Does the welfare of animals concern you? Does the fact that outdoor lights at night harm animals chap your, er…soul? Have you ever wanted to express those feelings publicly to a potential worldwide audience? Well, here’s your chance. There are no cash prizes….but lots of fun and personal satisfaction….and maybe recognition of your talents.

Like it or not, there are rules....too many rules, but every contest worth its salt needs rules.

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…no AI allowed…just your own brain. 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 political comments, vulgarities, or sexist or racist terms or anything else that might be overtly offensive as determined by the Facebook Group Administrator(s)
7. The post background must be white, it must use a black font and have no graphics, emojis, pictures or links…only your words
8. Posting may use any black font visible on Facebook as long as its color is black
9. Poems must be submitted for posting after January 15, 2026, at 12:00AM CST and before January 31, 2026, at 3:00PM CST. The winner will be announced on the BCFNS Facebook Group on February 8, 2026, after all votes are in.
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 its 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. The Admin will place them in the Featured section upon acceptance where only submitted poems will be published.
13. The BCFNS Facebook Group Administrator(s) may try their hand at writing a poem but they can’t vote for any poems and are ineligible to win even if their piece rivals that of Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll, or Alfred Lord Tennyson.

VOTING FOR A POEM
1. Voters must be members of our BCFNS Facebook Group
2. BCFNS Facebook Group members may cast a vote by clicking on any of the 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 because if you click you have voted for it.
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 the end of the day on February 7, 2026
5. After February 7, 2026, 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 February 8, 2026. There may or may not be virtual fireworks involved.

If you would like a copy of this document, email dba@BlancoCountyNightSky.org and request a copy by return email.

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The next Board meeting will be January 21st @ 9:00 am at Texas Regional Bank in Blanco.

You are welcome to join us.

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BECOME 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 to “save 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. Email us here to purchase a sign: info@BlancoCountyNightSky.org

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

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THIS NEWSLETTER

We hope you enjoy our newsletter. 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 any donation you make.