CALDWELL COUNTY, Texas – The St. John School Museum Board will be able to complete renovations on its nearly 145-year-old historic school building by adding restrooms, a new septic system and more, thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative. 

The Community Development Partnership Program grant, along with $14,010 in matching contributions, will support the St. John School Restoration Project as it finishes renovations and opens the St. John School Museum housed in the former school building.

The museum will display artifacts and provide historical information about the St. John community, which was founded by freedmen in the 1870s. The grounds will provide a space for picnics, recreation and sports.

In addition to new restrooms and a septic system, the grant also will provide new fencing and additional storage space at the museum.
 
Board President Edna Rayford was a student at the school some 73 years ago. She began fundraising efforts three years ago to preserve the school for future generations. 

“The school was closed down in 1963 or 1964 and it’s been sitting there all these years,’’ she said. “It was falling apart. The school is so important and it means so much to me. If we lose it there will be nothing left to tell our story.”  

The museum will be used for educational tours, public outreach and community meetings. It will be open throughout the year upon request, including for the community’s annual Juneteenth celebration, which has drawn more than 1,000 visitors.

Rayford said there has been significant community interest in having the school restored and its historical significance documented and remembered. 

“This grant is going to help us move a little faster to accomplish our goal,” she said. “This place has meant so much to the people who lived through that time.” 

The community grant is one of 28 grants awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which provides economic development and community assistance grants to cities, counties, volunteer fire departments, regional development councils and other nonprofit organizations in LCRA’s wholesale 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 will be accepted July 1-31. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

AUSTIN COUNTY, Texas – A $30,000 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative will help the Industry Volunteer Fire Department purchase two much-needed pieces of equipment: new and improved hydraulic rescue tools to extract crash victims from vehicles and new protective gear for firefighters.

The grant will be paired with matching funds of $12,874 from the Industry VFD, which serves approximately 2,000 people in northwest Austin County. The department’s 54.5-square-mile service area includes Industry, a farming community situated about halfway between Austin and Houston.

Michael Drab, vice president of the Industry VFD board, said the department has been using an old set of extraction tools that sometimes aren’t effective on the stronger materials used in newer cars and trucks. On occasion, Industry VFD first responders have had to request aid at crash scenes from other departments, he said.

“With these new tools, we’ll be able to extract someone from a vehicle more safely and more quickly,” Drab said. “We’re very grateful to receive this grant from LCRA and Bluebonnet. At the end of the day, it’s going to help us to better serve the community.”

The two additional self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs) will supply oxygen, filter out carbon dioxide and keep firefighters from inhaling noxious fumes during emergencies, he said.

“We don’t want to be putting firefighters’ health at risk,” Drab said. “By adding additional SCBAs, we can protect more firefighters when we’re at scenes and allow them to be better equipped for rescue and fire suppression duties.”

The community grant is one of 28 grants awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which provides economic development and community assistance grants to cities, counties, volunteer fire departments, regional development councils and other nonprofit organizations in LCRA’s wholesale 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 will be accepted July 1-31. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

Bluebonnet celebrated several milestones in 2019. In addition to its 80th anniversary and surpassing 100,000 meters and 10,000 followers on Facebook, the cooperative added its 1,000th renewable energy member in November. 

Pandiyan Kaliyamoorthy of Austin, center, received a cooler full of goodies, including a solar-powered portable battery pack, from Bluebonnet’s Brittany Hardy, a member service representative, and Wesley Brinkmeyer, manager of energy services. Another milestone this year: The capacity of Bluebonnet members’ renewable power is expected to exceed 10 megawatts early this year.

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