Editorial: The Way Forward

As this issue goes to press, our city leaders were again meeting to discuss important matters before them. Without any premonition of the results of that meeting, your humble editor hopes we can all agree that Clarendon is a town with a lot of potential if we can to focus our energies properly and set our goals high.

After Christmas, our family took a much needed vacation to the Davis Mountains, and our travels took us through many small West Texas towns. Some of them were clearly doing well. Others were just as clearly teetering on oblivion.

Over four days we stayed in and toured Fort Davis and Marfa. Both towns are wonderful places to get away from it all, enjoy a slow pace of life, and take in some enriching Southwest history. The McDonald Observatory provides a great educational opportunity for kids of all ages, and our stay at the Prude Ranch was very restful indeed. Like nearly all West Texas folks, everyone we encountered was very friendly and helpful.

But one thing was obvious, setting aside a couple of obvious attractions, Fort Davis and Marfa aren’t that much different from Clarendon. They both have done very well at attracting tourists and unique businesses, but let’s face it – you have to be going to Marfa. You’re not just on your way to Denver or Dallas like so many thousands of people are when they travel through Clarendon on US 287. And we have some things that other rural communities could only dream of having – Clarendon College being the most prominent example.

And so this begins what hopefully will be a series of editorials that will offer suggestions to move Clarendon forward by capitalizing on our assets and seizing opportunities. If any of you readers have ideas along these lines, I encourage you to write them down and share them with us. This week, let’s look at some business ideas that I think would work in Clarendon and enhance our quality of life or our attractiveness to potential residents. Some of these could be incorporated or co-opted by existing businesses, and others would require a new establishment.

It is important to remember that sometimes it takes thinking outside the box to make a business idea work in a small town. In Marfa we visited an ice cream parlor, espresso shop, and laundry mat… all in the same location. It was a unique idea, and the barista there said they stay busy all the time from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. All three of those functions, by the way, would be a nice addition to our city.

Another thing we need – desperately – is new housing for students and medium income families. A lack of housing is the number one detriment to attracting more college students to Clarendon and is a big stumbling block for young families who move here to take jobs at the school, college, and elsewhere. Most rental properties seem to stay full, so perhaps we could attract a developer to build a small apartment complex or series of duplexes to fill this bill.

Clarendon needs a “destination restaurant.” We have some good places to eat, but what I’m talking about is the kind of place that builds a reputation for itself to such a degree that travelers plan to stop in Clarendon to eat at that restaurant because of its consistently good or unique food, a unique atmosphere, and its reputation.

Mrs. Bromley’s Dining Room was such a place. Her food was featured in the Ford Times published by Ford Motor Company and people came from all over the nation to eat with her. Mrs. Bromley closed her doors about 30 years ago, and every couple of years, we still have people stop by the newspaper asking for directions to her dining room. In more recent times, JAMZ became something of a destination with its pizza, fresh sandwiches, and Debbie’s homemade pies; and I would say that Sam Hill’s Pit BBQ was certainly a destination until it burned to the ground. With a little work, a couple of our local places have the potential to become destination restaurants, but we need an eating establishment that puts Clarendon on the map again.

We need a bookstore… or a least a store that sells books. They make great gifts, and tourists love books with a local flavor. The Donley County Courthouse is featured in at least two books on Texas courthouses, a book was written a few years ago set in early day Howardwick, Lonesome Dove has ties to local history, I saw a book in Fort Davis that featured modern tintype photos of cowboys from the JA Ranch, and the list could go on and on. Combine all those with books on Panhandle history, books about Charles Goodnight, books about the Palo Duro, and books of West Texas photographs like those by Wyman Meinzer, and you’ve got a heck of a start on a bookstore or a book section anyway that focuses on Donley County’s heritage.

We need an art gallery or maybe several art galleries. With all the current and historic talent we have here – most prominently with Harold Bugbee – it is a shame that we don’t have a gallery downtown. Perhaps a local artist or organization could partner with the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum and set up a Harold & Olive Vandruff Bugbee Gallery in Clarendon that would feature works by famous and up-and-coming local artists and draw people off the highway.

We need donuts! My kingdom for donuts! In fact, I think a bakery could do well here if it made donuts and other pastries and featured a light lunch menu.

And there are other businesses we need, but we’re short on space. We’ll continue the conversation next week, but in the meantime I encourage everyone to dream a little bit about what we’d like to see Clarendon become. Write your ideas down and let’s put them in print. Resolve to get involved in 2013, and let’s move this community forward.