JNVCC Christmas Luncheon at Cedar Gap Farms

We surely do thank our outgoing officers of 2008!

Amidst the twittering of hundreds of finches, redbirds and jays, Earlene Hutto welcomed us to her National Audubon Bird sanctuary in Cedar Gap.

(oh yes... there were a couple of rascally squirrels causing a bit of a raucous outside the windows as we enjoyed our luncheon)
We attended to the end of the year business which included accepting our new board and officers for 2009. Thank you Dale for remaining another year in our presidential position.
You've done an exceptional job!
We will miss Amy as our treasurer, but hopefully we can get her to return after a sabbatical from at least this one of her many responsibilities in our community. GREAT JOB!!!

The surroundings were perfect and we got to see what one of our members offers this community daily in her haven for birds just East of 83/84 after the Cedar Gap Cemetery.
If you've not visited the Cedar Gap Farms, be sure to take your family out for an afternoon of bird watching. Chairs are set around the completely windowed cottage so that you can see birds of every color from any angle. I also noticed that there were binoculars available for those who forgot that important accoutrement in the birding world.

Fall/Winter is a wonderful time for our fine feathered friends. The leaves from the trees have fallen and their food supplies are not so readily available. This lends itself perfectly for the feeders and bird baths to be loaded with these thankful creatures.

Yes Earlene.... I do think today was a success, thank you for offering and hosting the JNVCC.

...your little tin sign says just what my heart repeats often this special time of year...

Peace On Earth...

and might I add....

GOOD WILL TO MEN!

Cookies and Santa... a perfect Match!

Santa arrived at the Buffalo Gap Gym last night!

and yes,

you'll see in the following video the proof positive that Santa advocates and supports

the Buffalo Gap Volunteer Fire Department!

Before his arrival, contestants dropped off their entries for the

cookie contest.

"decorate a cookie with the meaning of Christmas"

Many were more than willing to test the edibility of the entrants
All the cookies won... but one took the grand prize offered by
the Buffalo Gap Community and Business Association
(soon to be the newest members of the JNVCC... WELCOME)
Little brothers can be the chef's most avid supporters as is testimony below!
Thank you judges for doing the hard job of deciding!

Santa may need a bigger lap for such sweet little ladies!

This is the winning entry... the 2nd grade baker says this about her cookie

"Christmas is about Jesus, and I put a cross on one side and a star of David on the other,

That is CHRISTMAS to me"

and now for a look at the unique and

personally Jim Ned Valley Santa

Entrance....

May your HOLYdays be blessed with the PEACE of the SEASON,

brought only by the REASON for the SEASON..

JOY to all!

You might be from the Jim Ned Valley if Santa arrives in the Volunteer Fire Department Vehicle!

Only in our little Jim Ned Valley???

or maybe not???

You might know you are from the wonderful little towns of the Jim Ned Valley

IF

Santa arrives for the holidays riding on the NEW Buffalo Gap Volunteer Fire Dept vehicle!

THANKS Y'ALL!!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

May we all know that this is a season of HOPE, JOY and PEACE!

"SCALPED"....for the PRIDE OF THE TRIBE!

Just had to include some rather memorable moments from the Pep Rally of the Playoff game. These are truly dedicated people who will allow themselves such sacrifice and humility for the PRIDE OF THE TRIBE!

what a principal???

allowing a new meaning to "taking scalps" of the ones who are your biggest fans????

(these are VIDEO... be sure to click for a 30 sec. glimpse of the shenanigans)

It was a fun run for the "golden football"... and it ended too soon

BUT

There's always next year!

GO INDIANS!

Playoffs at JNHS... the Cinderella team of the Jim Ned Indians vs. the Clyde Bulldogs! "WE READY FOR YOU!"

Jim Ned Indians certainly are the Cinderella team of the 2008 class 2A playoffs~

After last week's 21-20 victory they come to this game pumped for success!

Dads, Brand Jones and Glen Gibbs deliver an inspiring message to the warriors of the

mighty Jim Ned TRIBE!

You each have a warrior's heart!

Moms wearing feathered or glittering crowns had their own brand of entertaining encouragement with a lively skit of good overcoming evil!


... and although they pretended to the the "wicked" ones, I was assured that they were merely pretending the role of "L" for losers...

the defeated Clyde bulldogs of tonight's foray.

And last but not least...
ONLY a CONFIDENT DAD could be the "fairy God mother" who grants these young men's
greatest wish of the moment!
May all your dreams come true as you, dressed for COLD football weather, set out on this unexpected and highly anticipated
evening of fun in San Angelo Texas
under the West Texas stars.


"We are ready for you!"
Let's prove it!!!!!

Veterans Day at BG elementary ... stunning tribute.........(no camera!!)

How is it that when I REALLY need a camera, my battery is drained?

(maybe it's because the moment could NOT be captured)

Today I sat silenced by the innocent tribute of children for military veterans who laid their lives on the line for the freedom that these children and the rest of us enjoy every day.

"Mrs. Ansley.. what are all those things on your chest for?"

"These are medals for things I did in the service."

"Did you really protect the President of the United States Ms. Ansley?"

"well, yes... I did that for 2 of our Presidents.
"how about this one? and this one... and this one???"

Little fingers touched the bronze and silver with sincere appreciation for the service they each one represented and the one wearing them explained in humble yet heart felt confidence in a job well done.

... and we thought she was just good at making our kids finish their lunch and play fairly on the playground.... Little did we know.....

I don't think our young ones are in danger on her watch, do you?

You might have thought the chairs were red leather or purple velvet the way all the people in the room held these men and women in such respected eyes filled with thankful tears.

On the screen between the American and Texas flags was a screen filled with the word "AMERICA"... and the children sang......God bless America... land of the free, home of the brave.
Sometimes we get a chance to see those words with our eyes as we hear them with our ears. This was one of those times.
weathered faces, white hair and those eyes... those eyes...those eyes...
These honored ones felt the TRUTH in the tribute of these looking for nothing more than the
gift of giving!


... then,
at the end...
a silver trumpet held in the hands of one competent enough to attend this moment..
TAPS rang out above the silence
yet, another tribute to the ones who would not be attending this day... the ones who paid the ultimate price for what we have available simply by being born in this wonderful country.
PRICELESS! our freedom


And the children said it over and over....
LIBERTY
and
JUSTICE
for ALL!!!!


and lest we forget..... notice the sign that casually hung in the gymnasium this day.... quite fitting I'd say as it hung over those who truly do...."go the extra mile"...
and the sign reads:
"TODAY I WENT THE EXTRA MILE"

yes you did Veterans.......thank you!!!
sincerely, thank you!!

Jim Ned Indians are 4-0 in district play!!! way to go!

The night began in full costume with the Buffalo Gap Elementary kids singing and signing the National Anthem!

Happy faces began the evening that anticipated the 4th win of a surprising Jim Ned team.
Cowboys were welcome at this Indian campground! As long as they were cheering for the
Tepee Team's win!

Clearly Red was the color for this October 31st event!

Let the games begin... GrapeCreek... beware!!!

The Indians are on the warpath looking for another scalp on their victory list!

Done....
31 to 30... JIM NED IS 4 wins... 0 losses............ WAY TO GO INDIANS!

Homecoming approaches at Jim Ned High School!

Homecoming will be next week! The tribe has PRIDE!

The fans listen as coaches talk about "the calm before the storm", and whether this group will "lead, follow, or get outtatheway"....

The plan is.... the Anson Tigers will be the ones getting out of our JN Indians' way as they storm the gates of the football field.

Lawn Elementary second graders brought their own brand of enthusiasm to the chaos as they readily "shook their booties"... in appropriately dignified Indian response!
Smiling faces and lots of cameras were posed to hear this group sing acappella, our national anthem.... applause met their efforts as the last note rang in the gym!
This is NOT sacred ground, but you better take your shoes off before entering this gym... some rules just go without saying!

Don't you love the variety of foot apparel? ONLY IN TEXAS!! ya gotta love it!

Some sounds are the same no matter from what part of our great United States you may hail... Football fans love their contenders... especially when they are the friends, boyfriends, grandsons,

or simply and foremost THE SONS of the ones watching!

Go Indians and God bless the evening of

Texas Football Fun!

New Season...New lunch boxes, Fall is coming soon!

Signs of the new seasons here in the Jim Ned Valley are all around us... From the golden sunrises over our entire community... A new schedule for our little kindergartners... and new lunchboxes are a must for the upper grades.
Classrooms welcome the children back with the walls predicting all sorts of new learning experiences.
... Here in our Jim Ned Valley community, after meet the teacher night...

after... adopt an Indian night...

after the first day of school....

then,

it's grandparents day.... and we get to accompany our little ones into the cafeteria to enjoy meeting friends and eating bar-b-que on a bun....lots of pickles of course!

and.......one of the best things about this time of year

(besides the West Texas Fair and Rodeo... with funnel cakes and smoked turkey legs!!)

is the landscape.

We have the live oaks who, along with our native and pervasive cedars retain their dark green garments though the Fall and into Winter...

But then there are the signs of Fall's approach......the "grandfather's beard"

(at least that's what we've always called it)

makes it's presence known in wonderful waves of billowy white seeds. The native morning glories are all over our roadsides, and the fields are being plowed and planted as this time of year will always bring us rain.

Today, however, we are expecting more than rain.... we are praying for the folks on our coast. Hurricane Ike is in the gulf and about to make landfall. Thanks for the rain, but protect our Texas neighbors!

Olympics 2008..................... Our Little Jim Ned Valley is internationally noticed!

Have you noticed our being NOTICED?

(click or look at the map on the right side of our blog)

Welcome friends!

As the 2008 Olympics cast a cooling shadow over the world,

Peace to all who enter...

in ANY language.

He Ping- Chinese

Paz-Spain and Portugal and some of our Bermuda friends

Salam-Saudi Arabia

Amani- Swahili

Pace- Italian

Vrede- S. African

Mir- Czech

Paix- French

Fred- Swedish

Mire- Russian

Sanaya- Sri Lanka

Anahoro- Burundi

Frieden- German

Soichain- Irish

Booto- Zaire

Wetaskiwin- Cree (native American Indian)

Su Thai Binh- Vietnamese

Irini- Greek

SHALOM- Hebrew

so many languages,

but, disregarding all that is visible to our physical eyes,

we look pretty much the same.

May we find common ground on which to stand.

Enjoy the 2008 Olympics FRIENDS of the world!!!

Tour de Gap...Annual BICYCLE RACE at Buffalo Gap.... faster than a speeding bullet!

Last Saturday was a yearly event that sets motorists to the side of the road and my little dogs into tail spins! It was the Buffalo Gap Tour de Gap.

Yes, little puppy dog... there will be more coming in just a moment!
And here they come!
What a fun annual event for cycle enthusiasts from all over the country. This year there was a quite interesting one of which I took exceptional note. Who was the guy in the red capsule thing over his bicycle? He caused quit a stir around here on Lemons Gap road I can tell you for sure!

..... and a good time was had by all!!!

;)

until next year my two wheeled friends... until next year!

Cedar Gap Farm's "secret" recipe to attract birds!! even the elusive PAINTED BUNTING!!!!

We have a VERY successful birding facility here in our Jim Ned Valley!!!

Cedar Gap Farm is on the birding trails of Texas and recognized by the Audubon Society for it's location and it's ability to meet the needs of our local finely feathered friends!

Earlene has evidence of it's success in the picture below.

Yes, they have frequent sightings of the elusive Painted Bunting and his more modestly adorned green feathered female.

Take time out of your busy schedule to enjoy a moment with the Huttos at this blessed place right here in our special part of the world....

They are a bit off the beaten trail (or off Hwy 83/84 to be more exact), but highly worth the effort made to get there.

(After some not too difficult coaxing, my friend and fellow Chamber member gave me her special "secret" recipe to attract these pretty visitors to my neck of the woods..... I thought you might be interested as well......as Earlene suggests.... ENJOY)

Suet Recipe:

Melt together 1 cup crunchy peanut butter and 1 cup lard.

Stir in 2 cups one minute oatmeal,

2 cup yellow corn meal, (corrected from 1c.. too thin!!)

1 cup flour,

1/2 cup sugar.

You can put it in a plastic contain or in whatever you want to store it. I sometimes put it in cup cake papers in cupcake pan and place in freezer, then lift out one and serve to the birds.

You can serve it in small containers, on the limb of a tree, at the edge of a feeder, etc.

The birds will get used to how you serve it and be looking for it.

Have fun!!

Thanks,Earlene

Cedar Gap Farm

Scholarship Recipients: Payden & Jacob

Congratulations Jacob Lovelady and Payden Johnson, graduating seniors of JNHS 2008.

Both These young men were almost indistinguishable in their criteria for the Chamber's selection of the scholarship recipients for 2008.
Using the same criteria employed by the Taylor Telephone Co. in it's selection process, the Chamber deliberated four hours over 7 applications, before coming to the choice of these two outstanding young men.
Both graduates are hard workers who have high goals already set for

their lives after High School.

Jacob plans to be an optometrist with Texas Tech as the college of choice.

Payden will attend St. Edwards and focus on a degree in law.

Congratulations on a job well done.

You will both represent well the area which fostered your first 18 years.

We are proud of our choice in you.