Tents for Tots Grant From M. K. Brown Foundation Provides Shade Tents for Youth Group

Transcription

1 The Newsletter of the Texas Archeological Society Volume 52, Number 4 Fall 2008 Tents for Tots Grant From M. K. Brown Foundation Provides Shade Tents for Youth Group By Douglas K. Boyd For many years, one of the hassles I faced before each field school was trying to round enough shade tents for the youth group. Thanks to the M. K. Brown Foundation, the Panhandle Archeological Society, and the Courson Archeological Projects, this hassle has been permanently eliminated and the youth group now has four new 10x20-ft shade tarps that will last for many years. Many panhandle people are due thanks for their role in what affectionately became known as the Tents for Tots project. Scott Brosowske and Danny Witt, with the Courson Archeological Projects in Perrtyon, did the initial research and found the hardware for suitable shade structures ones that would stand up to panhandle winds at Party Tent City in Houston. TAS field school camp boss Bob Smith (Stinnett) then approached the Panhandle Archeological Society for assistance, and various PAS members took it from there. Then PAS president Joe Rogers (Hereford) wrote a grant proposal, and Richard Mackie (Pampa) took the proposal to the M. K. Brown Foundation of Pampa. The Brown Foundation then approved $1,000 in funds for the project. Rolla Shaller (Amarillo) ordered the hardware for four shelters, without the conduit poles, and had it all shipped from Houston. He and Alvin Lynn (Amarillo) then purchased ft sections of 1-inch conduit from Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse, and they gave the PAS a 20% discount. Rolla and Alvin then spent many hours cutting the poles into various sizes to fit the frames, while Alvin s wife, Nadyne, provided cold drinks and moral support for the dynamic duo. They even color coded the shelter parts to make them easier to put together! Lisa Jackson (Canyon) scanned the parts inventory schematic and put together Group photo of the Perryton students and adult supervisors under one of the new shade tents provided by the M. K. Brown Foundation and Panhandle Archeological Society. detailed written assembly instructions that were, I must say, mighty handy. And finally, the Courson Archeological Projects supplied the stakes and ropes that tethered the shelters to Texas soil and kept them from ending up in the Oklahoma panhandle. The total cost for the new youth group shade shelters was $1,300. Thanks to chairman Leland W. Waters and the M. K. Brown Foundation for the $1000 grant and to President Wayne Benson and the Panhandle Archeological Society for providing the additional $300. My hat is off to all of the wonderful folks who helped make this happen and my neck isn t sunburned because we always had shade!

2

3 TAS member Annie Salinas Wins 2nd Place at National History Day Competition with Exhibit on San Sabá Mission By Douglas K. Boyd I remember that Annie Salinas asked a lot of questions during the 2007 field school held at Presidio San Sabá in Menard, Texas. That summer Annie was attending her second field school. The seventh grade home school student from Spring, Texas, was a bright and inquisitive young lady, and she proved to be a very capable archeologist. She spent several days working carefully to help expose and document a rock wall and cobblestone pavement in a 4x4-m block, and she did a superb Annie Salinas at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. displaying her National History Day exhibit: The San Sabá Mission: Spanish Colonial Turning Point in Texas. Photo by Adrian Salinas. job. Annie wanted to know everything about Spanish history and the historical archeology we were doing. I answered her questions as best I could, but soon found her asking questions that were reaching the limits of my knowledge. I was definitely impressed by Annie, but at the time I had no way of knowing where this interest might lead her. As it turned out, the field school at Menard was only the beginning of this young scholar s investigations into Spanish Colonial history. According to Annie s mother, Lisa Salinas, Annie was developing an interest in archeology before she attended her first TAS field school at the Stallings Ranch in She was especially excited to participate in the 2007 field school work at Presidio San Sabá because they discovered the family has a direct connection to the history there. Before going to the field school, Annie found out she was related to Jual Leal, the Spanish soldier who led the survivors of the 1758 Indian attack on Mission San Sabá across the river and to safety at the presidio. Armed with this knowledge, Annie took a personal interest in Spanish Colonial history and the story of the mission and presidio at San Sabá. After her TAS experience at San Sabá, Annie continued her Spanish Colonial research and decided to create an historical exhibit for National History Day an academic organization that exists to promote history education for junior high and high school students. As stated on the National History Day website ( they seek to teach students in five areas: critical thinking and problem-solving skills research and reading skills oral and written communication and presentation skills self esteem and confidence a sense of responsibility for and involvement in the democratic process The main program sponsored by this organization is the National History Day contest. Students in grades 6 to 12 engage in discovery and interpretation of historical topics related to an annual theme. The students create scholarly projects in the form of exhibits, documentaries, historical Continued on page 4 Texas Archeology 3

4 Annie Salinas Continued from page 3 papers, performances, or web sites. The competition begins at the district level, advances to the state, and culminates with a national competition held each June at the University of Maryland in College Park. Having served as a judge for the National History Day several years ago, I know that only the best projects make it to the state competition in Austin. The National History Day project Annie created is called The San Sabá Mission: Spanish Colonial Turning Point in Texas. It is a three-panel exhibit highlighting the historical significance of the mission that marked the end of the Spanish efforts to settle the northern frontier. The exhibit is, quite simply, outstanding. At the local level, Annie s San Sabá Mission project was awarded one of two Outstanding Regional Entry awards at the Montgomery County regional competition. The project went on to compete at the state level on May 3-4, 2008 at the Bob Bullock Museum and University of Texas. Here Annie s exhibit received three special awards: The C.M. Caldwell Memorial Award for Texas History for the best exhibit on a topic focused on Texas history The Hispanic Heritage Award for outstanding papers and exhibits on Hispanic history, particularly Tejano history during the 1700s and 1800s The Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association Award for exhibits involving missions and/or forts in Texas Even more exciting, Annie won second place in the Junior Division (6th-8th grade) Individual Exhibit category out of forty-four entries that made it to state. This qualified her to compete in the national competition to be held in College Park, Maryland, June 15-19, While many of us were off playing at the annual field school in the panhandle, Annie was back east competing in one of the nation s toughest academic contests. Just before going to field school, I learned about Annie s history project from Mark Wolf of San Antonio. Mark took a personal interest in Annie s history project because he is also a descendant of Juan Leal and was the one who initiated the search for the site of the San Sabá Mission in When Mark found out that Annie s history project had won at the state level, he suggested that TAS should try to help out because of the many unexpected expenses the family would incur during their trip to the national competition. They would have to ship the exhibit, fly to Washington, D.C., pay for hotels and travel for the week, and pay the National History Day registration fees. Annie at 2007 TAS Field School at the San Sabá Presidio in Menard. Photo by Lisa Salinas. In short, Annie s success would be very expensive! At this point, I felt obligated to do something to help them shoulder the costs of this trip. On June 14, at the Saturday evening program to kick off the 2008 field school, I talked about Annie s history exhibit and announced that she had won at state. I also told everyone that Annie could not attend this year s field school because she was at the National History Day competition in Maryland. On Monday night, we officially kicked off a fundraising drive. As soon as the announcement was made, members began giving money and donated a tool box and supplies to create an archeology field kit that would be raffled. Where better to hold a raffle than at the annual field school margarita party? Raffle tickets went on sale as soon as the party started on Tuesday, June 17. Knowing that the proceeds were going to help Annie, TAS members responded generously. Ticket sales soared and more archeology supplies were donated to enhance the value of the archeology kit. By the end of the party, the raffle had raised $561 dollars, thus proving that TAS members are very generous indeed especially after one or two of Wally s special margaritas! TAS members continued to make donations over the next few days, and, by the time field school ended, the fundraising effort had netted $ Special thanks go to all those wonderful folks who helped make this effort so successful. Lisa Salinas called to tell me the great news on Wednesday evening, June 18. Annie had won second place in the Continued on page 5 4 Fall 2008

5 Junior Individual Exhibit category. She was one of only six students from Texas to win top honors at National History Day and the only one whose project was focused on an aspect of Texas history. When I announced this to everyone at the program the following evening, the roar from the TAS group at Lake Fryer was so loud that it was probably heard by people in Perryton! TAS has long supported the youth group as an important part of its annual archeological field school, and we are proud to offer this fun and educational opportunity to young TAS members. In this case, however, the table is turned. It is Annie Salinas who has provided a tremendous service to the TAS, and we should be thanking her. Beginning with a TASinspired idea, Annie went on to create a superb exhibit and her amazing success in the National History Day competition draws special attention to the TAS organization. This is advertising that money can t buy, and it highlights the educational aspects of TAS. This free advertising will continue in the months to come as her San Sabá Mission exhibit is displayed in various places across the state. In July, for example, Annie presented her project in Menard to students from around the state participating in the Old Stories, New Voices history camp sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and put on by the Texas State Historical Association. Adrian and Lisa Salinas are understandably proud of their daughter s accomplishments, and so are we. From all your friends in the Texas Archeological Society, a hearty congratulations to Annie Salinas! We are all proud of you! Two Open Letters To TAS Dear TAS friends: It is with great appreciation that we received the news from Doug Boyd about the generous donations that you had made toward our daughter Annie s trip to the National History Day competition with her historical exhibit The San Sabá Mission: Spanish Colonial Turning Point in Texas. Her interest in the topic was sparked by her involvement in the 2007 TAS field school at San Sabá. It led to a year s worth of research, contact with historians and archivists, and the creation of a historical exhibit about this amazing time and place in Texas history. Annie has been enthralled with the story of San Sabá since she first began to learn about it, and her excitement for her topic has grown as she has continued her research and been able to widen her understanding of its impact on Spain s hold over Texas and the Southwest. The TAS field schools are the hands-on experiential introduction to archaeology and Texas history that students like Annie need to begin forming a true understanding of history in general. I am thankful that we have found TAS and appreciate the incredible generosity that you have exhibited through your donations toward Annie s historical exhibit and her trip to National History Day. Your involvement with students like Annie has helped to encourage young people to further their interest in archaeology and given them an important beginning toward what may be a lifelong pursuit for many. We hope that the success of Annie s San Sabá exhibit at both Texas History Day and National History Day will be an inspiration to other students. We hope also that it will demonstrate the important role that TAS members play in the lives of our young students of Texas history, particularly through summer field school. Thank you again for your generous support of our Texas history student and budding archaeologist. We hope to be able to thank many of you personally at future TAS events. Lisa & Adrian Salinas Dear TAS Thank you very much for contributing so generously toward my trip to National History Day. It was very exciting for me to bring the incredible story of the San Sabá Mission to so many people. Since last year s field school, I have been researching the history of San Sabá and the Spanish colonial period. I have learned a tremendous amount, have had the opportunity to go many places while doing my research, and have met some wonderful people along the way. It has been a lot of work, but it was all worthwhile. Thank you again for your donations toward my San Sabá exhibit and trip to the national competition. I look forward to seeing you all soon at a TAS event! Annie Salinas Texas Archeology 5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32 Come Dig with Us! Rancho de las Cabras, Floresville, Texas It s FREE!!!! Join archaeologists from the UTSA Center for Archaeological Research and the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park at this 18th century Spanish Mission Ranch just outside San Antonio Rancho de las Cabras is located in Wilson County within the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. It was built in the mid 1700s (sources range from ) to contain the livestock belonging to the missions. Participants will excavate the courtyard to improve documentation of ranch life, which will assist the National Park Service s effort to interpret the site for visitors. When: Saturday Sept 27 Saturday October 11 Saturday November 1 8:30 am 2:00 pm Open to ages 10 to adult. Children 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult. There must be at least one adult per every three children. Please bring your own lunch and snacks, we will provide water and digging tools. This is a fairly remote site, with an unimproved road that could cause problems for low-clearance vehicles. Because the site is undeveloped, it contains brushy areas and fire ants; it is recommended that boots and appropriate clothing be worn. Access Rancho de las Cabras from San Antonio by taking US 181 south to Floresville. Turn west-southwest on State Highway 97 travel approximately 3.5 miles to County Road CR144 (right across from Promise Land Dairy). Turn south onto County Road CR144 and travel approximately 1.6 miles to Rancho entrance. Call or me at Lynn.Yakubik@utsa.edu for more information! Texas Beyond History Texas Archeological Society Center for Archaeological Research One UTSA Circle San Antonio, Texas NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID AUSTIN, TEXAS PERMIT NO ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED