Archer County News (Archer City, Tex.), No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 21, 2003 Page: 1 of 8
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^®f°okbinding 9-24-2003
514 W. 7th St.
Amarillo TX 79101
TA
Archer County NewMMk
500
Member of
Texas Press
Serving Archer County since 1908
To Subscribe:
Association
2003
Issue 34 • Thursday • August 21,2003
uan
(940) 574-4569
Newcomer opens shop of military
history, a place to sit and reminisce
Shooting complex fast becoming a reality,
thanks to volunteers, grants and donations
There's a shop in downtown Archer
City that's a little out of the ordinary.
Proprietor Charles Wood, PhD, re-
cently moved to Archer City and has
opened Freedom's Journey in the
Burkett Building at the comer of Cen-
ter and Main.
"A unique, adventurous look into
the military history of many brave
men and women who gave their all to
help shape the future of mankind,"
Wood stated in a flyer about his shop.
"It is the intention of store owner to
provide anyone interested in military
history to come by for a glimpse of the
past, specializing in World Wars I, II
and Korea."
The shop is filled with models of
armored vehicles from each period of
battle; pictures of aircraft, tanks and
other military equipment are for sale,
along with short stories of battles and
many other moments in history.
Wood has led a remarkable life,
living all over the world, serving in
both the U.S. and British Air Forces,
in the merchant marines and as a paid
soldier. A few years too young to
serve in WWII, he was a pilot in the
Korean War, flying over 200 mis-
sions and getting shot down 3 times.
He was a prisoner of war for 15
months, and earned the Victoria Cross,
which Queen Elizabeth pinned on him
in 1955. He studied in Japan, earned
his PhD and became a full college
professor, teaching in this country
and others. He did his doctorate in
Japan, to become a professor of Ma-
rine Biology. He taught fish biology
and research at the University of the
Philippines. He taught heating and air
conditioning to refineries, and gaso-
line technology and engineering at
Salt Lake Community College.
Wood grew up in Maine, near the
Canadian border. He was at Sheppard
AFB for a time, and his parents moved
there, also, after visiting him and lov-
ing the city.
Now he just wants to share his
memories with others like himself.
"I may not make a dollar," he ex-
claimed, "but at my age, all I have left
are my memories. Vets need friends...
and a prayer every once in a while.
FREEDOM'S JOURNEY MEMORABILIA_
Charles Wood looks over his many posters and models of
military armor that he has on display at Freedom's Journey.
"I want to be a part of Archer City.
It makes me so proud to look out the
window here and see the (Archer
County) war memorial. I see so many
people come and go to the book stores,
but not many stop at the Memorial."
His goal is to make a place for
people to understand the strife for
freedom.
"I've fought communism for most
of my life."
He fought terrorism and commu-
nism in Africa. He says many people
mistake the term, "mercenary."
"We were paid soldiers, not assas-
sins. We were protectors of mission-
aries and the oppressed."
Wood has an extensive library, in
books and on videos and CD's. He
also writes military articles, and pub-
lishes them himself.
"My information is first hand, ac-
curate and the truth. The articles
would make good term papers. I'd
like to teach classes here on wars,
perhaps through the school," he con-
tinued.
But mostly, he's a storyteller, and a
good one at that. He invites everyone
to stop in and visit. When he's not at
the shop, he's home with his wife of
23 years, Betty, who works at the
Archer City Nursing Center. A writer
herself, she writes a column about
the Nursing Center for the Archer
County News each week.
Freedom's Journey is open Tues-
day through Saturday, from 9 a.m.
until 5 p.m.
Coaches pleased with initial outings
"I was very pleased with our ex-
ecution offensively, and our defense
played very aggressively. We did a
goodjob of attacking the line of scrim-
mage on both sides of the ball. I was
happy at this time of year with our
level of conditioning."
Those comments by Windthorst's
Coach, Bill Green, following the Tro-
jans' Saturday morning scrimmage
with Electra pretty well summed up
the feelings of Archer City's Coach
Mike Long and Holliday's Coach
Terry Wolf.
"Our defense swarmed the ball
great," stated Long.
"We gave up a couple of big plays,"
said Wolf, "but we kept them out of
the end zone."
The Trojans gained 240 yards on
the ground and 102 through the air
and scored four TD's while giving
up 194 yards rushing and none
through the air. Defensively, line-
backers Kyle Green, Kevin Hoff,
and Chad Green shined, while tackle
Kurds Vieth and comer back Drew
Koetter were extremely aggressive.
Brad Green had an interception.
The Wildcats gave up a couple of
touchdowns to Olney, but Cory
Davis countered with an 85 yard
interception return for the Cats.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard
twice against Jacksboro, and got
down to the 5 yard line on a third
drive. The Eagle JV made a strong
showing with 4 scores to none for
the Tigers.
Windthorst will Olney Thursday
(today) with the junior varsity sched-
uled to start at 6:00 p.m. The varsity
will begin at approximately 7:15 p.m.
The Wildcat JV will travel to Ver-
non Thursday (today) for a4:30 p.m.
scrimmage. Friday the varsity Cats
will travel to Knox City for a 6
o'clock encounter.
Holliday will go to Bowie today
with action getting underway at 6:00
p.m.
Regular season openers for
Windthorst and Holliday will take
place on Thursday August 28, with
the Trojans traveling to City View
and the Eagles hosting Petrolia. Ar-
cher City will open its season Fri-
day, August 29, when the Cats travel
to Justin Northwest to take on
Celeste.
Lots of progress has been made
this summer on the new shooting
range. Two trap houses are built, the
land is staked for sidewalks, and
plans are coming along for a skeet
field, classroom, pavilion and park-
ing lot.
The Archer County Shooting
Sports Association was incorporated
this summer, and they have applied
for a 501(c)3 (nonprofit) designa-
tion. This summer several volun-
teers have been working hard to get
the complex started. They began with
a $60,000 grant from the Texas Parks
and Wildlife, and have raised an-
other $60,000 in private donations.
The Scarborough Lineberg Trust
donated $50,000 of that.
"I knew they had a trap shooter on
their board," stated ACSSA chair-
man, Marvin Henry, "so I wrote him
and asked for a $100 donation. He
brought a $25,000 check, and after
asking about our needs, wrote an-
other check for another $25,000!"
The other directors on the board of
ACSSA include Gerald Mobley, vice
president; Teresa Martin, secretary/
treasurer; Pat Martin, Jim Ashton,
Greg Oliver, J.B. Johnston, Pat
Thomason and Rick Gilbert. Many
of them have been volunteering their
time to work at the complex this
summer. Ron Mullins has also been
a great help.
"Lewis Cadman has been a tre-
mendous asset," stated Henry. "He's
been helping with all the legal as-
pects, things we didn't know about.
Mike Thomason donated architec-
Cox insurance
business still in
operation, moved
to Knox City
Whatever happened to Tex Cox and
his insurance company?
That's the question some have been
asking this summer. The answer is,
"He's in Knox City."
Tex and his wife, Melisha, moved
their family to Knox City this sum-
mer, answering a call to the ministry.
Tex is a bi-vocational preacher with
the First Christian Church in Knox
City, which means that, while he's
preaching twice a week, he still has
another career: Tex Cox Insurance.
Tex took his insurance company
with him, but says his customers here
are still very important to him.
"We've kept the same 800 number
(1-800-320-7911) so our customers
can reach us even though we're no
longer living and working in Archer
City," hesaidby phone Tuesday night.
"We can continue to serve them as we
had been there."
Tex has been in the insurance busi-
ness for more than 10 years. He pro-
vides all kinds of insurance, but spe-
cializes in life, health and business
insurance.
Tex and Melisha have two young
daughters, Hailee and Kinslee.
NEW SIGN FOR LIBRARY
Workmen mounted lettering above the door of the Archer
Public Library last week, to identify it as such. The new sign is
courtesy the Tocker Foundation grant, according to librarian
Cheryl Beesinger, awarded last September.
TRAP HOUSES BUILT AT SHOOTING RANGE
Marvin Henry has been working hard on the new shooting
range, here with one of the two trap houses already built.
tural work for the buildings."
The shooting complex is located
around behind the city lake and will
be owned by the City of Archer City.
The ACSSA will lease the area from
the City and take care of it.
"It is a City project, on City land,
and will belong to the City," said
Henry.
Plans are underway to build a
40x60 classroom with a 10' porch,
and 20x40 covered pavilion, and a
parking lot also. Henry hopes to have
the classroom up within 60 days, and
all of the complex finished by the
first of February, when the youth
program's season begins. The youth
program continues through June, and
the complex will also be open to the
public on weekends throughout the
year.
There were 49 youth in the pro-
Account at Wells
Fargo to benefit
Rebecca Jones
Wells Fargo Bank of Archer City
has established a Medical Expense
Account to benefit Rebecca Ann
Jones. The account number for do-
nations is #0078246964.
Rebecca gave birth to twin girls,
Jesika Darlene and Joni Dawn, on
August 16,2003. Jesika passed away
Monday, August 18, 2003. Joni is
still at Cooks Children's Hospital.
gram last year, and 60-70 are ex-
pected next year. Other gun ranges
in the area include the Iowa Park
Gun Club and Northwest Field and
Stream, northeast of Wichita Falls.
Henry also teaches hunter safety
classes. At the present time, he has
to search for a facility to rent for the
classes. With the complex, he will
always have classroom space, plus
he can train the students outdoors,
in a real deer stand.
"We'll also be building a 100 yard
top-of-the-line rifle range with three
stations," continued Marvin.
The next step is laying a 3,000
foot 2" water line into the location.
Henry hopes to lay that at the end of
August. With water, they can begin
the cement work.
A dream for many is fast becom-
ing a reality. Watch for updates as
they come.
Team roping at
rodeo arena this
Saturday
The Archer County Rodeo Asso-
ciation will hold Team Roping at the
rodeo arena this Saturday, August 23
at 7 p.m.
The event is free to the public and
everyone is welcome. Area ropers
will be competing. There will be
concessions.
For more information contact
Clayton Hoff at 423-6616 or 423-
6719.
Archer County
Commissioner's Court
UNVEILING THE MONUMENT
Johnny Palmer, left, and an unidentified man remove the plastic
covering on the Megargel monument, unveiled last Saturday. More
pictures and story on page 6.__
The Commissioner's Court of Ar-
cher County, Texas met in Regular
Session at the Courthouse Annex on
Monday, August 11,2003, at 10 a.m.
Those present: Paul O. Wylie, Jr.,
County Judge; Richard Shelley, Prect.
#1; Darin Wolf, Prect. #2; Ben
Buerger, Prect. #3; Darryl Lightfoot,
Prect. #4; Karren Winter, County
Clerk; Vicki Lear, County Treasurer;
Jane Ham, District Clerk; Teresa Mar-
tin, Tax Assessor - Collector; R.B.
Morris, County Attorney; Ed Daniels,
Sheriff; Roy McAllister, Chief Deputy
Sheriff; C.T. McDaniel, Justice of the
Peace Prect. #1; and Deniese Barham,
JP Prect. #1 Deputy.
The motion was made by Darryl
Lightfoot and seconded by Darin Wolf
to approve the Commissioner's Court
Minutes. Voting yes, 1-2-4 Absent 3.
Mike Cavitt met with Court to dis-
cuss and give update on the Home-
land Defense Funds.
The motion was made by Ben
Buerger and seconded by Darin Wolf
to approve the reinvestment of the
Archer County Hospital CD into the
Archer County Courthouse restora-
tion.. Voting yes, 1-2-3-4.
The motion was made by Ben
Buerger and seconded by Darin Wolf
to approve Supply Bills. Voting yes
1-2-3-4.
The motion was made by Ben
Buerger and seconded by Darin Wolf
to approve expense accounts in the
following amount, $59.79. Voting
yes, 1-2-3-4.
The motion was made by Ben
Buerger and seconded by Darryl
Lightfoot to approve the Treasurer's
Monthly Report. Voting yes, 1-2-3-4.
Court discussed Archer County’s
Budget.
Floor opened for Public Comments:
Dick Briggs, Friends of the Holliday
Library, discussed Holliday Nature
Park. No action taken.
Other citizens present: Shelley
Lewis, Archer County News and Ri-
chard Prideaux.
The motion was made by Ben
Buerger and seconded by Darin Wolf
to approve the Publisher's Certificates.
Voting yes 1-2-3-4.
Phillip Lujan with TXDOT met with
Commissioner's Court to discuss
Adopting Resolution with TXDOT for
US Highway 277. Voting yes, 1-2-3-
4.
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Texas Transporta-
tion Commission approved Minute
Order 109333 on July 31, 2003, and;
WHEREAS, Archer County wishes
to assist in providing safe highways in
Archer County;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
the Commissioner's Court of Archer
County will comply with and abide by
the requirements and regulations of
Minute Order 109333 as adopted by
Texas Department of Transportation.
RESOLVED, this 11th day of Au-
gust, 2003.
Paul O. Wylie, Jr., County Judge
Court set a Workshop Budget meet-
ing for August 12,2003 at 10:00 a.m.
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Lewis, Shelley. Archer County News (Archer City, Tex.), No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 21, 2003, newspaper, August 21, 2003; Archer City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth811290/m1/1/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Archer Public Library.