| July,
2000 update from kerens.com : "D" Magazine in Dallas, the July issue, did
an article on the best 11 small towns in the surrounding area to live. Kerens
was the first one listed. February
2, 2001 :
We heard from Kerens Webmaster Thomas Darby and his message
reminds us that we've been so busy we let a whole summer go by without checking
in. We can proudly report that we told many people of Kerens and how they've used
the web to strengthen community ties. Well, actually, they seem to have been strong
to begin with, but it's helped. Of course telling people about another town and
the good work they're doing - isn't always well received. For towns that don't
mind looking at success stories and benefiting from them - they can go directly
to the Kerens site of www.kerens.com. Our personal report from Thomas follows:
" ……….we completed
a project on the Main Street of Kerens. About three years ago we lost part of
downtown due to a fire that was covered by channel five in Dallas. During the
Spring of 2000, we decided to build an Alumni Center in the spot where the building
burned down, right in the middle of downtown. We started in March, and had our
grand opening at Homecoming on the September 21st weekend.
With donations
from people in town, and many ex-students, we completely paid for the facility.
The cost was estimated to be around $150,000. A retired construction contractor,
Cliff (Buddy) Hughes, led the work and finished it right on schedule with nothing
but volunteer workers in town. He is a bona fide hero. We worked all summer long,
Saturday and Sundays dawn till dusk in one of the hottest summers I ever have
experienced. We had a large round temperature gauge mounted on the inside on a
column while we were finishing up the interior before we had air conditioning
and it constantly hovered between 100 and 110 for months. It was hot! I think
I fell to me knees in thanks the day we turned on the central air conditioning
system for the first time.
We mounted two large outdoor speakers on a
utility pole beside the building and during the days preceding Christmas, I floated
Christmas music down Main Street to go with all the decorations we put on the
building. A lady named Judy Holloway provided many of the decorations and won
a prize for the work from the town. Great fun with that too.
As a finishing
touch, we put up the six flags of Texas on seven poles in front of the building
and it is quite a sight now to drive down Main Street and see those flags flying
in the wind where only wrecked buildings were before. You can see a picture of
it on the Homepage at kerens.com.
I also webcast the Homecoming Parade
from the Alumni Center live that day and we also had the largest crowd that anyone
remembers having at homecoming. Great fun it was. Now we are on to other restoration
projects. :-)
- T. Darby, webmaster@kerens.com
Kerens Texas ForumThursday,
February 08, 2001
Subject: Fw: A Big Pat on the Back
Just got this message
about your web site and it's content, people are looking at Texas Escapes. I did
not know you had updated with new pictures and they were great. Where in the world
did you get that picture of the "button"
on Main Street? That was a good one. :-) Regards, Thomas Darby webmaster@kerens.com
Original Message
To: Kerens Webmaster
Thursday, February 08,
2001
Subject: A Big Pat on the Back
You are probably aware of
this, but I found a really wonderful and complimentary write-up about your site
just now. Even if you have read it, go and read it again!
http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Kerens/Kerens.htm
- Maggie D
©
John Troesser
Book
Hotel Here > Corsicana
Hotels
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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