Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!
After a summer of record-breaking heat and drought conditions, the BLCC is getting a well-deserved break. Black clouds and lightning have never looked so welcoming and the sound of raindrops on tin roofs has never been so beautiful.
Over the past three days, we’ve gotten over two inches of much-needed rain! While two inches certainly won’t bring the great Red River back up to its normal level, it will help the BLCC prepare for winter. Driving on the county roads, trees that were once gray with dust are green again. Puddles are gathering in the ruts created over a long, dry summer. Plowing and planting is once again a possibility!
Thunder continues to rumble today, while small showers burst through the clouds. Let’s hope this will continue while fall crops go into the ground so we can prepare for winter stockers and hunting season. Come out and visit us for a fall hike or family hunting trip. Contact us for more information!
Moving toward Fall on the BLCC
As the mornings cool off and the trees begin to change, it’s hard to believe that Summer has come and gone. Football season has started and the first shots of the Fall were taken this weekend as Dove Season opened. Summer was hot and busy to say the least. The BLCC has hosted multiple wedding rehearsal dinners, parties, and even kicked off its first corporate retreat!
Hikers at the top of Storybook overlooking the Log Cabin and the BLCC property
Bartush family members have offered many hours of their time and labor to work on projects over the summer as well as with the events on the Ranch. With their help, many of the BLCC facilities have received a much-needed face lift. Thank you to everyone who has been able to come out and help with these projects. There is certainly no way that they could have been completed without you!
Events at the Cabin have been rolling along regularly
As we move toward a new season on the BLCC, we invite everyone to join us whether for a hike through the fall colors, a family gathering or reunion, a holiday dinner, a hunting trip with family, or a leisurely weekend spent sitting on the back porch. Our home is your home, come on out and see us! Contact the BLCC office for reservations.
Come on in, put your feet up, and relax!
Clean Up Day at Shield’s Cottage
Shield's Cottage after a face lift.
Even with 100+ degree heat, three generations of Bartush family members showed up for a work day at Shield’s Cottage on August 20th. From cutting and hauling wood from a huge downed tree in the back yard to scubbing windows with toothbrushes, this crew was out to do no less than their best! And what amazing results they produced.
A work camp leader in the making!
Projects included: tree removal, clean up around and in shed, clean up/organization of the front yard, clean up of front porch, top to bottom clean up of each room inside, replacement of kitchen sink, installation of water filter to provide drinking water, replacement of toilet. For more pictures and stories from the day… Read more…
THANK YOU!
Many thanks to everyone who came out to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last night! The Muenster ISD cafeteria was packed and overflowing with people ready to share their opinions. Whether or not you supported the denial of the Sand Pit permit, it was obvious the local concern for this project. Please continue to help us work toward shutting EOG’s project down! Visit http://trinityaquifer.blogspot.com/2011/06/eog-sand-mine-threatens-cookemontague.html for additional information on how to help with the cause!
BLCC Fights EOG Sand Pit Project
In June, it was brought to our attention that Enron Oil & Gas was putting in a sand handling facility less than 5 miles west of the BLCC. This facility will operate 24 hours a day and use wells dug on site to wash sand mined at the facility so that it can be used for fracking. Residents and land owners alike have banded together to try to stop their permits from going through and have finally gotten a public meeting to be held in Muenster!
Here is a link to Permit Number 95412 submitted by EOG
The meeting will be Tuesday August 23, 2011 at 7PM at Muenster ISD Cafetorium.
Aerial view of the Sand Handling Facility-the highway is FM 373 heading west to the Motorcycle Trails. For more images go to https://picasaweb.google.com/118158152117518333736/SandMinePhotosJune2011#
Currently, the only thing we can fight is air quality since Cooke County allows land owners to dig wells on their property without permits. This will change in January 2012, but EOG is trying to push their permits through so they can dig the wells before these new laws come into effect.
We can stop them if we band together!
The only comments that will be included in the formal record and addressed/considered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are those pertaining to Permit 95412 and those that are recieve either at the Public Meeting on August 23 or those recieved electronically before the meeting at http://www.tceq.texas.gov/about/comments.html
Please submit comments and concernts for consideration. Even slowing down the permit may buy us enought time for the new water laws to come into effect in January.
If you have any questions, please contact BLCC!
BLCC Summer 2011 Newsletter Excerpt
The First “C” in BLCC: A Comparison of Cow-Calf and Stocker Cattle Operations
Written by: Mary Del Olmo and Mike Bartush
Cattle, whether owned by the Bartush family or by outside operators, have been on the BLCC land since before Chuck and Mary Bartush began to purchase the land that has eventually become the Bartush Land & Cattle Company that we know today. This is the first of two articles dedicated to cattle operations which will attempt to shed light on the two main branches of the BLCC cattle operations: cow-calf and stocker.
Calves on the BLCC
BLCC to host RED RIVER FEST in the Spring of 2012!
Mark your calendars, folks! Plans are underway for the first-ever RED RIVER FEST to be held on the BLCC land in late spring of 2012. A true celebration of the outdoors and original music, the morning activities will include hiking, archery, horseback riding and much more! The afternoon will be filled with live music from local and not-so-local musicians, including West Virginia’s Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band! Concessions will be available on site and dry camp sites will be sold. Stay tuned for more information as we set a date and nail down the schedule of events! You won’t want to miss it! If you have any questions, contact the BLCC.
Summer’s Comin’
With a week of rain that brought us almost 3 inches of much needed moisture, the BLCC is greening up. You can practically hear the grass growing! Come on out and see us for some good fishing, hiking, and camping-the weather’s perfect!!!
The 36th Annual Germanfest Approaches!
Hold on to your lederhosen! Germanfest is coming to town April 29th-May 1st!
People in traditional German outfits get in free!
The 36th annual Germanfest is sponsored by the Muenster Chamber of Commerce. The three-day festival attracts thousands to mouthwatering German food and BBQ cook-off, competitive 5K and 15K foot races, a metric century bike rally, endless live music, and days of fun!
Come to Muenster, TX for traditional German fun and be sure to contact the BLCC for available accomodations! We’d love to have you!
BLCC Hunt Club Meeting and Social
The BLCC Hunt Club Meeting and Social was held at the Log Cabin on April 9, 2011. Three new members were introduced and shown the “ropes”. The afternoon ended with a cookout sponsored by the BLCC. Thank you to everyone who helped put on the event and to our Hunt Club Members. We appreciate the integral role you play in managing our land!
Bartush Land & Cattle Blog 