Dogwood Festival special section for May 21, 2020 of Tyler County Booster

May 21, 2020 TYLER COUNTY BOOSTER Page 1B

A step back in Dogwood history

2019 Dogwood Queen Madison Fondren of Warren

Melinda Raiford 1978 Dogwood Queen

Week 2 special commemorative section celebrating the 77th annual Dogwood Festival

CMYK

Page 2B TYLER COUNTY BOOSTER May 21, 2020

1983 Dogwood Princesses

INTEREST RATES are F Call us

A L L We can help you I N G

409.283.2561

Land/Housing Bernice & Gabi Consumer Kathy Commercial Angela

■Buy land ■Build ■Buy a home ■Lower your mortgage payment ■Lower your auto loan

877.621.7658 | citizensbank.net

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER CMYK

May 21, 2020 TYLER COUNTY BOOSTER Page 3B

Dogwood Festival: A Brief History Courtesy of the Dogwood Festival Publicity Committee Tyler Countians have paid tribute to the glories of Spring and the lovely dogwood tree since 1940 by creating each year a growing and more beautiful Dogwood Festival. Over the past 80 years, the Dogwood Festival has grown from a notion, to three weekends of endless activities, traditions and pleasures that, generally, take place annually the last two weekends in March and the first weekend in April.

In an invitation address written in 1941 by Judge James E. Wheat, founding father of the Dogwood Festival, he bestowed honor upon the dogwood tree and expressed the spirit of Spring in Tyler County. He Wrote: “For these years, the faithful dogwood has proclaimed the passing of Winter and the coming of Spring. Each succeeding generation has enjoyed its beauty and looked upon it as a good omen.

From its opening the farmer has decided when to plant his crops,

the sportsman when to go fishing and the politician when to announce for office.”

“It has seen soldiers march off to war. It has seen them return – sometimes triumphant and sometimes defeated. It has seen the giants of the forest – the oak, the pine and the magnolia removed. It has survived the good years and the bad years, the successes and the failures of the people, their joys and their sorrows. Through it all, it has been among the first to burst forth in its witness in the spring.”

In 1938, Judge Wheat called a meeting of the state’s leading citizens near the Polk and Tyler County line hoping to enlist aid in promoting the completion of U.S. Highway 190. His guests were so impressed with the natural beauty of East Texas that he hit upon the idea of an annual event that would focus attention on the area. The first festival was held on April 6, 1940 before a crowd of approximately 300 people.

At the first festival, tradition

was established with the selection of a beautiful young lady of Tyler County to reign over the festival and she was crowned as Queen of the Dogwood Festival. Immediately following the elaborate Coronation ceremony, the Queen was seated upon a lavish throne and entertained with a pageant. A court of Duchesses from neighboring cities and towns surrounded her throne.

Since the first festival, there have been 76 Dogwood Queens and courts, and the magnificent coronation ceremony has remained one of the most important of the festival.

The second festival was held March 22, 1941 and was the first one to present a pageant with a historical theme. According to records, this date fell a week earlier than the actual blooming of the dogwood trees but was nevertheless a gala festival.

There were no festivals during the four years of World War II, 1942-1945. The third festival was held March 30, 1946, and they have continued annually

the first Saturday in April since that time.

By the end of the 40’s one of the most outstanding features of the Dogwood Festival was the beauty of the Dogwood Amphitheater after it was decorated with thousands of artificial flowers and natural shrubbery.

For months prior to the festival volunteers from all over the county begin the tedious work of cutting and making profusions of dogwood and azalea blossoms by hand. The number of flowers produced for each festival has reached as many as 150,000 blooms. A job that requires much preparation and represents one of the most ambitions endeavors of the association.

By the late 50’s, the festival had grown to adulthood. Several thousand visitors were coming from all over Texas and out of state to help East Texans celebrate Spring. Due to the increasing numbers of horseback riders who were coming to Woodville to join the Dogwood Parade, the Trail Bosses of the

various Trail Rides requested a parade of their own. The first Tyler County Dogwood Festival Western Weekend was held on March 23, 1968. Over 2,000 trail riders travel by horseback and wagon to the county seat of Woodville during Western Weekend, striving to preserve the heritage of the East Texas cowboy and enjoying the region’s beauty. Western Weekend has also grown to include a rodeo and a western dance.

In 1967, the festival began to recognize regional leaders by awarding the Mr. East Texas Award.The Mr. East Texas Award is presented to the East Texan who best exemplifies the spirit and quality of leadership which advances, shapes and gives direction to the growth and progress of East Texas. Some of those favored sons and daughters previously honored with this distinguished award have been former Texas Governor and First Lady Allan and Marialice Shivers, Former Texas Governor Price Daniel and former U.S.

Congressmen Charles Wilson.

The festival expanded again in the early 1990’s with the addition of the Festival of the Arts Weekend which focuses on the arts, history and cultural heritage of the region. The Festival of the Arts provides attendees an opportunity to step back in time with activities that include a tour of an 1800’s era village, demonstrations of crafts and skills like blacksmithing and spinning and weaving, wonderful old-time bluegrass, gospel and country music,fabulous exhibits of course some fabulous Southern food.

In addition to paying tribute to the region’s natural resources and beauty,the Dogwood Festival has always focused on preserving the history, culture and heritage of Tyler County and East Texas.

The pandemic that has swept across our nation may have postponed the 77th Dogwood Festival, but soon, we will be able gather together to celebrate the lovely dogwood tree and hear, “It’s Dogwood Time in Tyler County.

James Edward Wheat: father of the Dogwood Festival

1979 Dogwood Princesses

The Tyler County Dogwood Festival, the oldest outdoor historical pageant in the South, is a continuing tribute to its founder, James W. Wheat. It calls attention to the beauties of the area in story, pageant and song. In the spring of 1938, when the dogwoods were in bloom, James E.Wheat arranged a meeting near the Polk and Tyler County line of a group of the state’s leading citizens whose aid he hoped to enlist in promoting the completion of U.S. Highway 190. His guests, from other parts of the state, were so impressed with the natural beauty of East Texas that Jim Wheat hit upon the idea of an annual event which would focus attention on the area when “It’s Dogwood Time in Tyler County.”On the night of Saturday, April 6, 1940 the first Dogwood Festival was presented by some thirty people to an audience of 300 in a small amphitheater on the grounds of the Woodville school. From the day he had the idea until the day he died, Jim Wheat was President and major promoter of the project which he so ambitiously started. He was born, raised and

spent virtually all his life in Tyler County. He was a leader in his own community in school, municipal, church and civic endeavors. In state and national circles, he reached the highest levels of success in the legal profession as Chairman of the Democratic Party in Texas, the first Chairman for the forerunner of the Texas Historical Commission, an early reformer of the Texas Prison System, and in other varied capacities.He received citations and accolades from all sides, yet he often stated that his greatest satisfaction was the success of the Tyler County Dogwood Festival. He liked to say in the bulletin each year that the Festival indicates “what can be done in small towns where there is a spirit of good will and broadminded appreciation of the cultural and esthetic values of life which enables people to work together for the common good.”That was Jim Wheat’s “ethic”, his “Citizens Creed”.

We are fondly reminded of it and of him each year when we realize that once again, “It’s Dogwood Time in Tyler County.”

CMYK

Page 4B TYLER COUNTY BOOSTER MAY 21, 2020

Bernice Philips 1952 Dogwood Queen

Mr./Ms. East Texas award The naming of the Mr. or Ms. East Texas award recipient has been a Dogwood Festival tradition since 1967, when O.R. Crawford, the general manager of Northwestern Timber Company, was named the first Mr. East Texas.

Past recipients through the years have included such notables as Arthur Temple, Gov. Price Daniel, Rep. Charles Wilson and Dr. James “Red” Duke.

According to the directors, the award is presented to an East Texan who best exemplifies “the spirit and quality of leadership which advances, shapes and gives direction to the growth and progress of East Texas.”

Cecilia Flores, the Tribal Council Chairperson for the AlabamaCoushatta Tribe, was selected as Ms. East Texas for 2020. She joins another tribal member who was honored with the award, the late Chief Oscola Clayton M. Sylestine, who was named Mr. East Texas in 2009.

Former Recipients of the Mr./Ms. East Texas Award 2019 – Judge Delinda Gibbs-Walker, 1A District Court Judge 2018 - Judge Earl Stover III, 88th District Court Judge 2017 - Edward “Bubba” Miller, Minister & SHSU Rodeo Coach 2016 - Harold Estes, Business Leader & Philanthropist 2015 - David J. Waxman, Planning Consultant 2014 - Joe Penland, Philanthropist & Businessman 2013 - Mic Cowart, Entergy Customer Service Manager 2011 - Jim McReynolds,Texas House of Representatives, District 12 2009 - Chief Oscola Clayton M. Sylestine, Principal Chief of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 2008 - Joe Folk, Retired Teacher, Superintendent, and Jasper County Judge 2006 - Howard Rosser, Executive Director of East Texas Tourism Association 2005 - Nick Lampson, Former Congressman 2004 - Evelyn Lord, Mayor of Beaumont 2003 - Lester Lowery, Retired Sawmill and Chipmill Owner 2002 - Dr. James M. Simmons, President of Lamar University 2001 - Joe Wesley Dickerson, M.D., Founder of Dickerson Memorial Hospital 2000 - Tom Harken, Business Leader, Speaker and Writer 1999 - James B. Hull, Director, State Forestor, Asst. Vice-Chancellor of Agriculture Programs 1998 - Walter Umphrey, Texas Attorney 1997 - Mike Moses, Texas Commissioner of Education 1996 - Horace McQueen, Broadcaster of Farm & Ranch News 1995 - Larry Beaulieu, Vice President and General Manager of KFDM-TV 1994 - Water Diggles, Executive Director of Deep East Texas Council of Governments 1993 - Dr. James Anderson Allums, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon 1992 - Allen Hightower, Jr., Texas House of Representatives, District 18 1989 - Charles T. Terrell, Chairman of the Texas Criminal Justice Task Force 1988 - James Henry “Red” Duke, M.D., TV Personality, Surgeon & Professor 1987 - Maury Meyers, Mayor of Beaumont 1986 - Bill Hobby, Lieutenant Governor of Texas 1985 - Louie Welch, Businessman & Former Mayor of Houston 1984 - Roy D. Shotts, Radio & Television Pioneer 1983 - C.L. “Charlie” Schmucker, Teacher, Banker & College Administrator 1982 - Francis E. Abernethy, Author, Folklorist & Professor of English 1981 - Joe L. Fisher, U.S. District Judge, Eastern District 1980 - Herbert E. Dishman, Business Leader & Philanthropist 1979 - Don Adams, Former State Legislator 1978 - Ben Rogers, Philanthropist & Businessman 1977 - Price Daniel, Former Governor of Texas & Texas Supreme Court Justice 1976 - Ralph Steen, President of Stephen F. Austin State University 1975 - Ralph Ramos, Journalist & Author 1974 - Charles Wilson, U.S. Congressmen, District 2 1973 - Edward Clark, Former Ambassador to Australia 1972 - John Gray, President of Lamar University 1971 - Allan & Marialice Shivers, Former Governor & First Lady of Texas 1970 - Arthur Temple, President of Temple Eastex Corporation 1969 - Arliegh Brantley Templeton, President of Sam Houston State University 1968 - Glenn E. Richard, Chairman of the Board, Gulf States Utilities Co. 1967 - O.R. Crawford, General Manager of Northwestern Timber Company

CMYK