COURTESY PHOTO/ Keith George Get Your Kicks (and … · Of orewine COURTESY PHOTO/ Keith George 310...
1
$ 1 Vol. 25, No. 4 Wheeler County, Texas Thursday, April 14, 2016 NOW SERVING BREAKFAST Located inside Garrisons on the corner of I-40 & 83 Located inside Market Square Thriftway 1814 N. Bill Mack St. • Shamrock, TX • (806) 256-2481 T10% OCOURTESY PHOTO/ Keith George 310 N. MAIN ST. • SHAMROCK • (806) 256-2782 Manager’s Special 40-inch to TV’s on Make April Your Weather Awareness Month COME CHECK OUT SCANNERS, BATTERY PACKS & MUCH MORE! (806) 256-3111 We can transfer your prescriptions to our pharmacy with one call. PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION INFORMATION: Early Voting: May 16-May 20. Election Day is May 24 A DRIVE ALONG THE MOTHER ROAD - ROUTE 66 Text by Scott Jarrett January 2016 issue of texashighways.com How can one explain the neon magnetism of Route 66? Before this summer, I could quote a few lines of the famous 1946 Bobby Troup lyric, but if pressed, I had trouble pinpointing on a map precisely where you could “get your kicks.” And like most dads of the new millennium, I’ve seen the movie Cars - which features fictional towns on the route - at least a dozen times. So in late June I set out to acquaint myself with America’s most fa- mous transcontinental highway, packing my wife and two small kids into the car and heading north from Fort Worth to drive the piece that cuts across the Texas Panhandle. A little more than fours hours later, we found ourselves 14 miles this side of the Oklahoma boarder in the sleepy Panhandle town of Shamrock. Also known as “The Mother Road,” Route 66 was established in 1926 and once traversed more than 2,400 miles from Illinois to California, but most stretches of the road had disappeared from “official” maps by the 1980s. But in Texas, as in other states, history buffs like to retrace the route encompasses less than 200 miles, more or less bookended by the towns of Shamrock on the east and Glenrio on the west. In Shamrock, the Art De- co-Style U-Drop Inn serves as a visitor center and informal Route 66 museum, welcoming legions of fans annually. Last year, according to staff mem- ber Diane Clonts, some 12,000 people - half of them travelers from abroad - signed the visitor’s log. “The Europeans often tell us two things,” says Diane. “To them, Route 66 represents freedom. To be able to go such long distances, through so many states; they love that. The other thing they mention is the expansiveness. The stretch in Texas is really vast and beautiful.” On the day we stop by, Diane and her colleague Becky Adams are excited about impending arrival of William Shatner, due to roll through soon on a futuristic motorcycle prototype called the Rivet. Shatner’s visit fits with the long parade of classic car clubs, tour buses, and the occasional television crews that stop in Shamrock to “shoot and scoot,” says Larry Clonts, Diane’s husband and the town’s main tourism booster. He tells me that a crew from The Food Network had just been by after filming an episode at Amarillo’s Big Texan. Built in 1936 as a Conoco service station and restaurant, the U-Drop building had fallen into disrepair by the early 1990s. But the design of ar- chitect J.C. Berry (who hailed from nearby Pam- pa), which features a signature tower embellished with green and red neon, proved to be its saving grace. Over the years, residents and tourists alike rallied for its restoration, and a $1.7-million Texas Department of Transportation grant helped restore the structure to its original appearance in 2003 and 2004. As we take in some of the museum exhibits, which include historic photos and memorabilia ranging from match book covers and vintage post- cards to 1930s oil cans, a lone Harley rumbles in, its rider dressed in black leather. I learn that he is a soft-spoken Swiss named Rob Vrijohf, who is cel- ebrating his 60th birthday by spending nearly three weeks traveling Route 66 throughout the United States. “ Art Deco has been one of my hobbies for 25 years,” he tells us. “I love this building.” These days, a lot of visitors recognize the U-Drop Inn as the inspiration for Ramone’s Body Shop in the Pixar’s 2006 movie Cars. Our son Christopher enjoys a small theater area where the movie plays - a welcome diversion for parents who want to meander. Outside in the parking lot, a replica of “Tow Mater,” the rusty yet trusty tow truck from the movie, invites folks to climb on for photos (and plenty do). The U-Drop Inn features myraid Route 66 sou- venirs, including drawings of the building by local artist Faye Connor and beautiful hand-sewn hand- bags designed by area resident Della Mae Stokes. But Becky Adams tells me that the best sellers by far are T-shirts made from locally grown organic cotton by third generation farmer Gary Oldham. Oldham’s “S.O.S. From Texas” designs celebrate the route itself and the U-Drop Inn. Oldham says that “S.O.S.” stands for “Save Our Soil,” a slogan adopted after his family switched to organic farm- ing in 1992. “They really soften as they age,” says Oldham. “They’re premium cotton shirts that will wear for many years. They’re hard to beat.” Oldham’s farm sprawls out 15 miles south of Shamrock. For most of his life, he has lived in a house his grandfather built here. He remembers his teenage years cruising Route 66 with fondness. “In the 1960s, it was the main drag. There was so much neon you’d have thought you were in Ve- gas,” he says. “I think it’s popular today because people have nostalgia for simpler days.” After we depart, we turn our car wheels onto the storied road and drive west a few more miles, taking in the wide vistas. If it weren’t for an im- patient toddler and obligations at home, I like to think we’d still be getting our Route 66 kicks heading west. Get Your Kicks (and Souvenirs) By: RACHEL ADKINS Reporter Wheeler County 4-H Shooting Sports members welcomed Jack Cannon, West Texas Regional NRA Representative, to the Wheeler County 4-H shooting complex in Shamrock on Saturday, April 9th. Cannon presented the shooting sports program with a grant from The Friends of the NRA. The grant money is awarded to youth shooting sports organizations such as: 4-H, FFA and Jr. ROTC. The grant money comes from the NRA Foun- dation, it is a 501 c3 charitable donation and the funds are raised by The Friends of the NRA ban- quets. “There are about 1100 banquets held nation wide, about 25 of those banquets are held in Tex- as,” said Cannon. “Pampa is the closest to Sham- rock, and their banquet is on Saturday, September 10, 2016, at The Gathering Place in Pampa.” Their mission is: Supporting the Non-Profit, Non-partisan NRA Foundation in its efforts to support the shooting sports and the history and continuance of the 2nd Amendment through vari- ous fund-raising efforts held throughout the year. Just since 2007, The West Texas Friends of NRA has returned more than $700,000.00 in the form of Grants. These grants help support our area youth through the purchase of ammunition and guns, along with scholarships. You can find out more information regarding the Friends of the NRA by visiting their Facebook page at: West Texas Friends of the NRA, or you can visit the website at http://www.friendsofnra. org/tx. 4-H receives grant from The Friends of the NRA STAR-NEWS PHOTO/Rachel Adkins Wheeler County 4-H Shooting Sports members accept a grant from The Friends of the NRA. This money is used to purchase ammo and guns, along with providing scholarship opportuni- ties. Front row l to r: Katherine Hinton Pampa Friends of the NRA representative, Zane Pat- ton, Blaine Patton, Barker O’Rear, Creed Riley, Rhpy Owens, and Deshya Reeder. Back row l to r: West Texas Regional NRA representative Jack Cannon, Dallen Skinner, John Holcomp, Shyla Smith, Caleb Kimbro, Trip Sorrel and Will Stiles.
Transcript of COURTESY PHOTO/ Keith George Get Your Kicks (and … · Of orewine COURTESY PHOTO/ Keith George 310...
$1Vol. 25, No. 4 Wheeler County, Texas Thursday, April 14, 2016
now serving breakfastLocated inside garrisons on the corner of i-40 & 83 Located inside Market Square Thriftway
1814 N. Bill Mack St. • Shamrock, TX • (806) 256-2481
Take 10% Off when yOu buy 6 Or mOre bOTTles
Of wine
COURTESY PHOTO/ Keith George
310 N. MaiN St. • ShaMrock • (806) 256-2782
Manager’s Special40-inch to
65-inch TV’s on
sale
Make April Your Weather Awareness Month
Come CheCk out SCannerS,
Battery PaCkS
& muCh more!
(806) 256-3111We can transfer your prescriptions to our
pharmacy with one call.
PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION INFORMATION:Early Voting: May 16-May 20. Election Day is May 24
A DRIVE ALONG THE MOTHER ROAD - ROUTE 66Text by Scott JarrettJanuary 2016 issue of texashighways.com
How can one explain the neon magnetism of Route 66? Before this summer, I could quote a few lines of the famous 1946 Bobby Troup lyric, but if pressed, I had trouble pinpointing on a map precisely where you could “get your kicks.” And like most dads of the new millennium, I’ve seen the movie Cars - which features fictional towns on the route - at least a dozen times. So in late June I set out to acquaint myself with America’s most fa-mous transcontinental highway, packing my wife and two small kids into the car and heading north from Fort Worth to drive the piece that cuts across the Texas Panhandle. A little more than fours hours later, we found ourselves 14 miles this side of the Oklahoma boarder in the sleepy Panhandle town of Shamrock.
Also known as “The Mother Road,” Route 66 was established in 1926 and once traversed more than 2,400 miles from Illinois to California, but most stretches of the road had disappeared from “official” maps by the 1980s. But in Texas, as in other states, history buffs like to retrace the route encompasses less than 200 miles, more or less bookended by the towns of Shamrock on the east
and Glenrio on the west. In Shamrock, the Art De-co-Style U-Drop Inn serves as a visitor center and informal Route 66 museum, welcoming legions of fans annually. Last year, according to staff mem-ber Diane Clonts, some 12,000 people - half of them travelers from abroad - signed the visitor’s log.
“The Europeans often tell us two things,” says Diane. “To them, Route 66 represents freedom. To be able to go such long distances, through so many states; they love that. The other thing they mention is the expansiveness. The stretch in Texas is really vast and beautiful.”
On the day we stop by, Diane and her colleague Becky Adams are excited about impending arrival of William Shatner, due to roll through soon on a futuristic motorcycle prototype called the Rivet. Shatner’s visit fits with the long parade of classic car clubs, tour buses, and the occasional television crews that stop in Shamrock to “shoot and scoot,” says Larry Clonts, Diane’s husband and the town’s main tourism booster. He tells me that a crew from The Food Network had just been by after filming an episode at Amarillo’s Big Texan.
Built in 1936 as a Conoco service station and restaurant, the U-Drop building had fallen into disrepair by the early 1990s. But the design of ar-chitect J.C. Berry (who hailed from nearby Pam-
pa), which features a signature tower embellished with green and red neon, proved to be its saving grace. Over the years, residents and tourists alike rallied for its restoration, and a $1.7-million Texas Department of Transportation grant helped restore the structure to its original appearance in 2003 and 2004.
As we take in some of the museum exhibits, which include historic photos and memorabilia ranging from match book covers and vintage post-cards to 1930s oil cans, a lone Harley rumbles in, its rider dressed in black leather. I learn that he is a soft-spoken Swiss named Rob Vrijohf, who is cel-ebrating his 60th birthday by spending nearly three weeks traveling Route 66 throughout the United States. “ Art Deco has been one of my hobbies for 25 years,” he tells us. “I love this building.”
These days, a lot of visitors recognize the U-Drop Inn as the inspiration for Ramone’s Body Shop in the Pixar’s 2006 movie Cars. Our son Christopher enjoys a small theater area where the movie plays - a welcome diversion for parents who want to meander. Outside in the parking lot, a replica of “Tow Mater,” the rusty yet trusty tow truck from the movie, invites folks to climb on for photos (and plenty do).
The U-Drop Inn features myraid Route 66 sou-venirs, including drawings of the building by local
artist Faye Connor and beautiful hand-sewn hand-bags designed by area resident Della Mae Stokes. But Becky Adams tells me that the best sellers by far are T-shirts made from locally grown organic cotton by third generation farmer Gary Oldham. Oldham’s “S.O.S. From Texas” designs celebrate the route itself and the U-Drop Inn. Oldham says that “S.O.S.” stands for “Save Our Soil,” a slogan adopted after his family switched to organic farm-ing in 1992.
“They really soften as they age,” says Oldham. “They’re premium cotton shirts that will wear for many years. They’re hard to beat.”
Oldham’s farm sprawls out 15 miles south of Shamrock. For most of his life, he has lived in a house his grandfather built here. He remembers his teenage years cruising Route 66 with fondness. “In the 1960s, it was the main drag. There was so much neon you’d have thought you were in Ve-gas,” he says. “I think it’s popular today because people have nostalgia for simpler days.”
After we depart, we turn our car wheels onto the storied road and drive west a few more miles, taking in the wide vistas. If it weren’t for an im-patient toddler and obligations at home, I like to think we’d still be getting our Route 66 kicks heading west.
Get Your Kicks (and Souvenirs)
By: RACHEL ADKINSReporter
Wheeler County 4-H Shooting Sports members welcomed Jack Cannon, West Texas Regional NRA Representative, to the Wheeler County 4-H shooting complex in Shamrock on Saturday, April 9th.
Cannon presented the shooting sports program with a grant from The Friends of the NRA. The grant money is awarded to youth shooting sports organizations such as: 4-H, FFA and Jr. ROTC. The grant money comes from the NRA Foun-dation, it is a 501 c3 charitable donation and the funds are raised by The Friends of the NRA ban-quets.
“There are about 1100 banquets held nation wide, about 25 of those banquets are held in Tex-as,” said Cannon. “Pampa is the closest to Sham-
rock, and their banquet is on Saturday, September 10, 2016, at The Gathering Place in Pampa.”
Their mission is: Supporting the Non-Profit, Non-partisan NRA Foundation in its efforts to support the shooting sports and the history and continuance of the 2nd Amendment through vari-ous fund-raising efforts held throughout the year.
Just since 2007, The West Texas Friends of NRA has returned more than $700,000.00 in the form of Grants.
These grants help support our area youth through the purchase of ammunition and guns, along with scholarships.
You can find out more information regarding the Friends of the NRA by visiting their Facebook page at: West Texas Friends of the NRA, or you can visit the website at http://www.friendsofnra.org/tx.
4-H receives grant from The Friends of the NRA
STAR-NEWS PHOTO/Rachel AdkinsWheeler County 4-H Shooting Sports members accept a grant from The Friends of the NRA. This money is used to purchase ammo and guns, along with providing scholarship opportuni-ties. Front row l to r: Katherine Hinton Pampa Friends of the NRA representative, Zane Pat-ton, Blaine Patton, Barker O’Rear, Creed Riley, Rhpy Owens, and Deshya Reeder. Back row l to r: West Texas Regional NRA representative Jack Cannon, Dallen Skinner, John Holcomp, Shyla Smith, Caleb Kimbro, Trip Sorrel and Will Stiles.
