MILDRED The way Tracy Smith explains it, Mildred has two community gathering points Places that still make this a viable community, he said.
First, of course, is the Mildred Store, where groceries, meals and music can be had on a regular basis.
The second, a block to the south, is Mildred United Methodist Church.
The church has a small but hearty congregation in a town of two dozen. Erected in 1910, the building has seen better days. While structurally sound, the roof had begun to leak.
The congregation braced for the worst.
If you lose the roof, Smith noted, you lose the church.
They had options.
About 20 years ago the congregation built a fellowship hall to host Sunday school classes and other functions. But as the congregations numbers dipped, the weekly services were transferred there as well to make for a more intimate setting.
We had a hard decision to make, Smith noted.
They could use their meager savings to replace the roof over the original sanctuary, or let it go, and allocate their resources for upkeep of the fellowship hall.
In the end after considering the treasured memories in the old building the congregation voted unanimously to replace the roof.
It was the heritage of the church, and the heritage of the bloodlines running through here that made it an easy decision, Smith said.
AND AS Smith notes, a few small miracles along the way have helped.
When seeking bids, church member David Colgin grandson of one of the churchs founders reached out to his neighbor, Bill Weston.
Weston grew up in the area, moved away after high school, before returning with his wife to buy a plot of land about three miles outside Mildred after his father died.
Weston is a foreman for H&H Roofing & Restoration, and offered a bid significantly lower than other roofing companies.
It was kind of neat, Smith said. Bills a community member, so we voted unanimously to go with H&H. It was just a matter of finding a window of opportunity in the springtime to do it.
A brief respite from the cold, dreary spring allowed work to begin Wednesday.
