The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000 Page: 2 of 28
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THURSDAY 7 DECEMBER 2000
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76e @OMtoUeLH RECORD
opinion
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RECORD
INCORPORATED FEBRUARY 1998
USPS 087 960
P.0. Boi 898. Canadian (Hemphill) Texas 79014
Fax I: (8061323 5738
E-mail address: kbfowngw98.com
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
BEN EZZEll Editor & Publisher 1948 1993
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NANCY EZZEll Editor & Publisher
LAURIE EZZEll BROWN
Editor (and Food Critic)
E mail address Iftfowngwsll com
LESLIE FRY Advertising Manager
STAFF:
Kim McKinney. Cathy Ricketts.
Mary Smithee. Gabriel Brown. Greta Bass
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Laurie Euol Brown, Cathy Rickotts
425/Year in HomphM County
430/Yoar in adjoining counties
$35fYear elsewhere
PxnoOcxIj poitxgi pad •llta Pest Office in
Caiadai. Texan. Pubkshad eacfi Ttnndar aha
noon ei Canadian br Nancy M. Enel.
POSTMASTER: Send eddrass changes to
The Canadian Record Bax 899. Canadian. TX 79014
BOB WARD'S LETTER in the paper last week made me smile be-
cause I remember Canadian circa 1945 when Bob moved here. The
friends Bob mentioned were the adults in my life. The only complaint I
have with Bob's list is that most of those guys don’t live here anymore.
They up and died on us. In fact, my main complaint about Canadian is
that the adults have died and left us kids here un-attended.
What if I get scared or lost or confused? No one is even baby-sitting
me! Home alone! Terrible!
Canadian circa 1945 was lots of fun—just like Bob Ward said. In the
summer we'd all be outside doing stuff together trying mostly to stay
cool. Winter time I remember the adults would hook a big wooden lad-
der on the back of someone's car. We'd all sit on a rung of the ladder
with our legs around the one in front of us and get a wild ride on the
snowy streets of Canadian. Sometimes we'd nearly slide under the
back of the car. Some tough guy like Bob Ward or Eddie Abraham
would have to lie the front man so the whole ladder didn't Rlide under
the car. The grown-ups also liked to sit around laughing and drinking
leer down at the Killarney Caff' where First State Bank sits now,
We made our own fun. "The War" was over. That cloud had lifted.
The soldiers had come home -though not all. Canadian had 2,000 people
and we all liked things just the way they were Basically, no one moved
in and no one moved out.
Altout ten years later things changed drastically. It was the mid
1950's and two inventions hit town: television and air conditioning As I
recall the mid 50's everyone got up off their front porches, went in the
house, turned on the TV'. turned on the air conditioner, closed the door
and you never saw them again!
Well, maybe you saw them briefly but then they needed to get back
to their TV and their air conditioner Canadian totaUy changed So did
the rest of the HSA but we didn’t know that We only knew Cana
dian.Drive around town and look at the deep front porches on all the
older homes. Those porches had chairs on them. They had swings on
them. They had people on them hoping for a breew. Friends and
neighbors sitting on the porches watching the kids run through the
sprinkler. No more. That went away in the mid 50’s.
Let's fast forward another decade. Let's go to 19*17, the year I came
back and built my new clinic in my grandmother's backyard. Let me
tell you alsiut Canadian in 1967, just .33 years ago. There were four gro-
cery stores (now there’s one). There were two lumber yards (now
there's one). There were three dry cleaners (now there’s one). There
were four auto dealerships (now there's none). There was a furniture
store (now there's none) There was the Fair Department store and
several dress shops. The Vic Mon Motel was new and txaiming The
Canadian Motel was in good sha|>e and (looming Both had busy res
taurants There were two newspapers and nine full-service stations
You could go to the Santa Fe Depot and take a train to wherever.
Has Canadian changed since I returned 33 years ago? It sure has
Nothing stays the same. Staying “ju*t like it is" just isn't a choice,
folks. Not a choice.
What scares me is seeing so many little Texas towns vanishing, dry
ing up. That’s why I'm trying to make |ieople look at Canadian and
work toward getting our town on track, getting us to be a model email
town. We need about 4,000 to 5,(MX) people in order to have things like a
YMCA or a Golf Course or a movie theatre or a hospital. Right now ev-
erything is living artificially proof'd up, sulmidized. (tailed out.
For the past twelve years. I've gone up to talk to the Third Graders
about “The Evils of Tobacco." Each year I’d have about sixty-some
beautiful little third graders Last year I was startled to see only
forty-some. This year there are again forty-some. Things do not “stay
the same ” Sixty-some down to forty-some. Am I just rattling your
cage to insult you? To make you mad? Have you seen small town
schools all over Texas go from 2A to 1A? Then what? Six man football’’
Do you want to sit here and let nature take its course? Is that what you
want? Down, down, down.
We've got some good things in the works (sit we need more people
on board. Talk it up! Promote this town! Fix it up! Support local busi
nesses! Encourage one another! Donate to local projects! I love this
town too much to sit here silently and watch it slip away If that'a what
you want, you'll have to do it without me.
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the editors of the Canadian Record are always we!
come, and will (>e published if they are signed and cannot be coruod
ered libelous. We will not publish anonymous letters under any
circumstances.
We ask that all letters be accompanied by a home or work phone
number so that we can verify the letter writer's identity if necessary.
Letters may be edited for excessive length.
Each letter should be clearly marked “Letter to the Editor," and
should lie received in our office no later than Wednesday noon for
publication in that week's newspajier. Please mail letters to: The Co
nadmn Record, P.O. Box 898, Canadian, TX 79014, or by fax to
(806)323-5738, or by e-mail to Irbrowndcwell.com.
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Ezzell, Nancy & Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000, newspaper, December 7, 2000; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth736278/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hemphill County Library.