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The Columbus Garden Club invites you to celebrate Texas Arbor Day in honor of Doreen and Dale Alexander and their generosity and dedication to our community. The public is invited to the ceremonial planting of a cedar elm followed by light refreshments on Friday, Nov. 1, 10:30 a.m. at Midtown Park near the flag circle off Preston.
Dale spent 22 years in the US Army. During his next-to-the last station in Beaumont, Texas, he met Doreen when the army leased hotel space in Houston for training conferences. Doreen was the Director of Sales for Trust Houses Forte, a hotel and restaurant holding company.
Near the end of his four years in Beaumont, they began dating. Dale was transferred to England in October 1985. Doreen soon followed in December 1985, and they got married in May 1986 in Gretna Green, Scotland. After his final tour, spending four years in England, he retired from the military. They moved back to Houston where they had a home.
Dale worked in a delivery service and Doreen in her public relations company for eight years. They decided to get out of Houston and discovered the Columbus area, buying the old McCormick house on S. Milam Street.
Shortly after moving to Columbus, a friend of Doreen’s informed her that the bridal shop in town, The Bride’s House, was for sale. The Alexanders purchased the shop that was in the old pharmacy building on the Square (now Southern Flair). Four years later, they bought the building where God’s Corner Store is now and moved the bridal shop into the old dry goods store.
When Hurricane Harvey was approaching Columbus, the Alexanders got friends to help move the inventory of several hundred dresses off the main floor up to the second floor and put everything else up on bricks to avoid damage from the expected flooding.
The store was very fortunate, in fact all of Milam Street had no water. The only damage to their store was a roof leak. With the store intact and its ground floor empty, the stage was set for the bridal shop to become a relief center, and ultimately, a permanent source of revenue and assistance for those in need in our area and beyond.
During Harvey, the northwest corner of town was devastated by 5-to 6 feet of water in homes. For several days of the Harvey aftermath, FEMA was nowhere to be found in our area. With no place in town for a relief center, Doreen and Dale put out a call to residents for clothing, shoes, food, and other items for those in need… and God’s Corner Store was born.
The Alexanders helped residents with cleanup and provided clothes and emergency food for folks in town. During this time, the National Guard and Anheuser-Busch provided water using the Alexanders’ impromptu relief center in the bridal shop as a drop-off point.
Anheuser-Busch quit making beer in Houston for several months to use their facilities to can water which showed up in an Anheuser-Busch truck. Everybody thought that a load of beer had arrived, but when the curious residents came in, they discovered it was canned water.
The Alexanders coordinated partnerships with many organizations to bring the relief needed. Dale was a district lay leader for the United Methodist Church out of San Antonio, so he was able to use the full kitchen in the Methodist hut on Business 71 in town. This became the headquarters to help folks rebuild homes after Harvey.
The Columbus Lions Club raised over $10,000 and donations through God’s Corner Store reached a total of $80,000. The $90,000 was used by the Alexanders and many volunteers from around the nation to help rebuild the flooded homes. It required two and a half years to complete the large task that provided more than 8,000 meals and restored 175 homes to livable condition.
God’s Corner Store is a non-profit store and relief center that accepts donations of all types of housewares and cash. All proceeds go back into the community. Doreen, Dale, and a small team of volunteers take in donated items to display in the thrift store where you will find high quality, gently used clothing, furniture, home décor, books, toys, and housewares.
Since 2017, the store has used its proceeds to benefit transients, abused women escaping dangerous situations, those facing catastrophes like home fires, and to collaborate with partnership organizations such as the Ministerial Alliance Disaster Fund.
Fire departments around the county know that victims can get help from Doreen and Dale. They continue to make prom possible for many in our area and beyond sending needed items to disaster victims nationwide when needed.
The Alexanders have lived, worked and served in Columbus for 36 years and counting. From being a part of weddings, quinceaneras, proms, and other formal events to serving on committees of the Colorado County Fair and on the Columbus Chamber of Commerce Board, they are always striving to make our area a better place to be.
They have been a part of many projects such as building bleachers at fairgrounds and remodeling the green room of the performance venue at the fairgrounds.
They graciously and lovingly serve anyone in need, always seeking ways to help such as building wheelchair ramps… another of Dale’s many service-focused passion projects. When separately interviewed for this article, the Alexanders each made one thing clear that all they do for others is work for one reason: God.
The Texas Arbor Day 2024 planting location in Midtown Park was selected because: It is near the military memorial in Midtown Park and Dale Served 22 years in the Army.
It is close to the Boy Scout Cabin and Dale is an Eagle Scout and worked scouting for 40 years.
It is next to the flag circle and Dale and Doreen led the charge to place American flags along Milam St. These flags were not a city project as some newcomers might think. They were the idea of the Alexanders.
Today, Dale and Boy Scout Troup 312 of Columbus keep the flags flying, funded mostly out of Dale’s pocket with an occasional donation from others. Did you know that a fund is set up at Columbus State Bank for anyone who wishes to contribute. Simply tell them you’re donating to the Flag Fund.
Please join the Columbus Garden Club and special guests during the Arbor Day ceremony honoring the Alexanders at 10:30 am on Friday, November 1 near the flag circle at Midtown Park. In case of rain, the ceremony and reception will move to St. John’s Episcopal Fellowship Hall. Signs will be posted near the planting site if the location is moved due to inclement weather. All are welcome.
