Editorial: Big things happening in Clarendon

If you didn’t get out of the house last weekend, you missed a terrific time in Clarendon.

Kimberly Britten and Jordan Green breathed new life into an old landmark and launched their Whistle-Stop Trade Days on Friday. Approximately 100 vendors and literally countless customers and on-lookers crowded the former Chamberlain Motor Company property during the course of three days.

There was an air of excitement that surrounded the first of what we expect will become a long line of monthly Trade Days. Estimates place attendance in the thousands, and other local businesses and restaurants benefited from the crowd in town as evidenced by the number of cars parked at those establishments.

Clarendon owes Britten and Green and their families and friends an enormous “thank you” for the time, money, and effort that they have invested in this city and its future. Theirs has been a unique vision, and the courage they have shown in making it a reality is to be commended.

Your editor and his family spent much of Saturday afternoon in the Whistle-Stop beer garden on the north side of the property, enjoying the company of good friends and listening to some very talented local musicians. As one friend said, “It’s easy to forget you’re in Clarendon back here.”

He was right. The Whistle-Stop, with its live entertainment and unique atmosphere, is like nothing you have experienced in our little town.

If you missed the excitement of the first trade days, you’ll have another chance when the Whistle-Stop opens again May 6, 7, and 8 (which coincides with the same weekend the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association will hold a thrilling rough stock rodeo). Go ahead and mark your calendars now.

If the Whistle-Stop wasn’t enough going on for one weekend, the Clarendon Lions Club hosted more than 100 runners and walkers in its fourth annual Chance Mark Jones Roar ‘N Run 5K race on Saturday to raise awareness of child abuse, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church held its annual barbecue dinner on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, a great new family activity was formally opened at Lake Greenbelt. The Greenbelt Disc Golf Club held a ribbon cutting and hosted the first tournament on its newly finished 18-hole course at Kincaid Park.

The committee behind the development of the disc golf course is already working on an even bigger tournament that will be held June 4 and 5 (which will also coincide with the 11th annual Trash To Treasures Garage Sale event and comes one week before the third monthly trade days).

Some people say there’s nothing to do in a small town. But those folks just haven’t stayed in Clarendon very long.

Meanwhile…

Speaking of things going on, The Clarendon Enterprise is proud to welcome its fellow newspapers to our city as the Panhandle Press Association holds its 106th annual convention here this week.

It’s been ten years since a gathering of newspaper men and women was held in Clarendon. The West Texas Press Association held its convention here in 2006; but while the two associations share some territory, the PPA is largely comprised of a different group of folks.

The WTPA is the largest regional press group in Texas with members from Perryton to the Davis Mountains. By contrast, the Panhandle Press is bound a little bit closer to home with its members mostly coming from the Texas Panhandle and South Plains and a few friendly neighbors from New Mexico and Oklahoma.

For most of its history, the Panhandle Press typically held its annual conventions in Amarillo, but six years ago the PPA returned to its birthplace in Canadian and began alternating holding its meetings in Amarillo on odd numbered years and in an area community on even years.

Clarendon and this newspaper has had a long history with the PPA, including having five local journalists serve as president of the association – Sam Braswell, J.C. Estlack, George Wayne Estlack, your humble editor, and now your humble editor’s better half.

We are also proud to have four former Clarendon newspaper men and women as members of the PPA Hall of Fame, and on Friday we’ll add another name to that list. The late Edward E. Carhart, the man who brought the first printing press to the Panhandle will have his name added to the roll that already includes J.C. Estlack, George Wayne Estlack, L.H. Carhart, and Ruby Dell Estlack.

My late uncle, George Wayne, encouraged me years ago to get involved with the state and regional press associations. He said that no one could really understand this business except those who are in it and that I could learn a lot just by being around fellow newspapermen. He was right. But what he didn’t tell me was how close the relationships are that develop within these associations.

It is our honor and privilege to host the PPA convention. We hope that each visitor this week takes home with them fond memories of our community, and we sincerely thank them for their friendship.