2017 Hollingsworth Reunion - Dallas / Ft. Worth
Attendees gathered in Dallas at Embassy Suites, Dallas DFW Airport South. The first full day, Thursday, began with a tour of Fort Worth, stopping at the Fort Worth Water Gardens and Sundance Square. The next destination was
the Fort Worth Stockyards featuring the historic cattle drive. After lunch on our own, we departed for a self-guided tour of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Greenwood Cemetery and Oakwood Cemetery were the next stops where five descendants of Valentine, Sr. are buried in each cemetery. Dinner was awaiting our group at Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant.Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery with four burials of veterans who were descendants of Valentine, Sr. was our first stop on Friday morning. Next was the John F. Kennedy Memorial and a self-guided tour of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Lunch was at the revolving restaurant atop Reunion Tower. A self-guiding tour of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was our next event. A visit to Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park was a tribute to one of Valentine, Sr.’s descendants buried there. Our seats had been arranged for dinner and a jousting tournament at Medieval Times.
Saturday morning we traveled to Tom Bean, Grayson Co., Texas, to visit White Mound Cemetery. Carey Hardy provided stories about his ancestors buried there. Lunch had been prepared for us at Rick’s Chophouse in McKinney, Texas. The county seat of Collin Co., McKinney was named for Collin McKinney, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Rick’s Chophouse is located in an historic hotel that dates back to 1885. The restaurant is decorated with restored repousse (pressed tin) ceilings, leather, and dark mahogany wood. The ambiance is enhanced with wrought-iron chandeliers, Western pictures, limestone walls, and wood floors. Back at our headquarters hotel, we had a couple of hours to relax before the hotel’s barbecue buffet dinner. The final event of the reunion was the Annual Meeting at the hotel.
To honor some of our Hollingsworth veterans buried in Dallas and Fort Worth, a small bouquet of flowers was placed at a veteran’s gravestone (or at the cemetery entrance if the burial location was unknown). Placing a bouquet at Oakwood Cemetery was Dewey Hollingsworth, at Sparkman/Hillcrest Memorial Park was Kathy Hutchison, at Greenwood Cemetery was Betty Hebert-Reese, and at Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery were John P. Hollingsworth, Pat Neal, and Boyd Hollingsworth.