Allen Christmas Parade - December 1970

One blinking light – not even a traffic light; that’s how Allen is often remembered by those who passed through town thirty-seven years ago. There was one subdivision and you knew where you were by the names on mailboxes at the end of long dirt roads. In many ways, Allen was almost unrecognizable from hundreds of other small Texas towns. Downtown was anchored by a feed store at one end of Main Street and a Dairy Queen at the other.

For many, it was a place you passed through. But for Allen’s long time residents, the small town had a special quality about it and they are willing to share that fact with anyone who will listen.

I took the time to listen to those stories recently at the Allen Old Timer’s Reunion. The reunion was open to all residents who lived in Allen before 1980 and as it turned out – there were a lot of people proud to make that claim. Planners for the event anticipated a crowd of several hundred and got double that number to gather at the “new” Allen High School on March 17.

The reunion was actually not a large gathering at all. Instead it was room full of small groups in noisy, perpetual motion – not unlike those atomic diagrams we remember from our science classes. There was the 1959 eight man football reunion and the Class of 1979 hug-fest. There were tales of homecoming floats and hot summer nights at the Dixie Drive In. Then there was the story about the unfortunate horse who died while tethered to the old school but that’s a story for another day.

The highlight of the afternoon for many was a collection of home movies that captured four of Allen’s early Christmas Parades, including the first parade in December 1970. The 8mm movies were shot by the late Don Rodenbaugh , who owned the local appliance store and later served on the Allen City Council. The movies offer a rare look through the proverbial window of time as fifteen cars, three firetrucks, ten floats, one band and no less than 100 horses and riders marched up Main Street. In case you missed it, the parade always circled back and marched back down Main Street for “the folks on the other side of the street” as I was told.

The old timers and some not so old timers were thrilled to see themselves as well as their parents and friends passing by in the parade. It was like opening a time capsule and out popped Pete Ford and Sheriff Burton. It was a slice of Allen before the population boom and it was a reminder of how special Allen was – even with the 1970’s haircuts!