Terlingua Moon   Vol. 37   No. 29

July 21  2026

Please no PDFs or fancy fonts!  (We like it easy.)  

On the web at: theterlinguamoon.blogspot.com

For 37 years, THE source for news in South Brewster County.  

Updated every Tuesday. Or Monday 

Million sMiles

We are what you share. 

In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks. 

The sun shines not on us but in us.~ John Muir

Burn Ban in Brewster County

The Brewster County commissioners Court lifted the burn band for 30 days beginning July 14 through August 14.

The Brewster County Commissioners Court will NOT hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday, July 21.

The next Regular Commissioners Court Meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 28.

MILKY WAY TREATS ice cream trailer will be open this weekend, Saturday – Monday, 4–9 p.m. We’ll have our creamy vanilla soft serve as well as dairy free pineapple. Try a pint of homemade ice cream, or delicious milkshakes! It’s ice cream with a view. Gracias Terlingua!

ALL YOU NEED TO ATTEND AN AA MEETING IS A DESIRE TO QUIT.  If you have, or think you might have, a drinking problem, we meet at 6:30 pm on Thursday at the Big Bend Church, just north of the post office.

Terlingua Cares!

$20 buffet. $100 value.

Huge thanks to DB's for opening just for us! <3

Terlingua Cares SHOW & Tell

Saturday, July 25 • 3:00 PM

DB's Rustic Iron BBQ

Show and Tell Prize Categories:

- Coolest Artifact

- Most Terlinguan

- Least Desirable

- Most Nostalgic

- Best Handmade

- Out of This World

- The Most People Touched It

FREE MUSIC! By NaniByrd, Sierra Turkot, and Riley Amanda.

All ages welcome!

Let's perk up our summers with a silly, fun time!

Espresso ... y poco mas

Open at  7:30 a.m., seven days a week for home cooked breakfasts, lunches and the best coffee in the area. Smoothies and iced drinks.  Located in the Ghost Town, great seating with fantastic views, strong wifi, and newspapers.  432 371 3044 for to go orders.  

Tom’s Terlingua Auto

Hi Y’all!   We are back and will be open beginning Monday, July 20th 8-4!

Come see us at the Saturday Community Market, open from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Located in the Ghost Town, down in the Community Garden, we're here every Saturday with happy vendors offering an array of locally produced goods and other items.

Local art, handcrafted textile goods, fresh eggs, sour dough bread, jelly, pickles, all natural lip balms and skin care products, all natural essential oil fragrances, beard oil and massage oils, handcrafted, creative jewelry, resin creations, practical and artistic items made of reclaimed steel and more -- you never know just what or who you'll find here. 

Flea market items are also welcome. After all, reusing and up-cycling already existing items is smart and green. We ask a $10 donation to the Community Garden to set up, helping us to continue to improve this space and experience for all of us. We welcome new vendors. To make it easy for new vendors to try our market and to show our appreciation to our regular vendors, we waive set-up fees on the first Saturday of the month, offering free set-up on that day.

For more information, text or call 432.213.1863 or pop in at the market for a chat. Prepared food vendors must display current food handling licence. (A quick, easy and affordable online course can provide that).

Please help keep our market space safe and comfortable for all, two-legged and four, by keeping all dogs leashed and under control. We look forward to seeing you there.

All Energies: New commercial grade 395 Watt solar panels for $125 each. Call or text Casey 432-242-1874

Victoria "Vicki" Kempf Harris, 64, passed away on July 8, 2026. A lifelong resident of Terlingua Ghost Town, Texas, Vicki was a beloved member of the Big Bend community whose spirit was as wild and beautiful as the desert she called home.

Vicki is survived by her three children, Elena, Viola, and Hance; her sister, Elizabeth Gay Davidson; her great-nephew, Anthony Pattillo; and her extended family and countless friends throughout the Big Bend region. She was preceded in death by her mother, Joanne Kempf; her father, Kenneth "Zero" Kempf; her brother, Dan Kempf; her niece, Jennifer Pattillo; and her dear love, John Wayne Kelly.

Vicki was a true fixture of Terlingua. She knew the desert like the back of her hand and never hesitated to share a story, offer advice, or speak her mind. For many visitors, she was the very first person they met when arriving in Terlingua, and over the years she formed lifelong friendships with people from all walks of life.

She found joy in dancing, singing, running the river, studying herbs, and spending time beneath the endless West Texas stars. She loved watching the sun rise over the Chisos Mountains and the desert come alive at sunset. She had a special gift for befriending every person-and every desert critter-she encountered. Above all else, Vicki loved being a mother to her children and a "Tía" to anyone who needed a helping hand, a kind word, or a place to belong.

Vicki's legacy lives on in the hearts of all who knew and loved her, and in every desert sunrise and sunset over the land she cherished. May she rest in peace.

A Celebration of Life will be held on what would have been her 65th birthday, August 22, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at the Terlingua Ghost Town Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to gather as we honor and remember her life. An additonal celebration in her honor will follow the service.

A memorial fund will be established at West Texas National Bank. Please contact Her Daughters.

Please mark your calendars for August 22nd it would have been Vicki's birthday and we will be sending her off TERLINGUA style, a memorial service followed by a celebration of life to honor her and share all the memories and stories heck we might even fly some kite's and have a few drinks. I know she would love you to attend if she was your friend and she probably wouldn't mind a few pecker woods also bring your dancing shoes, your instruments, pictures and stories. Let's call it Vicki's Day 8-22-26!!!

KEEP BIG BEND WILD!

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted comments to CBD opposing their plans for massive infrastructure in Big Bend National Park. About 90 of you bcc’ed KBBW, and that’s likely a small percentage of the total.  Of course, having waived all applicable laws, CBP is under no legal obligation to read, consider, publish, or report back to the public what they heard.  

 

It’s important that we not let down our guard now.  Please keep contacting the Washington offices of as many Texas congressional reps as you can, and Sens. Cornyn and Cruz.  See “Your Voice Matters” at https://keepbigbendwild.org/wall-handout/ to make it easy.  Since Governor Abbott has declined to call a special election for TX-23, KBBW suggests calling other Republican Congresspeople from Texas, imploring them to represent the interests of Texan citizens currently without representation in the House.  You can find out who represents other areas of the state at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map.

 

If you see any activity by CBP or its contractors that look like they are planning or starting construction activities in the national park, please take photos, and get as much information as you can – company logos, what they are doing, where they are doing it, etc.  Send that info to info@keepbigbendwild.org. Help us make noise!  We hope not, but it may take documentation of something truly egregious to turn this tide.

 

We have gotten them to back away from a wall, and (maybe) from lighting inside the national park.  We can and will defeat the worst of their remaining plans, too, which include dozens of miles of new roads, some of which will require explosives and blasting and leave irreparable scars on the landscape.  Keep fighting!  The next few weeks and months are a critical time.

 

Fighting yes, but please, do not attempt to obstruct or otherwise interfere with any activities by DHS officials, employees or their contractors, as such behavior could well constitute a serious Federal offense. KBBW does not encourage or support this.

 Social media is not really our thing, but nonetheless please follow us on our new Facebook page.

Please add your name to the Keep Big Bend Wild supporter list (if you have not already done so) at keepbigbendwild.org/become-a-supporter.  While donations are helpful and appreciated (we're financially sponsored by the El Paso Community Foundation, a 501c3),  your names as supporters are even more valuable .  Local business supporters are especially important, and appreciated.  

 Interested in doing more? KBBW is looking for additional people to join our core team (ie the board), especially from Big Bend area gateway communities. Contact bob.krumenaker@keepbigbendwild.org to discuss.

 KBBW is a strategic partner in the No Big Bend Wall Coalition.  

#keepbigbendwild

 Bob Krumenaker

Chair, Keep Big Bend Wild

bob.krumenaker@keepbigbendwild.org

www.keepbigbendwild.org

#keepbigbendwild

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