We received the Mary Faye Barnes Award for Excellence in Community History Projects from the Texas Oral History Association on November 14, 2009. Here’s what TOHA board member Cynthia Beeman (at right in photo with Susan and Rob Burneson) had to say when she presented us with the award at the Violet Crown Arts Festival held that fall at Crestview Shopping Center:
The Texas Oral History Association provides leadership and instruction in the gathering and preservation of individual and community history through the spoken word. It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon to represent the organization’s board of directors.
The value of oral history cannot be understated. The unique perspectives provided by oral interviews and memories enrich the documented history of our communities, and engender a sense of pride and a sense of place that make each neighborhood and community unique.
Our history is the story of shared experiences, and those experiences are often best related by individuals, whose memories together form the mosaic of our lives. The project we honor today exemplifies that commitment to community spirit and preservation of neighborhood history.
Susan and Rob Burneson, through their documentary film A Community Mosaic, have captured the soul and spirit of the Crestview and Brentwood neighborhoods by providing an opportunity for the people who built and live in the communities to tell their stories.
Through careful research, combining historic photographs, music, home movies, and interviews, the Burnesons have created a valuable historical resource that not only provides a source of celebration with their neighbors, but also leaves a priceless legacy for future generations.
As the Burnesons have said, the film “reveals important truths for people of all ages: being a good neighbor and working to keep community spirit alive makes a neighborhood strong and a great place to live.”
You can hardly ask for more than that from your neighbors. It is my honor to present the Texas Oral History Association’s 2009 Mary Faye Barnes Award for Excellence in Community History to your neighbors Rob and Susan Burneson.
Accepting the award, I shared these words:
We would like to thank Violet Crown Community Works for financial support and the dedicated volunteers who made this festival possible. A special thanks to Rob for his creative and technical skills and for collaborating with me on this project. It’s been a gift to be part of the Violet Crown group these past seven years, since Jean Graham first shared her dream for a Wall of Welcome with some of her neighbors.
Few of us will ever create a 120-foot-long mosaic wall, as Jean has, but I believe we are all artists in the ways we create our lives and create our neighborhood. Whether it’s a small or large project, an individual or a group project, each effort we make helps our neighborhood thrive. Some of the people we’ve interviewed moved here 60 years ago. Being a good neighbor mattered to them then. I’m grateful it still does to us here today.
We live in a special place, where people care about their community, and neighbors can become good friends.
I’ll always remember a few original neighbors I saw in the audience that day—Billie Herron and Emory and Wanda Muehlbrad. There were among the many neighbors who had shared so much history with us. When I finished speaking, I was surprised to hear someone walk up behind me and say, almost in a whisper, “That sounded very heartfelt.” I turned to see Shayla Fleshman, another neighbor. Beginning in 2003, she and I had worked together to help create and sustain the Violet Crown Community Works nonprofit and its Violet Crown Festival, which raised funds for a mosaic wall completed in 2008. Then, like many of the other volunteers from that time, our paths diverged.
Yes, Shayla, that day I shared what was in my heart, and today I care as deeply about my community as I did then.
— Susan Burneson