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Like New Again
An abandoned chair lay by a dumpster in the alley. Abused, broken and regarded as junk, it waited the arrival of the Clarendon city trash truck.
But then Wayne Tubbs entered the scene. After looking the chair over, he picked it up and carried it back to his workshop, where it became one of the many pieces of old furniture he reconstructs to look brand new.
“That was about six years ago, and we still have that chair today in our upstairs bathroom,” said Patsy Tubbs, Wayne’s wife. “He’s redone a lot of the furniture in our household, and for many other people as well. I call him the Chairman of Clarendon.”
Wayne said that his inspiration to begin fixing furniture came from his grandfather.
“I used to help my grandpa, Earl Berry, in Carrizozo, New Mexico, fix stuff in the late 40s and early 50s,” Wayne said. “Back then they didn’t have any money, so they had to make just about everything they had. He did all kinds of work as a blacksmith and carpenter, and he even made windmill towers out of wood. He was a jack of all trades.”
Wayne started repairing and refinishing furniture for people in 1996, after he retired from his position as superintendent over El Paso Natural Gas Company.
“I’ve been working with furniture all my life, but it became a hobby after I retired,” Wayne said.
“We were living in Roswell, New Mexico, at the time, and there was a lady there who had a warehouse full of antiques. She wanted her stuff fixed, so I started working for her, mainly on rebuilding chairs and tables, until I moved to Clarendon in 2003.”
His work did not stop there though. Since he moved to Clarendon, Wayne has rarely had an empty workshop or any idle time.
“I’ve done work on a roll-top desk, tables and chairs for the Saints Roost Museum; redone doors for the Clarendon Schools; rebuilt stairs and made stair railing for the First United Methodist Church; did quite a bit of work for Poor Boys Antique Shop; built the box that held Kevin Johnston’s spurs that were presented to George W. Bush; and I make picture frames for Patsy’s paintings,” Wayne said. “I also do a lot of work for many other local customers.”
One of his local customers is Virginia Patten.
“Wayne refinished a slant top desk that’s in my office, and it was a piece of junk,” she said. “It was my grandparents’ desk from the late 1800s, and my parents used it at The Grocery Store. He saw it and said he could fix it, and now it’s one beautiful piece of furniture. As a trademark, he even left one of my father’s cigarette burns on it. It’s worth millions to me. If my house were on fire, I would get that desk out.”
He has also done numerous pieces for Fredie Jo Moreman.
“Wayne is an artist in his trade,” Moreman said. “He is very thorough and detailed in his work. There’s not many people anymore who can do woodwork like him. I’ve been pleased with everything he’s done for me.”
To ensure that the furniture looks as good or better than its original condition, Wayne refinishes and repairs the old fashioned way, which he said is “still the best.”
“I use a lot of tools that people used years and years ago, in fact I still use some of my grandfather’s tools,” Wayne said. “I make a lot of my own tools as well. Most of the old furniture I do by hand without the use of power tools or strippers with harsh acid.”
Wayne and Patsy figure that he has worked on thousands of pieces of furniture throughout the years.
“When people bring furniture to me that’s in pieces, I see it like a puzzle and I enjoy reconstructing it,” he said
Wayne’s workshop continues to be full of old furniture awaiting an extreme makeover as more customers bring in “junk,” but pick up works of art.
“I love seeing the furniture before and after he gets done working on it because it’s always such a drastic change,” Patsy said. “He continues to amaze me and each of his customers with his endless talents in woodworking.”
Hedley taps Conatser for secretary
Jason Conatser was tapped as the next city secretary in Hedley during a called meeting of the Board of Aldermen last Thursday.
Conatser succeeds Randy Shaw, who has held the position for almost 19 years. Shaw’s last day of full time employment was Friday. He announced his resignation July 1, and City Clerk Rhonda Shaw and maintenance worker Roger Hager resigned also.
Conatser was originally hired for Hager’s position at a July 20 called meeting, and Bill Farris was hired as secretary. Farris quit three days later.
During last Thursday’s meeting, Alderman Leon Ward suggested offering the secretary’s position to Conatser, and Shaw put in a good word for him.
“He’s had a great attitude and is catching on fast to a lot of stuff,” he said.
Ward said he would like to see Conatser have a month with Shaw to learn everything that needs to be done. Shaw said he could help for a couple of weeks but not for 40 hours a week.
The board unanimously approved motions to hire Conatser as secretary and to hire Shaw on an hourly basis.
Wreck injures Memphis family
Three people remained hospitalized at press time following a single car rollover Sunday afternoon four miles east of Clarendon.
According to Department of Public Safety Trooper Kellan Roberts, Neil David Alderman, age 29 of Memphis was traveling eastbound on US 287 in a 2003 silver Pontiac Grand Am at 6:29 p.m. when he ran off the road and hit a culvert at County Road 16.
The car then became airborne and came down on its right front, beginning to roll until it ended up in the median. The car came to rest on its top facing southbound.
Alderman along with front passenger Sandra Shahan, 27, and rear passengers nine-month-old David Neil Alderman and two-year-old Cody Alderman were all transported to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo, where they all remain in critical condition except for David, who suffered minor injuries.
The wreck are still under investigation, and charges are pending.
Trucker avoids serious injury during Friday rollover
A California man escaped injury during a single freightliner rollover that occurred July 29 about two miles west of Clarendon.
According to Department of Public Safety Trooper Chad Simpson, Jose Quinones, age 50, from Long Beach, Calif., was traveling northwest bound on US 287 at 7:59 a.m. in the inside lane, and the outside lane was closed and barricaded with construction barrels.
The left wheels of the freightliner traveled off the roadway and into the muddy center median, and the left wheels dug into the mud, pulling the freightliner into the center median. Quinones overcorrected while steering to the right, sliding the freightliner sideways across the northwest bound lanes of US 287 and rolling onto its left side into the north ditch.
Perry Harrision of Bismarck, Illinois, told the Enterprise that he witnessed the accident.
“He got into that construction area and lost control,” Harrison said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.”
In order to free Quinones from the vehicle, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department had to cut him out. Simpson said Quinones suffered no injuries, and no citations were issued.
Responding to this accident were DPS, Donley County Sheriff’s Office, Associated Ambulance Authority, Clarendon VFD, and the Texas Department of Transportation.
Clarendon to be featured on ESPN2
In December of 2009, Jason Roark, a professional outfitter who films his hunts for ESPN2 was in town.
Roark was providing a free hunt for Ken Bowen, a veteran, who had sustained third-degree burns during an explosion while stationed in Afghanistan. Over fifty percent of Bowen’s body had been burned and he spent nine months recovering in the hospital.
As soon as Bowen was released, Roark was contacted by the Riverbreaks Ranch about taking Bowen on a hunt.
While the hunt took place on the ranch they also filmed around Donley County, including City Hall during the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.
Roark had this to say about their trip to Donley County, “Judy Berlin, the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce and the Clarendon VFW went above and beyond for this guy. They really rolled out the red carpet for Ken. We only gave them about a week’s notice in advance and we were extremely impressed with everything they had planned and how they treated Ken”.
“Grateful Nation” will air July 31, at 7 a.m. on ESPN2.
For more information contact Judy Berlin at 806-874-2421.
State honors the Tate Place
Former site of Old Settlers Reunion in same family for 102 years.
The Tate Place northeast of Hedley was one of 91 farms and ranches to be recognized by the state this summer for having been operated by the same family for more than 100 years.
Working the land has been a family tradition for generations of Texans. To honor this longstanding Texas custom, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has recognized 91 farms and ranches, spanning 66 Texas counties, at the 35th Annual Family Land Heritage (FLH) ceremony.
The ceremony, which was held in the Senate Chamber at the Texas State Capitol, recognized families who have kept their farms and ranches in continuous agricultural production for 100 years or more.
“The families we honor today continue their ancestors’ legacies of nurturing and caring for the land,” Commissioner Staples said. “They truly represent the dreams of the pioneers who entered the Texas frontier and built the family farms and ranches that endure to this day. I congratulate these families for making Texas a leader in agriculture.”
T.B. Tate, born in North Carolina, settled in central Texas, and then moved to Indian Territory in search of a Chickasaw allotment. After learning there was no Indian land, he followed friends to Donley County and acquired the Tate Place in 1908. He and his wife, Mary Jane Gibson Tate, reared 12 children: Will, Mary, Carlos, Margaret, Caroline, Estella, Martha, Agnes, Thomas, Zack, John, Lilla and Ervin. Thomas died in his home on the Tate Place in 1923 and is buried in Rowe Cemetery at Hedley along with his wife and three of his children.
Thomas Zack and his brother, John Morgan, acquired the Tate Place after their father’s will was probated in 1925 and continued to raise cotton and grain. John rented another place which he eventually purchased and sold his portion of the Tate Place to his brother, Thomas Zack in 1947. Tom and his wife Myrtle reared their children on the home place: Orval Winfred, Tommy Dean and Juan Nell.
Both sons served in World War II and died within nine months of each other in 1960 and 1961. They are buried at Rowe Cemetery in Hedley.
In 1968, Tom and Myrtle Tate sold the Tate Place to their only surviving child, Juan Nell Tate Carson. Juan Nell and her husband, Billy Don Carson continue to raise cattle and grain. They have two children, Patricia Susan Carson Cosby and Thomas Clark Carson.
Tom Tate loved the good earth. He farmed his land, the land that belonged to his father, and tended his orchards and crops with the greatest care and energy. Very few weeds escaped the wrath of his hoe, honed knife-blade thin through constant use and sharpening. He plowed, pruned, weeded, transplanted hundreds or tree spouts and watered them by carrying five gallon buckets of water sometimes a quarter mile or further. He made the old home place veritable garden spot.
Tom Tate was laid to rest in the old Rowe Cemetery on Sunday, October 14, 1979. Ironically, his death and burial occurred on the very weekend of Hedley’s Annual Cotton Festival, the event that merged with the Old Settler’s Reunion held originally on the Tate Place.
To date, TDA has recognized more than 4,400 properties in 236 counties across Texas. Since the FLH program was started, Fayette County has had 145 family operations recognized, the most out of any county. This is the first year the FLH program recognized landowners in Lamb County.
Cowboy poet and entertainer Red Steagall performed at the ceremony. Ron Oliveira, KEYE TV news anchor, served as master of ceremonies.
To view the complete list of FLH properties honored this year, visit www.TexasAgriculture.gov and click on the Family Land Heritage link.
New city secretary at Hedley resigns
The City of Hedley hired and lost a new city secretary in less than a week as officials there continue the search for Randy Shaw’s successor.
The Board of Aldermen met in a called session Tuesday, July 20, and hired Bill Farris to replace Shaw, who is leaving the city July 31 after 19 years. Farris began work the next day, but City Hall reports that he quit two days later on Friday.
“I guess it was more than he could handle or expected,” Mayor Dusty Wilkinson told the Enterprise.
Hedley Aldermen are scheduled to meet this Thursday night, July 29, at 7 p.m. for the purpose of hiring someone. Wilkinson said it is very important a decision be made and that someone is hired who has a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
“Randy’s last day is Friday,” the mayor said. “We have to have someone who can drive the trash truck on Monday.”
Wilkinson said if no one is hired this week, the city will make arrangements to make sure the trash is picked up.
Hedley does have two new employees this week. Holly McCleskey and Jason Conatser began work this week as the incoming city clerk and maintenance worker. They will replace Rhonda Shaw and Roger Hager, who are following Randy Shaw’s exit.
Local man dies after truck rolls
A single-vehicle accident in Collingsworth County claimed the life of a local man Friday afternoon.
Sean P. Campbell, a 22-year-old ranch hand from Clarendon, died at the scene of the accident, according Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Daniel Hawthorne.
Campbell was westbound on FM 1056 at 3:18 p.m. eight miles west of Wellington approaching FM 1547 and was entering a curve in a 2000 Chevrolet pickup when he crossed the center line and left the roadway. The DPS said Campbell overcorrected, which caused the pickup to roll, partially ejecting the driver. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
Collingsworth County Justice of the Peace Jo Rita Henard pronounced Campbell dead at 3:59.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at the Church of the Nazarene in Clarendon. Graveside services were held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Citizens Cemetery.
Survivors include his mother LaDonna Campbell of Farmers Branch, his father and step-mother Ed and Marsha Campbell of Wellington; grandparents Barbara Hewett of Clarendon, and Jack and Dana Campbell of Farmington, NM.; aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
Memorials may be made to the Clarendon College RFO Program.
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