Reflections on the Kalich House Restoration Project

 

Marvin Marek ad the Kalich house Grand Opening
Photo Couresy Ted Kaspar

 

By Marvin Marek, Kalich House Restoration Project Coordinator

 

In August of 1999, the Board of the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center (TCHCC), felt the need to have a visitors center on its site adjacent to the Fayette County Fairgrounds. It was further decided that an old farmhouse ought to be sought for this purpose. The house might later be used as an element of a living history museum that would universally depict the role of the Czech immigrant farmer in the development of Texas and Fayette County. The later is often referred to as the cradle of Czech immigration to Texas because it contained the largest concentration of Czech immigrants. This fact influenced the selection of the site for the statewide effort that is presently underway.

Several homes were offered for this purpose. One near Hillje, Texas, was offered by Sylvester Vacek of Wharton, Texas, appeared to fit the need, but the logistics of making the long move appeared too challenging and costly. Shortly thereafter, in January 2000, it was learned that Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Kalich, who lived near Engle, Texas, had an old farmhouse that really symbolized the progress of the Texas Czech immigrants. The house was built in three to four stages, and even incorporated an original an original, one-room cabin. This room's underpinnings and wall-framing contained hand-hewn timbers, indicating that it was built in the later part of the 19th century. It appeared that Providence favored the TCHCC's pursuits.

The Board of Directors chose to accept the offer, and established a budget of $62,000 for its relocation and restoration. This amount was equivalent to an earlier estimate for the possible construction of a new building of approximately equal size.

John Kana of Kana Brothers, Inc. volunteered to move the house. He accomplished the move, setup, and leveling in June of 2000. Thereafter, volunteers and contractors were sought to restore the house. As fortune would have it, a generous individual and a professional homebuilder from Ennis, Texas, volunteered to furnish the skilled manpower needed for the carpentry work. Robert Slovak, owner of Slovak Construction Company, constructed new porches and repaired almost all of the other wooden elements of the house. Arnold Pechal of Temple, Texas, installed the electrical wiring. A host of other volunteers performed most of the other tedious tasks required to complete the project.

Approximately eighty individuals ranging in ages from two to eighty volunteered their time, some collectively representing organizations. Their combined volunteer time totaled at least 3,109 hours. They came from Ennis, Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi, Temple, and points in between--even from abroad, from our distant ancestral homeland. Pavel Smyd, a Catholic priest who serves a church in Moravia, a short distance north of Brno, assisted Arnold Pechal with the electrical work that had to be installed to meet the City of La Grange's commercial code. The priest's father was an electrician and he had learned the trade from him. (Reeder's Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc. assisted with the local electrical permits and code compliance.) Jerry Elzner of Corpus Christi brought a work crew comprised of Jaroslav Sijansky and Mirek Prasivka to contribute a day's work. Both were citizens of the Czech Republic. Also, many locals did their part. Johnny Polasek, Elmont Vivial, Ed Vasek, and Elo Goerig were always responsive to calls for assistance. During the final stages, they were constant work companions. Elo Goerig, President of the Catholic Union of Texas, with its headquarters in La Grange, even supervised the final touches to the house after I left for a trip to the Czech Republic in late July. (The occupation of the house had already been set for August 1). Ed Krivacka assisted in coordinating work performed by the roofing contractor. He also repaired several of the window sashes. Members of the Kalich family came out to help paint the exterior and interior of the house that some remembered well.

The Grand Opening Ceremony for the Kalich House

Marvin Marek, Bungie Hartshorn, and Cathleen Noska

There was a time when volunteers were few, and I felt an intense urge to find a face-saving excuses to surrender responsibility for managing the daunting project. But Providence always seemed to provided the needed inspiration. It always came in human form. At one of my lowest points, Bungy Hartshorn appeared out of the woods of Ledbetter. (As all of you know, Ledbetter is located near the community of Nechanitz, which was named by Wenzel (Vaclav) Matejowky after his native village of Nechanice. It is most likely the village near Hradec Kralove in East Bohemia. Matejowsky purportedly was the first Bohemian to settle in Fayette County.)

Bungy is a person who loves to paint, and is blessed with a lovely smile, and a simple "can-do" attitude--and, to boot, is not even of Czech extraction. A crew of good ladies and gentlemen joined us and stuck it out to the end. Some were there nearly daily; Georgia Funderberg, Carol Kitchen, and the Vivials who reside on the Bluff. Carol spent hours sitting on the front porch in the heat, tediously grinding away the rust and accumulations of old paint that coated the old, exposed, square door lock sets she had either removed from the doors within the house or purchased at antique stores. She used a dental-like drill and small bits to do the job. Carol enjoyed the camaraderie of the other volunteers while they performed the other, myriad "larger" tasks around her. Pat Parma of Richmond was on the site frequently as well as contributing materials and assistance. Bungy even had her daughter Ballen Keen help with the painting. Moreover, Ballen and her husband opened their bunkhouse on their ranch to Judy and me. She allowed us to escape motel life in La Grange, and the life of our Houston metropolitan community of Missouri City, as well. We are indebted to her for the many nights we were able to spend in her peaceful, rural environment. That was a treat in itself! This mother and daughter are indeed two of my favorite non-Czechs, and generous contributors to their adopted community. County Judge Ed Janecka and Commissioner David Noak assisted us with several aspects of the project, and we appreciate their help.


I could continue, and perhaps should. Each and every person on the list of volunteers played a very important and vital part of this collective effort. I cannot thank each of them enough. I regret that time and space do not allow be to include all of the great experiences we shared.

The restoration was essentially completed by the end of July of 2001, and under budget. The entire project lasted only fourteen months from start to finish. The cost of the project was approximately $40,000.00, far below the estimated cost of $62,000.00. Nine individuals and organizations provided cash donations of $35,590.00. Another thirteen individuals and organizations contributed $15,360.00 of in-kind donations--in reality being the equivalent of cash donations. My best estimate is that another $10,000.00 - $12,000.00 of personal expenses were incurred by those individuals traveling the longest distances to La Grange. The monetary value of the house based on volunteered time, donated materials, and services and payments to contractors is conservatively $95,0000.00. Had we solely employed contractors, the cost would have been much greater.

The businessmen and citizens of La Grange must truly appreciate the benefits that accrued to their economy from this particular effort. Surely they will join us in developing the remaining elements of the Texas Czech Center. The Center will not only benefit the economy of the community, but enhance its cultural life as well.

During the restoration process, particularly after being inspired by the individuals mentioned above. I realized that this building was not only composed of wood, metal, and paint, but it possessed something more. It became more than just a symbol of an historical era and an expression of the achievements of the Czech immigrants and their descendant's. It came to embody their spirits. That same spirit united and animated all of the wonderful volunteers.

The volunteers can now claim the unique distinction of being responsible for the construction and restoration of the first building on the site of the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center. I am sure that each of them is as proud of the house as I am.

Thank you all for all of the work you have done; but thank you most of all for increasing my awareness of the spirituality of our shared event. We are indeed possessed with that same great pioneering spirit of our Czech forbearers. May we continue to be conduits of, and contributors to, the blessings contained in our beautiful legacy.

The donated flags and flag poles located next to the Kalich House