Chapter Meetings – Nature Along the El Camino Real

Lots of Gratitude and Laughs at our December Meeting

December 14, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

by Sue Ann Kendall

Every year we combine our December Chapter meeting with a celebration, and this year we were grateful to have a lovely venue, the Yards of Cameron, and some truly delicious food courtesy of Barbara Dominguez. The decorations featured native yaupon holly that added a festive Texas touch. No wonder everyone was so full of gratitude and cheer!

Our Chapter Meeting was poignant, because it featured fond farewells to our President and Vice President for the last four years, Carolyn Henderson and Liz Lewis. These women helped move our chapter forward after some challenging years thanks to their positive attitudes and encouragement. Leading a chapter is not easy, but Carolyn made it look so, even when we were occasionally unruly. She came up with some great activities and encouraged us all to participate in our great new projects. And Liz found us some speakers who increased our knowledge and inspired us to do new things.

Carolyn and Liz kindly gave some of the chapter members who helped her over the years lovely certificates and hugs. Most of them took it seriously, but I just HAD to make a goofy face.

All the directors kept us cheerful by sharing their love and gratitude, as well. We welcomed Chad Cryer as our final 2025 class member to achieve their certification and coveted roadrunner pin, and we were thrilled to see our chapter friend, Rosie Johnson, receive her own honorary pin. She’s really helped us over the years at the Wildscape and with her donated plants.

Special recognition went to our top three iNaturalist contributors for 2025: Linda Jo Conn, Michelle Lopez, and Eric Neubauer. Keep it up, y’all!

We are also very grateful to welcome our new President, Marian Buegeler, and a former President as Vice President, Phyllis Shuffield. We’re in good hands!

Our yearly white elephant gift exchange went so well this year that I forgot to take pictures. We had just enough coveted presents to exchange multiple beauties three times, so the final recipient got to keep them. Bird houses that looked like buildings and gifts with bonus peanut brittle were especially popular. Next year, let’s not break into the brittle until the gift is actually yours! (No, really, that was a lot of fun.)

Slightly used container of peanut brittle.

Speaking for me, your faithful blogger, I just want to thank all the El Camino Real Master Naturalist chapter members for their kindness to each other and ability to welcome all into their group with open arms. I just love how there’s something for everyone to contribute to and help promote the wildness of little Milam County and the rest of Texas. Enjoy some more party photos!

Celebrating New Members and Milestones

May 9, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Carolyn Henderson
photos by Sue Ann Kendall

I am excited to introduce the new members of our chapter to you. They are in order: Carolyn M., Don F., Teresa (Terri) B., Kay F., Kathleen (Kit) T., Tina D., Bill D., and Chad C. I’m sure everyone who attended the party last night now knows them, but I wanted to make sure those who couldn’t attend and our online fans also know and can say hello if they run into them. I believe they are going to be a great group for our chapter. Let me add that Terri has also received Full Certification and her first pin and name tag, too.

I also want to send out some thank yous to everyone that helped get this class through. We kept eight out of ten who registered. Eighty percent retention is a feat worth noting. Alan R. and Debra S. worked extra hard to train this group and get them to the end. Michelle Lopez attended every training session to make sure all the information was presented as intended by the speakers. Ellen L. also kept the potlucks organized with the help of Ann C. and Jackie T. According to Chad, it was a motivating factor. Several members attended most of the sessions to mentor the new members. Making contact goes a long way.

Many thanks go out to Liz L. for co-organizing the party last night. She also bought flashlights for the new members that will show the unusual colors on some lichen that Chad taught us about. Patsy C. made some very nice certificates and also kept the class on their toes about their hours. Pamela N. made the official ceramic frog magnets for each member and the trainers. Several members contributed to the very good bar-b-que we had last night with potato salads and deserts.

*New Members told stories and declared their favorite bird at the ceremony.*

It just goes to prove that it really does take a village to get things done.

Last but not least, you may want to send a big congratulations to Debbi H. on achieving 4,000 volunteer hours in TMN. We are waiting on the Presidential citation and pin to arrive for her. Ellen L also achieved 250 hours – a great deal of those hours occured being our hostess director.

Awards and Recognitions for June

June 15, 2024 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Carolyn Henderson

Our Vice President, Liz Lewis, achieved 250 volunteer hours this month, and the following members recertified for 2024:

Connie Anderle
Ann Collins (not pictured)
Joyce Conner (not pictured)
Janice Johnson (not pictured)
Ellen Luckey
Eric Neubauer
Jackie Thornton

Patricia Coombs presented their pins to them. Congratulations to all!

We Celebrate Each Other

December 18, 2023December 18, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall2 Comments

by Sue Ann Kendall

Last Thursday at our regular Chapter Meeting, we enjoyed our annual celebration of the holidays, but it ended up more of a celebration of each other. The setting was one of the beautifully renovated buildings in downtown Cameron. Many attendees reminisced about shopping in the building when it was JC Penney – one of us even worked there as a teen. Well, it’s a beautiful event venue now!

Attendees enjoyed a beautiful charcuterie selection and delicious beverages before sitting down to a truly delightful meal prepared by Hot Corners Catering here in town. Barbara does great work! Our members decorated the place beautifully, as well, so it was quite a treat for the 45 members and friends at the event.

After the meal we held our chapter meeting that included year-end reports from all the officers and committee chairs and welcomes to the new chairs. I was surprised during the iNaturalist cheerleader report by Linda Jo Conn, to get a nice certificate for doing WAY better than I’d expected at the Pollinator BioBlitz in October. I didn’t think anyone had noticed but me, but Linda Jo sees all.

There were some very touching reports from outgoing officers, such as Don Travis, who has been the Communications Chair since our chapter started out. We sure appreciate his work on the amazing chapter website. All the outgoing chairs got certificates of appreciation.

Of course there were members to celebrate, as we have had 36 members recertify this year, the most in recent memory.

*Members who recertified or achieved milestones this month*

Then came a real surprise for everyone, when our President, Carolyn, and our incoming Training Class coordinator, Alan, started running through which attendees had held Chapter offices in the past. It turns out that they had decided (on their own, by the way) to hand out special pins for service to El Camino Real Master Naturalist. How about that? When my friend Phyllis and I realized we were about to get bald eagle pins, we knew what we had to do and we FLEW up to the presenters (at least in our minds). That’s what former Chapter Presidents do, you see.

Other people who had served as officers and committee chairs in the past got different beautiful bird pins, too. It was fun to watch them come up and to see how many of us had served the chapter as officers and committee chairs. Some of the pins weren’t birds, but rather were animals that fit with what service they provided. I especially enjoyed that our frequent blogger, Donna Lewis, got a purple martin pin. That’s well deserved! And our resident spider expert, Eric Neubauer, got a tarantula, which was as close as they could come to a wolf spider.

They couldn’t get us Presidents and former Presidents to hold still

As if all that wasn’t enough fun, we finished out the evening with our traditional Yankee Swap gift exchange. The usual plethora of bird feeders, bird baths, and bird houses were exchanged, along with other nature-themed gifts. Everyone seemed pretty happy with what they ended up with, even the funny gifts (after all, it’s supposed to be a white elephant exchange). I am afraid I got zero photos of the gifts, because I was tired from popping up and down to take photos earlier. So, you’ll just have to take my word for it. I’ll show you the gift I ended up with, which will turn into a butterfly feeder. The peace dove ornament came with it, and I love it best of all.

It will hang or stand (or sit on the ground)

We look forward to all the activities we’re doing next year, and hope you come along with us as we explore the nature of Milam County, Texas in all its glory.

Land Trust Info at July Chapter Meeting

July 14, 2023July 14, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Sue Ann Kendall

Last night’s Chapter Meeting was very informative and a lot of fun. We even had a couple of visitors, and that prompts me to remind you that anyone who happens to be in Cameron, Texas on the second Thursday of any month is welcome to join us at All Saints Episcopal Church. Potluck at 5:30, followed by our program. The monthly meeting follows the presentation. At this month’s meeting, we were privileged to learn from a presentation on land trusts and conservation easements and how they work, from Melanie Pavlas and Lauri Mason, Executive Director and Outreach Manager for Pines and Prairies Land Trusts. This was especially relevant, since Milam County is now a part of the area served by Pines and Prairies.

*Melanie shared her passion for land trusts with us.*

As we were listening to how land trusts can preserve land from being over-developed, yet let the owners live on the land and farm/ranch just as they always had, many ears perked up. I think they’ll be getting a few phone calls from Master Naturalist landowners! Melanie and Lauri both said they love to talk to folks about what they do, and promise they aren’t trying to sell anything. But, honestly, if one’s heirs aren’t interested in preserving land for use by native plants and animals, this sounds like a great idea.

Please visit their website to learn more about how you can enjoy your land and ensure its preservation in the future.

As usual, we had some milestones to mark, and this month we honored Neil Wettstein for achieving his initial certification, as well as Ellen Luckey from our most recent class for also getting in her first year’s certification in addition to the initial one. Whew.

Members Pamela Neeley, Cindy Rek, and Gene Rek were recertified for 2023. Congratulations to all.

*Ellen Luckey, Pamela Neeley, Carolyn Henderson (Chapter President), Neil Wettstein, Cindy Rek, and Gene Rek*

There was also some fun, as our cheerleader and iNat superhero, Linda Jo Conn, presented Eric Neubauer with a “Big Spider Badge” in honor of his contributions and of the fact that he’s presenting a talk at the upcoming 2023 Texas Master Naturalist meeting.

*Eric self designated it, the badge says. That was fun.*

After the meeting, we were joined by Dale Kruse, plant expert extraordinaire (especially mosses and bryophytes, he will tell you), held an orientation meeting for the group of folks who are going to take a class on grass identification with him. Having done this twice myself, I know they will learn so much they’ll feel like their heads will explode, but it will be fantastic. We’re lucky to have people so willing to share their time and expertise with us.