CHAMBERS COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION
ATTENDS STATE CONFERENCE
Four members of the Chambers County Historical Commission attended the Annual Historic Preservation Conference of the Texas Historical Commission held at the Westin Oaks Conference Center in Houston. Attending the conference last week was Chair Bob Wheat, Vice Chair R.B. Scherer, Jr., Secretary Kay Willcox and Publicity Chair Pudge Willcox.
The members attended several different workshops that were of interest to County Historical Commissions. One topic of interest was Preservation Funding Opportunities for County Historical Commissions. Although funding is sometimes difficult to obtain, highly competitive grants are available through the Texas Historical Commission, the Texas Department of Agriculture and numerous private foundations. Another major source for County Historical Commissions is the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund in the counties that have approved this tax. Chambers County is such a county and the Chambers County Commissioners Court has utilized these funds to assist the County Historical Commission.
Another workshop of interest was Local Partnering for Successful Preservation. This session stressed the importance of building partnerships between the County Commissioners Courts and City Councils within a county for the preservation of historical structures, sites, cemeteries and records. Other important partners are Chambers of Commerce and private foundations.
Chambers County was also one of eighty five counties in the State to be recognized to receive an Achievement Award for accomplishments during 2009.
Presentation of Afghan by CCHC Chair Bob Wheat
However, the highlight of the conference for the local members was the presentation of the County Historical Commission’s historical afghan by Chair Wheat to Terry Colley, Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Historical Commission and Dr. James Bruseth, Director of the Archeology Division of the Texas Historical Commission. The afghan, which depicts the history of Chambers County, will now be displayed in the office of the Texas Historical Commission in Austin. Although this presentation was not planned for the conference, it was extremely well received by the State Historical Commission Staff as well as everyone in attendance.
Article and photo by CCHC Publicity Chair Pudge Willcox
April 25, 2010
Chambers County Historical Commission News
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