We start the year with a new entrance sign for the Gault Archaeological Site. This was planned over two years and thanks to the efforts of stone sculptor Bob Ragan and GSAR chair Tim Brown we finally got it erected. This is part of a larger strategic plan involving many changes. The entrance sign sits at will be a parking lot/wayside exhibit with both tour parking as well as a set of signs explaining the history, work and significance of the finds at Gault. This area will be surrounded by a new fence with a decorative fencing fronting the highway. New, permanent trail signs are being designed and a new trail encompassing more of the natural environment and Native American usage of it is being developed. All of these will help us use the Site as an outreach and education tool for a long time into the future.
While most of us would like to completely forget the last year there is one thing good that came out of it. Since so many were forced to work & learn from home, we all were forced to finally sit down and use software for video conferencing and learning. For many years this has been touted as a huge game changer, especially for education, but with so few previously using it we didn’t see the advantages. Now we have the ability to reach a lot of people outside of our stomping grounds in Central Texas especially students. I have literally talked to people on the east Coast one day and the West Coast the next from my office. We hope to get the word out that we can now talk to students about our work live almost anywhere in the world. It’s an exciting thought!
We also have another corporate sponsor helping us to finance these opportunities – VeraBank. Citizens National Bank started in 1930 in East Texas and has gradually expanded toward Central Texas. In 2018 they acquired Union State Bank which was Florence, Texas based and changed their name to VeraBank. They are an integral part of our local community and we welcome their assistance to the GSAR.
