Let’s talk trash—waste and junk that is building, lot by lot. And let’s talk about an effort begun more than two years ago to clean it up.
My wife and I were drawn to the natural beauty of Bandera County 35 years ago. The Medina River ran through the center of the county and emptied into a lake with white and black bass. Deer were everywhere. This is where we would spend our retirement years.
A closer examination on the county’s back roads revealed a less attractive side of the landscape. As people began moving in over the past three decades, it soon became clear that the city services we took for granted were no longer readily available to clear the roads and pick up trash curbside. Residents were building piles of junk in their yards; some lots were abandoned altogether. Neighbors would need to organize to clean it up.
The volunteer effort started small, focusing on those who could not do it themselves. In 2022 with financial support from Silver Sage to rent dumpsters, the volunteers went into the homes of shut-ins of the Meals on Wheels program in Lakehills to remove trash and junk that had been building over the years.
Mark Conger
Mark Conger was their first client. A skilled craftsman, he had a stroke at 57 that left one side of his body paralyzed. He now lives in a rented trailer and gets around with some difficulty on one crutch. With his guidance, a crew of a half dozen volunteers managed to fill a 20-cu yd dumpster with stuff accumulating in his yard. The Knights of Columbus from St. Stanislaus Church in Bandera also pitched in, replacing a rotting porch and stairway to his mobile home.
Mary Jo Eason
Mary Jo Eason was another Meals on Wheels client who was homebound with multiple health issues. She was visited by an occasional caregiver when needed. Unable to afford the dump fees, Mary Jo had a room in her house for obsolete and discarded junk and a burn pile in her yard for trash. A crew of eight volunteers filled a 20-yd dumpster in one morning.
Sam
The third client was Sam, a young man in his mid-30s living with his dog in an 8X10 ft storage shed next to his brother’s trailer, from which he drew electricity and water. He relied on heat from a wood stove that needed repairs and had no toilet facilities. Sam was born with spina bifida and he and his dog relied on food from the MOW program. To volunteers cleared trash that had accumulated in the shed for years and attracted rats.
Neighborhood Cleanups
The volunteer effort needed funds if it was to continue as a more permanent and comprehensive effort to help clear trash countywide. Toward the end of 2022, a nonprofit was formed under the name “Don’t Mess with Bandera.” To avoid confusion with TxDOT’s Don’t Mess with Texas program, it was reincorporated in March 2024 as “DONT MAKE WASTE BANDERA” (DMWB). Three goals were established: to bring back recycling; to support road clean ups; and to clear trash from yards and lots in Bandera County.
DMWB expanded its yard cleanup effort to cover neighborhood areas. The first neighborhood cleanup with Silver Sage sponsorshipwas in the Wharton’s Dock area last December. As reported in this column (August 7, 2024), volunteers filled two 40-yard dumpsters with trash and unwanted junk from 21 homes. It was a neighborhood effort with as many as 20 volunteers and equipment/ labor donations from the Lake Medina Shores Owners Association.
Initially funds to rent dumpsters for yard cleanups had been provided by Silver Sage through its Meals on Wheels program. Recently, however, MOW funding was cut back and DMWB has launched its own fundraising effort to support all three of its programs.
You can contribute online through the website (DMWB.net) or a check made out to DON’T MAKE WASTE BANDERA, PO Box 1181, Bandera TX 78003. To colunteer, contact us locally by email to: dontmakewatebandera@ gmail.com.
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