Friday, May 3, 2024
Those who attended Cresson School in its prime will soon have the chance to reminisce about the good old days during the annual Cresson Homecoming from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, April 29.
Held at the Historic Cresson School, 9304 Pittsburg St., (directly behind Sonic Drive-In), the Cresson Homecoming provides an opportunity for alumni of Cresson School to share memories and renew old friendships with those who attended the school decades ago.
Rick Fidler, a Cresson native, attended the school in the late 1950s. He said he remembers the “huge playground,” and how indoor plumbing was installed when he was in the sixth grade.
“We had a boys’ outhouse down in one corner of the property and the girls’ was on the back fence. It was fairly well separated by several yards,” he said, in a previous interview with the Hood County News.
A vivid memory he recalled was seeing David Andrews — the husband of well-known former Granbury High School basketball coach Leta Andrews — fly a plane over the school.
“Leta Andrews, her mother-in-law, and father-in-law were teaching here when I went to school here,” Fidler said, in a previous interview with the Hood County News. “Mrs. Andrews taught first, second, and third grade, while Mr. Andrews taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. One time Mrs. Andrews’ son, David, who is Leta Mae's husband, was going to be in a plane and said, ‘I'll pass over at a certain time.’ We all went out, and when we saw him way in the distance, he gave us the wave — that was something. They were just great people, the Andrews were.”
Cresson School was built in 1931 and was no longer used as a school after 1968. Those who did attend are now in their 70s and 80s.
"It was a fun time growing up,” Fidler said, who is now 75. “Kids don't have the opportunities that we had. We weren't confined to the house. We weren't afraid to go outside. We weren't afraid to lock our doors. You knew to come home at lunch and come home at supper. Folks didn't know where you were, or what you were doing, except you were outside having fun. We didn't worry about anything growing up, to be honest with you.”
The Historic Cresson School is now used as a community center and houses a museum collection of Cresson School, community, county, and Texas memorabilia. The facility is available to rent for events such as meetings, reunions, and receptions. Rentals may be arranged through the Facebook page.
Although the school is no longer functioning in the way that they remember, the Cresson Homecoming is still a way for alumni to get together and connect like old times.
“This is just a chance for former students — or even some of the people that moved here that knew some of us but didn't go to school here — to visit and have a meal,” Fidler said. “The older you get, the more you want to see some of these people again. I just enjoy reminiscing about the old building, the things we used to do, growing up here in Cresson and of course, the school. Besides the churches, the school was the main activity in this town.”
Anyone wishing to attend the Cresson Homecoming may RSVP on the school's Facebook page, Historic Cresson School. Attendees should bring a side dish or a dessert. Meat will be provided.
“There's not many Cresson natives left anymore,” Fidler added. “You can probably count them on your toes and your fingers how many families that are still here that were here back in the 50s and 60s. It's all changed — I'm just glad I'm still around.”
