Great desire to keep ag history alive behind new Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

December 18, 2003 -- For many children (and adults) in South Central Texas, Christmas came early in the form of the new Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center just outside of Seguin.

What started as a "dream" is becoming a reality for Betty and Wilfred Bartoskewitz, fifth-generation farmers in the area.

"For some years, we've wanted to do something different," he explained.

With great passion, Wilfred related he wanted the children in the area, and all over Texas, to remember what agriculture was like, in earlier days, as well as to learn where milk and eggs "really come from."

The center is located just outside Seguin on Texas 123 North, and expects to be open to the public in early spring.

When he presented his vision to the local Texas Cooperative Extension agents and Texas Farm Bureau representatives, the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) got wind of the plan and all jumped on the bandwagon, offering publicity and information. It is hopeful other interested parties, along with grant funds, will be available to help complete the "vision."

The Bartoskewitzs, parents of two, grown daughters and four granddaughters, donated the 25 acres of land and have built a beautiful, red, 60-by-100-foot Ag Center, which is designed to look like a huge barn. Animals at the Center are housed in a "real," red barn that offers them, and the visitors, shelter from the elements.

Presently, there is a large garden (put in by an "80-something"-year-old man), the barn which contains lambs, goats, pigs and dairy cows, as well as Longhorns and buffalo. Also on the property are sheds and a 100-year-old home used as a Bed and Breakfast.

In late October, the nonprofit Center opened with its first ag fair, with the theme "From the Farm to the Barn and Beyond." Fourth graders from five counties - Bexar, Colorado, Comal, Hays and Guadalupe - attended the opening, with attendance of around 200 children each day for several days.

Students attended various "stations" to learn about agriculture and the history behind early Texas residents. Stations include "From Kernels to Cotton (field crops)," "Ginning for Cotton," "Cluck Cluck Henny Penny" and "Hee Hee Hee ... Horses and Me," among other stations.

"When the first settlers came in the 1850s, history shows that about 80 percent of them were in agriculture in one way or another," noted Wilfred.

His own family settled in the area in 1856, and there has been a farmer in the family for five generations. With urban areas taking over much of what used to be farm land, Wilfred decided his dream of an educational center had to become a reality.

Although the Center is still under construction in some areas, the Bartoskewitzs expect to start taking field trip reservations from South Central school systems by March 1, 2004. Planned additions to the Center include an educational ag display, a meeting room, two display halls, a farm and automobile museum, and a market area/green house, as well as a "re-production" of a small, farm town ... complete with a school house and general store.

Once the areas are completed, Texas products, including GoTexan products, will be offered in a little store area in the main hall.

Wilfred and Betty will celebrate their 46th wedding anniversary this month, and during the years they agreed that they have sacrificed a lot, in various ways, to get to the point where they could make their "vision" a reality.

The best part of the process has been seeing the Center built and the children's reaction to the presentations. The hardest part was making all the final decisions, said Wilfred.

Although the Center will "cater" to school children, it plans to be open to the public, including out-of-state visitors who come by to see how the "Old West" progressed in Texas, along with the ag industry.

In conclusion, Wilfred summed up his love for this project and seeing it come to fruition in one sentence. "What better way is there to end your life?"