Nice to finally meet you, Zane

For this article, I had to get some help from one of my good friends and local realtors Yolanda Fultz. Being that she is also involved with our local Navasota Grimes County Chamber of Commerce, I knew she would have several great suggestions for me - and that she did!

For a while now, in different settings with different people, I have heard of Zane Anderson. I was glad to finally put a face to a name and sit down with him for this interview. The Texas A&M graduate grew up in College Station, where his parents still live. He received a construction science degree and in the mid 1990s began revitalizing old buildings in downtown Bryan. Once he ran out of places to fix up in Bryan, he began looking for an area to begin his next projects. After considering several other local towns, he settled on my beloved Navasota!

I was surprised that at such a young age (very early 50s), in addition to his current business of buying and restoring old buildings, he has already owned a landscaping company as well as a hardware store in downtown Bryan which was over 100 years old.

Zane, who owns several properties in town, says one reason he chose Navasota is that it seemed to have the most potential of all the places he looked at. He originally thought he would live in Navasota for a year to see how it would go, but after being here a few years now and falling in love with our community, he said he is here for a while! He loves that Navasota residents are nice and has even gotten several of his friends to frequent visiting our town. Since his job requires him to work with the City of Navasota at times, he says his relationship with workers there is really good and that they have been very easy to work with on his projects. His favorite thing about Navasota is that it’s a small town and people really take care of one another. Downtown is his favorite place and when I asked about his favorite person/people, he said he couldn’t narrow it down to just one. His favorite place to eat in town is Herrera’s, where he enjoys their margaritas and fajitas.

He says his greatest strengths are that he is a good listener, trustworthy, and loyal. His greatest weakness is that he is non-confrontational, which doesn’t always serve him well in his line of work.

One of his heroes is Johnny Cash because he fought for the underdogs. Another hero is Ronald Reagan because he got Americans to be proud of their freedom and prosperity at a time when the country was in a slump. Zane dreams about owning a ranch with horses on it since he’s always been a city guy. If he could have dinner with anyone, it would be Dolly Parton, who he met a few years ago. He loves her energy and positivity. If he won $5 million, he would give it away to disabled veterans. On his day off, he likes to watch documentaries on history and crime. He has traveled to many places, including Australia, and his favorite Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and most recently Scotland and Ireland. The Amalfi Coast in Italy is one of the places he has found to be most beautiful.

He regrets not moving away for college. Zane’s favorite music is country and some of his favorite artists include Morgan Wallen, Thomas Rhett, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Robison, and of course Dolly Parton. The last book he read was “Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You” by Lucinda Williams.

Zane would like to be remembered as someone who was loyal to his friends and cared about others. As a child, he wanted to be a policeman. If given the chance to travel to space, he said he would!

I am so glad to have finally met you Zane Anderson and can’t wait to see you around town! Thank you for investing your time and treasure in our hometown and thanks for being my Navasota Neighbor!

The column represents the thoughts and opinions of Jennifer Ramirez. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner.

Jennifer is a lifelong resident of Navasota. She is passionate about her community and supports all things local.