Keep Bandera Western
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A wonderful place in the TX - Hill Country
Bear Springs Blossom Nature Conservation
Bear Springs Blossom Nature Protection
Bear Springs Blossom Nature Education
Bear Springs Blossom Nature Presentations
Visit us in Pipe Creek - you will enjoy it!
Rodeo Photos from James Taylor, Bandera
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| Keep Bandera Beautiful Keep Bandera Natural Keep Bandera Western Keep Bandera clean |
You like Cowboy Poetry?
Below you find a letter from Jaclyn Joseph from Bandera
I think it is a fine expression of our love to Bandera
Only in Bandera
As I was driving home for Thanksgiving and thinking of all the
things I would need to pack when I came home for an entire month
over the Christmas break,
I realized one of my favorite things to do is come back to Bandera.
When I left for college I didn't think I would come back as often, but
once I was gone, I missed Bandera and all its charms.
The best thing about coming home is the uniqueness found in Bandera
and the things that happen here. Here is my short list of the things
that make Bandera such a great and unique town:
*Bandera is a small town with a big personality that is nestled
right in the middle of some beautiful hills and has the river
running through.
I love the fall, when all the leaves change colors and make the
surroundings into the most beautiful scenery that we all have the
luxury of having in our backyards.
*Have you ever seen someone drive their tractor to a bar?
Or ride their horse to the store?
You can in Bandera!
*The longhorn on Main Street! No matter how many times I see him,
I'm always amazed that without being tied up, the longhorn doesn't
run away from the traffic. What a well-trained longhorn, which
you can't say in too many places.
*I love how people outside of town decorate their gates
for certain holidays and events, instead of their houses.
People have to decorate their gates because some of the houses
are so far back in the trees, no one would ever see it.
*I love to see the tourists in summer who feel the need to wear
cowboy boots, even if they are wearing shorts.
(Note: It's not tourist that wear boots and shorts...
Bob Wegner, world champion bull rider, does it frequently and even
has "boot" golfing shoes.)
*The stores in Bandera couldn't have nicer people working in them.
Everyone is always helpful and accommodating.
I'll never forget the time Ms. Everett let me bring in my little dog
with me because it was hot outside and I couldn't leave her in the car.
What a thoughtful storeowner!
Speaking of dogs, I don't think you'll see more dogs in any other town.
Dogs in cars and trucks are such a regular occurrence here.
Bandera is one of the most dog friendly places.
I don't think I have ever seen another bank in any other town
that has suckers for the kids as well as bones for the dogs in the car.
Back to the stores, have you ever seen any other town at night where
merchandise is left out at night or when a store is closed?
There are a few in Bandera that every time I drive by I think how
amazing that is that the stores never put up anything when they are closed.
It makes me smile that there are so many honest people in Bandera.
The best thing about Bandera, which I hope everyone else appreciates,
is what a great town it is overall.
The people are the friendliest I've ever met.
The pace is laid back and relaxing and things never really change.
It's nice to be able to come home to a town that you know like the back
of your hand, no matter how long you have been gone.
Obviously, there are a million more things about Bandera that make it
unique, but those are just a few that I thought of at Thanksgiving, but
that I am truly grateful for year-round.
Jaclyn Joseph, Bandera
Cowboys on Main Great news...looks like the Frontier Times Museum is going to receive funding to continue this Living History Project through 2004....i
it's been great seeing Lee Haile, Cap'n Cury and gang, Kelly Scott,
the Almost Patsy Cline Band, Joe Henderson, Tommy Adams, Ruben Darnell,
Rudy Robbins, the Cowboy Capital Gunslingers and more all out and about
on Saturday afternoons from 1 to 4 pm....
never really know who'll be doin' what where
but it is sure to be fun....
just a smile and a howdy to you
How I got to Bandera
------------------------
Greenhorns in the "Wild West"
Sioux, Apaches, Comanches and Kiowas,
when I was a boy, living in Germnay, 8 years of age,
I was more familiar with
the history of the Wild West than I was with my German history.
Many boys in my age were reading the adventures from
Winnetou and Old Shatter-hand, Old Sure-hand and Sam Hawkens,
stories about building the path for the fire horse to the West.
We learned that there was a difference between a raccoon and
an opossum, but had no idea what they look like.
(There are no 'coons and 'possums in Germany.)
I learned there was a Llano estacado where the bad guys changed
the stakes so they could rob innocent settlers, I learned that there
are good Indians and bad ones and good cowboys and bad criminals.
I was reading these books in the morning before breakfast and
at night under the blanket in my bed with a flash light.
All these stories - he wrote more than 80 books - were created by a
German writer with the name Karl May in Dresden, Germany around 1900
His stories are good stories, the fight of Good against Evil,
the wonderful ideas of friendship between very different people,
heroic fights and at the end "the Good One wins".
So the love for America, the country of freedom, justice and
adventure was layed in my heart when I was barely able to read.
Then I learned I had an aunt, married to an American soldier,
living in Houston, Texas.
Texas, yeah, that was the Wild West, where the fastest gun fighter
survived, with the Bowie knife and silver plated rifles,
where the sun was shining all the time, where the
cowboys and Indians were riding on Mustangs on the endless prairies
with high grasses, resting at clear and gorgeous rivers and lakes.
Howgh, I have spoken - Winnetou - Chief of the Apaches ....
-
Now I am sitting on the porch of our vacation home in Pipe Creek TX,
looking to the beautiful Edwards Mountain, - I am not a boy anymore,
but still holding on to my dreams of freedom, justice and peace.
Pipe Creek, Texas, translated in German it would be Pfeifen Fluss,
Texas, the place where the Indians smoked the peace pipe
with the settlers, where the cattle trails went through to the North,
where the famous Pony express riders carried the
mail from San Antonio to Bandera and Comfort.
Bandera, Comfort, Boerne where many German settlers arrived and
stayed, with hope in their hearts for a better life.
My thoughts are going back to the time when my aunt was visiting us
in Neu-Ulm, Bayern (Bavaria) - she came by air plane -
at this time for us an unbelievable dream -
she came from Texas, from the land of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand ...
25 years later, after saving penny by penny,
my wife and I took an airplane
from Frankfurt to Houston - to see it in real, to feel the freedom,
to visit the land of our dreams.
In Houston we met friends of my aunt, George and Heli Ormsby, an
oil ingeneer with many patents on oil pumping.
He told us many stories, pointed out good places to visit
and explained many words we did not understand.
We traveled through Texas and New Mexico and
it was the best vacation we ever had.
The next year we came again, took the route to California and Mexico.
And we went on visiting America, Washington, New York, the
Niagara falls, - some years we fly over 3 times
to meet friends and breath the beauty of this land.
My wife Marianne is a certified teacher, so we could only travel
during the school vacations in Germany.
We worked hard and saved all our money so we could 'Fly away"
to Texas - what means friendship and it proofed it to us with many
heart warming experiences and many friends.
Then our lives changed, I had a heart attack, was laying in the
hospital for 6 weeks, many days between death and life.
I had to give up my stressful job as trustee and financial adviser,
- 19 hours of work a day, 60000 miles a year was common.
My doctor told me to stay alive I should look for a warmer place,
a place with less stress and more peace -
I knew immediately what he prescribed: Texas
We visited George and Helli again in 1994,
we told them our dreams again
and our hopes and ideas and he gave us a name,
the name of his relative J.B. Edwards,
a Realtor in Pipe Creek, TX
On Christmas 1994, we were visiting Texas again, my mother was
with us. We traveled to Amarillo and Austin, to the Carlsbad Caverns
and to Sonora, to El Paso and the King's Ranch -
and on the second day of 1995 we met J.B. Edwards in Pipe Creek.
We told him our dreams and asked for help.
He listened and asked and
listened - then he drove with us to one property -
my mother saw my face when I looked around, she knew immediately
that I have found my second love - Marianne felt it too -
we saw it - we loved it - we bought it -
we named it Bear Springs Blossom.
(Because it is part of the old Bear Springs Ranch)
We flew back in January, Marianne had to go to school.
Easter 1995, we flew over again for 2 weeks, with a 2 man tent,
placed it on "our" land and got excited.
J.B. offered us his chainsaw,
he offered us his office to use the restroom and the kitchen -
he was and is our guardian angel.
We met his son Jay Edwards, a home builder,
we liked him very much,
a good Christian man as his father, and we asked him
if we could build our house with him. He agreed,
when we came again in August 1995,
a little well house was already built by Jay to move in.
I brought my "self made house plans" with me -
all in meter and centimeter -
what great "fun" for Jay, and we worked together for 3 month,
starting the day with a prayer, never angry - without any accident.
In November 1995 we went back for Christmas
to our families in Germany, we had a lot to tell.
Since then we are flying twice or three times a year to Germany to see
and meet our friends there -
many of them visited us here in Pipe Creek
and they love it too.
When we are in Pipe Creek we welcome tourists and natives,
walk with them our "Bear Springs Blossom trails" or
hike with them through our 125 acre Nature Preserve.
One summer, while sitting on the Porch, watching the vultures
circeling around Edwards Mountain -
I composed a song " Edwards Mountain Waltz"
and my friend Edgar Wallace, Bandera wrote the words to it:
WHEN I LOOK AT EDWARDS MOUNTAIN
ITS BEAUTY TO BEHOLD
I KNOW THAT I'M FAR RICHER
THAN A MAN WITH ALL HIS GOLD
I'VE SEARCHED THIS WIDE WORLD OVER
FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA
FINALLY FOUND EDWARDS MOUNTAIN
AND THAT'S WHERE I WANT TO BE
UP AND DOWN, UP AND DOWN CIRCLING
BUZZARDS AND VULTURES AROUND
WHISPERING TREES AND GRASSES
I WANT TO HEAR THIS SOUND
GOD CREATED THE HEAVEN
AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA
THEN HE MADE EDWARDS MOUNTAIN
JUST ESPECIALLY FOR ME
YOU CAN LIVE ON THE PLAINS OR THE PRAIRIES
OR EVEN DOWN BY THE SEA
I LIVE AT EDWARDS MOUNTAIN
IT WILL ALWAYS BE HOME TO ME
HAVE ALL YOUR PAVED STREETS AND SIDEWALKS
HAVE ALL YOUR BRIGHT LIGHTS AND CARS
LET ME STAY AT EDWARDS MOUNTAIN
BENEATH THE MOON AND THE STARS
GOD CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA
THEN HE MADE EDWARDS MOUNTAIN
JUST ESPECIALLY FOR ME
YOU CAN LIVE ON THE PLAINS OR THE PRAIRIES
OR EVEN DOWN BY THE SEA
I LIVE AT EDWARDS MOUNTAIN
IT WILL ALWAYS BE HOME TO ME
-
My friend Edgar knew me well, he found the perfect words.
Texas, good weather, good people and good friendship.
Howgh - I have spoken -
Peter - Chief of Bear Springs Blossom
Peter & Marianne Bonenberger