May 1, 2012
Frost historic anniversaries commemorated this weekend

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun

Corsicana — It’s been 82 years since a massive tornado leveled the town of Frost, and 125 years since the town was founded, and this weekend both of those historic events will be recognized with special events.

On Saturday, the city will host a carnival and town festival, featuring a parade short program under the park pavilion, and then plenty of time for visiting, children’s activities, live music and craft and food booths. At 4 p.m., the volunteer fire department will host a barbecue dinner, and a street dance will start up around 5 p.m.

“Really, a lot of the people who will come to this are old-timers so we’ve reserved the pavilion to let people visit with people they haven’t seen in 20 years,” said Danny Gillespie, Frost city secretary, and one of the organizers of the events.

On Sunday, the city will host a memorial service to the estimated 27 people who were killed in the May 6, 1930 tornado. The twister hit the town at 3 p.m. on May 6, and the ceremony to recognize the victims will begin at 2:45 p.m. at the Frost cemetery, just north of the Highway 22, Garitty Street intersection.

The memorial is the first time the city has had a ceremony similar to this one, organizers believe.

“As far as anyone remembers who’s living there has not been any service done in memorium to those people since the original service two days after the storm,” said David Malone, Frost alderman, and one of the event organizers.

The City of Frost was originally a watering station for the steam trains that ran between Corsicana and Hillsboro. The park, a full city block, was the former train depot which was dedicated to the city when the last train went through. The last train in Frost was March 24, 1940.

Since then, the city has known its ups and downs, but has always been a peaceful little town on the western edge of Navarro County, sustaining a dozen or so small businesses and community pride surpassing the town’s size.

The tornado didn’t kill the town, although it was certainly devastating. Estimates of the numbers killed even differ, according to newspaper accounts of the day. The cyclone took out the town’s thriving business section, as well as most of the homes, and then was followed by fires that broke out in the wreckage, causing panic because people were pinned under the rubble, according to reports in the Blooming Grove Times.

“There’s so much conflicting information about how many people died in the storm,” Malone said. “We know the confirmed ones in our cemetery, of course, but some have gone with unmarked graves all this time.”

In preparation for the memorial, three of those victims have now received headstones. Twelve people in the city cemetery will have wreaths laid on their graves Sunday.

“We said this would certainly give the younger people and the people who’ve lived their whole lives here a chance to hear their names, see where they’re buried and pay their respects,” Malone said.

Among the people who have said they will be there are the San Antonio relatives of a victim, and Charlie Cagle, who now lives in Hawaii and is flying in orchid leis to be used in the service. Wreaths are being sponsored by Griffin-Roughton. Students from Frost High School will carry the wreaths to the graves.

Just days after the tornado, a nearby home was turned into a temporary morgue and twelve of the bodies were laid out on the porch and a funeral service was conducted for that dozen. The memorial service will match the pattern of the original funeral as described in newspaper accounts of the day, including the same music heard 82 years earlier on that same site.

Another tribute to history is the compilation of a pictorial history of Frost that will go into print this summer. Residents have contributed their family and civic photos showing simple farmers and local business owners, as well as big events, like the tornado. In the school section, the editors have included the names of every Frost High School graduate since the first class of 1905. They’ve held off taking it to print until after this event because they want to include photos from this weekend, and because they want to allow anyone who has an interest to have a chance to contribute, Gillespie said.

The book is expected to be about 400 pages long, and people can pre-order books this weekend at a booth in the park, and look at the early drafts of the book, as well.

“It’s got some pretty fabulous pictures all the way up to 2012,” Gillespie said.

If there are any profits from the book, those will go into the creation of a Frost historical museum, he said.

The Saturday schedule of events call for a parade down Garitty Street starting at 10 a.m.; posting of the colors by the sheriff’s color guard at 10:55 a.m. in the park; a program in the pavilion at 11 a.m. featuring a short history of the town, a song by first and second-graders from Frost Elementary, and the reading of a proclamation by the mayor.

From 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the pavilion will be used as a gathering place, while children’s activities (bounce house, etc.) will be on the tennis courts, and Bluegrass musicians perform in the park. Craft and food vendors will be set up around the park, including a desert booth hosted by the Methodist women. The Frost Volunteer Fire Department will be serving up barbecue starting at 4 p.m. for $8 a plate, and the dance will start at 5 p.m. With the exception of the carnival games and barbecue dinner, all the events are free and open to the public.
 

Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas
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Daily Sun photo/Janet Jacobs Johnny and James Fiew were among the victims killed in the May 6, 1930 tornado in Frost who will be honored in a memorial service Sunday on the 82nd anniversary of the storm that nearly destroyed the town. On Saturday, Frost will celebrate its 125th town anniversary with a parade and other events downtown.

Courtesy photo Frost street scene, 1940. The City of Frost will celebrate its 125th Anniversary Saturday. On Sunday, the city will host a memorial service to the estimated 27 people who were killed in the May 6, 1930 tornado.

Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at [email protected]. Want to “sound off” to this article? E-mail: [email protected]
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