 LCRA and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative representatives present an $18,000 grant to the Texas Wendish Heritage Society for restorations and improvements at the museum complex. The grant is part of LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. Pictured, from left to right, are: Joyce Bise, museum executive director; Mark Johnson, Bluebonnet community representative; Sandra Wright “Sandy” Kibby, LCRA Board member; Lori A. Berger, LCRA Board member; Raymond Arldt, Texas Wendish Heritage Society past president and Board member; Chris Becker, society treasurer and Board member; and Hattie Schautschick, society “head noodle lady” and Board member. |
The Texas Wendish Heritage Society soon will make restorations and improvements to its museum complex, thanks to an $18,000 community development grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative.
The grant, along with $8,000 in local matching funds, will help restore a 102-year-old building at the Texas Wendish Heritage Museum and make other improvements such as adding new sidewalks, lighting and an Americans with Disability Act-compliant ramp.
The museum, started in 1972, chronicles and celebrates the Wendish community that was founded at the site in 1854. A group of 500 Wends left their home in Germany that year and sailed on the English ship, the Ben Nevis, to Galveston. They then trekked some 90 miles inland to what became the community of Serbin, a few miles south of present-day Giddings.
The immigrants were Sorbians of Slavic descent, who left their homeland in an eastern part of Germany known as Lusatia, and came to Texas in search of religious freedom, said Joyce Bise, the museum’s executive director. To this day, Wends continue to live in the area around Serbin.
The Texas museum is the only one dedicated to the Wends outside of Germany, she said.
“We have an international following,” Bise said. “We are blessed with a combination of history, heritage and culture brought by a people who were the first immigrants to settle in this part of the state. Even today in our church we have six generations in one family from the original 500.”
Part of the grant will fund restoration of the St. Paul Building, which served as the community’s school from 1915 to 1979. Workers will replace and paint rotting wood on the building’s exterior. The building’s old ramp will be replaced and the building will be made level.
“The building is full of archives and historic items of the Wendish people,” Bise said. “This will allow us to protect these important heirlooms.”
The grant also will enable the museum to make improvements to help reduce flood damage. This includes replacing and adding drainage channels to 75 feet of sidewalk, installing 50 more feet of sidewalk, and adding a grated water collection area in the courtyard to help remove and conserve water. Workers also will install lighting along the sidewalk.
“This project is so important to us because it will help us preserve the Wendish story to share with future generations,” Bise said.
The community grant is one of a number of grants recently awarded through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. The program provides economic development and community assistance grants to cities, counties, volunteer fire departments, regional development councils and other nonprofit organizations in LCRA’s electric and water service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of LCRA’s wholesale electric customers and a partner in the grant program.
Applications for the next round of grants are due July 31. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.
About LCRA
The Lower Colorado River Authority serves customers and communities throughout Texas by managing the lower Colorado River; generating and transmitting electric power; providing a clean, reliable water supply; and offering access to nature at more than 40 parks, recreation areas and river access sites along the Texas Colorado River, from the Hill Country to the Gulf Coast. LCRA and its employees are committed to enhancing the lives of Texans through water stewardship, energy and community services. LCRA was created by the Texas Legislature in 1934. For more information, visit
lcra.org.
About Bluebonnet
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of the largest electric cooperatives in Texas and has been providing power to its members since 1939. Bluebonnet serves more than 92,000 meters, and owns and maintains 11,000 miles of power lines, located across more than 3,800 square miles within 14 Central Texas counties. Bluebonnet’s service area stretches from Travis County to Washington County, and from Milam County to Gonzales County. For more information about Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, go to
bluebonnet.coop and follow the co-op on Facebook and Twitter.
Media Contact
Clara Tuma
512–578–3292
clara.tuma@lcra.org
Source: LCRA Business News
