Bartoskewitz named Community Champion

Story by Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

The rural heartland of Seguin and Guadalupe County did not go unnoticed during this year’s San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo held Feb. 9-26. The Texas Agricultural Education & Heritage Center a.k.a. The Big Red Barn and its founder Wilfred Bartoskewitz were recently awarded and named as a stock show Community Champion.

The local non-profit was touted for having an outstanding positive impact in the community not only in Seguin but throughout the region.

Neal Brodbeck, a member of the Community Champions committee, says the award signifies Bartoskewitz’s leading efforts to preserve the world of agriculture. Thanks to a land donation by the fifth-generation farmer and his wife Betty, a steering committee was put into motion in 2003 to begin the Ag Center which today displays and hosts events to help “create the farming and ranching experience.”

“First and foremost, the Texas Agriculture Education & Heritage Center fits our mission statement for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and that mission statement is a volunteer organization that supports agriculture and education to develop the youth of Texas and that organization well fits that mold,” said Brodbeck.

The AG center is located on a working farm -- a farm that has continued operating since the 1850’s. Brodbeck who lives in the area and who is among the six members of the Community Champion committee for the stock show says it was his pleasure to bring the nomination forward.

“Obviously, I have seen that organization grow out there. I was there this past Christmas and hadn’t been there in a couple of years and was just amazed at how much it is grown and all of the kids that were there experiencing everything that has to do with agriculture, it was just a great event and so absolutely, they were well deserving of the Community Champion Award for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo,” said Brodbeck.

Bartoskewitz says he was honored to have been recognized and shares the award with the many volunteers who help make things happen especially for area children.

“I was really surprised about it because I hadn’t even heard of something like that at the stock show and this is our 20th year and we have about 30 volunteers that help with the Ag in the Classroom, we call it. We have it in the spring. We have the younger children from kindergarten and homeschoolers and private schools up to the third grade and then in the fall, we end picking up the fourth and fifth grade and those are the classes that the Farm Bureau recognizes as the important age of getting a message across to the children,” said Bartoskewitz.

As part of the recognition, Brodbeck says Bartoskewitz was invited to be a part of this year’s rodeo experience.

“The recognition was the presentation of a plaque and Mr. Bartoskewitz and family got to ride in the pickup during the rodeo where we shoot the t-shirt gun and so they got to ride in the truck and there was information display on the jumbotron about the Texas Agriculture Education & Heritage Center so everyone got to see them in the truck and some information on the jumbotron about the organization,” said Brodbeck.

Bartoskewitz says the truck ride around the arena was for sure a memorable experience and hopes to keep that in his pocket for a very long time. More importantly, he says he thanks the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo for its hospitality and for helping to bring awareness to the Big Red Barn here in Seguin.

“We got treated very well at the stock show. We had a big meal and then the ride. I was surprised as I had a granddaughter that all of a sudden showed up on the back of the truck and rode with me and they were shooting up the canon and throwing out the t-shirts with the writing of the stock show on them and my granddaughter was taking them and throwing them out to the audience,” laughs Bartoskewitz.

According to San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo leaders, Bartoskewitz is also recognized for creating the Puls Farm for local students to house FFA and 4-H projects. They say students that attended school tours and festivals at the Red Barn now lead school tours for the rodeo and many projects housed at Puls Farm competed and placed at the San Antonio Stock Show. He is also applauded for helping to facilitate the education of youth especially those in 4-H and FFA by providing scholarships to generations and generations of students. They say he has not only provided opportunities for youth to learn about agriculture but has also helped to create a new generation of leaders in the field.

The Big Red Barn is located at 390 Cordova Rd. •