In the sea of seats at the Lake Country Playhouse, two are reserved. They are affixed with small brass placards on the front of the seatbacks. Seats 104 and 105 have plates that read ‘In gratitude to Jim Buchanan,’ and ‘In gratitude to Lynette Buchanan.’ 

Those two seats, in the center of the first row, were designated several years ago in honor of the remarkably constant support of Jim and Lynette Buchanan for the symphonic band and the playhouse itself.

Jim Buchanan has since passed on, departing this world in November 2021. Lynette remains an avid supporter of the arts in Mineola, specifically, the symphonic band.  

In the week before Christmas, Lynette took some time to share her thoughts about the playhouse, the symphonic band and life in general. 

Lynette’s story is a story of Mineola. She was born in 1936 to Byron and Sybil Null. Her father was a railcar inspector, and the family lived adjacent to the tracks in West Mineola. 

Growing up through the 1940s, Buchanan was not an infrequent visitor to the Select Theater, as well as the Leroy Theater. The Leroy was known for westerns and was located just across Johnson Street.  

At a young age, Lynette developed a talent for the piano, taking lessons in Mineola. At the age of 15 she became the first pianist at the (then) West Mineola Baptist Church. 

Early influences can have lasting effects – so it was with Lynette. Mid-interview, she offered to play a short piece. With no hesitation she played a beautiful rendition of ‘Near the Cross.’ Her piano held a central position in the living room.  

“I was never one of those people who could just listen and then play the music, I always had to read the music,” she offered. Regardless, it was a fluid and exacting rendition.  

“Most days,” she continued, “I’ll get one song or another stuck in my head, and I will have to come over, sit down and play it.” Buchanan still plays, on occasion, for the Sunday School classes at the Methodist Church, downtown. 

Music stayed with Buchanan from her earliest days in West Mineola, but there was a lifetime between the earlier versions of that hymn and the one she played this Christmas season. 

After graduating high school in Mineola, Buchanan attended Tyler Junior College and went on to attain a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.

“I enjoyed the knowledge of biology, still do,” she said. She also earned a teaching certificate. 

Life then intervened as marriage, children and a move to California ensued.  

It was while in California that she met her second husband, Jim. She was working as a registrar at a convention, and he was one of the attendees. 

Buchanan’s work as a registrar, planning and executing conventions and symposiums, was quite successful. Jim was an electrical engineer by trade, but his real passion was also music. Jim was a bagpiper.

The two grew close and married in 1983.

“He was just the best man,” Lynette shared. She related how he once told her that ‘You’ll never have to open a door again.’

After Jim’s passing, Lynette said that one of her biggest adjustments was stepping forward and opening doors for herself.

As Jim neared retirement the two began to discuss exactly where they would settle. It was during a return to Mineola for her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary that they saw the home in north Mineola which would become their permanent home. 

“This small lot had 22 large trees on it at the time, and we thought, no one would buy it with all those trees surrounding the house,” Buchanan explained. They toured the home and shook hands on the purchase the next day.

Although they had considered themselves retired, the convention industry kept calling for her services. The two made plenty of trips back to California to organize and run large events. 

While in Mineola, however, their attention was often called to the Lake Country Playhouse and Historic Select Theater. They became regular attendees at concerts, theater performances and movie showings. 

Jim and Lynette’s passion for music kept them coming back, especially after the founding of the symphonic band in 2012. 

Buchanan explained, “We always got there early, sat in the front row and just drank the music in…. We didn’t miss many performances, if at all.”

One day, while walking in downtown Mineola, she and Jim were asked to step into the playhouse. As Buchanan recounted, “There was no presentation, we were just invited in and shown that those two seats, down in front, were ours.”

When reflecting on the theater and the symphonic band, Buchanan reiterated just how lucky local residents are to have the playhouse as well as the symphonic band.

“We have a real treasure here in our small town – an appreciation for the arts, a symphony band, and very friendly people,” she said. 

She noted that very few small towns in Texas can offer such a combination.

In concluding her recollections, Buchanan explained the power of music:

“I think music fills the soul, …it creeps down deep inside you and puts a calmness in your heart.”