Keep Wimberley Beautiful

The Keep Wimberley Beautiful (KWB) community is mourning the loss of their leader, Ann Arendarczyk, who died unexpectedly last month. She was an amazing energetic person.

Ann and her husband moved to Wimberley in 2013. She was a great believer in community involvement and she immediately started volunteering and learning about Wimberley. Whenever I would go to a City Council meeting, a candidate’s night or an environmental education session, invariably Ann would be in attendance.

As leader of KWB, she was an active participant in the many Keep Wimberley Beautiful Projects. Ann was the liaison with the Hays CO Constables Precinct 3 who cosponsored the local collection of unwanted RX and Over the Counter drugs at the WISD parking lot last October. These drugs were recycled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (A Federal Law Enforcement Agency). She and other KWB members along with Constable representatives collected the drugs in a “drive thru” manner from local residents.

Last October, Ann was instrumental in organizing the Keep Wimberley Beautiful free day of secure paper shredding in the parking lot of the Community Center. In the past she was the liaison with the Lions Club in supplying KWB volunteers for their annual community wide litter clean up event.

Whether it was overseeing the fixing of the two fountains maintained by KWB (one at the Cypress Creek Trailhead and one at the Community Center), the bridge decorations (in the fall, Holiday or 4th of July), the decorations at Trail of Lights (each Holiday at Emily Ann). or organizing our regular meetings, she was always an active participant.

As Vice President of KWB Carol Scheel has stepped up to guide us. If your New Year’s Resolution pertains to increasing your community participation, Keep Wimberley Beautiful would welcome you as a member ( [email protected] for contact). Your participation would have made Ann smile.

Written by Jackie Mattice, Hays County Master Naturalist