Hearne

C R O S S R O A D S R E P O R T
By Kent Brunette

From The Pages Of The August 9, 2006
Hearne Democrat Newspaper

Crossroads Report readers will recall that Dale Werlinger, of Hearne Sonic and soon-to-be BBQ restaurant fame, donated a large old 96-inch by 96-inch oak cabinet to the Hearne Chamber of Commerce a while back.

Werlinger purchased this piece of furniture at the Calvert Hotel auction. Handyman extraordinaire Cliff Hopcus stripped it of all the white and light green oil-based paint that covered its beautiful wood.

Several weeks ago, volunteers Chad Deaver and Logan McDonald loaded this heavy piece of furniture onto a waiting trailer out in front of the Hearne Chamber. Two other volunteers, James Shear and Paul Broadus, took the cabinet to Calvert and unloaded it at Don Jaggers' We Design Woods.

Over a three-week period, Jaggers did his magic in putting a finish on this 1880s cabinet that mimics the finish on several identical cabinets at Wesley and Sallie Anderson's Boll Weevil Antiques in Calvert. Jaggers also built and stained two new large oak door frames and placed them in the runners on the cabinet.

Week before last, Hopcus, Deaver, Broadus, Scott Scarpinato, and I journeyed to Calvert to pick-up the finished cabinet and bring it back to its new home at the Hearne Chamber.

Now equipped with two 42-inch by 52-inch, locking, sliding doors with safety glass (purchased at Hearne's A+ Glass), this cabinet will soon protectively display POW, Rommell's Afrika Korps, and other WWII military uniforms at the Camp Hearne exhibit being readied at the Hearne Chamber.

Quite a few local folks have already dropped by to see this magnificent piece of furniture. Stop by yourself to view a display cabinet you would have likely seen had you walked into a Hearne retail shop in the late 1800s.

Public-spirited organizations, businesses, and individuals are encouraged to help finish furnishing the Camp Hearne visitors center with antiques from Hearne and Robertson County. Wesley and Sallie Anderson have three other large stained oak cabinets from the 1880s that are identical to the painted one donated by Werlinger. It is hoped that all of these cabinets will someday make their way back to the Camp Hearne visitors center via Don Jaggers' shop.

A local group is considering funding the purchase and refinishing of one of the three remaining oak cabinets. This leaves two other large oak cabinets which still need to be purchased, outfitted with wood-framed sliding glass doors, and refinished. If you, your business, or a local organization to which you belong wish to help furnish the Camp Hearne visitors center, please contact the Hearne Chamber of Commerce at 979.279.2351 to see how you can help.

Bart Lockhart (Lockhart's Furniture & Appliance) and Cathy Lazarus (Wilson Drug Company & Roll Call: Friends of Camp Hearne) have already donated large display cases and other furnishings for the Camp Hearne exhibit. Together with Werlinger's contribution and the donation from the local group above, two-thirds of the new visitors center's furnishings will have already been donated.

The collection of artifacts for the Camp Hearne exhibit also continues to grow. Articles from Texas A&M's Camp Hearne Collection and the Museum of the American G.I. in College Station will soon make their way to the Camp Hearne exhibit at the chamber.

Ruby and Ken Elrod have a cabin on Camp Creek which at one time served as office space for the Camp Commander. How do they know this? The letters “Camp Commander” are still visible under several layers of paint on a five panel wooden door in their lake house. The Elrods recently donated several sliding wooden and glass windows which they removed from their Camp Hearne relic when remodeling it.

A stash of Camp Hearne photographs held locally will soon be scanned and preserved. One collector of military uniforms also plans to donate several items to the exhibit.

Two Calvert residents recently purchased a 1940s Camp Hearne letter online from a seller in the U.S. A couple of weeks later, they purchased another letter from an online seller in Australia. Turns out, one of the letters was from a Camp Hearne prisoner back home to Germany. The other letter was from Germany back to the very same prisoner at Camp Hearne! These items will someday be donated to the Camp Hearne collection.

The City of Hearne is advertising for applicants for City Manager. Information online at the Texas Municipal League website at www.tml.org/classifieds/classifieds_cm.htm states as follows:

“The City of Hearne is seeking an experienced City Manager responsible for managing the operations of the city under the direction of the City Council, comprised of Mayor and five Council Members. Closing date for resumes is September 15, 2006. Send to: City of Hearne, Attn: Anna Florida, City Secretary, 209 Cedar Street, Hearne, Texas 77859, or email to citysecretary@cityofhearne.com , phone 979-279-3461 if any questions.”

Crossroads Report appears weekly in the Hearne Democrat. Reports are archived at www.hearnetexas.info . Click on the “Crossroads Report” link to view past reports. The views expressed in this report are those of the author & do not necessarily reflect the views of Hearne's 4A & 4B Sales Tax Boards, Hearne Chamber of Commerce, or the Robertson County Democratic Party.