I was asked to talk about the annual report given to the Blanco County Commissioner's Court and Judge Bray. In an earlier newspaper article, I explained how the Commission was created, but I did not explain the responsibilities of the Blanco County Historical Commission. One of the responsibilities is to annually report the accomplishments of the Blanco County Historical Commission to the Texas Historical Commission and to the County Commissioner's Court.
The report is done from a calendar year. The report this year was from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. The Texas Historical Commission sends the reporting document to the county commissions after the end of the reporting period. Most commissions receive the report instructions by email but we still have the option of using postal mail.
The first section of the report is standard questions for example name of person doing the report, their position, address, email, telephone number, county reporting. Then the report asks for the number of commissioners, number of meetings held, committee meetings held, volunteer hours, percentage of commissions attending the meetings, and percentage of commissioners taking training.
Next portion of the report asks about our finances. This is to provide other CHCs,and county governments a better understanding of the financial investment in County Historical Commissions. Where is our repository for the money? Where does the commission get the money and how much? We must provide information on the in kind services provide at no charge to the commission, also.
We report on the goals of the Texas Historical Commission. These goals are determined every ten years by the Texas Historical Commission. Each county should work toward assisting the Texas Historical Commission on accomplishing these goals. Goal 1 is to conduct comprehensive surveys of the state's historic and cultural resources. Goal 2 is to emphasize cultural landscapes. Goal 3 implement policies and incentives to protect historic/cultural assets. Goal 4 Leverage economic development tools for preservation to revitalize historic areas. Goal 5 Learn and experience history through place by providing events/activities for people to experience the states diverse history. Goal 6 Connect preservation to related fields like archaeology, anthropology, geography, architecture, conservation, planning, economic development, tourism, education, museums, and genealogy. Goal 7 Cultivate political commitment by reporting CHC accomplishments to elected officials and inviting them to CHC activities. Goal 8 Build capacity of preservation community by encouraging existing preservation groups to develop and strengthen their preservation skills. This is just a brief description of each goal and under each goal are question to assist in clarifying the progress on each goal
The next part of the report is project descriptions which you can have a total of three projects. Each project must be different from the other and must show a diverse range. These projects are considered for awards to a commission.
Finally a historical commission can report on anything else that is not covered in the first 11 pages of the report and then you are finished!
This is the start of my third year as chair of the Blanco County Historical Commission and I am very proud of the difference between year one of the report and the year two report. Our volunteer hours have more than doubled. More commissioners are coming to the meetings and doing more projects. We have cleaned markers and refurbished markers and young people have volunteered to assist in this effort. The commission did an archaeology program with the Johnson City Library and the children loved the Indian arrow heads. Our scrapbooks were used by the Johnson City library to show case homecoming for Johnson City. The inscription for the Brown Cemetery marker was reviewed by both the family and the commission. One of our commissioners published her grandmothers diary which is a great historical account of the Johnson City area. McCarthy Springs can be found at the Johnson City Library and is well worth reading.
The commission is working on several projects which will be discussed in another of my reports but my column is getting long so look for us in the next quarter.
