Crisis Bread Basket gets Night Sky

It’s hard to appreciate natural beauty when you’re hungry. That makes Dark Skies and Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket ideal partners.

When Crisis Bread Basket (CBB), which feeds Wimberley Valley’s hungry, added an evocative mural to its main building, the board made sure the night lighting showed off the colorful image and did not interfere with the natural beauty of the area.

“This is our home,” says CBB vice-chair John Urban. “This is our showcase. Dark Skies are part of our community and we need to fit into the community. It’s important.”

Crisis Bread Basket is the newest member of the Night Sky Friendly Business program, which awards businesses that help keep our skies dark and stars bright.

The awards are sponsored by the Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce, endorsed by the Hill Country Alliance and supported by the Wimberley Valley Dark Sky Committee (WVDSC). The International Dark Sky Community certification was awarded to the Wimberley Valley in 2018 by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), which sets standards for Communities, Parks, Reserves, Developments, Urban Places and Dark Sky Sanctuaries worldwide. www.darksky.org Only three Texas communities have the designation; several others are working to come on board soon.

Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket (CBB) has a 32 year history of suppling food to the hungry in the 78676 zip code.

“Crisis means exactly that, we try to address crisis in the family, try to help them through that, until they get back on their feet,” says Urban, who started volunteering with CBB several years ago.

“Anyone can come to get help. We are not judgmental. We don’t go into your wages or that stuff. It’s the need that’s important. We’ve had people who came for food and later got back on their feet, and came back as volunteers.”

In recent months CBB has made numerous improvements to its main building at 14092 Ranch Road 12, next to the Wimberley Community Center and the Brookshire Brothers parking lot.

“We’ve painted the building, upgraded the back (where clients sit), redone the walkway and are about to install two new fans so clients will be more comfortable waiting outside in the summer months,” says Urban. “We’re also in the process of installing a tarp in the back for shading.”

The mural, done by local artist Pat Rawlings, was designed to be an artwork that everyone passing could enjoy. The CBB board wanted it to be well lit at night to perfectly show off the mural, provide security and – keeping in step with Wimberley Valley’s Dark Sky designation – create no light pollution.

Urban, who has a background in electrical engineering, installed the lights, consulted with the WVDSC on requirements, then called on Joe Ebbs, a senior lighting consultant with Lighting Inc. in Austin, for advice on just the right bulbs.

“The beam pattern is adjustable, we didn’t want it too bright, and didn’t want it to go beyond the boundaries of the mural. The bulb we chose was just 15 watts LED, and provides plenty of light.”

The result is a striking wall display that perfectly tells BCC’s theme, can be appreciated by passersby at night, but – thanks to the color of the light and the careful direction of the fixtures – does not pollute the night sky.

Visit www.crisisbreadbasket.comfor more information on Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket, which takes donations online.

The Night Sky Friendly Business Awards are open to any Wimberley Valley business that conforms to common sense lighting requirements. More information can be found at www.wimberley.org/chamber, http://www.hillcountryalliance.org/NightSkies and www.darksky.org. Or contact the Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce at 512-847-2201.