DALE and BONNIE STRINGER
By
Arvord Abernethy
Have
you met the Dale Stringers yet? I met Dale recently at the Hamilton
National Bank where he has been serving as Executive Vice-President since
the first of 1980.
Dale
became a bank examiner in 1969 and has worked the banks here in
Hamilton
several times. While on business here, he fell in love with this area of
the state and with the people here. He was about to be transferred to
Washington D. C. when this position opened up, so he readily took it.
Dale
said that he had always wanted to live in a smaller town, a place that
would give him that back-to-the-country feeling. The Stringers also felt
that this would be a better place to rear their children as they could
give them more freedom to be away from the house without the parents
worrying about them as they did in
Dallas
.
They
also wanted to live in a place where they could “put down roots”. The
work he is doing here gives them time and opportunity to be involved in
civic and church life. Dale has been helping Ewald Wulf coach the Pony
League baseball team.
The
Stringers attend the
First
United
Methodist
Church
.
I
dropped by their home last week and met Mrs. Stringer, Bonnie, and their
daughters, Bonnie Sue and Dusty. Bonnie Sue will be in the eighth grade
next fall and Dusty will be in the first grade. Both were in school here
some last spring and liked it real well and made many friends.
One
son Tom, is a sophomore at
McLennan
Community College
in
Waco
and David will be a sophomore at
Hamilton
High School
. David has been helping coach a baseball team here this summer. The
Stringers’ three month old poodle, Cricket, was real easy to get
acquainted with.
Bonnie
grew up in
Crown Point
,
Indiana
, but has been in
Texas
long enough to become a real Texan. Dale grew up at Judson Grove which is
just outside of
Longview
, but the family moved into
Longview
when he was in High School, so he is a dyed-in-the-wool Texan.
The
Stringers had a desire for some time to restore an old home, so when they
came to
Hamilton
and found what is known as the Barkley home at 522 E. Leslie for sale,
they knew that it was exactly what they wanted.
This
home was built in 1904 by the grandparents of Mrs. Brents Witty, the
Holmes. In June 1920 it was sold to W. W. Barkley and is where Guffie and
Mavis had their apartment. I think that Bill was born there. You have
heard how the laughter of children would ring through the halls of such a
stately home. I wonder if other sounds rang through the halls while Bill
lived there.
As
I walked up on the large front porch and looked at those large white post
that lead to the high ceiling and then at the beautiful wrought iron
balcony, I could feel the warm hospitality and the old charm which the old
home has.
The
Stringers give former owners credit for many improvements that have been
made, but since this house is just what they had looked for, they have
gone all out to make it their dream home. One of the first things they did
was to take the old paint off right down to the beautiful oak wood. The
family did much of this work themselves. Bonnie voiced her appreciation of
how friends would drop by and pick up a piece of sandpaper and go to work.
They also expressed their appreciation for the fine cooperation and
assistance they got from local merchants.
As
we walked through the house there was that homey, lived-in look
everywhere. In Dale’s study, it didn’t take long to see that he was a
perpetual reader as his large library contains books on nearly every
subject. His stereo and accessories are housed in a beautiful cabinet made
of Scotch yew pine, a light colored wood. It came from
Scotland
and was originally an armoire-that is what we old country boys called a
wardrobe.
Another
item Dale is proud of is the coat-of-arms or emblem of
Scotland
that he has. His father was sent to
Scotland
by an American company that had bought the John Brown Ship Yard of
Glasgow, Scotland. The company took down the old front doors that had been
cast in 1750 with the coat-of-arms on them and the emblem was given to Mr.
Stringer. He also has the coat-of-arms of his mother’s people who came
from
Scotland
; their name being
Hamilton
.
As
we went through other rooms, there were pieces of fine antique furniture
that had been brought over from
England
or
Scotland
. David’s room is furnished with the bedroom suite that Bonnie’s
parents bought soon after their marriage; a beautiful mahogany group.
The
Stringers have extended the kitchen on out to the west to make a breakfast
room. They used some stained glass windows in it that came from
England
. The main dining room is furnished in massive furniture in keeping with
the house.
A
section that once served as a double garage was made into a patio and now
makes a good place for the children to skate and play and is also a good
place for outdoor eating.
Music
instruments of different kinds, trophies from different events, handmade
work and other things reveal that this is an active family.
I
had two purposes in dropping by and visiting with you today. First, I
wanted you to meet the Stringer family and get acquainted with them. Then
I wanted us to look around and just notice the number of older homes that
have been redone over the last three or four years. Don’t they call it
urban renewal? Think what it has meant to our town to have such work done.
Instead of having a lot of old run-down, decaying houses as eyesores, we
have neat repainted homes that we are proud of. They haven’t all been
large homes, but all have meant as much in keeping
Hamilton
an attractive place in which to live. Several of out newcomers have told
me that the neatness of
Hamilton
was one of the reasons they chose it for a place to call home.
I
hope I can visit some day with others who have redone their homes
Shared by Roy
Ables
ACROSS THE FENCE