BCFNS NEWSLETTER

December 2021

Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky
Facebook Group
2022 Poetry Contest
Theme: “The Night Sky through the Poet’s Eye”

Does looking up at a beautiful night sky tingle your soul? Does trying to see stars through a light polluted night sky chap your, er…soul? Have you ever wanted to express those feelings publicly to a potential worldwide audience? Well, here’s your chance. The Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky (BCFNS) Facebook Group is having a Night Sky Poetry Contest. There are few rules and no cash prizes but lots of fun and personal satisfaction.

Here’s the deal:
1. You write a poem and submit it per the instructions below
2. The members of our Facebook Group vote for it (or not)
3. The poem with the most votes wins and the poet accrues immortal fame and incalculable personal satisfaction

That’s it. Now here are the rules:

SUBMITTING A POEM
1. Submitters must be members of our BCFNS Facebook Group and the poem they submit must be their own creative work. A person may submit as many poems as he or she wishes.
2. Poems must be submitted as a post to the BCFNS Facebook Group
3. Poems may be of any length that Facebook allows as a post
4. Poems must be written in English
5. Poems may be in any form of poetry and they don’t even have to rhyme
6. Poems may not contain vulgarities, or sexist or racist terms or anything else that might be overtly offensive as determined by the Facebook Group Administrator(s)
7. Posting must have white background, black font and have no graphics, pictures or links
8. Posting may use any black font visible on Facebook
9. Poems must be submitted for posting between January 15, 2022, at 12:00AM CST and January 31, 2022, at 3:00PM CST. The winner will be announced on the BCFNS Facebook Group page on February 4, 2022.
10. The winner will have their win announced within the BCFNS Facebook Group plus the poem will be published (at a minimum) on the BCFNS website and in the BCFNS newsletter.
11. By submitting a poem, the submitter agrees that BCFNS may use the poem in its educational programs, promotions, and publications and may share the poem for their use with other organizations working to preserve the night sky.
12. The BCFNS Facebook Group Administrator(s) will review and approve all poems prior to their being posted on the Facebook page.
13. The BCFNS Facebook Group Administrator(s) may try his hand at writing a poem but he can’t vote for any poems and is ineligible to win even if his piece rivels that of Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll, or Alfred Lord Tennyson.

VOTING
1. Voters must be members of our BCFNS Facebook Group
2. BCFNS Facebook Group members may cast a vote by clicking on any one of the seven (7) Facebook reaction icons (Like, Love, Care, HaHa, Wow, Sad, Angry) for the post/poem. CAUTION: A click on ANY reaction is a POSITIVE click for a vote. If you don’t like a poem, don’t click on anything. Just shake your head and move on.
3. BCFNS Facebook Group members may cast a vote for any number of poems but remember that the Facebook algorithm prevents any Facebook member from reacting to a given post more than once.
4. Votes must be cast by January 31, 2022, at 3:00PM CST.
5. After January 31, 2022, at 3:00PM CST, the BCFNS Facebook Group Administrator will tally the votes by counting the number of reactions for each poem submitted.
6. The winning poem will be announced by the BCFNS Facebook Group Administrator as a post on Facebook. There may or may not be virtual fireworks involved.

Have fun!!!

BILL WREN'S RETIREMENT

We’d like to bid a fond retirement Adieu (that’s Cajun for “Adios”) to Bill Wren at McDonald Observatory.

Bill served for many years as the assistant to the Chief Astronomer at the McDonald Observatory, working tirelessly on light pollution abatement initiatives. Light pollution is, of course, depressingly evil and could potentially “kill” McDonald Observatory as serious astronomical work requires seriously dark nighttime skies. Bill was a master at explaining this issue in terms anyone could understand and made fascinating presentations to all sorts of audiences. But he was also proactive in the field, working, for example, with oil well drilling companies in the Permian Basin and the Trans-Pecos regions to reduce the light pollution caused by their nighttime drilling operations.

Bill’s wife, Janice, was also an active night sky advocate and was one of the founding members of the West Texas Friends of the Night Sky group. Together, Bill and Janice saved millions of West Texas stars from oblivion. We’ll miss them but Bill assures us that he and Janice will continue to be active in night sky preservation from their new home in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.

Adieu to you, Bill and Janice, and buena suerte in your new home!

For more information about Bill, check out Bill Wren at McDonald Observatory

Next Business and Brainstorming Session

Our next meeting is Wednesday, January 19th @ 9:00AM, at El Charro Restaurant in Johnson City. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you would like to attend via Zoom, just let us know and we’ll make it happen.

Stat Report

Type	October	November	December
Paid Households	85	90	92
Household Members	155	166	171
Business Members	7	7	7
Facebook Members	503	520	535
Facebook Actives	305	365	428
Instagram Followers	250	259	265
Instagram Interactions	109	171	*
Website Visitors (Unique)	1022	1190	*

* We are missing these figures
A few more statistics.
At the end of 2020, we had 26 household members; at the end of 2021 we have 92 household members.
At the end of 2020, we had 365 Facebook Group members; at the end of 2021 we have 535 Facebook Group members.
At the end of 2020, we had 55 Instagram followers; at the end of 2021 we have 265 Instagram followers.

Meet the BCFNS Board Members

Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth has spent the last 20 years in private school administration, primarily in Montessori-based education. She holds a Masters Degree in Montessori school leadership. Upon relocating to Blanco in 2020 she begin substituting for the Blanco ISD school district and is enjoying her time in the classroom instead of the office!

Prior to moving to Blanco, Elizabeth was a “big city girl” living most of her years in Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas where the beauty of the night sky was hard to appreciate. Family camping and school group stargazing trips to Big Bend, Prude Ranch, McDonald Observatory and Cloudcroft, NM, reminded her of the importance of keeping our night sky pollution free.

Volunteering for Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky is extremely rewarding for Elizabeth and her partner David as they take semi annual night sky readings throughout the county and are able to track the progress of the group’s efforts. This also allows them to give back to the community and preserve the dark skies of Blanco County.

Volunteer Opportunities

We may have an opportunity that interests you. Check out our “Volunteer Opportunities“ at BCFNS Volunteers

Membership Sign Promotion

Do you have your sign yet? 57 of our members do! A membership sign is the best publicity the night sky can have. For folks thinking of joining the BCFNS, we are offering a free membership ($20) with the purchase of a sign ($35 tax included). Here’s the link: BCFNS Membership Signs