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CELEBRATING OUR LIFETIME MEMBERS!!!

Blanco Country Friends of the Night Sky is hosting an Appreciation Reception for our Lifetime Members! Your commitment to our organization has made it possible to maximize our mission and we want to show our appreciation by getting together for some social time.

In support of Night Sky month, the event will be held in late October. This is going to be a casual but classy affair held in an upscale Blanco art gallery and we sure hope you can attend.

If you are a Lifetime Member you should have received a special Evite invitation via email. We would very much appreciate knowing if you will be able to attend; so, open your Evite and send the RSVP as soon as possible. If you did not receive the invitation please send an email to info@blancocountynightsky.org with your current email address and we will send it to you right away.

Have you been considering becoming a Lifetime Member? Now is the time!!! You can find out how to do that by clicking on Lifetime Membership

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WORKING TOGETHER WITH DARKSKY TEXAS

Board Member Bob Heinonen delivered educational and exhibit goods from DarkSky Texas President, Cindy Luongo Cassidy, to the new DarkSky Texas Rio Grande Valley Coordinator and DarkSKy Texas Board member, Jennifer Rektorik. Jennifer is the niece of Elizabeth Rektorik Seibert and her husband, Bob Heinonen. Jennifer got her dark sky inspiration from what we have been doing in Blanco County! Keep up the good work Jennifer, we need all the help we can get across the state.

Bob Heinonen with Jennifer Rektorik

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NIGHT SKY FRIENDLY BUSINESS RECOGNITION

Michel Green has been busy this summer. He was able to present two more businesses with our Night Sky Friendly Business “Certificate of Merit” this month. We welcomed Siobhan Atchley of Blanco Pharmacy and Wellness on August 26, 2024. Linda Haddock and John Sone, owners of Echo Gallery, received their certificate on September 8, 2024.

The Certificate of Merit is presented to businesses that have responsibly managed their outdoor lighting by preventing off-premises glare and light escaping above the horizon into the night sky.

We do our best to find and recognize businesses in Blanco that have done a good job of managing their outdoor lighting but perhaps we missed yours. If you believe you may qualify, contact us at info@blancocountynightsky.org and we’ll come by and check it out.

Our goal is to initiate this program very soon in Johnson City. Stay tuned!

Siobhan Atchley of Blanco Pharmacy and Wellness with Micheal Green


Michael Green with Linda Haddock and John Sone, owners of Echo Gallery

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TWIN SISTERS “RAISE THE ROOF” FUNDRAISER EVENT

While BCFNS did support this event by donating a silent auction item and was a sponsor (through the anonymous donation of one of our supporters), we were not able to host our exhibit table. Below is the message sent to the Raise the Roof organizers:

“Blanco County Friends of the Night sky has not been able to muster enough volunteers to work at our exhibit table at your Raise the Roof event tomorrow, Saturday, September 28. With deep regret I must inform you we will not have our exhibit table at the event. Our sponsorship at Twin Sisters remains in place and we hope your event is a huge success. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.”

This was a very unfortunate occurrence. We reached out via Facebook and emails for assistance but did not receive enough response. For us to continue to spread the message about light pollution abatement we MUST have volunteers. Please consider donating your time. We will teach you all you need to know about sharing information and educating others on how we can all help to “save our stars”!

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NEW LIFETIME MEMBERS!

We are happy to announce that in September BCFNS increased its Lifetime Members by 2 households, bringing the total to 23! Mary Bob and Mike Smith (Mike pictured below) joined BCFNS as our newest Lifetime Members while Paula and Mike Lundy chose to renew their membership by upgrading to a Lifetime Membership!

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NEW MEMBERSHIP SIGN OWNERS

Dee & Bob Cartwright and Trish Campbell are our newest Household member sign owners. They chose to purchase a sign and receive a free one-year membership. Lacie & Samuel Lartigue bought at large member sign along with becoming Business members. See the Membership Section below in this newsletter for details on how you can get your membership sign.

        Dee Cartwright                       

Trish Campbell's sign in her yard

Lacie and Samuel Lartigue and daughters
Lartigue Construction Services

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CONSIDER BECOMING A MEMBER

We have been successful with our Membership Sign Promotion! The more signs we can get out in the public, the more people we can reach with our message about “saving the stars”.

For those of you thinking of joining BCFNS or renewing your membership, we are offering a free one-year membership ($20) with the purchase of a sign ($35 tax included). A membership sign is the best publicity the night sky can have. Here’s the link: BCFNS Membership Signs

For more information on all our membership options click here: Membership Options

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NEXT BOARD MEETING

The next Board meeting will be at El Charro Restaurant in Johnson City on October 16th @ 9 am. Join us!

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THIS NEWSLETTER

We hope you enjoy our newsletter and we are always looking for ways to make it better and more enjoyable. To that end, we invite your suggestions, comments and ideas for articles. In fact, if you would like to write an article to be published in our newsletter, we will certainly consider including it. Please send them to: newsletter@blancocountynightsky.org

Remember we are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Please consult your accountant or tax adviser for details regarding deductibility for your donation.