Internment Camp Match Book

Roy Crook

Radio Interview with Bill Crider

I did an interview with Beth Foxwell for her Internet radio show It's a Mystery. If you're dying to hear my voice, you can click here. I don't like hearing my voice, so I won't be clicking.

First National Bank

The Pendergrast-Smith name's still on the building.

The Western Auto Crew, 1968

Leon Flatt

The DQ in 1971

The DQ

Not a great shot, but this is the way the Dairy Queen looked back in our day. You can see the menu on the wall to the left of the bench, and the window to the left of the menu is the one for ordering food. I have no clue as to who the two kids sitting on the bench might be.

First Christian Church Sold

First Christian Church building sells

Upkeep prohibitive for small congregation

By Bob Wright-Editor

A dwindling congregation and the foresight to sell when the opportunity presented itself, has brought about sale of the First Christian Church building on East Main at Bonham.

“Our small congregation couldn’t afford the upkeep and maintenance on the building,” Darrow Condon said this week. Condon, who teaches a Sunday School class at the church, was often seen at the facility, attending to the lawn and to other matters around the building.

The congregation, however, hasn’t disbanded, and is meeting in a private home each week, Condon explained. The membership is down to around 20, and that’s a far cry from the 150 during the church’s heyday in Mexia. “Over the years it just declined,” Condon said, and said part of the problem is due to having “no active youth program.”

The Rev. Tom Prentiss has been filling in as minister, since Dr. Wayne Robinson retired, due to health problems. Dr. Robinson had served the church as pastor in two different timeframes. “We haven’t quit,” Darrow added.

The building, which served members during Mexia Oil Boom Days, has been sold to The Mission Pentecostal Church, which is presently located on Highway 171 in Mexia. That building, which formerly housed First Assembly of God Church when it was on East Milam Street, was bought by the congregation. The building was moved to Highway 171, and then underwent extensive renovation. The new congregation in the First Christian building is to begin meeting there on March 15. The pastor is Carlos Morer.

Darrow doesn’t anticipate First Christian’s congregation to disband. “We’ve re-organized in a private home,” Condon explained. “We might rent a facility, and looking at sites on which we could build a smaller facility,” Condon states.

Dr. Robinson served as pastor of First Christian for around 17 years, before and after the Rev. Ken Coffey, who retired from the pulpit.

Some of the earlier members of the church bear names easily recognizable by many Mexiaites - names like Jim and Alberta Barnes, Mr. and Mrs. Val Horn, Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Kendrick, Polly and Buck Jackson, Stanley Foster, Mary and Earl Speer and Maude Blair

About the photo: This photo was taken in 1922, and pictured the Building Committee. Large structure on far right was a rooming house, owned by a lady who donated adjacent land on which to build the First Christian building. Left to right, J.E. Baxter, Carl Davis, C.O. Sargent, Mrs. Louise Gamble, Vice-president of the Building Committee, and W.B. Kendrick, committee President.

Methodists

Overpass Plans

Extensive renovations and widening of the "famous" Mexia Overpass is due to get underway this coming Summer. The work will be done under auspices of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The overpass plans are contained in blueprints at the Mexia Police Department, and may be viewed by the public. Here, Detective Javier Ybarra and Police Department Records Clerk Kristie Ray take a look at the plans.

Mexia, 1902

This house is now owned by Jack Phillips.

Group Shot

Bill Crider, Johnny Holmes, Charlotte Holmes, Claudia Moss New, Dolly Pinson Huffstutler.

Mexia Centennial Booklet

Mexia Centennial Coin

Anybody remember the Mexia Centennial? I have a picture of my father taken in 1971. He grew a moustache for the centennial celebration. This was the only time he ever had facial hair.

Dr. Jan Huffstutler Retires, 2006

We knew her as Dolly before she had a doctorate. She retired from her position as Vice President of Instruction at Trinity Valley Community College in 2006.

A Rose Surrounded by Thorns

Left to right: Bill Crider, Noah New, Ann Pendleton, Johnny Holmes.

Cindy Walker Memorial

This unique marker becomes a great tribute to the memory of a great songwriter, Cindy Walker of Mexia. The monument is in the Mexia Cemetery, and was purchased by family members through Dietz Memorials. Dick Flatt, longtime friend who did much "errand running" for Cindy, looks at the marker, which includes a pink granite guitar, resting on a pedestal. The beautiful monument, supplied by her nieces, came from Riley-Gardner, based in Hamilton. The marker sits within a curbed lot, which contains a bench.

Cowgirls at the State Fair

Eddie New, Jan Grice, Ann Pendleton (2006)

Jan Grice, 2006

Jan & Sandra, 1954

Fiesta de Mexia, 1954

Jan Grice, 1955

Bill & Judy Crider, 1974

John & Kay Lynn Black, 2006

John & Kay Lynn Black, 1973

Mexia Brick

I remember the brickyard pond on Highway 14, but I don't remember any brick-making operation. There sure are a lot of Mexia bricks around, though.

Bill & Judy, 1984

Like Ken and Sandra, Judy and I reaffirmed our vows. We did it in June 1984, and Angela took this picture before we left for the church.

Sandy & Ken Now

Sandy & Ken in 1999