Posted by JULIE (Webmistress) on July 31, 2014, 9:01 pm Board Administrator
Apparently the Carthage, Texas newspaper, the Panola Watchman, never bothered to take note of the 50th anniversary of the passing of the town's most famous native son. I can find nothing online about him.
But years ago they named a baseball field after him.
Dorothy Ritter, Tex's widow, was said to have objected to even having Jim honored in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, complaining he already had a monument 2 miles outside of town, so what did he need to be in the MUSEUM for anyway?
Of course there is an enormous bronze statue of ole Tex on display and the museum has diverted from its purpose by even inducting people who are NON-Texans. I wonder how many fans of Mr. Ritter's have made the pilgrimage from around the world to visit Carthage like Jim's fans have traveled long distances to see Panola County, where he grew up?
A female distant relative of Tex's has run that town for years, and even Mary Reeves was frustrated by the lack of support for Jim amongst the city's own leaders. Though the townfolk love him there. -- JULIE
I was surprised to open my local newspaper today and saw a little blurb about Jim and Dean's plane being missing. The paper has a "This day in History" column. Kinda of sad that his hometown paper didn't put anything into it, but a paper 2500 miles away did.
I've been to Carthage, Texas and the Jim Reeves Memorial site at least a half dozen times. The town is quaint and a place I thought at one time I would like to live. It's never happened, but after reading that they shunned Jim, it's offensive to me. Every time I go to the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, it seems as though Jim's displays are smaller, or at the very least, never updated. It seems as though they don't care about the GREATEST celebrity to claim Carthage as his hometown. So sad. I have taken my 4 year old son, whom I raise by myself, to the Memorial twice. It's such a serene feeling for me just to be there, but even more so to share the experience with my child. My little boy already can identify Jim Reeves by name as soon as his voice comes over our system, and when it does, 90% of the time it is a Voicemasters release. I said all that to say Thanks, Julie and Larry for keeping the great memory of Jim Reeves alive, even though his own hometown, or Nashville, couldn't care less about him.
I'm a Wyoming native and take the Casper-Tribune. Theyhave a "This day in History" column and the last day was the 31st it said that this day Jim Reeves and Dean Manuel was killed outside Nashville.IT's been a long 50 years but Jim Reeves is still the best singer around. As long as Voicemaster keeps doing good things he'll always be here. i
on August 1, 2014, 1:01 am, in reply to "