Saturday's Internet Edition, July 05, 2008.
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When I asked Ben Banahan how we got so lucky that he and his wife, Ruth Baddley, ended up in Rocksprings, he shared their story with me.
“When Ruth and I retired in 1993 we began shifting to full-time motor home living. Not all at once, but slowly, we began getting rid of all our belongings that wouldn’t go in the R.V. Our traveling was fine but getting rid of our “stuff” got more and more difficult. We finally had to admit we couldn’t do it. We would have to have a base where we could store the things with which we simply were not willing to part. I told a friend we like Texas and the Hill Country in particular. I told him we wanted to go to the highest, driest place the Hill Country of Texas had to offer. He did his research and announced that would be Rocksprings, Texas. We never had heard of it, but we came and took a look. Both of us were used to living in pretty big cities and didn’t know about small places like this. But what the heck, Ed White had a little place that was just what we had in mind so we bought it.
Here’s the rest of the story. We fell in love with Rocksprings and its people, quit traveling, sold the motor home and hunkered down to small town living. Some things just turn out better than you expect.”
I am very thankful to Ben and Ruth for the many hours of dedicated volunteer service that they have given to our community. They have accomplished many things, but I would like to focus on the Rocksprings Visitor’s Center and the Devil’s Sinkhole Society success story. They were members of the original board that was named in 2000 to launch the huge project of acquiring a visitor’s center in Rocksprings and setting the wheels in motion to develop the Devil’s Sinkhole. The “To Do” list was a long one and included meeting with the Texas Rural Development Council and Texas Parks and Wildlife, many board meetings, community meetings, and guided tour trainings were held. Did I mention all the cleaning and scrubbing? Ben was involved when a request was made to the City that an election be held in hopes that the people would approve a half cent sales tax for economic development. The community came through as always and approved the tax. Ben Banahan served as President for the DSS and Ruth Baddley was elected to Secretary/Treasurer. I had the privilege to work with Ben and Ruth and was able to learn planning and project management skills from them that have been invaluable. They have been able to bring out the volunteers and they continue to motivate their faithful volunteers on a daily basis. There are many others that have served on the board and that worked to bring tourism to Rocksprings. The Devil’s Sinkhole Society, utilizing all volunteers, has scheduled tours throughout the summer and keeps the Rocksprings Visitors Center open daily. The Society is looking forward to its seventh season of tours in 2008.
Ben and Ruth have done a lot of things and seen a lot places. They have numerous hobbies, too numerous to mention in this article. As you visit with them, you can’t help but to be energized and it is obvious that they live each day to its fullest.
Thank you, Ben Banahan and Ruth Baddley for finding us on the map and for your loyalty, diligence and outstanding contributions to our community.