Texana – The 67th annual Texana Community Homecoming is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Texana Community Center and continue through church services Sunday.
The event is being hosted by community members Brenda Blount, Dawn Colbert and Mary Wilson, who have been planning this event for several weeks.
"We know it comes every year, and we always have it on the back of our minds," Wilson said about planning such a big event. "Along with Dawn and Brenda, the Community Board approved our ideas and gave us the right away, then the three of us started having phone conferences and decided who is doing what between the three by contacting others in the community for help."
The homecoming has been an annual happening in the Texana community since 1955, when a member of the community named Hannah Blackwell decided the community needed to set aside time to come home and celebrate together. This year, the homecoming starts with a meet-and-greet from 7:30-11 p.m. Friday at the community center.
"We will have a slideshow of pictures that have been gathered together, and we are asking people to bring in photos in albums so we can all look at them together," Wilson said.
Games and other fun activities will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the community center. Wilson said there will also be an opportunity at this time for crafters and others to bring handmade items. At 12:30 p.m. hamburgers, hotdogs and other sides will be served.
In addition, from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday there will be a community dance at the center. Everyone is invited to attend, and proper safety measures will be in place.
A big church service is planned for 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the community center. Preaching, singers, praise dance and Southern home-cooked food will be provided at the event.
Zula Cox, a lifelong member of the Texana community, shared her memories of homecomings past.
"Sunday was an all-day affair with preaching and singing, preachers came who had pastored the church in the past and there would be cars lined all along the road, with people visiting from house to house. It was what seemed to me a magical time," Cox said. "Church was a production, ushers dressed in white with their white gloves on and seats had to be lined up down the aisle."
She said the pulpit would be full as well as the choir stand with people.
"There was no program, the Holy Spirit just had His way," Cox said. "There was shouting, singing and praying. The homecoming choir would come up, and beautiful voices blended together."
The event happens on the fourth weekend of July every year. Everyone is asked to be aware of COVID-19 guidelines and take precautions. For details or to sign up to sell handmade items, contact Mary Brown-Wilson on Facebook.