Welcome!
KelleyTexas, TX is the only Texas city located entirely
on the World Wide Web (and in the mind of its creator), except
for City Hall, which is located on 5 acres near Quinlan, TX.
The city was established November 12, 2000 in South Florida
as an educational and outreach program to an area inhabited
by pesky seasonal snowbirds and Yankees. Click the links on
the left to learn more.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Ya'll come on in and stay fer a while!
News
6/5/12
Today, Mayor Kelley witnessed the last transit of Venus of her lifetime with hundreds of other people at the Russell Planetarium in Mesquite, TX. "I was worried that the entire event would be clouded out, but we had enough clear skies to see this very rare event," said the Mayor.
News
5/21/12
On Sunday, May 20th, parts of the U.S. witnessed a rare annular solar eclipse. The Mayor travelled to the TX/NM border with several friends to see the eclipse. They were not disappointed despite a few clouds at the start of the eclipse. They met five people who came from Germany to see the eclipse, and they all set up telescopes and other equipment at an abandoned farm house in Bledsoe, TX. The Mayor captured the image below during the event.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon crosses in front of the Sun, but the Moon is farther away from Earth, causing the "ring of fire" effect. The NASA eclipse map showed that Bledsoe was on the center line of the eclipse, as shown in the picture above with the Moon perfectly centered in the Sun's disk. The sun set during the 2nd half of the eclipse.
News
4/23/12
The Mayor just returned from her 6th Texas Star Party in Ft. Davis. She reports that it was the best one yet, with 7 clear nights. She earned six observing pins (shown below), including the Binocular List From Hell that she started last year. She spent a couple of hours at the home of Madge Lindsay, co-author of Hummingbirds of Texas. A group of about 15 TSPers did some bird watching on her patio located on the side of a mountain that overlooks Limpia Village. The Mayor also got to meet Al Nagler, founder of TeleVue (maker of some of the finest eyepieces on the planet). This year she stayed at Indian Lodge at Davis Mountains State Park before the star party began. On Tuesday, the Mayor visited the TSP ham shack. She had an opportunity to operate the radio on HF, making about 30 contacts with people around the country on the special events station, W5TSP. This was her first time to be on the air since she got her license. She is already excited for next year's event!
News
4/12/12
The Mayor passed both the Technician and General Ham Radio License Exams on April 2nd. Her call sign is K5KTX. 73!
News
3/25/12
The Mayor is very excited to report that she got 2nd place each night of the 3RF Messier Marathon this weekend. In addition, she took home the trophy for the event!
News
2/23/12
The Mayor participated in SKYWARN storm spotter training (including Advanced Spotter Training) last Saturday at the Granville Arts Center in Garland, TX. During this week's city council meeting, she proposed that KelleyTexas develop an emergency communication plan and purchase radio equipment as part of that plan. The Mayor will participate in a ham radio licensing class starting next week and take her Technician exam in late March or early April.
News
12/23/11
After a long few weeks finalizing a project at work, the Mayor spent her first day off for the holidays by taking two nieces and a nephew out for a day of fun in Grapevine, TX (The Christmas Capital of Texas). After seeing the new Chipmunks movie, they visited the Sea Life Aquarium at Grapevine Mills Mall. Then they went to the Gaylord Texan Hotel to see the Christmas decorations and to plunge down the Kung Fu Panda snow hills in an intertube. This was followed by dinner and a trip through the light display at the Texas Motor Speedway.
News
11/26/11
The Mayor gave four presentations on the new Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover this week. One presentation was given at the W. Walworth Harrison Library in Greenville, TX, and the other three were presented to sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at Sellers Middle School in Garland, TX for their Science Fair Day. The mission successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center today and is scheduled to land on Mars in early August.
News
10/3/11
The Mayor participated in an astronomical sketching workshop as part of the Texas Astronomical Society's picnic in Atoka, OK. Her first sketch is of NGC 457, the Owl (or E.T.) cluster. The sketch is not complete, but these are the major stars.
News
9/17/11
The Mayor had the opportunity to meet astronaut Walt Cunningham today in Plano, TX. He is the only surviving member of the Apollo 7 crew.
News
7/25/11
The Mayor was named the TS Volunteer Star for July at Raytheon Technical Services Company.
News
6/6/11
The Mayor has just returned from her fifth trip to the Texas Star Party at the Prude Ranch near Ft. Davis, TX. While there, she completed the "Lions, Tigers, Bears, Oh My" observing list to earn an observing pin (below). It was cloudy most nights, so she did not finish the "Binocular List From Hell". She said, "I only have four more objects left, so I will have to finish it next year." While in the Ft. Davis area, she toured the area to see the results of a devastating fire that started on April 9 and took about 25 days to contain. The fire began in Marfa and quickly reached Ft. Davis due to high winds. "Everything was charred, and the animals looked terrible," said the Mayor. She also saw a sculpture of a Prada store just outside Valentine, TX and spotted an unmanned Border Patrol drone.
News
3/21/11
KelleyTexas has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a Wildlife Habitat. The Mayor received certificate #139,225 today.
News
3/12/11
The Mayor participated in SKYWARN storm spotter training at the Rockwall Library to learn how to identify severe thunderstorms and tornadoes as Spring and severe weather season begin. The training was facilitated by Mark Fox of the National Weather Service in Ft. Worth and Garry Seith of Channel 11 News. "At our next city council meeting, we will review our emergency procedures for severe weather and make sure we are fully prepared," said the Mayor.
News
12/21/10
The citizens of KelleyTexas have taken advantage of dark skies to participate in two major astronomical events during the month of December. Despite a cold, the Mayor spent an hour during the early morning hours of Tuesday, December 14th watching the Geminid meteor shower. She counted 61 meteors in a single hour. Early this morning, she enjoyed the total lunar eclipse that began at 12:33am.
News
8/1/10
The Stars at Night Observatory is finally finished, and the Mayor celebrated "first light" last night with her family. Objects observed include Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, Mizar and Alcor, and several Messier objects (M13, M22, M27, M31, M51, M57 and M81).
News
6/5/10
The city of KelleyTexas has installed a weather station as part of The Stars at Night Observatory. The funds for this were approved with the bond package passed by voters in late 2007. The Mayor selected a Davis Instruments wireless station along with WeatherLinkIP software. The data from the weather station is uploaded to the following locations:
Weather Underground (Station ID KTXQUIN7)
Davis WeatherLink
KelleyTexas has also joined the Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) that uploads weather data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The CWOP ID is DW5198. The Mayor has also signed up for the Storm Spotter Network for WFAA Channel 8.
News
5/16/10
The Mayor has just returned from her fourth trip to the Texas Star Party at the Prude Ranch near Ft. Davis, TX. While there, she observed 33 edge on and face on galaxies on the "About Face" observing list to earn an observing pin. She also toured the wind farms near Sweetwater, visited the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) museum and the Odessa Meteor Crater. She purchased two meteorites: a stony meteorite from North West Africa and an iron meterorite that was found by the Meteorite Men when they filmed an episode there recently. On the last day, the Mayor drove down to Big Bend National Park. "I had a lot of fun again this year, and I had lunch at the famous Reata restaurant in Alpine and participated in High Tea at the Big House at Prude Ranch. I also had a nice conversation with Bro. Guy Consolmagno of the Vatican Observatory. He remembered me when he visited Dallas two years ago," said the Mayor.
News
2/27/10
Ground breaking on the Stars at Night Observatory in KelleyTexas will take place on Thursday, March 4, 2010. Click here for details and construction photos.
News
12/26/09
The Mayor has been selected by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to be a Solar System Ambassador starting in 2010. In this role, she will be responsible for bringing the excitement of space exploration to the public and hopefully inspiring kids to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
News
10/22/09
The Mayor had the opportunity to meet Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger at a book signing in Dallas today. He was the pilot that landed the passenger plane in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009. All 155 passengers and crew survived. He signed her copy of his book, "Highest Duty".
News
10/4/09
The Mayor returned from a wonderful vacation to New England. The 7-day Princess cruise started in New York City and made stops at Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, Saint John and Halifax. "It was a mix of American history, culture, wealth with beautiful scenery. The fall colors in Canada were amazing," said the Mayor.
News
9/20/09
The Mayor had an opportunity to see a rare site: the space shuttle on the back of a 747 plane. Space shuttle Discovery is on its way back home to Florida after landing at Edwards AFB on September 11. She made it just in time to see the plane take off towards Shreveport. She took the picture below on the bridge over Lake Worth on loop 820 on the north side of NAS JRB in Ft. Worth. Click here to see the rest of her pictures.
News
8/4/09
The population of KelleyTexas is growing. A pair of Carolina wrens have built a home in a hanging flower basket on the patio of City Hall. The Mayor has spotted a number of other new birds, including a pair of painted buntings (below) and tufted titmouse.
News
7/19/09
The Mayor has just returned from a trip to San Antonio for the 62nd annual ESA International Council Convention. She was surprised to find out that her year-long educational program for her ESA Chapter made it to the top 10. The educational program theme was "They Have the Wind Beneath Their Wings: Inspirational Women Pilots and Astronauts".
News
7/4/09
The Mayor attended the annual family reunion in Alba on July 4th. She set up her solar telescope and followed a sunspot all day with her cousins.
News
6/21/09
Due to the Mayor's very busy schedule, the city has approved to add a new staff member. The Mayor is excited to announce that she has hired an administrative assistant, Millie the Mockingbird. The Mayor said, "I noticed her hanging around the city offices a few days ago. I was very impressed with her attention to detail and ability to mimic just about anything. She is not afraid to get the job done, even if it means scaring off some other birds. She is also multi-lingual. She knows cardinal, hawk, blue jay and many other languages."
News
5/18/09
The Mayor attended the annual Epsilon Sigma Alpha Texas State Council Convention in Addison, TX. Not only did her year-long chapter educational program make the top 10 in the state (2nd place overall), she also placed 2nd in the Distinguished Athenian award. This award is given to a Chapter Educational Director who has rendered some important service to her Chapter, Community and her State ESA Council, contributing notable value to her State's educational expansion.
News
4/28/09
The Mayor just returned from her 3rd Texas Star Party near Ft. Davis, TX. She earned two observing pins again this year, one for the Binocular Challenge List (left) and one for the Telescope 5X5 List (right).
News
3/29/09
The Mayor participated in a star party near downtown Dallas on Saturday, March 28 in conjunction with Earth Hour. For one hour, the lights went out in downtown to promote energy conservation. CBS Channel 11 News was on hand and interviewed the Mayor. It was aired on the news later that evening. "Though it was cold, the star party was a lot of fun. We estimate about 300 visitors for the night. We had a fantastic view of downtown, and everyone cheered when the lights went out. I look forward to this event next year."
News
12/1/08
The Mayor took this image of a rare celestial event - the crescent moon with Venus (left) and Jupiter (right). Image taken 12/1/08 at 7:06pm from Quinlan with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.
News
6/8/08
The Mayor just returned from the Texas Star Party at Prude
Ranch near Ft. Davis. The week-long amateur astronomy event
attracts people from all over the world, and this year's registration
count was over 500. "The weather was fantastic, though
we did have a couple of days that exceeded 100 degrees,"
she said. Participants also witnessed a number of large dust
devils that wreaked havoc on the observing fields. She completed
two observing programs: The TSP Binocular Observing Program
and the Globular Glory Observing Program (for telescope).
She earned two hat pins for these programs.
In addition to nightly observing, the Mayor was invited to
the home of Jimi Lowrey to see the "Barbarella"
48" dob telescope in his state-of-the-art roll-off roof
observatory. She visited McDonald Observatory again this year.
She stayed on site at Prude Ranch in the bunkhouse, where
she met a number of wonderful astronomy ladies from places
like Houston, Pittsburgh, PA, Colorado Springs, CO and the
UK.
Click
here to see some of the Mayor's pictures from TSP.
The Mayor looks forward to next year's event, which will
be held in April 2009.
News
4/3/08
Spring is here! The Mayor has spotted the first bluebonnets
of the season near the city limits. She has also identified
a number of birds that have moved into the city: killdeer,
house finch, Harris's sparrow (neat songbird), chipping sparrow,
cardinal, mockingbird, great blue heron, crow, barn swallow,
bluebird, blue jay, mourning dove and brown thrasher.
Speaking of birds, the Mayor is proud to announce the selection
of Rusty the Roadrunner as the new Deputy Sheriff of KelleyTexas. "Rusty has demonstrated his quick speed
and efficient ability to clean up the bugs from the city.
He shows no fear, and yet he is demonstrates all of the friendly
qualities important to the city." Click
here to see Rusty.
News
1/1/08
The Mayor was inaugurated for her second term today. After
the ceremony, she laid out her plans for the Stars at Night
Observatory, landscaping for City Hall, and a proposal for
a park between City Hall and the Observatory. She will begin
interviewing potential candidates for Deputy Sheriff soon.
Potential candidates include a coyote, roadrunner, great blue
heron and two cardinals.
News
11/28/07
The Mayor Travels to Nashville
The Mayor represented KelleyTexas in Nashville,
TN. She visited the home of President
Andrew Jackson, also known as The
Hermitage, to see a tobacco pipe on display there (see
picture below).
"This pipe, carved out of a piece of the Alamo by my
g-g-g-g-grandfather, was given to Jackson in March 1842. The
letter that accompanied the gift is in the Library of Congress,"
reports The Mayor.
The Mayor travelled with her cousin, Paula.
News
11/6/07
The Mayor is Unanimously Re-elected as Mayor of KelleyTexas!
The results are in, and with 100% of registered voters casting
a vote, The Mayor has been re-elected to her 2nd term as Mayor
of KelleyTexas. In addition, the Sheriff will also return
for a 2nd term. Unfortunately, the Deputy Sheriff decided
to return to the Everglades of South Florida, so The Mayor
will appoint a new one after she is sworn in on January 1,
2008. According to the city charter, the Mayor serves seven-year
terms, and there are no limits to the number of terms served.
A bond issue was passed to finance a capital improvement
project to build an observatory within the city limits.
Note: This website is under
construction, so check back often as new pages will be added
regularly.
| 
