Matt Bucher, candidate for Trustee at Wells Branch Community Library District

Posted: September 17th, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: personal | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

I will be on the ballot this coming election, November 7, 2023, as a candidate for Trustee for Wells Branch Community Library District.

I’ve served on the Board as a Trustee since November 2021 when I was elected unopposed. I currently serve as the Vice-President of the Board.

Here’s what I stand for:

  1. Free speech and the first amendment. Library employees and trustees are often asked about this issue, but for our library it hasn’t been a major topic because we are truly independent (not a division of city government or a larger library system). The last word sits with the Director of the Library and the Board of Trustees and so far we have agreed and not faced many (if any) real attempts to ban books. But, if this does become a significant issue, you want Trustees who are willing to stand up for their beliefs. In my case that means protecting freedom of speech and not banning books. I support the American Library Association’s statement on the Freedom to Read.
  2. Equitable access – this means that the public library should work to accommodate access to materials for everyone in the District: homeowners, renters, the elderly, the home-bound, people with disabilities, people without a car, children, LGBTQIA people, the unemployed, etc. They all deserve equal access to library materials.
  3. Access to physical media – Our Library does a LOT! We are so lucky to have the wonderful programs and spaces to meet, computers, storytimes, the list goes on. If you have not checked out an ebook or audiobook from Hoopla, you are missing out! But at its core, I still believe that a Library should be full of printed books. Full accessibility includes print and electronic materials, braille, and other accommodations.

About Me

For people who don’t know me, I wanted to share a little bit about myself here. I’ve lived in Texas for the past 18 years and in Wells Branch for 17 years. My wife Jordan and I have two boys, ages 13 and 16. They have attended Round Rock ISD schools all their lives: Wells Branch Elementary, Deerpark Middle School, and McNeil High School.

I currently serve on the Board of the Deerpark MS PTA, the McNeil Wrestling Booster Club, and I’ve served on the Board of the Wells Branch PTA for several years in the past. I work in the marketing department of Charles Schwab and have a degree in English from the University of Denver. I’ve previously worked in educational assessment, textbook publishing, and book publishing in New York. I’m also a writer and podcaster in my spare time (among many hobbies). I’m a member of the Texas Library Association and I serve on the Board of the International David Foster Wallace Society.

What a Trustee Does

Over the past two years I’ve learned that a Trustee’s job is mainly about good governance. In our case, one of the primary roles of the Board of Trustees is to provide oversight for the Director of the Library. We are lucky to have an excellent Director. Our Director has enjoyed the full confidence of the Board for many years. This makes the Trustee’s job much easier. Replacing the Director would cause a lot of disruption and uncertainty in our Library. But if it ever does become an issue, Trustees should have a good working knowledge of how the Library functions in order to find a suitable candidate.

Another part of good governance involves oversight of finances. Again, our Library is lucky to have a financing model that relies on sales tax collected within the District. Sales tax revenues have been high the past few years. This allows us to fund projects such as Library renovations, increased programming, and pay increases for the staff. So, it really is important to shop local and keep your spending close to home when you can. It makes a real difference! You can read more about the Board and see our agendas and minutes on the Library’s website.

If you are interested in learning more about what a Trustee does or doesn’t do, I’d be happy to speak with you! matt@mattbucher.com

Election Day

If you live in the District, I’m asking for your vote.
You can select up to 2 candidates for Trustee.

Early voting begins October 23 and election day is November 7.

Make a plan to vote!
You can find more information about polling places and registering to vote at: https://countyclerk.traviscountytx.gov/departments/elections/election-calendar/

Last Day to Register to VoteTuesday, October 10, 2023
First Day of Early Voting in PersonMonday, October 23, 2023
Last day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (received, not postmarked)Friday, October 27, 2023
Last Day of Early Voting in PersonFriday, November 3, 2023

The drowned horses of R.T. and Leo S. Bucher

Posted: November 17th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: personal | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments »

I’ve written about my great-grandfather in the past but I continue to research the stories about his life and try to see if there is any existing evidence to support some of the details of his life. There are still many questions I have but today would have been his 125th birthday and I wanted to document one of those stories.

On June 12, 1910, in Powersville, Missouri, Leo Steven Bucher was helping his soon-to-be adopted father R.T. Bucher wash their horses and buggy. They led the horses into the pond, wherein one of the horses laid down and got tangled up in the harness and eventually both horses drowned.

June12-1910

From his 1910 diary:

Drowned tow horses [two horses?] (Black) (One Horse & one mare). Drove in pond to wash wheels, horse laid down and pulled mare over him, got tangled in harness.

The next day, they buried the team of horses:

June13-1910

Amazingly, this story was picked up by the local newspaper, the Unionville Republican, and even ran as 10-years-ago item in 1920.

Drowned

R.T. Bucher had the misfortune to have his team drowned Sunday. He had driven them into the pond to wash off his buggy when one of them laid down and became tangled in the harness, throwing the other one, and before they could be loosened, both were drowned.

In 1910, this was a very serious problem as a horse was the main mode of transportation and work. It was equivalent to losing both your cars and your tractor on the same day. In a time before insurance, it could be very expensive to replace two horses.

For some time, this story was told as an origin story – that R.T. and Alice Bucher had another son who drowned in a pond with some horses. The reality is much different. Leo Bucher was already living with the family by that point and might have even contributed to the drowning of the horses (since he states in his diary “Drowned two horses)). In fact, I can find no evidence that RT and Alice Bucher ever had any other children besides Leo, whom they adopted when he was 21 years old. It’s likely that they took him in because they were unable to have children of their own.


Leo Steven Bucher, WWI Bugler

Posted: November 11th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: personal | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

This Veteran’s Day I find myself thinking of a man I never met: my great-grandfather Leo Steven Bucher. He was born in 1890 in Berlin, Germany, and died in 1955 in Dallas, Texas. His parents were named Paul and Elisabeth Belan, and they emigrated to the US in December 1901. They settled in Chicago, working menial jobs in factories and restaurants, but Leo escaped. Sometime between 1906 and 1907 he jumped on a freight train and began tramping around the United States. (I’m condensing some of this story here.) In 1908 he fell ill while riding a train across northern Missouri and hopped off near a tiny town called Powersville. There he was sheltered and raised by a childless couple: Reuben T. and Alice A. Bucher. The Buchers formally adopted Leo at the age of 21 and he went into business with his adopted father: R.T. Bucher & Son. Together they owned several businesses in Powersville including a mercantile, a Sinclair filling station, and a restaurant. Reuben was active in the small Masonic lodge in Powersville and had his son initiated into the lodge in 1913. (In 1905, Reuben and Alice Bucher helped form Order of the Eastern Star Chapter #278 in Powersville, Missouri. They were both charter members and Alice was installed as the Chapter’s first Associate Matron.)

From 1914-1916 Leo Steven attended Chillicothe Business College (in Missouri) and the N.E. Missouri State Teacher’s College (now called Truman State University) in Kirksville, Missouri, studying business and mathematics.

LSB

The United States formally declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. One month later President Wilson enacted a draft, requiring all males age 21-30 to register for service. Leo Steven Bucher was drafted into the US Army on June 5, 1917. He was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa, but was sent back to Powersville because he was still a German citizen. He was not allowed to enlist and was thrown in jail. The problem was he had no proof of legal US residency, only an alien registration card and his adoption papers. His adopted father Reuben intervened on his behalf and after several tense days he was released and allowed to enlist before the next expansion of the draft. Leo S. Bucher officially entered the army on May 25, 1918. He was conveniently made a US citizen at the Polk County Court House in Des Moines on June 13, 1918.

photo 3-20140914-165849619

[courtesy of David Bucher]

At Fort Dodge, Leo S. Bucher (above, in uniform) was given the rank of Bugler, at that time equivalent to Private. Here is his Infantry Drill Regulations manual which outlines the duties of the Bugler and includes sheet music for different calls.

bugler

[courtesy of James Bucher]

Here is his bugle:

photo_1-20140914-165844917

[courtesy of David Bucher]

The soldiers at Camp Dodge were almost all residents of Iowa and northern Missouri. They were part of the Army’s 88th Division and Leo was assigned to C Company, 351st Infantry, 88th Division (Clover Leaf Division) “ part of the AEF, American Expeditionary Force. There is an excellent history of the 88th Division in World War I here:
http://distantcousin.com/Military/wwi/units/usa/88thDivision/index.html

CampDodge-HumanStatueOfLiberty1918

[Human Statue of Liberty – 18,000 officers and men at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, IA, courtesy of Wikipedia]

Company C shipped out to France on August 16, 1918, arriving in Le Havre on September 4. The Division moved by rail from Le Havre to Semur, Cote d’Or, and then to Belfort, France, freeing up the 29th Division to capture enemy artillery positions in the area. In October 1918 Leo was wounded by bomb shrapnel outside of Gommersdorf, France (Southern Sub-Sector) and recovered at a nearby farmhouse. By the time he returned to the 351st Infantry at Belfort, armistice had been declared (November 11 – 96 years ago today) and the war was over. The 88th Division spent the next nine months in France demobilizing, training, attending schools, playing sports, staging plays, and preparing for their return to the United States.

Dannemarie

Near the end of their demobilization, the 88th Division spent several weeks in Paris sightseeing and celebrating. I am fortunate to have with me a postcard that Leo Steven Bucher sent to his father Reuben from Paris:

parispostcard2 parispostcard1

[Paris, April 5th, 1919
Hello Rube!
Am having a time with a Master Mason in Gay Par-ee! Understand we are in the Army of Occupation.
Leo.
Sure am having a time]

He returned to the United States on May 31. On June 9, 1919, he was formally discharged from the military at Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. {The novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald also trained at Camp Zach Taylor and mentions it in The Great Gatsby.}

Camp Zachary Taylor - folder cover

After he returned to Powersville, he met a young Iowa girl named Mary and the two were married in Centerville, Iowa, on May 20, 1924. He was 33, she was 23. They had three children: David Reuben, born 1925, Alice Allene, born 1926, and my grandfather, Leo Warren, born 1929. Reuben entered the Army in March, 1943 and after 20 years service in the medical corps, he was discharged in 1963. Leo Warren entered the Army on November 5, 1950 at Fort Hood, Texas, and was discharged November 28, 1951 at Camp Polk, Louisiana. He served in the 193rd Heavy Tank Battalion.

There is much more to the story of Leo Steven Bucher and I am working on a longer project about his life. But today I wanted to remember him as a war veteran.

tombstone