A hard life

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly Nov 3, 2010


Where do you turn if your stock pens need welding, your drywall needs plastering, you are a retired widow, you live on a ranch 15 miles from the nearest town, and that town has a population of 25?

Loudell Eudaly called Club Ed.

Eudaly lives by herself on the home place - a working ranch somewhere along the Llano River. The house was built in 1930, and the barn went up in 1878. “You have to hold your mouth the right way to make things work,” she said of her historic place. “And when a cow kicks something off, I need to put it back on.”

The native Texan is anything but helpless. “I’ve been helping my daddy know what to beat on since I was a child,” she insisted. “And my daddy was pretty picky how things were taken care of.”

But with her daddy and her husband gone, and she needed some minor repairs done, she was stymied. Her cousin was farming peanuts, her neighbors were busy, and hired help? “Oh, Lord! They are so expensive there is nothing left for me at the end of the year,” she said. “I’m a nurse, and they shouldn’t make more than I do!”

But her daddy had left her a good welding rig. So, like the independent Texan she is, Eudaly decided to call Club Ed and learn to weld for herself.

She was also interested in learning more from our other classes, from how to use a computer to how to fix some broken drywall.

Apparently one of her helpers was too eager when working in the attic. “He had a ‘whoops’ and put a foot through the ceiling,” she said. “He was going to fix it, but that was three years ago and I don’t think it’s going to happen now.”

Eudaly has other small repairs on her “To Do” list. “I live in a museum - a house full of antiques,” she said. She read a book on repairing drywall, but is not quite ready to attack it. “Besides,” she said, “no one looks at walls: they aren’t dangerous; just ugly.”

So when Eudaly heard about Club Ed on her radio, she called up and started signing up for classes. Even though it’s a bit of a drive, she is willing to make the investment.

“I don’t want to have to pay others to do it,” she said of the work facing her. “I lead a hard life, but I want to be able to fix little things like drywall and fence. And,” she added, “I don’t want to live in town.”

xxx

Welding the world

Phil Houseal
Sept 23, 2009

You've moved to the Hill Country. You've bought your 5 to 10 acres, built your dream home, planted your pecan tree, and ordered a dozen laying hens. What is the next thing that newcomers want to do?

According to Rick Boles, it is to learn how to weld.

"In a retirement area like this there are so many people buying small acreages that they want to fix up," the former ag teacher said. "Many don't have funds to hire help to build fence, so they want to learn how to weld in order to do that themselves."

Boles has taught adult welding courses for Club Ed since 1990. He recently retired from Ingram ISD, where he taught agriculture for 21 years. He now works at Back 40 three days a week, and teaches a Basic Welding course each fall and spring.

It is hard work learning to weld properly, and takes a commitment and effort that barely fits into the 36-hour course.

"The industry training standard for welding is five months. In high school the course lasts the entire school year. We have distilled this down to six Saturdays."

Within that time, students learn oxy-acetylene cutting and basic arc - or stick - welding. Boles spends a lot of time up front on safety and familiarizing students with the equipment. Then, it's practice, practice, practice.

"The myth is that you pick it up quickly," Boles said of welding technique. "It's a skill, and like any skill, it requires practice. Even with all the computerized technology, where there are machines that can almost feel how the person works, it still requires practice. After the first 6 hours, it's 30 hours of hands-on. "

In recent years, Boles is seeing more women signing up for the class. He considers them to be very well suited for welding.

"Women seem to have a much steadier hand than men," he observed. "Being hands-on type people, they often far surpass the skills that men have."

Despite the hot working conditions and hard work involved, welding remains consistently the most popular course year in and year out at Club Ed. Every class is filled, and we could fill three times the number of classes if we had the instructors and space available. Teachers like Rick Boles are a big reason for this appeal.

"When they leave my class, they are ready to go home and weld," he said. "The students all have the confidence to tackle the projects they want to tackle."

XXX


For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.