If you’ve ever ventured to Abilene, you may have met Donna Albus – in her role as tour guide for the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau. But anyone who’s driven through or around town sees evidence of her beautification efforts in the landscaped railroad right-of-way and the hundreds of crape myrtles at intersections. Albus’ passion for preservation is evident in the built landscape of the town at the Grace Museum or the Swenson House. And Texans by the scores are unknowingly touched by Albus when they purchase a Keep Texas Beautiful ornament.
The third of seven children, Albus was born in Knox County and grew up on a farm on Wild Horse Creek. A strong work ethic was instilled in her at an early age with farm chores such as chopping cotton and shocking hay. At Knox City High School, she played every sport possible and dreamed of becoming a high school basketball coach.
Upon graduation, she moved to Abilene and eventually married her hometown high school sweetheart. The young couple moved to Munday, and, in just a few short years, Albus was working at Paymaster Gin with two babies in diapers while her husband was working three jobs to make ends meet. One of those jobs was a delivery route for Tom’s Snack Food.
When the opportunity arose, the Albuses purchased the Tom’s in Abilene and moved there to run the business. Albus agreed to take a route part-time and became the first female in Texas and the second in the nation to run a Tom’s route. Before long, her part-time route was running more than a full-time one. “I was the ‘candy man’ – delivering candy to schools and colleges,” she explains. “And the folks I delivered to became more than just my customers – they were my friends.” The business was sold in 1986, and a new chapter began in Albus’ life.
While serving as president of the local chapter of the Society of Preservation for Quaint Old Homes, Albus was told she needed to serve on the board of directors for the Abilene Preservation League (APL). “When I said I wasn’t even a member,” Albus recalls, “my friend said, Well, become one!” So Albus joined up, was elected to the board, and hired as assistant director. Eventually she became director.
As APL’s assistant director, she worked with Frank Murray, whose passion was the restoration of the historic Grace Hotel. Built in 1909, the Grace was a large full-service hotel known as the finest on the railroad line between Fort Worth and El Paso. Over time, the hotel declined and was closed in 1973. By the 1980s, the building was in ruin, and many believed it should be torn down. But a group of citizens had a vision for a downtown museum. With the leadership of Murray, in 1987 the Abilene Preservation League purchased the old hotel and then raised funds, gained community support and renovated the 55,000-square-foot building. The Grace Cultural Center opened on Feb. 15, 1992, as home to not one but three museums: fine arts, children’s and history. Today, it’s known as The Grace Museum.
“What a debt of gratitude the town of Abilene owes Frank,” Albus notes. “Without him, The Grace Museum would never be. A lot of people helped – with the Dodge Jones Foundation being number one — but he kept the dream alive. It was Frank Murray’s dream and passion. I tell everyone he was the pied piper, and we were his mice.”
Bill Minter, the current executive director of the APL, says Murray and Albus were a good team. “Through the years,” he says, “Albus has been a steadfast supporter of preservation.”
Next, Albus was the part-time director of Abilene Clean and Proud, addressing beautifica-tion, litter control and solid waste minimization (i.e., recycling) issues.”If you don’t have a clean city, it shows that you don’t value your town — you don’t have pride,” she says. “And it’s the same for beautification. There’s nothing as economically beneficial to a city than to be clean and pretty.”
OH, THE PLACES SHE GOES Crape myrtles, one of Albus’ beautification legacies in Abilene, provide cool shade to Horton the elephant and a host of Dr. Seuss characters in Everman Park.
Abilene Clean and Proud won the first Community Achievement Award from Keep Texas Beautiful, which was a grant of $120,000 that had to be spent on a highway right-of-way in the city limits. With these funds, beautification efforts began along the railroad that runs right through the middle of Abilene. “Beautifying the railroad right-of-way,” she says, “was the first positive step by the community to change visitors’ and residents’ perception of Abilene.” The project was done in four separate phases and included planting grass, native plants and trees. “We bragged,” Albus adds, “that it was six-and-three-quarter miles of continuous grass, trees and bushes in West Texas!”
Albus is probably best known for the 1997 crape myrtle craze in Abilene. It started with the idea of blanketing the city with crape myrtles as part of Make A Difference Day. Abilene Clean and Proud prepared to sell crape myrtles and used the advertising slogan “Myrtle’s coming. Get your bed ready.” The slogan was illustrated with the silhouette of a high-class, shapely Victorian woman. What began as an innocent suggestion to spruce up and get ready for company turned controversial when someone wrote a letter to the local newspaper, concerned that young people would get a different message from the alleged innuendo. The controversy gained momentum, eventually receiving even international attention. But the beautification project was an overwhelming success. “We sold 8,369 crape myrtles,” Albus says. “Today, crape myrtles decorate downtown’s Everman Park, and they bring such color to so many areas of Abilene.”
Of her success at Abilene Clean and Proud, Albus says, “It wasn’t me doing all these things — I was just bringing attention to the work of our volunteers.”
Naturally, Albus was elected to the Keep Texas Beautiful (KIB) board of directors, served as president and is now an emeritus member of the board. She came up with the idea of an annual ornament program to help fund environmental projects across the state. According to the KTB website, each ornament has been designed exclusively for KIB by artist Nelda Laney and is plated in 24-karat gold. A new ornament is created each year to highlight the unique and stunning beauty, history and pride of Texas. The ornaments have been a hit: since 2004, they have raised close to $1 million while also generating publicity and awareness. The ornaments are available online and at select retail establishments across the state. Albus is especially proud that her own hometown attraction Frontier, Texas, is the No. 2 retailer of the ornaments.
From Abilene Clean and Proud, Albus was recruited to the donor relations staff of the West Texas Rehabilitation Center. Her community involvement grew to include serving on the board of directors for the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Albus has become a frequent step-on guide and welcome ambassador for Abilene. “It’s exciting to have company and to welcome visi-tors,” she says. “Abilene is a railroad town. Our buildings speak our history. The Grace tells the story along with the Depot, the Alexander Building, the Windsor and so on. Those buildings tell where we come from. Were not a pretty Victorian town; were a railroad town. We’re strong and sturdy. We work together for a common goal. And we’re a place to come back to.” According to her longtime friend Myra Dean, “Donna is a West Texas treasure and a walking history book.”
To Albus, it’s impossible to talk about just preservation, the environment or travel. “How do you talk about one without talking about all three?” she asks. “What do people see when they get to your community?”
