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Texas Standard commentator WF Strong says the Gruver Farm Scholarship Foundation has already made a multi-generational impact.
The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
WF Strong [00:00:00] Over the years that I’ve been doing Texas commentaries, I’ve often highlighted the extraordinary philanthropic gifts that have made Texas an exceptional state. From large foundations like the Houston Endowment to Individual Gifts, like the 1.2 million that William McDonald left for U.T. to buy a telescope which resulted in the McDonald Observatory. This next story is about an immigrant’s gift from long ago that has resulted in transformative effects for a small Texas town. Karl Nielsen immigrated to Texas in 1901 and settled up in the Panhandle and Gruver, 20 miles south of the Oklahoma line. He was somewhat representative of what Garrison Keillor used to call a Norwegian bachelor farmer, except for the fact that he was from Denmark. He never married and lived with his sister for many years. She died well before he did. He lived to be 105. When he died in 1984, out of gratitude for the great life he had had there, he willed a section of land to the Gruver School district. In total, 640 acres or 6.7mi², no slouch of a gift. For years, the school district leased the land for about 25,000 a year, which bought books and science beakers. And that was about all. Wade Calloway, the current superintendent of Grew Variety, told me that sometime around 2012, former superintendent David Teel and a local farmer named Chad Logsdon had an interesting conversation in a pickup truck. Mr. Calloway pointed out that this is where many visionary conversations are held in the Panhandle. By the way, this took place in a pickup truck at a football game. You can’t get any more Texas than that. Mr. Teel told Mr. Logsdon that the acreage was an underperforming asset. He said that they could farm that section of land themselves and get up to 400,000 a year for college and trade school tuition for their students. They could make the dream of college a reality for all the Groover kids who wanted the opportunity. Quite a beautiful thing for a community of 1200 people. Mr. Logsdon loved the ideas of the Groover Farm Scholarship Foundation was formed that year. The plan was that every year lead farmer would be chosen to organize volunteer farmers to plant, harvest and take the corn to market. They would donate their tractors, tractor time and diesel, and corporations would donate seed and fertilizer. Individuals in the community would donate money for bags of seeds and fertilizer to help out as best they could. That is exactly how it played out. The entire community rose to the occasion, including banks, insurance companies and feedlots. It was a perfect storm of generosity. I even looked at the foundation’s salaries for their officers and board members, added All together, it came to zero. That’s highly unusual. It took four years to get a running start before they could fund the first graduating class. At the end of those first four years, they had a balance of nearly $1 million in the fund. The first class to receive funds was a 2016 class. That year, $350,000 was awarded for college and trade school tuition. Students went to schools all over. Many went to West Texas A&M and some to Texas Tech and some to Wired tech way up in Laramie to get a degree in diesel mechanics. How did they qualify for the scholarships? There was a point system which gave out points for academic achievement, like your GPA for extracurricular activity. You could get points for sports or cheerleading or band all at the same rate. You could also get points for Uol participation in theater, arts or debate. Finally, you could get points for community engagement for 24 hours of community service a year, which included mowing lawns for the elderly or setting up tables over at the Baptist Church for their annual picnic. Superintendent Calloway said, We are growing graduates and we are growing. Good neighbors. Additionally, if a student graduates college in four years, they can get funding for a master’s degree. These days, even the teachers can tap into the fund. If a teacher in the Groove Horizon wants a master’s degree, they can get support from the foundation, too. Very smart. The rising tide is lifting all boats. From 2016 to 2020, the foundation saw 59 of their scholars graduate from college. 23 were first generation college students. That is a stat that is itself philanthropic because it will lead to greater educational success for their children. To date, the fund is awarded 2.5 million to 277 students, 230 bushels per acre over six years converts to 218 graduates. That’s a beautiful yield, a bountiful harvest. I’m WF Strong. These are stories from Texas. Some of them are splendidly true.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
