To the editor:

Houston School Restoration committee members, whose average age is 75 years plus, can no longer personally do much of the physical preservation and maintenance work on the building.

The committee members are deeply indebted and very grateful to Jackson County United Way and Wal-Mart Distribution Center Day of Caring volunteers who did the hard labor of scraping and brushing the entire exterior of the 105-year-old, four-room school building.

Volunteers also painted more than half of the original wood siding. A very special thank-you goes to the young man who unexpectedly/voluntarily climbed and painted the belfry ceiling and posts, which had not been painted for 20-plus years. That was an act of caring above and beyond committee expectations.

Special appreciation goes to one committee member who supplied two hay wagons to support the scaffolding. Attendance by the United Way’s Bonita Dobbs and the coverage by The Tribune also was kindly appreciated.

Larry Anthony

Columbus