The BCFNS has agreed to pair with the City of Blanco to co-host the 2025 Hill Country Dark Sky Conference on May 22nd. This invitation-only conference, sponsored by the Hill Country Alliance, brings together Hill Country mayors, city council members, county commissioners, and representatives of various county-wide night sky advocacy organizations to promote night sky preservation and coordinate efforts to protect the Hill Country’s dark skies. The BCFNS will need several volunteers to help with the conference and do things like man a registration desk, help set up and take down chairs and tables, and other logistical tasks. Rumor has it that the conference will wrap up about 5pm with a get-together at Real Ale! If you can help, please contact us at President BCFNS.

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LIBERAL LADIES’ PRESENTATION

On April 25th, the Wizard of the Night Sky, accompanied by the Fiddler of the Night Sky (playing a fiddle that looked a lot like a banjo and accompanied by Mallisa Mollberg), presented Night Sky 101 to the Liberal Ladies of Blanco County at New Hope Lutheran Church in Blanco. As almost half the audience were members of the Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky (BCFNS), it was like preaching to the choir. But a good discussion followed, mainly focused on what can be done about specific businesses or individual landowners with aberrant outdoor lighting. Emphasizing that more could get done if more people got actively involved in night sky preservation, a list of 25 open BCFNS volunteer positions was distributed. Detailed descriptions of these positions and estimated time requirements are now available on the BCFNS website; click here to view them now BCFNS Volunteer Positions April 2025

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BCFNS at the CoAPT EVENT

BCFNS participated again this year in the Blanco Coalition on Awareness, Prevention, and Treatment of Substance Abuse (CoAPT) which is a community coalition working together to keep our youth healthy. The event held on April 8th at Blanco High School was open to the public. The fact sheet, Lighting Affect Our Health & Safety, from Dark Sky International was given to students, teachers, and visitors by BCFNS members. The fact sheet explains how light pollution harms our health and wellbeing by disrupting our circadian rhythm, can cause decreased melatonin production and decrease safety when glare impairs our vision.

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JUST FOR FUN

We will continue to share poems submitted for our Annual Poetry Contest just in case you missed them on Facebook. No prizes…it was just for fun. This year’s theme: “What is a Star?”

Incomprehensible Forces
by: Allie Franki

Once night can finally stretch
its inky fingers over the rippling hills
and twisting oak trees
In that dark mirror
gems of stars bloom over
the endless pitch of sky
Meeting our eyes
from light years away
with their singular gleam
Each night we may bear witness
to the impossible
The result of incomprehensible forces
that happened billions of years ago
Its residual magic painted for us
across the boundless
black tapestry of night sky
In rapt silence we gaze
knitting together
the familiar constellations
In this dark snow globe
the busyness of life
rushes by us unnoticed
Despite our daily trifles
and individual differences
At night we all look
in the same direction.

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DARKSKY TEXAS TO PRESENT AT KEEP TEXAS BEAUTIFUL CONFERENCE

Cindy Luongo Cassidy, DarkSky Texas President, will present at the Keep Texas Beautiful Conference to be held in Austin on May 5-7, 2025. Let’s show Cindy and the Night Sky our support by attending. There is still time to register, just click here:
2025 Keep Texas Beautiful Conference

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CONSIDER BECOMING A MEMBER

A membership sign in your yard is a great way to let others know that you care about the night sky and perhaps make them curious about the organization. We have been successful with our Membership Sign Promotion but still need your help. The more signs we can get out in the public, the more people we can reach with our message about “saving the stars”.

If you have been thinking of joining BCFNS or renewing your membership, you can still take advantage of our special offering of 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 May 21st at 9:00AM, at our new meeting location, the Blanco County Community Resource Center (CRC) in Johnson City. The address is 206 South US Highway 281. You are welcome to 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.