graduation – Nature Along the El Camino Real

Celebrating Our Graduates!

April 28, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Sue Ann Kendall

Photos by Sue Ann Kendall and Debbi Harris

Wednesday night was very festive for the El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist chapter. We celebrated the five new graduates from our training program with a delicious meal and a lovely presentation at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Cameron, where we also have our monthly meetings. We are grateful to Fr. Jeff and his staff for being such gracious hosts.

Our food was catered by Hot Corners, the company that is located in the beautiful Venue at Railfan that recently opened in town. Barbara Dominguez does a wonderful job, and we were glad to see our vegetarian attendees had many options. Next time we’ll remember to ask for a gluten-free main course!

The appetizers included one of Barbara’s famous charcuterie boards, along with wine and some pretty darned good non-alcoholic wine beverage that was fun to try!

Desserts were provided by Alan Rudd, who was also our assistant trainer this year. It was hard to choose which one to try, so many people tasted more than one.

The fellowship and conversation were fantastic, and everyone had a good time at the meal, and an even better time during the awards.

First, Dorothy Mayer read her famous poem she wrote when she was graduating, which always brings a laugh.

Then came the highlight of the evening. Patricia Coombs, Brenda Ferris, Ellen Luckey, Michelle Pierce, and Neil Wettstein were each presented with their graduation certificates, and two others received their first dragonfly pins for their initial certification as well. Great job, everyone!

Patricia receiving her pin from Carollyn Henderson

Following the student awards, Alan Rudd presented Kathy Lester, our lead trainer for the past three classes, with a beautiful painting of a sunrise or sunset (you get to pick) with kind words on the back of it from past students. Kathy was surprised and delighted by her gift, which is obvious in the photos!

Kudos to the team who put together the party and decorated the room so nicely. It takes a lot of work to organize all our activities, and we appreciate our dedicated members very much. Now, let’s get going on the City Nature Challenge!

Here are a couple of funny out-takes from the party. We did have fun.

Congratulations to the 2023 Training Class!

April 8, 2023April 8, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Carolyn Henderson

The El Camino Real chapter training class of 2023 completed its final class for the year Thursday night. There was great joy by all attending. Training Director Kathy Lester and Training Assistant Alan Rudd may have been the most gleeful. TPWD Biologist Bobby Allcorn finished the training with lots of information on Texas native mammals.

The class of five is off to a good start. They all have all 40 hours of training (some have a few extra) and are already reporting volunteer and AT hours. Patricia Coombs will not only graduate from the class, but she will also be fully certified as a Master Naturalist.

We will have a celebration for them on April 26 at the All Saints Episcopal Church at 6 p.m. The dinner will be catered by Barbara Dominguez, owner of Hot Corner Catering and The Venue on Main. She will provide vegetarian dishes to complement the main course. You may BYOB. Students and members who organized the class this year will be treated by the chapter. All others, including guests, will pay for their meals. Guests are welcome. We will need a head count at the regular meeting April 13.

Please come celebrate the class who survived several major weather events that seemed to always occur on Thursday nights, and give a pat on the back to Kathy Lester, Alan Rudd, Michelle Lopez, Ann Collins, and Marian Buegler for their service to keep the class on track every week. I might add that several members attended regularly for support and several of them also helped host.

Pictured in the photo: Front row – Patricia Coombs, Ellen Luckey, Michelle Pierce, Brenda Ferris

Back row – Alan Rudd, Bobby Allcorn, Neil Wettstein, Kathy Lester

Congratulations to the Graduates!

April 29, 2022 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Sue Ann Kendall, chapter secretary

May 28 was a fun day for the El Camino Real chapter! We welcomed the new graduates from our ten-week training class that went on all spring. There was a LOT of hard work involved by the organizers, the support team from our chapter, the presenters at the classes, and of course, the students. We had a wonderful evening at Julio’s Restaurant in Rockdale to celebrate and have some fun.

group photo — Our new members and the team who supported them on their journey.

First, I want to share the thanks that all us members extend to Kathy Lester, who organized the class, planned field trips, arranged for speakers, got shirts for the new members, and so much more. What would we do without her perseverance and hard work?

Kathy did such a great job! Here she’s getting ready to thank Don.

We also want to thank Don Travis, who came to all the meetings to provide media support. That is not an easy task, but he handled all the challenges with aplomb. He deserves so much credit for adding to the success of the class.

Well deserved, Don! Chapter President Carolyn Henderson agrees.

Another volunteer we want to thank is Lisa Milewski, who helped the students track their hours so they’d get credit where credit was due. What a happy accomplishment it is that all the students made it through the entire course!

The party part of the event was a welcome relief after so many years of not being able to just hang out with each other and become better acquainted. Many thanks to Liz Lewis, Pamela Neeley, and Catherine Johnson for their hard work planning it. Everyone at my table remarked about how nice it was to learn more about each other (when we weren’t laughing and laughing at the great stories some of the long-time residents told us newer folks.

But the best part was seeing the smiles on the faces of the new Master Naturalists as they got their certificates. Each of them made new friends and learned a lot, as Linda Burgess pointed out. I agree with her that it’s a great way to meet folks in the community, since it worked out that way for me, too!

I enjoyed meeting spouses and children of our members, as well. I’d heard so much about Michelle Lopez’s husband that I felt like he was already an old friend. And it’s so cool that one of our members, Victoria Everitt, is related to another member by marriage.

Two of the students also achieved their initial certification as well. Gene and Cindy Rek did so much work at the wildscape getting ready for that video filming that they got in all their volunteer hours!

One student was unable to make the party, but he’ll get his certificate soon. We are so proud of all our new members. I can’t wait to see their contributions and blog posts in the future!