Aside Archives

2023 Silent Auction Donations Request

WOW! It’s already time to start thinking about the WBNA Silent Auction. The annual auction is our BIG fundraiser for the year and takes place during the WB MUD  4th Fest celebration. Funds raised help to pay for all the WBNA community events: the Easter Egg Hunt, National Night Out, Pumpkin Painting and our participation in WB MUD Halloween Trunk or Treat, and the crafts at Luminary Fest as well as on-going town hall meetings, candidate forums and safety awareness sessions throughout the year.

We are excited to be hosting the auction during the WB MUD Independence Day celebration. Our hybrid format of an online auction followed by a “live” event for the final bids on July the 4th has been so successful—we are gearing up again for 2023. The LIVE event will be in our traditional venue at the WB Community Center from 9:00am – 2:00pm, July 4th. The online auction will go live the week before. Watch the WB Google Group, our website, and the WBNA Facebook page for updates.  A link will also be included in our Summer Issue of the Neighborhood News.

Friday, June 23: The Silent Auction site goes live!
Friday, July 2: The Silent Auction site closes and we transition all active bids to the live event.
Monday, July 4: The LIVE auction opens at 9:00am and closes at 2:00pm. Payments and Pick Up will be from 12:00 – 5:00pm.

In addition to giving back to our community, donating to the WBNA Silent Auction is a GREAT way to promote your business! We are seeking donations of merchandise, gift cards/certificates, theme baskets, and services to auction. In return, you will receive exposure for your business at the live auction and on the auction website. There will also be a special “Thank You” section in the September issue of the WBNA Neighborhood News and on our Facebook page. The online auction has a rotating featured section along with item details and links to your site. If you have items or services to donate please email us at silentauction@wbna.us.

Along with support from our local businesses, services, and Austin area attractions, we would LOVE donations from the community. We will begin accepting donations May 15. Donations to be included in the online auction must be received by June 18. Live auction donations will be gratefully accepted through June 30. We would also like to welcome the return of baked goods donations, please contact Margaret Sufke, 512-341-0428, for details.

We are actively seeking event volunteers to help solicit items, prepare the baskets and/or work the auction. If you have any empty baskets leftover from last year, we’d love to have them! Please email us at silentauction@wbna.us and watch for the event volunteer site.

Thank YOU for supporting the Wells Branch Community!

2024 Wells Branch
Community Calendar Photo Contest

Give us your BEST shot! The annual WBNA Community Calendar Photo Contest is coming up. Our 2023 calendar was a huge success and the images are amazing. As a reminder, anyone who lives Wells Branch can submit a photo (or up to six photos). The image format MUST be an 8×10 landscape for the calendar. The only real “rules” are that images must be taken within Wells Branch by Wells Branch residents.

The 2024 theme is “Window into Wells Branch”. This year’s contest will take place both live at the WB MUD Recreation Center as well as online via the WBNA Facebook gallery for viewing and voting. The WB MUD Rec Center main lobby will host the contest gallery and “live” votes will be collected in a drop box.

Important Dates to Remember:

May 15: Start date! Use the online form and drop photo entry at the WB MUD Rec Center
Sept. 2: Contest closes and voting ends
Sept. 4: Winners announced
Sept. 23: Early sales begin at the WBNA Arts at the Library event
Oct. 3: The new 2024 Calendars will be available at National Night Out

Voting will take place online via the WBNA Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/WBNA.WellsBranchNeighborhoodAssociation/

Photos will be featured for voting in the “2024 Calendar Contest” facebook album and onsite at the Rec Center Gallery. NOTE: Please plan to provide a printed image for display at the Rec Center.

Please visit:  http://wbna.us/community/calendar-contest/  for rules and entry information. Questions? Contact Margaret Sufke, Calendar Contest Coordinator, at mmsufke@gmail.com or 512-341-0428.

Community Wildlife Habitat – Coming Soon!

Rapid and large-scale changes to our lands and waters mean wildlife are losing the habitats they once knew. More than half of America’s wetlands that support waterfowl and wildlife have been drained and/or plowed. Habitat fragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75%.

To combat fragmentation, Wells Branch is partnering with the National Wildlife Federation to become a Certified Community Wildlife Habitat. Every habitat garden is a step toward replenishing resources for wildlife such as bees, butterflies, birds, and amphibians—both locally and along migratory corridors. To secure certification, Wells Branch would need at least 175 homes with the Wildlife Habitat certification.

The basic requirements for the certification are to provide food, water, cover, and a place for wildlife to raise young, and to engage in sustainable gardening and landscaping practices. Examples of food are as simple as having a bird feeder and plants that provide pollen and nectar. Similarly, a birdbath, roosting box, and a rock pile are sufficient to meet the water and cover requirements. Mature trees and host plants for caterpillars meet the places to raise young requirements. The use of compost and native plants in your landscape fulfills the sustainable practices requirement.

If you are interested in this program, Jill Douglass will be presenting at the July meeting of the Wells Branch Garden Guild (Saturday, July 15, 10am at the Recreation Center on Shoreline Drive). You can also visit https://nwf.org/CERTIFY to learn more about the program. Feel free to reach out to me directly at jdzurenko@gmail.com.

 

NEW WBNA EVENT — Save the Date! 
“Arts at the Library”

Saturday, September 23 | 10am-3pm
WB Community Library | 15001 Wells Port Drive

Calling all Wells Branch and local area artisans! We are excited to launch the NEW Arts at the Library event. This event will target hand-crafted goods and artwork. Think “farmer’s market” format for crafters. Want to sell your hand crafted products?  Do you make jewelry or work in wood, glass, clay, textiles or resin? How about painting, photography, or home goods. Do you craft personal care products like soaps, honey or natural beauty products? Do you bake, write or create music?

Basically, if you hand craft something wonderful and you want to sell it—and you want to grow your business in the Wells Branch area, this event is for YOU and the Wells Branch community. All of the arts are included in this event. We are looking to host a wide variety of hand-crafted goods, original artwork, photography, literature, music and culinary creations.

The WBNA will organize and host the event in the parking lot of the Wells Branch Community Library. We will provide a parking space and a table. We are selling spaces for $25.00. The fees collected will serve as an additional fund raising opportunity for the WBNA. The WBNA will host a table, selling our calendars and note cards. and also accept donated goods for sale.

Interested? Look for an upcoming announcement and sign-up sheet for this program in the next few weeks. Questions? Contact Margaret Sufke: info@wbna.us or call 512-341-0824.

Get ready for safe travels this spring! WBNA is hosting an exciting educational traffic safety meeting with State Farm and TxDOT.  There will be an  interactive demonstration of a DDI (diverging diamond interchange). A representative from TxDOT will also be on hand to answer questions about the upcoming I35 North construction project.

We’ll have information from the Get Ready Central Texas program available, including a sample “Emergency Readiness Backpack” on display. A deputy voter registrar will be on site and ready to help folks register to vote.  St. Andrew’s will also be there with a team ready to collect donations for the food bank; please bring a non-perishable food item.

There will be an extra special kid’s activity! Kids, young (and not so young), bring your RC cars to test drive on the DDI training track!