, Texas A&M Forest Service, Hays County Office of Emergency Services, Hays County Fire Marshal’s Office, Wimberley Valley Radio and Judge Cable.

Saturday went to the dogs literally when the Wimberley Merchants Association’s Annual Pet Parade. Small dogs, large dogs, bluebloods, mutts, and every kind in between were represented and were dressed in costumes.

Entry fees and other funds were donated to WAG (Wimberley Adoption Group and Rescue). WAG finally has a permanent facility located in Driftwood and getting it ready for their Grand Opening in December.

But trying to be “Top Dog” in the annual parade is a great honor. It also provides lots of laughs as the pups paraded down Ranch Road 12, to the delight of those watching on the curb or inside a car.

Finally after tabulation, the winning costumed canines were announced:

Best In Parade: “The Candidate” Lucy For President, Caroline & Joel Regen with Lucy, a rescue mix

A historic scout camp that’s boundaries include more than a mile of Blanco River front and the iconic Devil’s Backbone is for sale.

El Rancho Cima has been a destination for boy scouts since the 1950’s. The more than 2,500 acres are spread between Hays and Comal Counties just off Ranch Road 32 near Fischer.

The Sam Houston Area Council (Houston Area) of the Boy Scouts of America is selling the camp and is considering a variety of offers. The Council recently broke ground on a new camp that it says will be  a “21st century Scouting experience for Scouts and their leaders.”

No price is listed on the property, Republic Ranches Broker Tallon Martin says offers will be presented to the owners for consideration. Considering the amount of land and its features the price could easily be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Buck Winn is part of Wimberley’s storied artistic history as a world renown artist. Over the years, Winn Ranch, on the outskirts of town, became the birthplace, and sometimes the burial ground, of many famous pieces of art.

The Community Center houses his 1950 mural of “History of Ranching” which towers over the doorways just inside the front entrance.  He also created the cross at Chapel of the Hills.

He studied in Europe, was a painter, inventor sculptor, architect, muralist and UT professor. He lived from 1905-79 and he is still well known for his talents and the many works he left behind.

As an inventor, he created cedar rock, which looks like wood brick pavers that still grace the floor of his house, now occupied by his daughter. Another patent started his company, Archilithic that used his patented foam resin for many uses including the Astrodome’s roof.

The Crisis Bread Basket will be a big part of the Wimberley Alive Music and Arts Festival, being held on November 10-13. The festival helps to promote Wimberley and the things we are noted for, namely Music, Arts and neighbors helping neighbors. This is the first year for the Crisis Bread Basket’s Empty Bowl Project on Sunday, November 13 in the afternoon of the event.

But you can get a start on providing an empty bowl by making a glass one at the Silo Glass Studio & Gallery located on Ranch Road 12, across from Middleton’s Brewery. On Friday afternoons, Elissa Beach and Chester John will teach you the finer points of making fused glass bowls.