Historical school reopens after makeover

A radio ad kicked off a wellspring of support

WELFARE — When the Friends of the Historic Welfare Schoolhouse bought a radio ad last fall to advertise a fundraising car show, they had no idea they kicked off a chain of events that would lead to the school’s entire makeover.

The 2-year-old Friends organization held a grand reopening of the one-room schoolhouse Saturday, showing off the completely restored and repainted exterior, as well as some of the historic desks and blackboards still in existence today.

About two dozen people stand outside the Historic Welfare Schoolhouse Saturday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the renovated and repainted 140-plus yearold school.

Star photo by Jeff B. Flinn “The Historic Welfare Schoolhouse has been a school since 1878 ... all the way through the 1950s, when ( consolidation) moved (students) to Comfort,” said Holly Delaney, Friends president.

The schoolhouse sits on land about three miles north of Interstate 10 along Waring Welfare Road.

Once the school was decommissioned, the building was deeded to landowner Luster Culver, who single-handedly spent more than 30 years caring for the structure.

When the 90-year-old Culver began to find the work to be too much, “a group of five or six of us came in and, for these two years, we’ve been involved in it,” Delaney said.

Repair and renovation was slow, she said. That’s when they turned to Baron Wiley and Boerne Radio 103.9 FM to advertise a fundraising car show.

“Greg (Chapman, Boerne Paint Co. owner) heard about the fundraiser they were doing to restore the old schoolhouse through Boerne Radio,” said Emily Suhr, director of marketing for Boerne Paint Co. and its construction-based affiliate, Covenant of Texas.

“Greg immediately said, ‘We’re going to do this. This is something we’re going to do for the Boerne community,’” Suhr added.

Boerne Paint crews went to the aging schoolhouse and found a large portion of the exterior wood rotting away. Workers with the paint company replaced the wood and painted it during a seven-day stretch in December.

The number of students who attended the school remains a mystery, but Delaney said the largest kindergarten through 12th grade attendance was 25 in 1925.

Photos inside the building capture the schoolhouse in the 1910s and 1920s, with several class pictures on display.

The Friends have applied for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and are awaiting confirmation from the Internal Revenue Service.

Delaney said now that the school is open again, she hopes to extend programming, possibly opening it to area classes looking for a historical setting to hold lessons.

To join the Friends or find out more about programming, contact Delaney at 214-934-9404.

“Greg (Chapman, Boerne Paint Co. owner) heard about the fundraiser … (and) said, ‘We’re going to do this. This is something we’re going to do for the Boerne community.’”

— Emily Suhr