THAT LITTLE WHITE CHURCH ON THE CORNER

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"AND NOW YOU KNOW----THE REST OF THE STORY!"
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CLOVIS REMEMBERED
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When you are six years old, your home town is your whole world. It is the only oyster you've got. Back in 1939, 40, 41 and those years, in my world, I walked from my dad's laundry at 313 W. Grand to La  Casita School every day. With my photographic mind, I can still see right now the buildings. I remember that route: west on Grand, by Tom Phelp's "Red and White Store," on west past Jerry Crook's Mom's Beauty Shop (in her home); I turned north on Thornton at Blaylock's Grocery on the corner, and headed toward the school.

We always walked north on the east side of Thornton, due to that haunted house on the west side of the street. A block north of Blaylock's I passed every day---that nicely-painted LITTLE WHITE CHURCH ON THE CORNER at 4th Street and Thornton. I remember it well to this day---it perplexed me because I never, ever saw a person there. In fact it looked kind of cold and lonely just sitting there. Being a little boy of six, I guess it didn't cross my mind that people don't attend church mornings at 8:30!

From 1939-1945, on my way to and from La Casita School, it was the same story, and through the years, the little church sat there on that corner on Thornton, just as it has in the corner of my mind.

It was the year of Bob's "Marble Story," A.D. 2012, that the info came out. It was the last info I was expecting. You wouldn't think Bob's nice little from-the-heart marble story would have attracted so much attention---but it brought out the slumbering, latent boyhood in every man who read it, particularly Bob's friends in the CHS Class of '53.

This included Ned Biddix, retired and living down there in Florida...and therein hangs our tale! He wrote Bob back about the marbles! Somehow or other, he wrote me too! Yes, I met Ned, electronically!

Who is Ned Biddix, you say? Well, he is the son of the man who was pastor of that LITTLE WHITE CHURCH on the corner of Thornton and 4th....for one year---1945-46!

Ned Biddix attended La Casita School that year; the guys his age remember him fondly and with great respect, for even at that early age, Ned was a serious no-nonsense athlete. On those hard-as-rock playgrounds of La Casita and Eugene Field schools, Ned "came to play." And in the days of no-uniforms, he showed up in a WWII tanker's helmet, card board shoulder pads, and his own version of cleats: shingle nails driven through the soles of his street shoes! From all accounts, Ned was a tough player!

Alas, after one year in Clovis, Ned's pastor father was offered a bigger church in Ohio and they moved away. They finally moved to Winter Park, Florida, where Ned graduated high school and made a name for himself in sports that is almost unbelievable.

So, though he graduated somewhere else, he was always in his heart a member of the CHS Class of '53. Firm friendships had been formed. The Clovis guys had largely lost track of Ned, except for Bob, who wrote the marble story. After the story, they all got in contact and began writing emails to each other and getting caught up on the news.

We'll let Biddix rest a moment and get back to the little white church. The new photo we have shows a nicely painted or stucco building, well-maintained though it has to be more than 80 years old.

Ned told me recently, the little white church building housed a Church of the Brethren congregation, a small denomination, spun off from German Baptists, and found mostly in less than a dozen eastern US states. The Clovis church, probably the only CB church in New Mexico, had Sunday School in the basement, regular Sunday morning and evening services, as well as prayer meeting on Wednesday night. Choir practice was also on Wednesday night. There was a pastor's home right behind the church. Ned's father took fifteen hours of study at ENMU during the week, and drove back and forth.

So now we know: that little white "empty" church on the corner--- was actually a warm, people-filled, place of worship. (The building now is under different ownership.)

As for Ned Biddix, he went on to be a highly accomplished athlete, teacher, and coach. All over Florida, to his former players, he is known as "Coach Biddix." Among his many honors he was inducted into the Circle of Distinction for Winter Park High School, his Alma Mater. They say: "His support of our school is legendary."

Here are some of Ned's sports accomplishments:

 * graduated Winter Park High School, Florida with nine sports letters
*twice Orange Belt All Star in basketball
*as a pitcher and first baseman in baseball, he still holds the record for career homeruns, while batting more than .400 during his high school days
*named by the Orlando Sentinel "MOST OUTSTANDING ATHLETE," Central Florida from 50-53 while at Winter Park High School
*the Detroit Tigers offered him a baseball contract, but he opted to go to college
*he lettered in several sports at Florida Southern

He spent a number of years as a high school teacher and coach, as noted, and later, even after going into private business, he attends games, and supports his teams financially. He helped raise $300,000 to upgrade the Bob Masher Track Complex in Florida.

If Ned Biddix had stayed in Clovis, he would have had some very athletic company--- among CHS '53 guys such as A.J. Mason, Alvis Glidewell, Richard Drake, Bobby Snipes, Jim Asimos, and Jerry Lott. Others were Lloyd Norton, Lyle Walker, Walter White, Gerald Clancy, Pascal Wickard, and Phillip Gore.A very talented bunch of guys for any class to boast, and Ned would've fitted in nicely, and maybe helped them take the State Basketball Championship in 1953, which they did!

That about wraps up my tale of La Casita days, the CHS '53 guys, and Ned Biddix, a Clovis kid for awhile-....and particularly THAT LITTLE WHITE CHURCH ON THE CORNER. which so-fascinated a young school boy--- seventy long years ago!

And now you know...the Rest of the Story.

Ned's in the blue and orange shirt

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BY MIL
10/13/12

Sent from my iPad