Nature Along the El Camino Real
Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
by Kathy Lester
The El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist training class met at Walker Honey Farm, where owner Clint Walker discussed all the wonderful things about bees. Attendees were able to handle the hive frames, see the queen bees, and observe at least three different colors of pollen carried by the bees. They were dressed appropriately for visiting hives.
Bee handler Blake explained the manufacturing process.
Then they had some great “retail therapy” at the Walker Honey Farm store.
by Carolyn Henderson
The El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist training class was treated to a great program about bugs by Wizzie Brown, entomologist for TAMU AgriLife Extension in Travis County. Even the long-time members learned many new facts about Texas bugs. Ms. Brown’s favorite bug is a roach. That happens to be my least favorite. I’ve attached the ways to connect with her.
The Travis County AgriLife Extension office does blogs, programs, and YouTube posts about all things Texas nature. Many of these will give you AT hours while enthralling your interest in nature. If you email Ms. Brown, you can get on the email list that gets everyone notified of what is available. Kathy Lester, student trainer, emailed all the PowerPoint screens to everyone. The talk was even more informative.
At our regular meeting, March 9, Debbi Harris will teach us how to compost with worms.
By Carolyn Henderson
The El Camino Real chapter of Texas Master Naturalist class of 2023 kicked off to a great start Thursday night. With the 13 new student trainees, trainers Kathy Lester and Alan Rudd, and plenty of “elder” members, it was a full house.
Retired Game Warden Mike Mitchell presented the program giving students in-depth knowledge of how Texas Master Naturalist got its start and explained all the inner workings and why all the rules are there. Mitchell was the first advisor of the chapter and instrumental, along with a few other members – some still active, in creating the chapter 15 years ago. Texas Master Naturalist is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Lester then touched on the schedule for the next few months. Rudd organized a break-out session putting three to four students and existing members together with a topic of discussion, so we can all get to know each other better. The break-out sessions are planned for each class session.
And finally, the class members voted to have pot-luck meals each week, so they should fit right in to the chapter. When you have a Thursday free, come meet the new students. State Biologist Tim Siegmund is the presenter next week.
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.
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?
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.
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!
by Sue Ann Kendall, Chapter President
As you’re no doubt aware, the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging in Texas. The Texas Master Naturalist program’s advisors and administrators are concerned for the safety of the members of our program, so they have had to come to some difficult decisions this month.
I attended the monthly meeting for Chapter Presidents yesterday, and it was a hard one. Mary Pearl Meuth and Michelle Haggerty patiently shared with us the data they have put together about COVID risks in the counties where there are Master Naturalist chapters. It didn’t look good. They divided the counties into red, yellow, and green, by relative risk, and there were only two counties with chapters that were green, and four yellow as of last Friday.
Milam County was yellow as of then, but it’s predicted to be red by next Friday, when they will update the map again. What does that mean? Here’s what Texas Parks and Wildlife says for red counties:
Counties with two of three factors pertaining to positivity rate of greater than 8% or more, OR a rapid rise in cases OR a hot spot:
TMN COVID Response page follow the link to read more about the guidelines
• No face to face Extension-hosted or Extension-sponsored events.
• No guest speaking or presenting at other entities’ events.
• No overnight events.
Many attendees at the meeting asked about whether drive-by events, outdoor activities, or solo activities would be okay. The answer was a reluctant, “No.”
No one was happy about this turn of events, but the current guidelines are set until the end of the year. It sounded doubtful that anything would change after that, but we will keep checking.
Last night we held a meeting with some of the El Camino Real board who have worked directly with our recently graduated training class, to figure out how to do the graduation event we’d planned for this Saturday (December 12). After I explained what I’d learned earlier in the day, we had no choice but to conclude that we have to cancel the event, even though it was going to be as safe as we could make it.
Even if Milam County stayed in the yellow, we’d have more than ten attendees, and that’s all allowed in yellow counties. Plus, since we would have Board members living in Bell and Williamson Counties at the meeting, we’d have to abide by red county rules, anyway. Well, that was no fun.
Of course, we want to celebrate our new members! Here’s what we will be doing right now:
I will send certificates out as soon as I can get Floyd Ingram’s signature on the graduation certificates. These go to our fine new members:
I’ll also sign the certificates for those who have passed their initial certification, which include:
Kathy Lester will send everyone their Chapter t-shirts.
Lisa Milewski will send pins to the new graduates and nametags to those who get them, as well.
We will wait to give new members their gift made by Pamela Neeley later, since the are delicate and expensive to mail.
Since we don’t have any idea when we can resume in-person meetings, we will continue with our Zoom Chapter Meetings. Don Travis will send all our members the registration link, which will work for all 2021 meetings. They’ll still be the second Thursday of the month!
We will be sending links to TMN activities that can get us our Advanced Training and volunteer hours virtually, such as TMN Tuesdays and the upcoming Virtual Volunteer Fair. Keep your eyes open for the weekly email!
I just want to thank all of you for sticking with us this year. I know some of us are unable to do virtual meetings, and that means we miss being together. Let’s hope things will turn around with the new year and slowly but surely we will be able to get outdoors and do some community science work together again!
Nature Along the El Camino Real 