Easter came off without a hitch last Sunday at First Baptist Church of Allen. Except it stormed all weekend. In fact, the old WWII siren atop the aged 1911 model water tower sounded three times Saturday night robbing more than a few of us of sleep. Or as one disgruntled Baptist noted, “and it never did even storm.” He may have just been looking for some weather reason to lay out of church on Easter Sunday. You know how some people are.

Well, we still had a sort of reason to not go. About church time rain showers and thunder started up again. However, I went anyway to see if anyone else showed up. Well yes, they did. A good-sized crowd along with visitors pretty well packed out the sanctuary. And of course, it was a good service with good and appropriate Easter Music and naturally, the pastor got up and preached a great and somewhat different Easter sermon. When we came out of church the sun was shining, the birds singing and everyone was in a good mood. Even me.

Speaking of good moods, they happen some times. Even with me. Not too long ago a former resident and visitor said to me, “Allen looks pretty rough to me. I think it’s a dying town.” His remark sort of depressed me and since that time I seem to notice the rundown homes, the empty houses and bad lawns. Yes, I thought, we may still have about the same population count but we were getting worse. And nowhere is that look more noticeable than downtown. It’s the way of the times. Merchant families aged out and, in many cases, just closed their home businesses and its taxes, jobs just vanish. New business spots are more likely to appear out on the highway.

Old folks pass away leaving poorly maintained and “smallish” homes on the market — or abandoned. Another thing is this, you can build a new home anywhere you please. You don’t have to build in town anymore. Rural roads are better. Rural electric and rural water is available everywhere. And if you have a plan, you can have your own septic tank. Many of the new nice homes in our school’s district are out in the woods.

Yet many still love to live in Allen. It has good city government and no extra taxes on its utilities. Its city utilities are great. Soft water, inexpensive sewage service and other services such as phones, natural gas are somebody else’s worry. For instance, I love living in town. Things not going well? Call city hall. Law and order? Right at your fingertips. And property here is inexpensive. Did I mention Allen Schools? I put four kids through and all four then graduated college.

Speaking of our school, there is a street not far from the school called “Lexington.” I don’t drive down that street often but I remember a time (30 years ago?) got a call in my drug store to deliver some medicine to the house on Lexington right next door to the Church of God of Prophecy. The customer, an old friend of mine, Mrs. Eubanks, finally passed on, but her old house lingered on. I still remember that day. It was very windy and cold. Each and every window in the old house rattled and the house was cold.

Now, the house has been renewed. New windows and remodeling make it look great and it’s cozy. But I learned recently how that happened. Darin and Tina Gregory former Allenites and kin of the Eubank family took the old house and in Tina’s words “saved” it. The old house sits over there providing a warm cozy home with new windows and insulation. What a great thing I thought.

Now there is the Josie Chiles house. Josie taught 2nd grade here in Allen for at least 100 years. Well, at least it seemed that long. Actually the old house on Broadway at Baltimore provided shelter for Allen’s Barbara Morris for a number of years too but after that, it lay empty and deteriorating. Foundation failure inflicted a swag in its middle. Sinking floors told the tale of termites moving in. Wiring and plumbing had aged out too. Hopeless case? Could this historic Broadway landmark be on its way out?

Not at all. The Gregorys took over and put on a new roof. Windows were replaced and new doors installed. Floors were repaired and leveled up. Foundations were jacked up and the house found itself on the level again. A grand new front door installed gives its spacious front porch a face lift that made the old house suddenly look grand. My snoopy inspection Sunday made me sigh: “the house is saved.” It should hold its own for another 150 years before another Darin and Tina come along and discover the good works done to this historic old house. A house that will not only provide comfort and peace, but an excellent place to sit and watch traffic as it goes back and forth on the historic divided street we call Broadway just as they have since 1910 — the last time the cement boulevard out front was paved.

And you can just stay tuned to see what color(s) attached themselves to the sides of Josie’s house. Oh yes, Tina says when we finish the house will be put up for sale. Stay tuned. And don’t forget your church next Sunday. Thanks Darin and Tina for your good work.

Wayne Bullard, DPh cwaynebullard@gmail.com