Never heard of Combine, Texas? Too bad. It’s just 20 miles down the road off of 175. One of the little community’s highlights is the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center, which has been open since 2010 “as the education component of a public-private partnership between the North Texas Municipal District and The Rosewood Corporation to construct a 2,000-acre, man-made wetland called the East Fork Water Reuse Project.”
As part of an arrangement between the Hunt/Sands family and the water district, a nature center was named after “wetland conservationist and holistic ranch manager” John Bunker Sands, son of the late Caroline Rose Hunt and Loyd Bowmer Sands.
It was back in 1980 that Bunker threw himself into restoring the natural wetlands and developing man-made wetlands on the family’s Seagoville property—a few miles from Combine—to provide essential nesting and wintering areas for migratory birds, in addition to conserving water.
Despite his death in 2003 from pancreatic cancer, Bunker’s project continued. Today it includes a 2,000-acre system of 28 wetland cells that filter nature and treated wastewater from the Trinity River. It is recognized as “one of the largest man-made wetlands in the U.S.,” providing “up to 90,000 gallons of water daily for a million Dallas residents, thanks to the wetland plants that filter and clean the water.” It’s also used as an invaluable program to educate more than 50,000 students from DISD and 25,000 adults about conserving water, wetlands and wildlife.
On Saturday, November 16, a fundraising dinner called “Wings Over The Wetland” will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Center, complete with gourmet cuisine, swaying jazz and renowned New Zealand artists Martin Hill and Philippa Jones. Hill and Jones will present a one-of-a-kind art piece showcasing the wetland’s unique message about sustainability. It’s a marvelous opportunity to get out of the concrete jungle and take in a starry night at one of Mother Nature’s most pastoral settings that got a little help from Bunker.
Tickets and sponsorships are available here. And remember that along with sponsorships come perks, like a patron party.