2016 BMC Reunion Agenda 10:00 AM Registration, Silent Auction opens

11:00 AM History Center & Copying/Scanning Station open 11:45 AM Welcome, announcements & prayer 12:00 – 1:30 Lunch 12:30 – 1:30 Guitar entertainment by Terry Muska 1:30 PM Remembrance of those who have passed away,

recognition of individual families, oldest person and person traveling the farthest

1:45 PM The Valley of Paradise Pamphlet Overview 2:00 PM Live Auction

2:15 PM Family Group Photos under the Chamal Banner

3:00 PM Silent Auction closes 3:30 PM Auction winners announced and payment & pickup of

auction items begins 4:30 PM Business meeting 5:00-6:00 PM Dinner & open microphone 6:30-7:00 PM Closing & cleanup; Please help us by picking up any

trash; Make sure you have all your items

All children must be supervised by an adult during the reunion.

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The focus of the reunion this year is inspired by the Valley of Paradise

advertising pamphlet published in 1911 on behalf of the Valley of Paradise Development Association. Lewis E. Medlin, Sam Johnson, and F. W. Musgrove, all Blalock Mexico Colony colonists, were the Valley of Paradise Development Association's president, secretary, and treasurer respectively. These men and others were interested in promoting the assets of the Chamal Valley located in Tamaulipas, Mexico, to "...the investor and the public in general.” An enlarged copy of the entire 32 pages of the pamphlet is on display today in the family center for your enjoyment.

CHAMAL, A LAND OF SCENIC BEAUTY, CONTENTMENT,

HEALTH AND GREAT OPPORTUNITY. That was the snapshot description of the Chamal Valley. The pamphlet extolled the valley's assets, that included an ample amount of fertile land in a magnificent environment. Images of the valley adorn the pages of the pamphlet and include Blalock Colony members, W. E. Bogle, Gladys Bogle, Warner Bogle, W. R. Derr and W. W. Snell. According to the promoters, the Chamal valley was a "… veritable Garden of Eden." They grew oranges, corn, lemons, pineapples, sugar and sorghum cane, mangoes, tobacco, cabbages, turnips, ginger, figs, onions, papayas, beans, bread fruit, peas, pumpkins, bananas, plums, grape fruit, tangerines, limes, grapes, watermelons, cantaloupe, white and sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peanuts, peppers, avocados, buckwheat, alfalfa, hay, cotton and other crops. Examples of some of these crops are displayed here today.

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BLALOCK MEXICO COLONY REUNION November 26, 2016 San Antonio, Texas

The Blalock Mexico Colony Project is a collaborative effort by Rick and Liz Newcomb and Bill and Carol Ward, to construct a detailed history of the Blalock Mexico Colony (BMC). Visit www.blalockmexicocolony.org/.

The Blalock Mexico Colony Project goals are to:

1. Reconstruct the epic saga of the Blalock Mexico Colony’s formation, emigration, colonization & resettlement.

2. Pull together previously disconnected information found in archives, museums, historical societies, & private collections.

3. Document this extraordinary colonization undertaking by digitally archiving the information that tells this incredible story for future generations.

4. Make the story available available in sections starting with the formation of the colony & continuing to the present.

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(continued from previous page) In the Chamal Valley, there were discrete rainy and dry seasons in

contrast with locations in the United States. It was rainy for the long growing season needed to plant and cultivate but dry and manageable when it was time to harvest crops and get them to market. Any crop that could be grown in California could be grown in the valley. All crops were said to grow at a faster rate and to greater height than any in the states.

Chamal’s seventy American families wanted to attract more like-minded residents. They needed a bank, local telephone, sawmill, well driller, gristmill, railroad and more. The Chamal valley would provide, "…a tonic to a rundown, nervous system, restoring it almost immediately, while a short residence here has positively cured every case of catarrh, asthma, consumption, and all other bronchial troubles ever coming here." The Chamal Valley was an ideal place for a vacation, a business investment, or a permanent residence.

(Excerpt of article in the August 18, 1904, issue of the Mangum Sun-Monitor)

(BMC ad in the September 1, 1904, Mangum Sun-Monitor v14, n36, p4, c6)

Image taken from the Valley of Paradise Pamphlet p 23 shows a colonist standing by banana plants.