Inspired by autumn’s indulgent flavors, this fragrance features a rich blend of pistachio and wild fig blended with the warmth of dark rum and maple sugar.
PHOTO BY SHANNON RICHARDSON
OAMARILLO’S PREMIER LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
PUBLISHERS
AMARILLO’S PREMIER LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
Michele McAffrey mm@brickandelm.com
PUBLISHERS
Jason Boyett jb@brickandelm.com
Michele McAffrey mm@brickandelm.com
DESIGNER
WKayla Morris km@brickandelm.com
Jason Boyett jb@brickandelm.com
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
DESIGNER
Jeff Jarnagin jj@brickandelm.com
Kayla Morris km@brickandelm.com
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Kait Bradford Bellmon
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Venice Mincey
Shannon Richardson
Angelina Marie
Scott Thomas
ur cover story found me and photographer Kait Bradford Bellmon up early on several Saturday mornings to make the trek to our local farmers markets. It’s been too long since I’ve gone to the popular market in Canyon, and I was shocked by how much it has grown. Parking was scarce and lines snaked down the street for the markets’ most soughtafter local produce. We found similar lines—or already sold-out booths—at Amarillo’s new Sunset Marketown. Kait and other conscientious young parents like her are dedicated followers of the area’s local producers. (She was a valuable connection to most of the vendors we feature in this issue.) Kait jokingly describes herself as “granola” as she seeks to use more and more natural products, from dairy and produce to locally made skincare. It’s a movement that’s gaining traction in the area, and one I’m so happy to see. (I’m pretty granola myself.)
hen I look back over the past few months, it feels like ages since I last wrote an editor’s note, and then at other times the weeks have flown by. In the middle of January, it seemed my days of typing up my last-minute thoughts prior to printing a magazine were over. And then … a miracle.
hi! it’s us
Shannon Richardson
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Maggie Burt
My longtime writing partner Jason Boyett became my new business partner and Brick & Elm was born. This “hyper-local” magazine was created in meetings at our respective homes, and it’s the compilation of everything we’ve ever hoped a Panhandle-focused publication could be. The community outpouring for our new project has been overwhelming in the best way. My friends and local businesses have sent streams of encouraging messages of support. Now I truly know what it means to say my cup overflows
Mason Dudley Gray Gillman
Chip Chandler
Meaghan Collier
Andy Chase Cundiff
Nick Gerlich
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Melodie Graves
Janna Kiehl
Chip Chandler
Ruthie Martinez
I’m just as thrilled about the diverse offerings in our features in this issue. As Jason writes below, our aim in producing Brick & Elm is to reveal the rich tapestry of culture and people that are unique to Amarillo. Our fall issue certainly does that. As always, I’ve learned a slew of things I never knew about the area, even though I was born and raised here. In particular, our feature about the Andersons and their legacy delights me. A good friend called me about a year ago and pitched this story idea. I was immediately intrigued and we’ve been anxious to delve into this facet of local history ever since. On the other end of the spectrum, our friend and supporter Kay Kennedy emailed regarding the Women of the Tent, and we immediately saw story potential. It’s an honor to share about this important local outreach through our feature written by Meaghan Collier. I hope you, like me, learn something new about our city with every issue we publish. And, like me, grow to love and appreciate its people even more.
This is the first of many fantastic Amarillo-centric issues created by a true dream team—Jason and the incomparable Kayla Morris. I’m thrilled beyond measure to share Brick & Elm with you. Thanks for reading.
Acan’t tell you how excited I am to feature the work of Wyatt McSpadden in this issue. As a magazine, we benefit from an incredible roster of talented local photographers, but McSpadden is a true legend. He got his start in Amarillo’s art and advertising scene in the 1970s. Before long, his work wasn’t just appearing in Texas Monthly, but in museums across the nation—including last month’s Cadillac Ranch retrospective at Amarillo Museum of Art. What an honor it is to publish in Brick & Elm some of McSpadden’s favorite Amarillo-related photos and the stories behind them. (In the Amarillo-is-a-small-world category, one of my closest high school friends, Justin Shumaker, is Wyatt’s cousin.)
ll the best parts of my career began in the Amarillo College Journalism Department. There, in the mid1990s, I learned to write fast. I learned to edit. I learned desktop publishing, design and photography. But what I learned most of all is that I really liked magazines. I ended up the editor of AC’s award-winning campus magazine, AC Current, and fell in love with the process of creating a publication, start to finish.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.
BRICK & ELM (ISSN 2770-2529), is published bi-monthly by Edgebow Media LLC, 2730 Duniven Circle, Suite B, Amarillo, TX 79109. Periodicals Postage paid at Amarillo, TX, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Edgebow Media LLC, PO Box 2104, Amarillo, TX 79105.
Brick & Elm Magazine is published bimonthly by Edgebow Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.
As for the rest of our features, their breadth and diversity represents what we have always intended for Brick & Elm. Our cover is about small ag operations. Hearing these growers talk about what they do best was so much fun. We’re inspired by the feature about teen health and the visionaries supporting it. Other topics include the story behind a major fundraiser, an influential battle in Palo Duro Canyon, and a major new cultural event. Then there’s the feature about the Anderson sisters, which we’ve been planning for at least a year. (Contributor Ryan McSwain knocked that one out of the park.) In fact, as this issue came together, we wondered if it was actually too big. There are still so many local stories deserving attention—and as magazine publishers, that’s a fantastic problem to face. I hope you love this issue as much as we do.
Here I am again, more than a quarter-century later. For years, Michele and I have worked together telling stories about our city. A few months ago we decided the time was right to launch a new, sophisticated, independent magazine about Amarillo. It feels appropriate that our first issue covers topics like trail-building, business reopenings, creative problem-solving and breathing new life into historic structures. We feel like all of those are metaphors for Brick & Elm, and maybe for print magazines in general.
So here’s to fresh starts and a new way to shine a spotlight on the city we love. Thanks for reading. We’re honored that you’re here with us, at the beginning.
KAYLA MORRIS
Kayla has been designing professionally for more than 10 years. She was raised in the Panhandle and graduated with a design degree from West Texas A&M University.
Kait is the owner of Three Feather Photo Co, a local lifestyle and wedding brand that specializes in destination elopements. See her work at threefeatherpho.co.
SHANNON RICHARDSON
Shannon has been a commercial/advertising photographer for almost 35 years. His work can be seen at shannonrichardson.com.
NICK GERLICH
Nick is Hickman Professor of Marketing at West Texas A&M University, where he has taught since 1989. In his spare time, he travels around the country, including his beloved Route 66, in search of vintage signage and other outdoor advertising. He can be found on Instagram @nickgerlich.
Wes was raised in Wellington and has lived in Amarillo since the early 90s. He serves as chairman of the Potter County Historical Commission and as a member of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission board of directors.
Venice is a natural light photographer, specializing in senior, family and child photography. Venice has been taking photos for more than 20 years. See her work at veniceminceyphotography.com.
RYAN MCSWAIN
Ryan is the author of Monsters All the Way Down and Four Color Bleed He’s written for the best industries in Texas. You can find him at ryanmcswain.com.
MEAGHAN COLLIER
Meaghan works in communications and marketing for Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Amarillo and spent 15 years as an anchor, reporter and producer in local television news. She and husband Cody live in Amarillo with their dog, Bradford.
KAIT BRADFORD BELLMON
WES REEVES
VENICE MINCEY
The fun never ends in September and October, as the arts season comes back in full force, touring bands and comedians take over Amarillo stages, and favorite traditions like the Amarillo Tri-State Fair, Hoodoo Mural Festival and more come back to thrill the crowds. Check out these highlights, and don’t forget to subscribe to the free Brickly and Flavorillo newsletters for my entertainment picks every week.
September
AMARILLO TRI-STATE FAIR & RODEO: Back for a 101st year, the premiere celebration of the area’s history and tradition will feature the annual parade, the midway, music from ’90s country star Clay Walker and others, and tons of fried goodies from Sept. 13 to 21 at the Fairgrounds, 3301 SE 10th Ave. Newer, but no less a celebration, is the Sept. 28 return of the Hoodoo Mural Festival, an outdoor party in downtown Amarillo boasting new murals and outstanding bands. Other events to watch for include the AirPower History Tour of historic World War II aircraft on Sept. 3 and 4 at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, 10801 Airport Blvd.; the Bizarre Bazaar spooky market on Sept. 7 at Arts in the Sunset, 3701 S. Plains Blvd.; Wings of Hope butterfly release on Sept. 14 at Bonham Middle School, 5600 SW 49th Ave., and Amarillo Botanical Gardens’ Day with the Butterflies, also on Sept. 14 at the gardens, 1400 Streit Drive; Ronald McDonald House’s Secret Garden Ball on Sept. 7 at Starlight Canyon, 100 Brentwood Road; the LIPS fundraiser for Opportunity School on Sept. 21 at Arts in the Sunset; Healing Hearts Grief Retreat on Sept. 22 at Dove Creek Equine Rescue, 16201 Gordon Cummings Road in Canyon; the Una Gran Cena fundraiser for Wesley Community Center on Sept. 26 at the center, 1615 S. Roberts St.; and the Our Colors Run Together 5K and One-Mile Fun Run for Harrington Cancer and Health Foundation on Sept. 28 at Amarillo Museum of Art, 2200 S. Van Buren. Plus, the Amarillo Sod Poodles wrap their regular season with a series against the Frisco RoughRiders from Sept. 10 to 15 at Hodgetown, 715 S. Buchanan St.
WAITRESS: Amarillo Little Theatre serves up the regional premiere of this wildly popular contemporary musical about a, yes, waitress with big dreams and bigger problems. It’ll be staged Sept. 5 to 22 in the Allen Shankles MainStage, 2019 Civic Circle. Other arts highlights to watch for include the monthly First Friday Art Walk on Sept. 6 at Arts in the Sunset; Amarillo Symphony and the Sod Poodles’ Celebrate America concert on Sept. 7 at Hodgetown; the Symphony’s official season opener featuring Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, complete with digital art by Geoff Case, on Sept. 13 and 14 in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St.; West Texas A&M University Theatre’s premiere of the musical Alice By Heart from Sept. 26 to Oct. 6 in the Happy State Bank Studio Theatre; Chamber Music Amarillo’s The Visual Meets the Aural on Sept. 27 at Arts in the Sunset; and WT Opera’s Doctor Miracle on Sept. 28 and 29 in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall.
ROCK THE YARD: ’80s metal favorites Queensrÿche, Slaughter, Stephen Pearcy of RATT and Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses unite for a loud night at The Lumberyard, 850 N. 23rd St. in Canyon. Other music highlights are set to include REO Speedwagon tribute band High ’N Fidelity on Sept. 1 and Journey tribute band Encore on Sept. 21, both at Shark Beach Burgers, 1505 E. FM 1151; Dallas Burrow on Sept. 5, Jay Stratham on Sept. 14 and Ross Cooper on Sept. 20 at The Golden Light Cantina, 2906 SW Sixth Ave.; Friends of Fogelberg XIV: Dan & Rockin’ the ’70s on Sept. 6 in the Globe-News Center; Creed Fisher on Sept. 6 at Azteca Music Hall, 500 FM 1912; the
Electric Gypsies on Sept. 6, Gatlin Johnson on Sept. 7, Bailey Rae on Sept. 13, Wynn Williams on Sept. 20 and Adam Hood on Sept. 27 at The Western Horseman, 2501 I-40 East; The Magic of Motown tribute concert Sept. 7 in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium, 401 S. Buchanan St.; Payton Howie on Sept. 19 at Hoot’s Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road; and The Live Dead & Brothers on Sept. 20 at the Globe-News Center.
SPEAK NO EVIL: James McAvoy looks deliciously evil in this buzzy new thriller, opening Sept. 13. Other new films to check out include thriller The Front Room on Sept. 6; action-comedy The Killer’s Game on Sept. 13; crime flick Wolfs, thriller Never Let Go and animated prequel Transformers One on Sept. 20; and comedy-drama Empire Waist, sci-fi drama Megalopolis, horror flick Azrael and animated adventure The Wild Robot on Sept. 27. Special engagements include 50th-anniversary screenings of Blazing Saddles on Sept. 15 and 18; 25th-anniversary screenings of The Matrix on Sept. 19 and 22; and the Studio Ghibli Fest screenings of Howl’s Moving Castle from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.
October
CREEPY CRAWL: Amarillo’s biggest Halloween celebration returns with tricks, treats, costumes, music and specials all around Historic Route 66. Plus, look out for haunted houses, pumpkin mazes, trunk & treats, and more all around the city throughout the month. Other events you can’t miss include the 28th annual Amarillo Chamber Good Times Celebration Barbecue Cook-Off on Oct. 3 on the Tri-State Fairgrounds; Acts Community’s Dances of the Decades fundraiser on Oct. 5 at Arts in the Sunset; Amarillo Oktoberfest on Oct. 5 at Starlight Ranch Event Center; the Great Epilepsy Cookout on Oct. 5 at Hodgetown; Hope Lives Here’s Hope for Our Heroes gala on Oct. 5 at Embassy Suites Amarillo, 550 S. Buchanan St.; the Palo Duro Canyon ChuckWagon Roundup on Oct. 5 at the state park; Pondaseta Brewing Co.’s Volksfest on Oct. 5; Storybridge Live on Oct. 5, also at Hodgetown; the Water Lantern Festival on Oct. 5 at Thompson Park, 2401 Dumas Drive; Amarillo Public Library’s Books to Broadway fundraiser on Oct. 8 in the Civic Center Heritage Ballroom; the Amarillo Calf Fry Fest, a fundraiser for The Bridge, on Oct. 12 at Starlight Ranch; the Boys Ranch Rodeo and
Visit brickandelm.com for Chip’s expanded event coverage. Better yet, subscribe to our email newsletters for breaking entertainment news every week!
CHIP CHANDLER
Chip is the city’s arts and entertainment expert, having covered area events since 1998. Stay up to date on local happenings with Chip’s Can’t Miss picks in every issue.
can’t miss WITH
CHIP CHANDLER
Fall Fest on Oct. 12; Martha’s Home’s A Night on the Town fundraiser with comedian Mike Goodwin on Oct. 12 in the Civic Center Heritage Ballroom; WT Homecoming on Oct. 12; Panhandle Pride 2024 from 1 to 10 p.m. Oct. 19 in the Civic Center; rising Texas comedian Ralph Barbosa on Oct. 19 in the Civic Center Auditorium; the Steaks & Two-Steppin’ fundraiser for Special Olympics on Oct. 19 at Starlight Ranch Event Center; and the Randall County Steakout fundraising dinner Oct. 26 in the Civic Center Grand Plaza. Plus, the Amarillo Wranglers hockey team opens its home season with games Oct. 11, 12, 25 and 26 in the Civic Center Coliseum.
SATURDAY NIGHT: The historic first broadcast of Saturday Night Live is recounted in a new film that’s more of a thriller than a comedy, opening Oct. 11. Other film premieres to check out include animated film Scarygirl and adventure Monster Summer on Oct. 4; anime film My Hero Academia: You’re Next and Pharrell Williams’ Lego biography Piece by Piece on Oct. 11; thriller Flight Risk and horror sequel Smile 2 on Oct. 18; and comic book sequel Venom: The Last Dance on Oct. 25. Special engagements include 20th-anniversary screenings of Mean Girls on Oct. 3 and 6; The Met: Live in HD screenings of Les Contes d’Hoffmann on Oct. 5 and 9, and Grounded on Oct. 19, 23 and 26; and a Studio Ghibli Fest screening of Kiki’s Delivery Service from Oct. 26 to 30. Plus, don’t miss the Amarillo International Film Festival from Oct. 10 to 12 at Arts in the Sunset.
AMARILLO SYMPHONY: The orchestra officially commemorates its 100th anniversary Oct. 11 and 12 in the Globe-News Center with a special concert featuring the Grammywinning ensemble Time for Three, a newly commissioned work celebrating Cadillac Ranch on its 50th birthday, and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Other arts highlights will include Amarillo Opera’s spin on the classic Carmen on Oct. 5 in the Globe-News Center; Chamber Music Amarillo’s Winds and Friends on Oct. 19 at AmTech Career Academy, 3601 Plains Blvd.; Lone Star Ballet’s take on Frankenstein on Oct. 19 in the Globe-News Center; Amarillo Little Theatre’s seasonally appropriate Arsenic and Old Lace from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3 at the Allen Shankles MainStage; WT Theatre’s The Gamester from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3 in the Branding Iron Theatre; Amarillo Symphony’s special Symphony Spooktacular on Oct. 25 in the Globe-News Center; and Amarillo Youth Choirs on Oct. 27 at Northen Recital Hall.
NEAL MCCOY: The ’90s country star kicks off a month of concerts at Starlight Ranch Event Center on Oct. 4. The venue also will feature Texas country stars Shane Smith & The Saints on Oct. 11, hip-hop star Paul Wall on Oct. 25, and Red Dirt favorite Wade Bowen on Oct. 26, all at Starlight Ranch Event Center; country singer Scotty Alexander on Oct. 4 and Dallas Burrow on Oct. 26 at The Western Horseman; The Shane Hamilton Band on Oct. 12 at Hoot’s Pub; Boy Named Banjo on Oct. 19 at The Golden Light Cantina; and Overtime’s Road to Gold tour Sept. 21 at Whiskey River, 4001 SW 51st Ave.
Welcome to The Dirt. In every issue, our anonymous writer will give you the dirt on your burning questions about the Amarillo area. Got something you’re just dying to know? Drop us a line at info@brickandelm.com, and our intrepid writer will dig up the answer.
Do I have to wear a gown or tuxedo at the Symphony?
While The Dirt personally loves to get all decked out in something shiny and drop-dead gorgeous, Amarillo has maybe three black-tie events a year— and that’s being generous. Even at a gala, though, dress codes are fairly loose ’round these parts. Cowboy Chic always works. That’s boots and jeans with a blazer for the men, or something a little blingy for the women. (Or vice versa; The Dirt is not a gender essentialist.) Sunday Best is always an option, too, though perhaps with an added element of fun that takes the outfit from the chapel to the dance floor.
You specifically asked about the symphony, however, which we’ll take to mean any of Amarillo’s marvelous arts offerings. While back in the day, you could find yourself brushing past decadent fur coats all night (sadly, probably not the faux kind), today’s audiences are just fine going out in more casual wear — jeans, rompers, a miniskirt, whatever you’d like. And the arts organizations are just fine with that, too. They’re more concerned with having butts in seats than with what is covering those butts. (Please, do cover your butt. That’s a hard-and-fast rule.) Maybe try to elevate your wardrobe beyond a ratty T-shirt and cargo shorts, but that could be The Dirt’s own prejudices talking.
Should I jump the ditch since highway construction will never end?
No.
Oh, you need more explanation? Well, despite what the ruts in the grassy shoulders near most major exits along Interstates 40 and 27 (and most other highways across the state, from what we’ve seen), the socalled “Texas Exit” is a no-no. Specifically, a Class C misdemeanor in the Texas Transportation Code, one which could land you a $500 fine. And we definitely have seen officers patrolling those areas and handing out tickets. (We’ll pause so you can absorb the shock that Amarillo drivers might occasionally break the law. Ready? Good.)
Trust us, we understand the frustration, whether being caught in a construction zone or stuck in a traffic jam. And yes, that frustration is only going to grow as the historically enormous project on I-27 drags out. Progress comes at a price, though. Even if it makes it easier to get to Lubbock.
Produced in partnership with U.S. Cleaners, who know a thing or two about dirt.
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The anonymous writer behind ‘The Dirt’ is a sharp observer of the Amarillo-Canyon metropolitan area. If they don’t know the answer, they know where to get it and who to ask.
“Life is bristling with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to cultivate one’s garden.” Voltaire
This quote from the 1759 French novel Candide was first shared with me in the height of the pandemic. I needed it then, and it has appeared in my thoughts and conversations many times since.
There are quite a few interpretations of this quote. Perhaps the most alarming of which is the notion that we cannot change the world, so we should just worry about ourselves. With this, I firmly disagree. The most generous interpretation, and my favorite, is that we need not dwell only on life’s thorns, but also reserve attention and appreciation for the things we can nurture and enjoy.
As I write these words, I am sitting in a garden an empty classroom. When this publication arrives on your doorstep, the school year will be well underway, but I am still excitedly preparing for the arrival of my students.
There are thorns in education. There is ongoing debate over school funding at the state level, discussions of private school vouchers, endless discourse over curriculum, libraries, bathrooms, lunches, budgets, equipment, class sizes, test scores, and anything else you can imagine. There is exhaustion. There is overwhelm. There is public scrutiny.
But, oh my goodness, there is a garden. A thriving, joyful, hilarious, hopeful and determined garden. We are diligently cultivating it, and it is growing beautifully.
As a music teacher, I have the privilege of teaching many of the same students year after year, and to play my small part in their growth is both hard work and an absolute honor and delight. There are, of course, thorns in my life and in the lives of each of my students. But here, in this room, I can tend our garden. I can strive to make sure every child belongs, every child is safe, every child has fun, and every child makes music. They will bloom and blossom beyond my imagination, as they always do.
My garden is my mind, body and spirit. My garden is my home, my husband and our dog. My garden is an elementary school music classroom. My garden is found in meaningful relationships with family and friends. My garden is my community.
I do love the imagery of a garden. Some gardens may provide sustenance, others a stunning view or peaceful walk. But no garden comes to be useful, beautiful or healthy on its own. A garden requires
hard work, patience and grace.
Cultivation is work. It is therapy and exercise. It is household chores and sticking to a budget. It is compromise. It is showing up for my students every day. It is putting myself in the shoes of others. It is paying attention to local issues and elections, not just presidential ones.
Cultivation is sometimes easier said than done, isn’t it? It demands pause. A zooming in of sorts. Does cultivation only mean putting forth great effort? I don’t think so. I think cultivation includes rest, gratitude and a little silliness, too. A garden needs to be dug and weeded, but it also needs time, sunlight and water. Some avid gardeners say plants respond when we sing to them. I choose to believe that.
Some days, tending my garden means an impromptu dance party with my students. For some, it means abandoning the day’s agenda to play a game with their kids. It might mean leaving the dishes in the sink to have a phone call with your mom. A long overdue date night is probably more important than a work email, and a nap might do more good than folding that laundry. If you’re me, that laundry has probably been in the dryer a few days anyway.
Tending a garden is creating something just for the sake of creating it. It is a long walk, a good cuddle, a favorite song, a slice of pie. It is shared laughter, and it is a thank you card. A quick text that reads “thinking of you.” And maybe, just maybe, all of our gardening means we will be able to handle the thorns with a bit more ease.
In this age of social media, 24hour news cycles, and constant access to all of it in our pockets, it is so very easy to become overwhelmed with the world at large and all its worries. Life has always been, and I imagine always will be, bristling with thorns.
May we always remember to tend our gardens.
MAGGIE BURT
Maggie was born into a family heritage of musicians and educators in Amarillo. She spent several years as a performer and songwriter in Amarillo and Austin, before becoming an elementary music teacher in 2019. In every issue, Maggie’s column will draw from her experiences in and out of the classroom.
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: LEADERSHIP LUNCH
Avaluable resource for Elevate Amarillo members, Leadership Lunch brings together local leaders and a smaller group of members in a lunch-and-learn format. The smaller group ensures a more intimate gathering as each leader discusses their career path and shares wisdom gleaned from being a leader.
The past three Leadership Lunches have included Bowden Jones, Executive Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer for FirstBank Southwest; Sharon Miner, Director of Development and Public Relations for Martha’s Home; and David Prescott, Founder and President of Talon/LPE.
Feedback from members says it all:
“Since I began attending leadership lunch with Elevate Amarillo, each guest has consistently brought something unique, interesting and valuable to the table. Every month, these lunches offer a fantastic opportunity to connect with others, reflect on personal growth, and explore new possibilities in leadership. For me, they’ve become an invaluable experience that I look forward to each month.”—Member Matt Loftin
“Something special happens when you go—You sit, eat and grow through insightful, meaningful conversations with these great leaders and your own peers.”—Member Matt Le.
Watch for more details about the next Leadership Lunch, featuring Freda Powell, Civic Leader, Mayor Pro Tem Emerita, Office Manager, Warford Mortuary, Inc.
KNOWLEDGE. CONNECTIONS. OPPORTUNITIES.
Elevate Amarillo is an organization of emerging leaders rooted in Amarillo and rooting for Amarillo. Our community of young professionals, ages 20 to 40, are the future leaders of Amarillo. We enjoy unique experiences, grow professionally and personally, and make a difference in the community. Our members are involved in a wide variety of Amarillo’s business, civic and service endeavors. For more information or to join, visit elevateamarillo.org.
SHARON MINER DAVID PRESCOTT BOWDEN JONES
WINDOW ON A WIDER WORLD
Since its 2006 founding with funds connected to the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, the education nonprofit Window on a Wider World has been helping local children—especially those in rural school districts—visualize their potential beyond the classroom.
Last year, the organization served 69 schools across the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle, introducing nearly 13,000 students to wide-ranging arts, science and cultural experiences. Beyond the traditional field trip, these programs expose students to educational experiences at places as diverse as Amarillo Botanical Gardens, Don Harrington Discovery Center, Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and the WT Enterprise Center.
Executive Director Mary Bralley took the reins of the organization nearly a year ago, and admits she was the type of student who would have benefitted from WOWW. “I was not a good student,” she says, laughing. “When I was in school, you learned by textbooks. I got lost in the words.” But an organization like WOWW takes those classroom concepts—like science or art—and adds three-dimensional context. “Now that you’ve learned abstract concepts in the classroom, let’s go out and see how it’s applied in real-life, concrete experiences,” Bralley explains.
That might look like a tour of the Globe-News Center with a focus on the math and science behind its acoustics. It might look like a language arts-focused writing program led by local authors, or in late October, a “Day of Ag” in Canyon, led by West Texas A&M University agriculture students. WOWW aligns that interdisciplinary focus with grade-level curriculum in order to give students alternative ways of learning.
And the program is growing.
“This fall, our teachers are going to have 10 more learning partners than what we used to have,” Bralley says, including Amarillo Police Department, Street Volkswagen, Texas Tech School of Pharmacy and Texas Tech School of Veterinary Medicine. These partners will prioritize discussions about careers. “You have to start talking about careers in middle school,” she says. “That’s something that I think is really important.”
She also says local school districts have begun asking for a financial literacy focus and more content with a mental health component. That specifically has led to new WOWW programs using a Certified LEGO Therapist. “These will help students with resiliency, with changing, with how to deal with home and school life,” Bralley says.
She adds that WOWW needs community volunteers for a number of experiences, from judging its annual Youth Art Show to helping out with Globe-News Center tours. To get involved, visit woww.org
Burrowing Owl RECOMMENDS
HORSE: A NOVEL BY GERALDINE BROOKS
Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award
Finalist for the Chautauqua Prize, a Massachusetts Book Award Honor Book
A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic and the greatest racehorse in American history: From these strands, a Pulitzer Prize-winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession and injustice across American history.
Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to recordsetting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.
New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.
Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.
Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.
Education Credit Union announced additions to its Advisory Board: Tim Glass, Barbara Holeman and Selena Fogg
Education Credit Union welcomed Michelle Wilson as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Ty Cox as the Chief Financial Officer.
Region 16 Education Service Center announced the 2025 Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year: Kristi Leff from Amarillo ISD, Elementary Teacher of the Year, and Christian Hernandez-Ocasio from Highland Park ISD, Secondary Teacher of the Year.
Xcel Energy named three Texas-based directors as regional vice presidents over the company’s core grid operations in the Panhandle and South Plains regions of Texas and in eastern and southeastern New Mexico.
David Low was promoted to regional vice president of Texas and New Mexico power plant operations.
Cory Wood and Casey Meeks were named regional vice presidents for Transmission Operations and Distribution Operations respectively.
Brown & Fortunato announced that attorneys Amanda F. Hobbs and Ian S. Marable have joined the firm. Hobbs is a Senior Attorney in the firm’s Health Care Group. Marable is a member of the firm’s Litigation Group.
Brian Weis, M.D., Ph.D., was named the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine regional dean in Amarillo.
Dove Creek Equine Rescue announced the appointment of Tyler Pamplin as its Development Director.
The Amarillo Symphony appointed Kellie Bartley as its new Development Director.
Northwest Texas Healthcare System welcomed Harvey Torres as the new Chief Financial Officer.
The Underwood Law Firm announced that Courtney White and Aaron Smith joined the firm’s Amarillo office. White joined Underwood’s Municipal Law practice. Smith joined Underwood after serving as Chief Law Clerk to the Honorable Matthew Kacsmaryk, U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division.
Dan Morgan, KAMR Local 4 News Operation Manager, was awarded TV Broadcaster of the Year by the Texas Association of Broadcasters.
Ana Ramirez was appointed Executive Director for the Amarillo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Christy Bigler recently retired from the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce after 27 ½ years.
Brennan Leggett has joined the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a hospital administrative specialist.
Region 16 Education Service Center announced Wade Callaway, Superintendent of Gruver Independent School District, as the 2024 Region 16 Superintendent of the Year.
This place is our home. So that means we invest here. In the community. In the local economy. In helping grow jobs that can keep this place humming. Using renewable energy, we can keep costs lower for every home and every business. Our tax dollars go here. Our economic development efforts are here. We’re putting in the work to make the places we serve light up a little brighter.
Jeff Turner, chief executive officer for the Moore County Hospital District since 2008, has been appointed to the Amarillo College Board of Regents in a non-voting capacity. Turner was sworn in on June 18 as the Moore Country replacement for Kathie Fuston.
Dr. Dan Peterson was named dean of the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities at WTAMU.
Doug Lipinski was named the new vice president of athletics at WTAMU. Lipinski was selected in a national search.
Amarillo Wranglers announced its new head coach, Taylor Harnett.
Suzy Murray, Director of Accounting at Amarillo Area Foundation, retired in August after a lengthy career.
Michelle Parsons recently joined the Amarillo Tribune as its fundraising/development officer.
To highlight your business briefs, promotions or awards in this section, email a press release or your information to mm@brickandelm.com.
RIBBON-CUTTINGS
MARTIAL ARTS AND ATHLETIC CENTER
KOBEN PUCKETT PBR 10TH
CELLAR
BBB HELPS CONSUMERS NAVIGATE THE BUSINESS WORLD
BY JANNA KIEHL
You already know Better Business Bureau helps businesses be better, but did you know BBB has a large consumer resource page to assist you as you navigate business transactions? BBB is a trusted source for informed buying decisions. Our company reports as well as resources, articles, tips and scam alerts keep you informed and ready to tackle purchases, mishaps and unwanted solicitations. When consumers are more informed, they are able to make better decisions, which helps limit the chance of getting involved in a scam or a bad business deal. Fraud and bad business put stress on the individual and on the economy overall.
At our consumer resource page bbb.org/all/consumer-resources, search for company profiles by clicking Find A Business. You can read about the business, see contact information, see its rating, read complaints and how the business responded and look at customer reviews.
Companies earn a letter rating, A+ through F, and we advise consumers to pay close attention to that rating and why the company has earned it. Most companies have A+ ratings. If the company has a B- or lower rating, click the “reason for rating” button to find out why. Not sure of who to do business with? Get a list of Accredited Businesses to shop from or ask a company for a quote.
Ask a Company
Our Get A Quote program allows you to submit information about your potential purchase. A trusted company will contact you to discuss your options. BBB Accredited Businesses are part of this program. If you are shopping for a specific job to be done, or you’re purchasing a car, refinancing your home or remodeling, you can get a quote from companies in different industries—from local banks to local contractors. Our Get A Quote program starts the process for consumers and businesses to develop a professional relationship based on trust.
Leave a Review
Another resource for consumers is the ability to leave a customer review for a business. More than 80 percent of BBB reviews are positive. Reviews are important in forming an opinion about a business before you do business with them—you can help other shoppers by describing your experience with a company. Customer reviews also help companies improve customer relations and reward employee performance. Help the business capture good customer service and build their five-star rating by leaving a review. Help other consumers when they are shopping for services and looking at customer reviews to make their decision.
News and Tips
Our latest news and scam alerts are also available on our consumer resource page. Articles include tips on seasonal home maintenance, how to use generative AI for travel planning, how to enhance your home with smart home technology, back-to-school tips and other topics. There is a huge variety of information to help you be a wise and informed consumer.
HQ Pages
Our consumer tips page also provides links to consumer headquarters resources. These cover topics including home maintenance, financial wellness, cyber security, online shopping, and even disaster preparedness. Find them at bbb.org/all/consumer-hq.
Dispute Resolution
Of course, there’s also a complete dispute resolution page to help you resolve issues that might come up in business transactions. Companies want to know about problems their dissatisfied customers are having and be given an opportunity to make things right. You can help improve a business by letting them know of your experience. When you have a complaint, first try to work it out with a management team member from the company. If that doesn’t work, a reasonable and professionally written complaint can help both parties come to a resolution, save the relationship and improve the business.
Scam Relief
Our scam link will take you to BBB Scam Tracker’s site where you can look up a scam, and get the prevention guide or a scam survival kit. Sign up for scam alerts so you always know what to watch out for: bbb.org/scamtracker
Keep your money working smart and working for you. Bookmark BBB’s consumer resource page for easy access. Find all things business and consumer related at BBB.org
JANNA KIEHL
Janna is the President &
Chief Executive Officer
of the Better Business Bureau of Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle.
TRYING TO GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE
“What a drag it is, getting old . ” —Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
utside the obvious blessing itself of getting old (considering the alternatives), a few inconveniences and questions need to be addressed.
The first question I have is: “What happened to all that time?”
I remember clearly my much-younger self lying on the grass, looking at the stars in the summer sky, and thinking, “When will I be a grown-up? How long does it take?” That, to me, now seems like it only happened the week before last. The days were endless and summer was a full three months—none of this “July 4 til the first part of August and it’s back-to-school time!” nonsense like it is now. No sirree! Summer was the end of May through Labor Day. Yet astonishingly, time became like a Nolan Ryan fastball, and THEN became NOW. The days come at me like a jet, and go by even faster.
The things we once did with a sense of nonchalance, now are performed with urgency, a rhythm that we somehow morph into at some point.
My next question is, “When did I get on all these medications?”
Remember back in the ’70s when aging male tennis star Bobby Riggs challenged a young female Billie Jean King to a singles tennis match in the Battle of the Sexes?
I do. That’s how old I am. But my point is this: As part of the promotion for the tennis match, a leading national magazine showed a picture of Riggs holding up a baggie of his daily supply of meds and supplements. It looked like he was packing for a month-long vacation in Typhoidmalaria City or something. It was terrifying. It didn’t seem possible that someone could choke down that many pills in a week, much less a single day. I thought, “I hope I never get that old!” At the time, he was probably a LOT younger than I am now.
I thought of that Riggs photo this morning as I looked at my own daily dose of blood pressure and cholesterol medications and other supplements. It would have made a full baggie. And I’m not talking those little wimpy sandwich baggies. I am so grateful that my beautiful road manager (wife) is able to keep up with my meds and supplements, because in my advancing years, I cannot. (This is a joke, of course. I couldn’t have kept up with all of that 25 years ago.)
My last question is, “What happened to my body?”
In my youth, we were focused on physical fitness. We had P.E. classes every day, rain or shine, like it or not, kindergarten on up. I began playing organized football at a young age, so small that we looked like bobbleheads, judging by the pictures. By high school, I was ahead of the fitness curve. Ten feet tall and bulletproof, as they say. The only broken bone I ever got in football was my nose. (You should have seen the other guy.)
One would think this Superman effect would carry on into later years. It did not.
Unbeknownst to me, our bodies keep score. That one time at least 40 years ago when I twisted my knee in the third quarter of a game against who-canremember? My knee kept a record. That amazing tackle where I landed as hard on my knee as I face-planted a guy in the turf? Yep. The time that pulling guard dropped a nasty chop block—which was legal back then—on my knee? I still feel it. After all those years of buckling, slamming, colliding, weight-lifting on those knee joints, both took a long, semi-functional vacation, and then said, “We quit.”
Two recent knee replacement surgeries later, I have authentic Six Million Dollar Man bionic knees. (You have to be of a certain age to catch that reference, too). I had to go back to P.E. class to rehab those bad boys, only know it’s called P.T.—Physical Therapy. They are not joking around in P.T. But the scars make me look tough.
So, these days, after aortic surgery, which was also a miracle, I am still in a race to catch up instead of stay ahead.
“You can’t lift too much weight,” they told me. “But you need to exercise for sure.” I don’t get it.
My body hasn’t even forgotten about painting, drawing and guitar, for Pete’s sake. I am starting to get arthritis in my hands, and all those activities are just for fun, not work. Maybe I can get corrective surgery for all that, too. That would be cool. Bionic hands.
I am not really feeling bad about all this stuff, as long as I can keep up with the curve, or at least see where it’s heading. I have never been too trendy, and I do have my amazing looks.
ANDY CHASE CUNDIFF
Andy is an artist, singersongwriter, music producer and musician. In every issue, his column explores the parts of his life that don’t always make it into his songs, accompanied by his own illustration.
Navigating Grief and Loss with the Help of Horses
rief is a powerful, complex emotion that affects every aspect of our lives. Whether we are mourning the loss of a loved one or dealing with any other form of deep sorrow, the journey through grief can feel isolating and overwhelming. Many people find solace and healing in unexpected places. Perhaps surprisingly, one of those is through interaction with horses.
Grief has always been a communal, shared and sacred process. However, in modern times, our grief often becomes private and isolating, forcing our sorrow underground. By offering grief groups and workshops with horses, we restore the conversation we need to have concerning the sacred place of grief in our lives.
Why Horses?
Roaming the Earth for more than 50 million years, horses are inherently social animals that thrive within the structure of a herd. As herd animals, horses instinctively seek connection and belonging within the group dynamic. This social nature has allowed them to adapt and survive across diverse environments for millions of years. Because of their heightened sensory intelligence, they possess a rare ability to understand and reflect human emotions. This unique trait makes them invaluable partners in healing, offering solace and companionship that soothe our spirits.
One of the key ways horses help us navigate grief is by offering a nonjudgmental presence. In the company of a horse, there is no need to hide our emotions or put on a brave face. Horses do not judge, criticize or offer unsolicited advice. They simply exist with us in the moment, accepting us as we are.
Equine-Assisted Learning and Coaching: A Path to Healing
Equine-Assisted Learning uses interactions with horses to promote emotional healing. In the context of grief and loss, equine-assisted therapy can provide a safe space for individuals to explore their feelings, process their emotions and begin the healing process.
During EAL sessions, individuals engage in various activities with horses, such as observing, brushing and leading the horses through obstacles. These activities can be deeply symbolic and meaningful, depending on the goal and what is communicated by the horse. Brushing a horse can represent the act of caring for oneself or others, while leading a horse through an obstacle course can symbolize navigating the challenges of grief.
The physical presence of the horse, combined with the tactile experience of touching, grooming and interacting with the animal, can
help ground individuals in the present moment. This grounding effect can be particularly beneficial for those who feel overwhelmed by the intensity of their grief. In our monthly grief groups, many come away with a profound sense of peace through their session with their horse and speak often of how grounded they feel.
Building Trust and Connection
Horses require trust and mutual respect in their relationships with humans. For individuals grieving a loss, building a relationship with a horse can mirror the process of rebuilding trust and connection in their own lives. As individuals learn to communicate with and care for a horse, they may begin to rebuild their trust in themselves and others.
The process of bonding with a horse can also help individuals rediscover a sense of purpose and meaning. Grief often leaves us feeling lost and disconnected from the world around us. However, working with a horse can provide a renewed sense of responsibility and connection.
The Power of Nonverbal Communication
Horses communicate primarily through body language, and they respond to the nonverbal cues of the humans around them. For individuals struggling with grief, this form of communication can be especially meaningful, especially when grief can be difficult to articulate. Horses understand the language of the heart—the subtle shifts in posture, the changes in breathing, the unspoken emotions that words often fail to capture.
Equine-Assisted Learning can be a valuable tool for individuals and families facing the challenges of loss and grief. By experiencing the unique connection and communication that can develop between humans and horses, EAL can create a nurturing environment that fosters emotional expression, processing and healing during the most difficult of times.
LAURIE HIGGINS-KERLEY
Laurie founded the nonprofit organization Dove Creek Equine Rescue in 2012 and has been its Executive Director since. Because of her experiences there, Laurie created a program focusing on the healing partnership between horses and humans. She graduated from Kathy Pike’s Academy of Coaching with Horses Certification Program in April 2017 and Equine Assisted Learning program in 2019. She joyfully integrates her path to wholeness with this powerful heart-centered approach. Laurie created the Equine Assisted Coaching program, Led By Horses, which serves individuals and groups for personal development, grief groups and team building. She has facilitated, hosted and led workshops and retreats for more than 20 years.
Now that school has started and we made it through the obstacles of obtaining the perfect backpacks and the perfect outfit for those back-to-school photos, we can move our focus back to making sure we take care of ourselves as we continue to take care of others. As part of taking care of ourselves, there must be an understanding that we need to become comfortable with change. Change is never easy, and it comes on many different levels.
Over the past few weeks, I have seen tears from parents whose children are moving to a new school or higher grade, more and more people dealing with the loss of a loved one, and even those leaving one position to move on to a new venture. While emotions come with change, we need to understand that the seasons of life will continue, and we must do all we can to normalize what change may look like— from year to year, day to day and, in some cases, minute to minute.
Recently, I was asked to give the graduation speech at the William P. Clements Unit. Upon arriving, the pressure to deliver an inspirational word to the largest Windham School District graduation ever held in Texas hit me. (The Windham School District includes the educational programs within the various facilities of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.) My message to the graduates was to embrace the changes that each day of life presents and learn how to be adaptable—because if you don’t change with the times, it will leave you in the past.
I told them, “As the seasons of life continue to change, we must be flexible and allow those changes to lead us to the kind of person we desire to be today. Often, we dwell on the mistakes of yesterday, but life requires us to simply do better with the season that is on the way.”
When I finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room because the words I shared gave them hope that despite what happened in the last season, better days were coming—if they believed in themselves and their ability to do better.
We all need to be reminded of that each and every day. I sit back and think about everything that has happened since I decided to
dedicate myself to the service of others. I have met people who were on the verge of giving up and others who appreciated a kind word. No matter the season, I always want to ensure I leave an impact on those who cross my path. I desire for my impact to be memorable when I’m gone. I want people to think about every interaction we have; I want them to believe that my interaction with them changed my life. Nothing is more gratifying than hearing someone say, “Because of you I chose to not give up.”
If we each strive to live this kind of life, then our reality could be one of love, joy and hope no matter what season of life we are in. I wish we could wiggle our noses and fix everything that goes wrong in our lives, but sometimes we have to weather the storm, sometimes we have to go through it, sometimes we have to feel like we are drowning so we can appreciate the life jacket when it comes. Many people think the woes of life only hit them. This is a misunderstanding. The struggle is not just for a select few people. It is something we all go through. It is one more thing that unites us. We can all talk about a time we had to make it through. We can look back and say, “I made it.” And if I was able to make it, so will you. Be encouraged and continue to fight the good fight, for as the seasons change, you grow, and that growth is what makes us into what we desire to be.
Change is never going to be easy but if we learn how to accept it, learn from it, and most importantly grow through it, then we will always know that our tomorrow will be better than our today.
MELODIE GRAVES
Raised in the North Heights, Melodie is dedicated to service that goes above and beyond her career in higher education. She has worked at Amarillo College since 2010, currently serving as the Associate Director of Academic Advising, Foster Care Liaison and Justice-Involved Advocate. Melodie shares her thoughts about inclusivity, inspiration and answering The Call.
WITH MELODIE GRAVES
Watch for a ribbon-cutting announcement soon and join us to celebrate the opening of The Loft!
BUILDING A BRIDGE IN DOWNTOWN AMARILLO
As downtown revitalization continues, First Baptist Church is excited to announce the addition of The Loft at First Baptist Church.
Designed to bridge the gap between generations, The Loft will serve as a safe hangout space for local teens. It will also provide a much-needed connection to Baptist Community Services’ Park Central Campus via its enclosed sky bridge.
A Place at the Table
BY JASON BOYETT
Agriculture is central to the story of the Texas Panhandle. In the late 19th century, early ranchers identified our climate and land as ideal for raising cattle. Sturdy homesteaders found ways to coax wheat or squash out of an arid landscape occasionally interrupted by severe storms. Those natural resources were also critical, of course, to the nomadic Plains Indians who lived here first, following the migration of abundant buffalo herds.
Life on the High Plains starts with the land.
It’s easier now. At the nearest grocery store, residents enjoy access to greens harvested in California, potatoes grown in Idaho, avocados from Mexico and oranges from Florida. But a recent combination of factors— pandemic-era supply chain disruptions, a desire for fresh and less processed food, and a deep well of community support—has begun changing the way some residents put food on the table.
On summer weekends through the end of September, small growers and producers interact with the public at the extremely popular Canyon Farmers Market and, in Amarillo, the new Sunset Marketown. The long-running Golden Spread Farmers Market brings fresh produce to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Other small pop-ups appear throughout the week, giving residents the opportunity to buy fresh eggs, beef, fruit and vegetables straight from the source.
Call it farm-to-table, locavore, or any other trendy phrase. It’s still about nourishment from the land we call home. In light of that focus, inside and outside these markets, we spoke with the small producers who work hard to supply fresh, nutritious food to Panhandle people.
Protein
Ranchers Storefront
Justin Trammell is a fixture among the growers and producers at the Canyon Farmers Market. He’s a producer himself, operating Tir Bluen Farm with his wife, Whitney, where they raise Angus Cross cattle, Kunekune hogs, New Mexico Dahl sheep and heritage chickens. But beyond that, he’s been president of the Canyon Farmers Market since 2016 and is the entrepreneur behind Ranchers Storefront and Panhandle Meat Processing. The latter two businesses are partnerships with his father, Donnie Trammell, who also raises cattle.
“Being serious in local food production takes that kind of involvement,” Justin says. He grew up with farming on both sides of his family. While pursuing a wildlife biology degree from West Texas A&M University more than a decade ago, he worked with Ogallala Commons, a High Plains nonprofit focused on reinvigorating and sustaining the rural communities that depend on the Ogallala Aquifer. “You do that through a combination of entrepreneurship and resource management,” he says. He took those lessons to heart.
After he and Whitney married in 2014, they began raising chickens, sheep and pigs while working with Donnie Trammell on beef. “We started selling at the Canyon Farmers Market here, and through all that started seeing cracks in the conventional model,” Justin says. Profits were minimal despite his father’s decades of experience raising cattle in a small operation. It felt like they would always be minimal.
So the two Trammell men began looking into opening their own micro-processing facility. Regulatory hurdles proved a challenge, but the family-owned Panhandle Meat Processing launched in 2022 as an alternative to the huge beef production facilities in and around Amarillo. A few months later, they opened Ranchers Storefront to serve as a retail arm for those products. Today, they operate three Ranchers Storefront locations, all selling locally raised and processed meat, pork, lamb, vegetables, eggs and more. Trammell has even built a relationship with a family in Alaska to provide high-quality salmon, halibut and other seafood.
“You can trace our supply chain with two to three jumps,” Trammell says. He raises the cattle. The beef gets processed at Panhandle Meat
Processing. Then, the public buys steaks at Ranchers Store Front. There’s no substitute, Justin adds, for buying meat and produce from local farmers and ranchers.
“It’s gone extremely well,” he says. “Every storefront has its own customer base.” He describes their McCormick store as “basically a neighborhood market” like older generations might remember from the 1950s and 1960s. Those markets and butcher shops have largely been lost due to federal food inspection standards implemented four decades ago, which limited small-scale producers’ ability to sell directly to customers. It meant seismic shifts in the meat industry.
Trammell describes staying in compliance with those regulations as a full-time job. “That’s basically all I do: handle the regulatory stuff for the facility and storefront and everything else,” he says. He’s on the board of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance and spends plenty of time in Austin lobbying for farmers, ranchers and access to local food. “There’s a massive difference between a plant like ours that kills 10 head [of cattle] every two days and a plant that [processes] 400 head an hour,” he adds. “Nobody writes regulations to scale,” and that causes issues for small producers.
But he’s willing to take on that challenge, and his businesses have found a dedicated customer base. “The only reason Dad and I did this is so we can go back to being actual producers. We didn’t do it to grow a food empire,” Justin says. “We did it to guarantee our future as farmers.”
(15891 S. Dowell Road, 806.499.3168; 7445 W. McCormick Road, 806.231.2391; 1505 Fourth Avenue, Canyon, 806.699.1462; ranchersstorefront.com)
Texas Beef Grass to Grill (806.690.4338; texasbeefgrasstogrill.com)
Ellison Land & Cattle (806.683.3110) Venhaus Farms (806.773.1571; micahvenhaus.wixsite.com)
Chicken Eggs
JC Acre
“We’d talked about wanting to do something with our land since Celia and I got married eight years ago,” Josh Davis says. They had a small property—just an acre—on Old Ranch Road, three miles north of Canyon Country Club.
He’d been reading a lot about the Dust Bowl and the unsustainable farming practices that caused it. Davis didn’t just want to put his land to use, but to improve it and build healthy soil. Around that time, he picked up a copy of local poet Seth Wieck’s release Ulysses Arrives in Amarillo The narrative poem made an impression on Davis. “There’s a line in that poem: ‘Plot by plot, I’ve won the land’s trust / Now she’s rich and full of the renewing green,’” he recites.
He wanted a rich, full, abundant property. That meant chickens.
“We realized laying hens was the place to start,” he says. Three years ago, he and Celia bought 50 laying hens. Now the couple has around 500—two flocks of 250 hens that produce more than 400 eggs a day, or “about 250 dozen a week for us to get rid of,” he says.
They sell their eggs directly to the public at Ranchers Storefront, at the Canyon Farmers Market, and through a subscription program called Yolk Folks. The latter is a customizable membership that schedules deliveries of farm-fresh eggs on a regular basis. “That’s our main push right now,” he says, though JC Acre also produces and sells leather products.
The hens subsist on a diet of natural insects, including this summer’s abundant grasshoppers, supplemented by Texas Natural-brand feed. Manure from the rotating chicken flock improves the soil, which
improves the insect life. “Right now, the Texas Panhandle doesn’t have a lot of bug life,” Josh says, but he hopes to gradually foster enough healthy, natural food for his chickens so he can supplement less.
Unlike the cramped, unnatural conditions of large-scale poultry farms, JC Acre hens are free-range, with space to forage and peck for insects. “They live like a chicken should live,” Josh says. “A lot of people are searching for eggs specifically from chickens that don’t live on top of one another in just a few inches of space.” Customers regularly tell the couple that JC Acre eggs taste much better than store-bought eggs.
Josh and Celia have expanded beyond that first acre—the hens themselves rotate on a 3.5-acre pasture—but named their business after that initial piece of land. “It always brings us back that we started on one acre of land,” he explains. “A lot of farms want ‘acres’ or ‘farms’ in their name for expansion potential, but our reason was to re-center us back on the beginning.”
(jcacre.co)
Quail Eggs
Honey Basket Backyard Homestead
Sarah Amstutz of Honey Basket Backyard Homestead literally turned her standard Amarillo-area backyard into a small urban farm. But the abundant raised beds behind her fence definitely aren’t the most interesting part of her property.
It’s the flock of quail that draws attention.
She’d originally begun raising meat rabbits when she read about the health benefits of quail eggs. She turned her focus to the small, resilient birds.
“As a bird, quail are super-social animals,” she says. “Every morning I walk out there, shake a cup of dried mealworms, sing a song and they all come to me to get food. It’s super peaceful.”
She keeps a flock of around 20 quail, which produce 10 to
12 dozen eggs a week. “Quail are ideal birds for small backyards,” she says, because they require much less space than chickens. They’re tiny enough to be held, easily, in the hand. “They’re just fun,” she adds.
Amstutz sells the eggs to the public through her Instagram account and appearances at the Canyon Farmers Market. Her quail eggs are gaining a reputation within the community, and she recently began selling them through the new S.E.A. Market Oriental Food, 2632 SW 34th Ave. Quail eggs contain higher levels of antioxidants and minerals, including Vitamin B-12, vitamin E and iron.
“They’re considered to be a ‘super food’ in some circuits,” she says about quail eggs. “They are the only shelled egg that contains vitamin A. They’re lower fat and have a richer, more complex flavor” due to a higher yolk-to-white ratio.
“I’m a 34-year-old, stay-at-home mom who milks cows,” says Kenzi Wethington from Wethington Farms outside Nazareth. She and her husband, Stanton, are raising four children between the ages of 3 and 10. He farms and ranches, and as of 2023, she’s in the raw milk business.
The family already was raising Angus cattle. But two years ago, Kenzi pitched Stanton on purchasing a few Jersey and Guernsey cows, heritage breeds known for producing extra creamy milk.
“Milking cows for my family turned into milking cows for a couple of friends, and then for a couple of their friends,” she says. As the demand intensified, Kenzi ramped up production, officially formalizing her business in 2023. Now, she maintains a herd of 15 milking cows who produce around 50 gallons daily for more than 215 families here in the Panhandle.
Raw milk is part of a growing movement in the United States. States like Montana, Alaska, Georgia and Wyoming have passed laws legalizing the sale of raw milk, though it’s still illegal in Texas.
Despite that prohibition, Kenzi explains, “Texas did legalize herd shares.” That’s how Wethington Farms legally provides milk to their Texas customers.
For a one-time $30 fee, customers buy a herd share—part ownership of Wethington Farms’ dairy herd—then pay an additional $44 a month in order to receive a gallon of raw milk every week. So technically, the customers are receiving milk produced by dairy cows they own. Twice a week, the family brings milk to a pick-up spot for Amarillo customers.
“It would be amazing if everyone had their own cow in their own backyard, but that’s not practical,” she says. “So they buy a little piece of our herd of Jersey cows. The monthly fee is for us to board and care for those cows. In return, they receive raw milk weekly.”
Other Dairy Producers:
Kenzi points out that the FDA and CDC are still “not on board with raw milk” due to risks of bacterial contamination and foodborne illnesses. (For the same reason, the CDC also recommends against eating medium-rare steak and raw cookie dough.) But Wethington Farms’ herd-share owners and other raw milk advocates are interested in whole, unprocessed foods, she says, adding that many of the nutrients and probiotics in raw milk get destroyed in the pasteurization process. Some lactose intolerant customers say they are able to drink raw milk without issues. Others are trying to get rid of eczema or other allergies. “It’s full of probiotics that are so healing to the gut,” she says, pointing out increasing evidence that the human microbiome— gut health—is linked to the immune system, inflammation and overall wellness.
Plus, she says, it tastes better. “It’s so rich and creamy. A lot of people say it tastes like drinking ice cream out of the gallon—it’s not lacking in the flavor department,” she says, describing it as “milk the way God intended it to be.”
Beyond drinking raw milk, her customers use it to make cheese, kefir, butter and other dairy products.
Demand is growing, but right now Wethington Farms is maxed out on production. Kenzi milks four hours a day, spends another couple hours bottling, and finds time in between to homeschool her children. “I’m doing the most that I can do. But we hope to expand in the future as our kids get older,” she says.
Almost 20 years ago, Tim and Michele Gee—pronounced with a hard “g” sound, as in “go”—were farming on a much larger scale. He had grown up in a Hereford farming family and was managing around 10,000 diversified acres with his brother. It was hard, demanding work. Eventually, the couple sold those acres, moved to Claude, and began to think smaller.
“As a farmer, you want to make more money on the least amount of acres,” Michele says. The family knew from the history of their crops that sweet corn had always been profitable and efficient. When they learned Moore County sweet corn producer Willie Wieck was retiring, they offered to buy his business and equipment. (Wieck passed away in 2018.)
That shift to what the Gees call “niche farming” was 10 years ago.
Gee Family Farms has since become the Panhandle’s dominant provider of sweet corn. In 2017, they moved their operation to Amarillo from Claude, setting up a sweet corn and pumpkin farm on South Whitaker Road. They also own and operate a pecan orchard near Hart.
“Every year our customer base grows,” Michele says. “As the older generation is passing away, there’s more of an educational push for the younger generation.” The Gees and their family members regularly advise customers how to use and preserve their fresh corn for weeks at a time, even into the winter.
“Once they taste it, they’re hooked,” she adds.
True to the name, distributing the corn to the public is a family affair. Tim and Michele are joined by their four sons, her parents, and another couple who help on Saturdays at the Golden Spread Farmers Market in Amarillo. It takes a team: “We’ll sell around 12,000 ears of corn on a Saturday,” she says. “It’s all hands on deck.” Additionally, the farm opens to the public from 2 to 7 p.m. every Friday.
The Gees also sell every other week in Claude and, on Thursday evenings, in far southeast Amarillo at the Farmers Market at The Country Corner (2210 E. FM 1151). Some customers even buy bulk loads at the farm, filling up pickup beds with ears which they’ll resell in places like Canadian or Memphis, and even into Oklahoma.
Tim says members of the public often ask why Gee Family Farms doesn’t set up at the popular Canyon Farmers Market. It’s primarily a space issue, he says. “[People] don’t understand how much we sell,” he says with a laugh. On Saturdays at Golden Spread, two lines form early and build deep. Some customers buy bushel bags of corn, which contain 65 ears. Distributing that many thousands of units requires starting with a semi-trailer load of corn, and wedging that kind of operation into the tight confines of the Square is a challenge.
Beyond the corn, Gee Family Farms is also known for their familyfriendly Fall Daze at the pumpkin farm, which includes hayrides, a corn maze, corn shucking, a cotton patch and sunflower fields. Starting Sept. 28, it opens every Saturday until Oct. 26. (7651 S. Whitaker Road; 806.346.5899; geefamilyfarm.com)
Other Sweet Corn Producers: pH Veggies (phveggies.com)
Hefley Hives
“I started out how any hobbyist would,” says beekeeper Russell Hefley, who obtained his first bees in April 2018. “Curiosity got the best of me, and it grew from there.”
That phrase—“it grew from there”—is an understatement. Two years ago, Hefley stepped away from his full-time work as a welder/fabricator to focus entirely on his honey operation. He and his wife, Shyanne, now split weekend duties, selling to the public at both the Canyon Farmers Market and Golden Spread Farmers Market in Amarillo.
“Today, we’re a 160-colony operation,” he says. The Hefleys live on the northeast side of Amarillo but keep their hives all over the Panhandle, “mostly to the east” of the city, he says.
The total operation would have been even larger if not for the devastating wildfires earlier this year. Before then, Hefley maintained 280 colonies, overwintering many of them in Hemphill County. “I lost 100 colonies in the wildfires. I’m hoping to rebuild next spring. Spring is a time of expansion in the bee industry,” he says.
Their honey gets attention because it is purely local. Hefley Hives’ popular wildflower honey comes from bees pollinating spring flowers in the Panhandle until June. “It’s truly unique to our area, and might help with your allergies and all that good stuff,” he says. Because local honey contains small amounts of pollen from a geographic region, residents hope consuming it will help desensitize them to allergytriggering pollen. (While medical studies about this are inconclusive,
there’s no doubt that Hefley’s customers prefer the richness of unfiltered local honey over any mass-produced version.)
In the late summer, Hefley moves most of his hives onto cotton fields. Cotton is self-pollinating, but he says some Panhandle farmers have reported “a small increase in their yield if they have bees around.”
Like any kind of agriculture, honey production fluctuates with the climate and weather conditions. “It’s farming. Nothing’s guaranteed, year to year. You’re relying on Mother Nature to provide for you,” he explains. After a hot summer, Hefley pays close attention to the weather and its impact on his bees, because he realizes they’re a reflection of him—or vice versa. “If you put your time and sweat equity into [beekeeping] and see a reward, you feel a lot of pride from that. It makes you happy,” he says. “Bees are facing a lot of adversity these days, so to see them doing well makes you feel good.”
Along with the farmers markets, Hefley Hives products are available locally at SALT Spices & Specialties, Drug Emporium, and Panhandle Meat Processing locations.
(806.683.3963; hefleyhives.square.site)
Honey Producers:
Produce Growers
Dannerland Farm
Ben and Lindsey Danner have been selling at the Canyon Farmers Market for two years now, but didn’t intend to become Dannerland Farm or, for that matter, ever grow for the public. They just wanted a big garden at home to provide for their big family. “We have five kids,” Lindsey says. The couple’s children range from age 8 to 15. “I wanted to get my kids close to their food and have organic options in the backyard.”
It’s a big backyard. The couple lives on 10 acres and has dedicated half an acre to growing flowers and produce.
A custom home builder, Ben built Lindsey a hoop house (sometimes known as a high tunnel) as a way to extend their backyard growing season, trap humidity and protect plants from the wind. “I planted, filled it up, and got an insane amount of produce,” she says. “Lots of plants thrive in there.” In mid-August, her tomato plants were around 12 feet tall. She says they’ll hit 20 feet by the end of the season.
Edible flowers also get attention.
“Chefs love to buy them and use them on soups or in salads, or with cream cheese or herbs,” she says. Lindsey spends time educating the public on edible flowers like nasturtiums, because “people are not used to seeing that and don’t know what to do with them. Nasturtiums taste amazing. They’re a little peppery. My kids eat them right off the plants.”
Since that first tunnel, the Danners have added three smaller high tunnels, including one dedicated to strawberries and one for cut flowers. She also grows plenty of crops out in the open.
Both Ben and Lindsey represent Dannerland Farm at the Canyon Farmers Market, but Lindsey says they have defined roles. She’s the gardener and he’s the builder. “He’s the muscle behind this for sure. This is our dream together, being sustainable and being close to our food,” she says.
(facebook.com/dannerlandfarm)
necessity, and then discovered a market. “I wasn’t the only person
Mamie’s Backyard Farm
When their youngest child graduated from high school in 2017, Michael and Jamie Blasingame of Adrian were looking for a hobby to fill their time. He’s a full-time truck driver and she works in Dimmitt as a respiratory therapist, but both had enjoyed interacting with vendors at the former Amarillo Community Market.
Jamie decided she could garden, too. Their property had room— “It’s about half a city block,” she says—so they set aside around 500 square feet, planted some vegetables and began raising chickens.
“I think people should know how to sustain themselves, and we wanted to feed ourselves, too,” Jamie says. “Every year we increased the size of our garden.”
Now that garden is 5,000 square feet. Named for her nieces’ and nephews’ name for Jamie, Mamie’s Backyard sold products at Amarillo Community Market until it closed last year. This year, the couple moved to the new Sunset Marketown at Arts in the Sunset.
They sell a variety of products, headlined by potatoes, onions, pattypan squash and zucchini. “Last year, we added sourdough bread because people asked for it,” she says. “This year, we added striped candy.” They also grow several varieties of okra, black-eyed peas, green beans, jalapeño peppers, Carolina Reaper ghost peppers, serrano peppers and a variety of jams and jellies.
“It opens at 8 and we’re usually sold out of squash and zucchini by 9:30,” she says. “I was never a sales person until I started doing this. I love interacting with people and hearing their stories.”
She and Michael also find fulfillment in the simple act of gardening—even if they’re gardening for retail purposes. “It is very fulfilling. There’s a stress release. I love to go out in the garden for by-myself-time. I can think, listen to music or an audio book, and pull weeds,” she says. “It’s a wonderful feeling to have a beautiful, clean garden.”
(806.654.4335; facebook.com/mamiesbackyardfarm)
B.a.C.K. Yard Garden
With a five-acre piece of land between Canyon and Umbarger, Katie Kirkpatrick and her husband, Blaine Burnett, wanted to try their hand at backyard gardening. “My grandfather had a green thumb and I always wanted to but never really had space,” she says. They started small, planting a few varieties of produce. “It kind of worked.”
They planted more in 2014—the year the Canyon Farmers Market launched—and ended up with, in Katie’s words, “a ridiculous amount of cucumbers.” So Blaine made pickles, the couple became a vendor at the new market, and they’ve been involved ever since.
Today, B.a.C.K. Yard Garden is known for those pickles and cucumbers, along with a constantly changing selection of other produce. “We have eight kinds of squash,” Katie lists. “Several varieties of eggplants. Several peppers. Snack-sized tomatoes. Slicing tomatoes. Okra, tomatillos, Swiss chard, cucamelons, too.”
Cucamelons are small, grape-sized members of the cucumber and melon family, resembling tiny watermelons. They have a tangy, citrusy flavor and thrive in heat-tolerant climates like ours.
Among their popular eggplant varieties, Kirkpatrick and Burnett also sell fairytale eggplants. White in color with lavender stripes, these irresistible thumb-sized veggies are less bitter than a typical eggplant and can be eaten raw.
“Also, people also just really want okra,” Katie says. “And our breadand-butter pickles. A lot look forward to the pickles in general.”
The couple’s daughter, Cierra, also helps with the garden and Saturday sales, and the name of their booth reflects the small, family business. B.a.C.K. is an acronym for “Blaine and Cierra [and] Katie.”
Both Katie and Blaine work full-time jobs—“the farmers market is just a hobby,” she insists—but Canyon knows them well from their consistent presence on the Square on Saturday mornings.
In fact, until last summer, Katie had served as the official manager for the Canyon Farmers Market. She attributes its overall success to the vendors, the community, and the demand for fresh food and produce. “It started small and each year got stronger and larger. We always learned something from the previous year,” she says. “We tried to create an atmosphere with everybody that makes it supportive and welcoming, and ran it from the viewpoint of a small business owner. That really benefited us in the long run.”
(facebook.com/BACKyardgardenCanyon)
Tim Moss
Tim Moss doesn’t sell produce under a name that includes the words “farms” or “acres” or anything to get attention. It’s just him, Tim Moss. “I do it as an individual,” he says.
His family gardened on their property north of Amarillo, and Moss still lives slightly outside the city limits, growing produce on two acres. “I grew up doing it as a way to supplement family income,” he says. “My mother was a big gardener.”
Despite having plenty to occupy his time—Moss has spent years in the water well business and owns and maintains rental properties— he has continued his family history of small-property farming. He’s been selling exclusively at Golden Spread Farmers Market since 2013.
“I really didn’t intend to go full-bore like I’ve done,” he admits. “I’ve always been a big gardener in the years before, but it just got bigger and bigger.”
He sells, in his words, “pretty much everything.” That includes okra, slicing tomatoes, small salad tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, cantaloupes, black-eyed peas and “all kinds of peppers.” Moss says people in this area tend to have similar tastes and interests when it comes to locally grown produce. He believes many of those
MV Produce (806.773.1571; micahvenhaus.wixsite.com)
YoungFolk Flowers (facebook.com/YoungFolkflowers)
Schaffer Farm (schafferfarm.com/schaffer-flowers)
Crabtree Family Farms (806.390.9741; facebook.com/ crabteefamilyfarms)
preferences have been shaped by the impact of Southern culinary culture. “Southern cooking and the southern diet are wellestablished. I try to give people what they want,” he says.
On his property, everything starts from seed. Moss plants indoors in March and then transplants outside as the weather warms. “It’s all the old-fashioned way,” he says.
Given the influence of his own family’s gardening and farming habits, Moss laments that some of those older practices are falling away. “In the past, family has been a fixture of farming. But as time has gone by, there are [fewer] smaller family farms,” Moss says. “That’s kind of an alarming thing from my point of view. It would be nice to see it continue as it has in the past.”
“Mushrooms and microgreens are kind of our main staple,” says Myles Artho of Fuku Farm, an urban operation out of his home in the heart of Amarillo. Two years ago, he began selling microgreens to great success. Then he branched out into mushrooms, which had always fascinated him. “That took off. We couldn’t really keep them in stock, so we had to up our farm size to triple our output production. We’ve been impressed by everyone’s acceptance of mushrooms and microgreens in this area.”
He grows both crops inside the atrium of his home. “I use the front half for microgreens and the back half for mushrooms,” he says.
The Artho name may be familiar to some. “We’re all from the Wildorado area, a big farming family,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed growing plants and having things for us to eat.” With three kids at home, he wanted to give them a hands-on opportunity to see how food grows. “We came across microgreens randomly. The kids loved eating them. We put them on literally everything—sandwiches, salads, soups. We’ll dehydrate them and make seasonings. We literally eat them almost every single meal,” he says.
In addition to microgreens—which are the first sets of leaves a seedling grows, packed with nutrients to fuel the early stages of plant growth—Artho has enjoyed cultivating and harvesting mushrooms. Delicate oyster mushrooms and visually unique lion’s mane mushrooms are customer favorites at the Golden Spread Farmers Market on Saturdays or the Farmers Market at The Country Corner on Thursdays. “People are sauteing them or using them as a meat additive. Chicken goes a lot further [when combined] with
mushrooms,” he says.
Artho also schedules a weekly delivery route for products within the Amarillo and Canyon area “so folks can have our product delivered direct to their door,” he says. They are also available in the front refrigerator at Scratch Made Bakery downtown for pick-up options.
As for the unique name, fuku is a Japanese word that means
“good fortune.” And in Lingala, a language spoken in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, fuku can mean “wind.”
“It’s obviously windy here, and we’re looking for good fortune,” Artho says with a smile. Also, “it was something that looks good with the word ‘farm.’”
(806.670.4064; facebook.com/fukufarm)
Dawn Farm (806.221.2130; facebook.com/dawnfarmcanyon) Majestic Mushrooms (facebook.com/majesticshrooms)
EXCLUSIVE: Visit brickandelm.com for recipes from these growers & producers using their own products
Howard Farms
Soil matters. On the expanses of land outside Clarendon, the soil texture is sandy. It holds less water, but allows deeper root penetration, faster drainage, and in the case of watermelons and cantaloupes, sweeter flavor. Donny and Markeeta Howard have made a business out of it.
“Where I’m at, our soil is really sandy so you get that good, high sugar content,” he says about Howard Farms, where every year he plants 60 to 100 acres of watermelons, cantaloupes, pumpkins and other produce. “The north [Panhandle] has tighter ground, and it stays too wet under the melons or cantaloupe. You’ll get bad spots.” But the Howards’ lighter soil means dry conditions. That’s where melons tend to thrive.
Donny grew up in Clarendon and spent summers during high school helping out at his father’s farm, where George Howard raised many of the same crops. “After college, I started farming and raising my own,” Donny says. That was 22 years ago. “It’s kind of in my blood.”
Every other day, he and his team—including his sons Harrison and Hudson, and Donny’s father, George—pick up to 5,000 cantaloupes. They sell them to sideof-the-road peddlers throughout the Panhandle, meet with customers at Golden Spread Farmers Market three days a week in Amarillo, and supply most of the United Supermarkets locations in the Texas Panhandle and as far south as Lubbock.
As for watermelons, Howard Farms produces and picks around 2,000 a week, and if you buy one of Donny’s cantaloupes or watermelons at United, it was likely picked the day before. “Some of the [produce] you get in the grocery store might have been picked three weeks ago,” he explains. That doesn’t apply to his hand-delivered melons. “My stuff is vine-ripened. We pick every other day when they’re ripe and ready to eat.”
Despite those production numbers, Donny isn’t a full-time farmer. He works at Pantex in radiation safety, then spends his evenings driving truckloads of melons all over the Panhandle. “I started there a year and a half ago,” he says. Melons are a water-intensive crop, and Donny is worried about the aquifer. “They take quite a bit of water. If we don’t have water, we’ll be in bad shape.”
The Pantex job is a hedge against that future, but in the meantime, he and Howard Farms remain one of the premier suppliers in the Panhandle—and look for their local pumpkin stands in late September.
The Facts and Folklore of an Amarillo ‘Ghost’ Story SISTER ACT
BY RYAN MCSWAIN
Josephine Anderson and her husband, Aleck, came to Amarillo in 1926. Her sister, Sara Morris, eventually followed. They lived together in a beautiful, extravagant home on West 15th Avenue, universally known as the Anderson place. The trio remained part of Amarillo’s high society for decades, with Sara the last to pass away in 1972.
Some, of course, say the sisters never left. They believe their spirits still make Amarillo their home—and their unfinished business may surprise you.
The Legends Begin
According to local folklore, Aleck Anderson, upon his death, left the house to the two sisters. The women never spoke again, but continued to live together. Strangely, they wanted the house burned to the ground when they died.
We’ll look at the parts of the story that don’t ring true, but one strange fact stands out.
In her will, Josephine demanded that the home, where she lived for a quarter of a century, be destroyed after both she and her sister died. The will states that the home must be “demolished and razed
to the ground.” The land was then to be “graded and leveled in such a manner as to obliterate forever all evidence of the existence of said home.” Finally, her executors must “destroy all of such furniture, furnishings, household appliances, objects of art, and any and all other contents of my said home belonging to me.”
But the home was not torn down, and the land was not leveled. The contents of the house were sold to the public after Sara’s death. When the estate sale managers forgot to open the front gate, bargain hunters climbed over it to get inside. They planned the estate sale to last four days, but the building stood bare after only one.
The Anderson place on 15th sat empty until 1975, when $500,000 in renovations transformed it into a restaurant called Rhett Butler’s. The restaurant boasted a southern flare, two bars and a rooftop patio. Locals may remember Rhett’s as a gathering place for lawyers and even the judge during T. Cullen Davis’s controversial trial in 1976. Davis, a Fort Worth oil tycoon, was accused of murdering his wife’s boyfriend and his own step-daughter. When Davis was found not guilty, they partied hard enough at Rhett’s to wake the dead.
Rhett’s gave birth to the earliest of the ghost stories. Erica Nye tells that story. “My mom was a bartender at Rhett Butler’s when I was little,” she says. “She was the last one there every night. She heard
noises all the time when she was the only person there. The piano would play sometimes. When they would come in in the morning, the coffee pot or blender would be on, when she knew she had unplugged them the night before.” She also heard stories about a chillingly cold spot on the staircase.
Others echo similar memories of scattered chairs or pots and pans that moved on their own. Whether one believes the stories or not, it appears that the owners did. At least enough to do something about it.
Ghostbusters of the 1980s
According to several who claim to be involved, the owners of Rhett Butler’s enlisted the help of local ghost hunters, long before reality TV made the concept popular. Led by a prominent local psychic known as Bubbles, as many as 30 investigators explored the large house in groups of five. They took notes and snapped infrared photos of anything peculiar. There are claims the group included the late Amarillo attorney Jeff Blackburn and paranormal teams from NYU and Berkley, California.
According to one source, “The most impressive photo I’ve ever seen of ghosts was Mr. Anderson with one of the sisters standing on the balcony overlooking the stairway. They were as plain as day. Clothing and all. But they were transparent. There were other photos … but none as impressive as the couple on the banister.”
Cynthia Hood Dodgen says she was there that night, but she waited outside for her sister to tell her all about it. After driving around the block in the pouring rain, she finally parked. She noticed the older car behind her had a woman in the passenger seat. “No one else, just her. I got upset because they had left their car lights on shining in my rear-view mirror.” Cynthia moved her car to where she had a clear view of the Anderson house. “I saw a dim light come on in this upstairs window. It was weird because it looked like someone pulling on the handle of a manual adding machine from way back in the day.”
The Folks Behind the Folklore
Josephine and Aleck were childhood friends, and married in 1910 in Minneapolis. Aleck, an immigrant from Sweden, got his start in the lumber business. The oil booms of the 1920s drew the couple to the Texas Panhandle, just as the flu epidemic hit Minneapolis. They lived first in Childress, then Pampa, then Amarillo. According to the gossip columns of the time, they lived together in the Herring Hotel. Aleck Anderson found great success in oil and gas. Josephine and Aleck donated to charities, traveled extensively, and drove new automobiles. Josephine had a Packard Sedan registered in her own name in 1937.
According to a 1971 newspaper article, the Andersons once owned all of the land between Wolflin and 15th Avenues—and from Georgia to Western Streets, including a poultry and dairy farm on what was then the western end of town. That was where they built the house that, in many ways, defined their family.
Their wealth allowed Josephine to embrace her passion: raising and showing horses. R. A. Burnett, another local oil man, built the Sunset Stables in 1935, but it was the Andersons who made them famous. They purchased the stables in 1937, and they quickly became a landmark that folks remember even today.
“When I-40 was first built across Georgia Street, all of Wellington Square was pasture in the middle of the city,” remembers Sam Purl. “I always loved seeing the horses standing at the fence where the Toot’n Totum now stands on the northeast corner.”
Jean Gaut was there in the 1940s. “I would save my money to ride one of the stable horses. The land was vacant to the area that is now I-40,” she says.
“I can remember as a child the horse stables and the race track on the southern portion of the property near Wolflin, before I-40 came through,” says Becky Ward Hudson. “Wellington Apartments and Wellington Office Park now stand in the vicinity where they were. We were so intrigued by the race track and stables.”
The next day, the researchers met at Paradise Too on 10th Avenue. Bubbles handed out notebooks for everyone that contained their findings. Cynthia says, “As my sister pushed her book towards me, I noticed a picture of the lady I had seen in the car, looking just as unhappy as I had seen her.” Bubbles said it was no wonder they hadn’t found her ghost inside the house; the photo showed Sara Morris outside in the car. And when the group returned to investigate the previously locked upstairs room, they found an old-fashioned adding machine on the desk. “I never stepped foot back in that house,” says Cynthia.
Josephine sought the best horses in the country. One of her most notable American Saddlebreds was Sunset Commander, sired by the legendary Wing Commander out of Josephine’s own prize-winner Ana Cacho Del Oro. Mrs. Anderson headhunted trainers like Buck Barlow, Scotty McNichols and Ted Macklin to turn her precious horses into winners. In her younger years, Josephine often drove the horses to competitions herself.
Along with Sunset Commander, many of Josephine’s horses made names for themselves—and what names they were: Piccadilly.
Tipperary Rex. Over Again. Sir Eric. Silver. The Doctor. Last Chances King. King Bourbon Talola.
But the pride of the Andersons, Sunset Stables, and Amarillo itself was Lady Joy. Josephine purchased the jumper in 1931, and Lady Joy
became the most notable horse in the city. She took first place in the 1934 and ’35 Bartlesville Horse Shows and second at the 1938 American Royal. Josephine owned many fine horses, but none of them stole Amarillo’s heart like Lady Joy.
Josephine’s younger sister, Miss Sara Alice Morris, came to visit several times in the 1930s. In 1938, the two dined together at the Rose Bowl Tea Room, an early haven of Amarillo’s social elite. Josephine’s older sister, Mary Jane Gray, and her husband brought Sara to Texas with them in 1941, possibly to celebrate the completion of the Andersons’ new house, a beautiful two-story home of more than 7,000 square feet. When the Grays returned to Minnesota, Sara stayed for “a longer visit.” This longer visit appears to have lasted the rest of her life.
Sara was 42 years old in 1941, and by all accounts never married. At the time, it was not unusual for an unwed sister to move in with family—especially when family was as well off as Josephine and Aleck. Regardless of Sara’s preference, it also wouldn’t have been unusual for her to be single; she reached adulthood just as World War I and the Great Influenza epidemic decimated an entire generation.
Sara attended society events, made friends, and joined the Andersons on their travels. But Sara spent the majority of her time volunteering. Because she arrived in Amarillo just before the United States joined World War II, she had ample opportunity. While the Andersons supported the troops with charitable horse shows, Sara planned many local events with the United Service Organizations, popularly known as USO. As one of the Red Cross’s Gray Ladies, she assisted sick and injured soldiers with non-medical needs.
The USO presented Sara with a pin for more than 1,000 hours of service, and Mayor Joe Jenkins awarded her a Civil Defense Ribbon. After the war, she continued to volunteer with the Red Cross and at the Amarillo Veterans Hospital, which eventually became the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center.
The Master, another prized horse of the Andersons, joined the 1950 Olympic tour with rider Norman Brinker. The Andersons and Sara Morris traveled to New York and watched The Master jump in Madison Square Garden. Josephine and Sara stayed on for the rest of the tour while Mr. Anderson returned to Amarillo.
Less than a year later, in 1951, Aleck was the first of the three to die at the age of 70. Josephine took over business matters as his independent executrix. She continued to raise and show horses, and Sara volunteered as long as she was able.
Josephine and Sara lived together until Josephine’s death in 1967. Some of her remaining horses were sold, but many were given to Boys Ranch.
Sara was the last to go, in 1972. They all died at home, at the Anderson place, and they rest together in the same locked alcove at the Llano Cemetery mausoleum.
Legacies and Long Memories
The lingering question is Josephine’s will. Why would she make such an unusual request? What tragedy occurred on the property that made her want to erase the entire site from Amarillo’s collective memory?
In 1961, the Amarillo Globe-Times wrote of a long-ago fire at Sunset Stables, during which the rescued horses ran back into the fire. Such an event would surely have broken Josephine’s heart. But further research shows that the fire actually occurred at the nearby Wolflin Stables, and no mention is made of the Andersons or their prized horses. Lady Joy in particular continued to appear in the papers until she quietly retired to raise a colt.
The rumors of the sisters locking themselves away from the world and each other also conflicts with public record. Sara and Josephine continued to travel together after Aleck’s passing, including a trip to New York and another back home to Minneapolis. Josephine made the papers on her own in 1957, when she bought the first Rolls Royce in Amarillo.
In fact, many Amarillo residents still have fond memories of the sisters.
J. Ronald Walcher says he was Sara Morris’s physical therapist in the early 1960s, when Sara was confined to a wheelchair. “She was a very gentle lady and a joy to work with. On the rare occasions she left the house, she took my wife and me to the Country Club for lunch.”
Amy Herbert McCarty shares similar memories of Josephine. “My Mom was Mrs. Anderson’s nurse for several years,” she says. “She
THE INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE TODAY, AND MODERN EXTERIOR (RIGHT)
THE ANDERSONS’ ALCOVE AT LLANO CEMETERY
was very nice to me. I was lucky enough to be in the home a couple of times. I never heard of any hauntings or ghosts.”
Carolyn Laursen relays a story from her late husband, Larry. “He delivered the paper to the Andersons. One of the sisters was in a wheelchair. If she was out on the porch, he would stop and talk to her. The other sister told him to go down to Blackburn Brothers and pick out a new suit and shirt and tie and shoes. They bought him a full set of clothes for Easter.”
Josephine’s will, along with the command to destroy the house, directed the creation of the Josephine Anderson Charitable Trust— a name many within the nonprofit world will recognize. The family’s legacy has funded medical care, charities for children, the arts and much more. Josephine stated that she wanted to support causes “exclusively in the State of Texas.” The trust is still active today, which allocates funds to more than 50 grantees each year.
So how do we reconcile these stories of Josephine and Sara’s actions and reputation with tales of the ghosts they allegedly left behind? The folklore may point to changing social norms about taking in family or the isolation many experience in their older years. Perhaps this is a conversation about the prejudices faced by single women— even women of considerable means.
The Current Tenants
Rhett Butler’s closed in the mid-1980s. Barrett Pierce had been trying to acquire the property for years, and he finally came to an agreement with the bank in 1989. He began using the building as the office of his business, Rio Petroleum.
The Pierces made further renovations, which led to another encounter. “We used Gary Barrett’s Diversified Interiors,” says Barrett Pierce. “His superintendent, Poncho, came into the building early in the morning to turn the lights on. A woman appeared behind Poncho and scared him. She was dressed in, according to him, ‘ghostly clothes.’ He ran over and threw the switch to turn the lights on. But she’d disappeared.”
It’s almost a shame to debunk such a good story. But according to Pierce, “A friend of my wife’s knew the Andersons and knew the house. They even knew the lady across the street who goes for a walk
every morning.” That’s likely who Poncho saw. “She’d come over to ask, ‘Who’s moving in?’”
Fortunately, one other story has a less easy answer. Diversified Interiors came back for more remodeling, and one of the workers was in the hallway leading into the bathrooms. It’s a beautiful area, lined with narrow mirrors from floor to ceiling. In the reflection, the worker saw a ghost behind him. “He ran off and never came back,” says Pierce. The worker, that is. The whereabouts of the ghost are unknown.
Barrett Pierce and Rio Petroleum have now been in the Anderson place longer than even Sara Morris. They’ve preserved much of the home’s splendor, including etched glass, intricate woodwork, and stained-glass windows. The staircase—alive in the memories of so many—is still there. Pierce says he’s never felt anything but good thoughts and good vibes inside. His team gives the building an energetic atmosphere, full of the same kinds of business in which the Andersons thrived.
The parallels are not lost on Barrett Pierce. “We try to model ourselves after the Andersons in some respects,” he says. “They were venturesome and successful.”
A Ghostly Season
Fall is near, so we’ll leave you with appropriate memories for the season, courtesy of Nancy Andrade and Linda Huddleston. “One Halloween,” says Nancy, “one of the Bivins boys and a couple of other kids, me included, dared each other to ring the Andersons’ doorbell to see if they answered. When the door opened you saw a beautiful staircase and carpet. They gave out fruit to all of us. They had bushels lined up along the wall.”
Possibly remembering a different Halloween, Linda adds, “They gave out full-size candy bars, and that was a big deal to us kids!”
That, apparently, was as spooky as things got at 2805 W. 15th Ave.
So what have we learned? Even if you don’t join the ghost hunt, sometimes the ghost finds you. Get to know your neighbors before they scare you to death. And above all, be kind to children, veterans, and horses in Amarillo, Texas. You never know who might be watching.
RHETT BUTLER’S OPENED IN 1975
CANYON WALLS and WARRIORS
BY WES REEVES
The sounds of fear don’t readily emanate from the written narratives of warfare. The language is limited in its ability to conjure the screams, the rapid respiration and the crunch of grass under foot when it’s time to run.
The audio track of violence and panic is even more difficult to imagine in the serenity of a place like Palo Duro Canyon. But on an early fall day a short 150 years back in time, the calm of this natural wonder was shattered in a sudden eruption of gunfire that reverberated off canyon walls and across time, altering the course of history.
On Sept. 28, 1874, the 4th U.S. Cavalry, under the command of Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie, fell upon bands of Comanche, Kiowa, southern Cheyenne and southern Arapaho encamped at the bottom of the upper Palo Duro during a brief lull in a monthslong struggle known as the Red River War. Warriors held off long enough to allow their women and children to escape the trap, but were forced to abandon their positions and leave behind not only their winter provisions, but also most of their horses.
The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon was a long time coming considering the decades of strife between white settlers and indigenous people of the Plains, but the slaughter of the bison, or American buffalo, on the Southern Plains in the early 1870s hastened the climax. Reservations in Oklahoma had already been established for the Southern Plains tribes, but their people still depended on buffalo beyond reservation boundaries because government rations were meager—and often nonexistent. The appearance of white buffalo hunters at the Adobe Walls outpost in Hutchinson County in early 1874 presented a grave threat to the Southern Plains tribes, so they went on the offensive.
Michael Grauer, formerly with the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum and now curator of Cowboy Collections and Western Art
COL. RANALD S. MACKENZIE
HISTORIC PHOTOS COURTESY OF PPHM
LONE WOLF, CHIEF
at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, points out that the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty allowed the tribes to hunt buffalo in the Texas Panhandle. But Grauer asserts the federal government could not grant exclusive hunting rights to the tribes as it did not have jurisdiction over the public lands of Texas, where both the indigenous inhabitants and white buffalo hunters were free to take what they wanted across the unsettled Panhandle.
War on the Plains
Nonetheless, the native peoples believed their rights had been violated. With the scarcity of food on their minds, a confederation of tribes attacked the hunters at Adobe Walls on June 27, 1874. (Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum maintains this battle site and has a 150th Anniversary exhibition about Adobe Walls on display through May 2025.) The multiday siege essentially ended in a draw but set the stage for future confrontation, though the U.S. government did not immediately respond.
“When the Adobe Walls trading post was attacked, the U.S. Army at Fort Dodge refused to send help, calling it a civilian affair, which it was,” Grauer asserts. Soon, however, violence broke out in other locations, and President Ulysses S. Grant decided it was time for the military to compel the warring bands of Southern Plains tribes to give up and return to the reservations.
Acting on Grant’s orders, Gen. Philip Sheridan of Civil War fame deployed five columns of army soldiers to the region, three of which were under Mackenzie’s command. Throughout the sweltering summer, soldiers and Tonkawa scouts pursued the scattered bands of natives, seeking to pin them down, divest them of their war-making resources and return them to Oklahoma. Multiple skirmishes took place in August and September from the lower reaches of the Palo Duro in Armstrong and Briscoe counties all the way to the Upper Washita River in Hemphill County. But in each case, warriors and their families disappeared into the great unknown, frustrating the military campaign.
Into the Canyon
Then, early on the morning of Sept. 28, Tonkawa scouts discovered several indigenous camps spread along the floor of Palo Duro Canyon, and Mackenzie ordered his men to slip quietly down the steep cliffs, single-file, to mount an attack. As the fighting intensified, warriors and their families fled and climbed out of the canyon, leaving everything they owned behind. The soldiers began to take fire from above their positions, so the order was given to destroy the lodges and food supplies and march out of the canyon to safety on the rim. As the soldiers left, they took more than 1,400 of the tribes’ horses with them.
The next day, Mackenzie ordered more than 1,000 of the horses to be slaughtered in nearby Tule Canyon to keep them from falling back into enemy hands. With very little food and virtually no transportation, the Southern Plains tribes were no longer in a position to resist.
“Some returned to their reservation in western Indian Territory,” Grauer says. “Most, being Kwahadis, fled west into West Texas and New Mexico. They were trying to escape what they thought were attempts to annihilate them.”
Quanah Parker, the chief warrior of the Kwahadi Comanches, wasn’t present at the Palo Duro Canyon fight, and held out longer. But after several months, he, too, resigned himself to the inevitable and surrendered at Fort Sill in June 1875, thus ending all armed resistance to white settlement of the Panhandle.
Reconciling with History
The changes that took place in the ensuing years are often glamorized, but to the native people, their defeat and exile was traumatic. Dr. Tim Bowman, professor of history at West Texas A&M University, points out that the Panhandle region was a part of the tribal homeland going back at least a century.
“Imagine a foreign power coming in, defeating you and your people militarily, and then colonizing the place that you call home, including your sacred spaces. It was an awful tragedy for them, to say the
THE BATTLE SITE
least,” Bowman shares.
The wild Panhandle was abruptly tamed by Euro-American people who were very much aware of the culture they displaced, but they didn’t look back, and the contributions of native peoples to life on the Plains were mostly dismissed as irrelevant in a modern era.
But there is always a hope that history, which cannot be changed, can at least enlighten, and people of the modern era can gain something by understanding the civilization and culture that preceded them.
Dr. Alex Hunt, WT’s Vincent-Haley Professor of Western Studies, Regents Professor of English and director of the Center for the Study of the American West, says the settlers that moved to the Panhandle after the Red River War may have gained land and a place in which to build a new civilization. But by erasing the past, they missed out on a richness of cultural and ecological diversity.
“I think we are due for some form of reconciliation with our history, and some consideration of what we might want and be able to restore to some extent,” Hunt says. “One example is the bison herd at Caprock Canyons State Park. But I see little effort to engage with the Comanches and Kiowas, the efforts of Texas Tech and Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum notwithstanding.”
Any engagement of this sort would never return the region to an open buffalo range or erase mistakes of the past. But armed with a better knowledge and appreciation of those whose ancestors first fell in love with the lavish emptiness of the Texas Panhandle, anyone claiming the home range would hopefully grow to love and protect it even more. A Panhandle sunset is beautiful in the eyes of every beholder, and in that sense, we are much the same as the vanquished tribes who once called this area home. Our shared love for the land is a great place to start.
PLAINS INDIANS (BELOW) AND THEIR CAMP IN THE FORT SILL AREA
Texas State Park LOST AND FOUND
The first time folks drive south on Osage and look around at the flat, largely treeless landscape of the Great Plains, most think no way there’s a canyon around here. The fact is, just nine miles south of I-40 lies a place that was listed as Texas State Park 10 from 1933 to 1939. It was called Palisades State Park and it is part of the second biggest canyon in the U.S.
In the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corp—also known as the CCC— put men to work all across the country, developing infrastructure, such as roads, telephone lines, and even construction projects like the Hoover Dam. They are probably best known for the work they did developing our National and State Parks.
The CCC was the economic stimulus that helped lift the nation from the Great Depression. Folks in the Panhandle wanted a state park project in Amarillo and the most likely place was Palo Duro Canyon. With its beautiful canyon walls, plant life and river, the canyon was an obvious choice; however, the rancher who owned the land for the new state park was being sticky with his negotiations.
Not wanting to miss out on a CCC project and the economic boost that came with it, Amarillo business leaders purchased 320 acres upstream from the state park we know today and donated the land to the State of Texas for Palisades State Park. CCC troop 856 started work on that donated land. The CCC built roads, picnic areas and a beautiful stone concession building. The donation of land was contingent on the area being developed and operated as a state park.
Eventually, Texas sealed the deal for Palo Duro Canyon State Park and that project started further down the canyon system. The resources and manpower developing Palisades State Park moved to the new site—and the leaders who had donated the land for Palisades State Park took it back into private ownership. The developed acres, along with the concession building, were bought and sold over the years. Nearly 30 years ago, the property was converted into Starlight Canyon Bed & Breakfast, Wedding and Event Venue.
Fast forward to 2013: Liz and Nate Green bought Starlight Canyon and uncovered its unique history. Working with Liz’s father, David Tinsley, and the Randall County Historic Commission, the concession building was approved for a Texas Historic Landmark designation. A historic marker installed in 2014 tells this story.
Today, folks from all over the world enjoy Palo Duro Canyon State Park as one of our state’s most-visited state parks. Much of the same natural beauty and dramatic landscape surrounds Starlight Canyon Bed & Breakfast.
Liz and Nate enjoy hosting travelers from all over the world, as well as folks from Canyon, Amarillo and the rest of the Panhandle who are looking for a one-of-a-kind getaway close to home. So many locals enjoy what Starlight Canyon has to offer that the Greens coined the catchphrase, “Getaway without Going Away!”
Along with the overnight accommodations, Starlight Canyon offers moonlight massages, romance packages, candlelight dinners, cabin dinners, private hot tubs in all the cabins, and a level of service that sets it apart. Breakfast is the specialty at Starlight Canyon, and guests return again and again often requesting their favorite recipe. Starlight Canyon is also the perfect setting to celebrate. We host weddings, birthdays, reunions, couples retreats and anniversaries.
While folks back in the 1930s lost the chance to visit Palisades State Park, today people have found an incredible brand of Texas hospitality at Starlight Canyon Bed & Breakfast.
The Green family invites you to experience this amazing history for yourself. See the beautiful original stone concession building that has since been converted into the main lodge with front desk, kitchen and Piñon cabin. Come and experience what it’s like to …
“Getaway Without Going Away!”
A Reel Future For AMARILLO FILM FESTIVAL
BY CHIP CHANDLER
Cannes. Park City, Utah. New York. Now Amarillo?
That’s what the starry-eyed organizers of the inaugural Amarillo International Film Festival are hoping for after its first batch of films screen in October.
The festival—which will feature 35 in-competition films, including narrative features, documentaries, shorts and student films—runs from Oct. 10 to 12 at Arts in the Sunset, 3701 Plains Blvd.
The event developed serendipitously, organizers say.
Sherman Bass, film commissioner of the Greater Amarillo Film Commission, first brought up the idea when he interviewed for his position in 2022. Around that same time, but separately, Amarillo native Kate McSwain returned to her hometown; after settling in, she started looking for a way to make a difference in town and decided what was missing was a festival. Then Bass got introduced to a third film fan, Joshua Shawn, who had suggested that a film section be added to the Hoodoo Mural Festival.
“It was going to happen no matter what,” Bass believes. “It just turned out to be really good timing with multiple people thinking that it’s time to have a juried film festival in Amarillo.”
Shawn is now part of the festival’s planning committee, while McSwain founded the Amarillo Film Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the festival while also setting up pop-up screenings throughout the year.
“I’ve lived all over the U.S., and pretty much wherever I live, if I don’t get involved in (an existing) project, I create a project—something I feel like is missing or would add to the community I live in,” McSwain says. She’d mentioned it to her former classmate, Sheryl Anderson of Anderson Modeling & Talent Agency, who told her that Bass was
running the now-revived and expanded film commission.
“Until about two years ago, we were a very small line item in the budget and always someone else’s secondary obligation,” Bass says.
But then, the Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau started “seeing a lot of synergy” around some major projects, Bass says. TV impresario Taylor Sheridan bought the 6666 Ranch and decided to film Yellowstone prequel 1883 in the area. Plus, Sharpened Iron Studios, a faith-based studio in downtown Amarillo, opened in 2021 and made the drama What Remains in the region.
“I think the community started getting excited in 2021 and ’22 about the possibility that people might be making movies or TV in Amarillo,” Bass says. That was enough to convince the CVB to boost the film commission’s budget and hire its first full-time director. And Bass is bullish on his chances to use those increased resources to attract more productions to the region.
ATTENTION-GETTING TOPOGRAPHY
In addition to the area’s significant homes, brick streets and historic Route 66, Bass also has a heck of an ace in the hole.
“While we have architecture from multiple periods, what sets us apart from other large film commissions in the state is Palo Duro Canyon,” Bass says. “Our topography of mesas and the canyon makes us totally different from other areas. We can do everything here but mountains and beaches.”
The international film festival is part of Bass’s strategy, too. “It’s another way to highlight Amarillo to the filmmakers who come,” Bass says. “They’ll see the topography, the geography and the city for themselves.”
Though Amarillo has hosted a few such festivals in the past, none have had quite the scope as this one. Dozens of films (Bass won’t give the exact number) from around the world were submitted, and a selection committee chose 35: three narrative features, three documentary features, six documentary shorts, 12 narrative shorts and 11 student shorts. Four come from Amarillo-based filmmakers.
“They’re all so well done,” Bass says. “They all have good storytelling at the heart, no matter what the subject is.”
Helping get the first festival off the ground are McSwain and co-director Margaret Jenkins. “They are both wonderful, passionate ladies,” Bass says. “It has been wonderful working with them.”
Jenkins, a fan of all types of films, met McSwain shortly after she moved back to Amarilllo. “Her enthusiasm for the project sold me,” Jenkins says. “I was in from the very start. And then, when we met Sherman, it became more real … and it took off.
“Amarillo is growing,” Jenkins continues. “We have lots of arts and culture already, and I think film is another one added to the vibrant community.”
HIGH QUALITY, MULTIPLE GENRES
McSwain says she’s excited for festival newbies to see what’s on offer. “I’ve lived in many places where there were film festivals … and at each one, you’ll see films that nine out of 10 times are never seen again commercially, and they’re mind-blowing. That makes festivals not only unique, but very special,” McSwain says.
The inaugural Amarillo festival kicks off with a VIP reception and screening of For the Record, a short documentary about The Canadian Record, from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 10.
Films will screen in five blocks from 1 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 11, then in seven blocks from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 12. Seminars on animation and writing for the screen also are scheduled. The festival will wrap with an awards ceremony, recognizing the top film in each category, as judged by the festival’s still topsecret jury.
Admission is $15 for Friday or Saturday, $25 for the full weekend and $75 for a VIP pass. For information and tickets, visit AmarilloFilmFestival.com.
“I think everyone is going to be very pleased with the turnout,” Bass says. And attendees should be quite pleased with the films themselves. “The genres are all over the place, from really serious drama to slasher to suspense to comedy,” he says. “Some of the highest-quality films are in the student category, which was really pleasantly surprising.”
The community is starting to get on board, as well.
“We’re trying to do as much locally as possible,” McSwain says, listing Blind Bird Glassblowing as the creator of the trophies being distributed, T-shirts from Free Cheese Prints and catering from Black Fig Food.
That’s not all, she says. “We have volunteers from 20-somethings at The 806 (Coffee + Lounge) to ladies in my garden club.”
FILM COMMISSIONER
SHERMAN BASS
SUPPORT FOR T hat Time of the Month
The name has been in place from the beginning, and it gets attention: Team Tampon. “At first, it was a joke, but then we just liked it and decided, yep, we’re Team Tampon,” Perry Steph, a Tascosa High School senior, says. She and three friends make up the Team. “It gets pretty funny sometimes. We have to tell teachers, ‘Hey, I’m with Team Tampon. Do you need anything?’ But yeah, it just stuck.”
Steph is the leader of Team Tampon, a subcommittee in the Friends In Service of Hunger Club at THS. For several years, the group has provided food items for students who experience food insecurity.
“We don’t get any credit or any grade; it’s just volunteer,” Steph says. “It makes me feel so fulfilled that people are getting what they need. We’re ensuring every student has the opportunity to feel comfortable.”
Through donation collection efforts, the group expanded its offerings to include essential hygiene items, as well. “They noticed there was a problem that girls did not have enough feminine products for their needs throughout the school year,” Steph shares. “So they started putting products in the bathrooms.”
Today, the program has evolved and allows students who need hygiene items like soap, shampoo, conditioner, tampons, pads, toothpaste and deodorant to request them from teachers at THS. These anonymous orders are filled by FISH Club members and distributed throughout the year until supplies run out. Steph says more than 200 girls responded to a recent survey indicating they have used the service at some point in their high school careers.
“In the survey, we asked how many times you have not come to school because you don’t have [period products], and it was like some girls were saying three days or four days,” Steph says. “They don’t come to school because they don’t have anything! They can’t just go to school and learn. It’s insane.”
WOMEN OF THE TENT
BY MEAGHAN COLLIER
Period poverty, or the lack of access to safe menstrual products and sanitary facilities, is a global health issue, and the United States is not immune. According to a 2023 survey commissioned by Thinx Inc. and the nonprofit group PERIOD., almost a quarter of teens and one-third of adults struggle to afford period products. In the same survey, 44 percent of teens report stress and embarrassment due to a lack of access to period products. The same study, however, indicates that strides have been made in the past few years regarding access to period products in schools. Conversations around menstrual health, education and efforts to decrease stigma around menstrual cycles are driving that change.
Meanwhile, Kay Kennedy, a member of the Beloved Community, a service group at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, started to hear about the need for period products in the area. She learned teachers at area high schools were paying out-of-pocket to supply period products for students in their classrooms.
“They’re dealing with transportation poverty, food poverty, clothing poverty; there are just so many things for them to juggle,” Kennedy says.
She knew she needed to do something about it. What’s more, she knew she could do something with the help of some of her friends at church. The Beloved Community ministry works to support justice, healing and education and has many partnerships with local nonprofit organizations, schools and city community projects. The group adopted the new initiative to provide period products. They named it Women of the Tent.
“The book that was popular in the 1990s, called The Red Tent, talked about when women were having their period or having children, they would be removed from the tribe in ancient times and taken to another place; the older women would come in and take care of them,” Kennedy explains. The Red Tent was written by Anita
BY
PHOTOS
MEAGHAN COLLIER
CLOSET
PHOTOS BY PERRY STEPH
Diamant. “And I thought, that appeals to me. ‘Women of the Tent’ is a little cumbersome, but it seems to have worked for what we need to do. It seemed to resonate with women. ‘I want to help. I remember my time.’ I think it just naturally piqued their interest.”
The group’s grassroots fundraising and product collection grew when the Harrington Cancer and Health Foundation’s Women’s Circle and the Amarillo Area Foundation supplied grants to support those efforts. Now, Women of the Tent provides hygiene products at Sam Houston Middle School, Palo Duro High School, Caprock High School, and to Steph’s FISH Club at Tascosa High School. During the 2023-24 academic year, the organization supplied 1,262 pads, 1,542 tampons, 862 bars of soap and 186 deodorants.
“I’ve been brought to tears at the number of girls who say, ‘You don’t know how much this means to me—how much this has helped,’” Steph says. “On the surveys given to students who use the shampoo and conditioner, they say, ‘This has saved me and my siblings this week.’ They’ll use that for a whole family.”
‘YOU’VE GOT THIS’
As with many projects, there have been growing pains. Finding affordable, quality products can be difficult, but Kennedy, in her third year of Women of the Tent, has gotten into a groove when it comes to buying and distribution. This fall, she’ll shift to providing only pads and tampons for the schools, and her system allows for the product to be sent directly to the campuses—alleviating the need for storage or additional distribution steps.
one thing the Beloved Community is doing. We’re trying to really look and go down deep and find something we could really do. ‘Why are we sitting here? This we can take care of.’”
With the help of the community, Kennedy hopes to expand Women of the Tent in the coming months. In addition to grant funding, Kennedy is hopeful this year’s The Panhandle Gives will provide some much-needed financial assistance to achieve that end.
“I would like to take on at least the highest economically disadvantaged middle schools,” Kennedy says. “Eventually, it would be great if we could do all of the public schools. I think all of our programs of the Beloved Community are aimed at the Amarillo Independent School District schools—we support education, we support reading, we support health.”
Even though Steph will graduate in May, she says she wants to expand the services FISH Club provides by offering period products during the summer months. The need for food increases when school is out for the summer and she assumes the need for hygiene products is no different. Steph wants her fellow students to know they are not doing life alone; there is a whole clandestine network, of sorts, ensuring they know they are loved.
“We learned a lot about what we can actually accomplish, and we don’t want to have that mission creep,” Kennedy says. Steph, meanwhile, has been faced with her own challenges.
“This year was hard because we were having trouble with discipline in the bathrooms,” she laments. “We were having kids throw stuff in the toilet and destroy products, which is frustrating in and of itself. It’s just hard to put them somewhere else because in the bathroom is the most reasonable place. Two teachers per hall have the products, but it’s hard because what kid wants to go ask a teacher for them? We’re going to try again in the bathrooms this year, but we just can’t waste money.”
Her resilience on full display, though, Steph is committed to reeducating her student colleagues about the work her organization does at THS, where the products come from and who they benefit. She says she knows that having the hygiene items available at school is a critical resource that some of her classmates desperately need.
“We use Kay Kennedy’s donations, and it’s always helpful, but we always run out of donations; when we order for a semester, it’s like $1,000 to just have enough for one semester,” she explains.
“You just don’t think about those things,” Kennedy adds. “That’s
“In our bags, we’ll put a note—mostly simple things like ‘You are loved,’ ‘You are beautiful,’ ‘You’ve got this,’” Steph says. “I think especially students in that financial situation don’t hear that enough, and it takes less than five seconds for us to do that for somebody else, and it could make their whole day or whole week.”
Steph is in high school. Kennedy could almost be her grandmother. But for these two women, this work isn’t just about providing products; it’s about empathy, compassion and community. It’s women helping women. It’s multiple generations working together to deliver a profound message during what can, oftentimes, be a dreaded time of the month.
“There’s a group that cares about you and wants you to be able to finish school,” Kennedy says. “I just think that has to be the strongest message that a young girl facing all these issues can possibly hear. Some unknown person out there cares about me.”
Donate to the Beloved Community ministry through the church’s website (standrewsamarillo.org/give) or mail donations to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1601 S. Georgia St., Amarillo, TX 79102.
PERRY STEPH AND KAY KENNEDY
RAY OF
BY JASON BOYETT
C“harlotte was our miracle baby,” says Canyon resident Stephanie Price. In late October, she and her husband, Joe, will celebrate Charlotte’s brief life at the Sunshine for Charlotte 5K and Fun Run in the Medi-Park area, benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Amarillo.
Charlotte lived only 12 days in 2016, but her short life and legacy continues to help area families thanks to this highly successful fundraiser and the work of RMHC. “The Price family has so incredibly blessed our families by choosing to honor the memory of their precious Charlotte in such a meaningful and generous way,” says Shelley Cunningham, executive director of the organization. This is the fourth year the Prices have partnered with RMHC, and this annual race has already raised more than $100,000 for the families the organization serves.
The Ronald McDonald House opened its new building in Amarillo in summer 2021. The previous year, fundraising by the Sunshine for Charlotte race had raised enough money to sponsor one of the guest suites in the house. “There’s a room in honor of Charlotte here in the House that serves families across the Texas Panhandle, eastern New Mexico, the Oklahoma Panhandle and beyond that have to travel here to get medical care,” says Luke Oliver, marketing manager for RMHC.
Charlotte’s room is Room 10. “It’s room 10 because she was born in October,” Stephanie says. And because of that funding, families who stay in that room never have to pay a dime for those accommodations.
It’s an enormous, ongoing impact for a little girl with a short life.
Her Little Heart
Stephanie Price had a normal pregnancy until fall 2016. At the time, Price was marketing director for Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, and had appeared on the local news that morning, feeling fine. Later in the day, however, her blood pressure had begun rising. She considered lying down to rest, but her husband Joe—the Canyon city manager—convinced her to go to the doctor.
That was a good decision. “My blood pressure was up in the 190s,” Stephanie remembers. “I was a few minutes from a stroke.” The condition, preeclampsia, can be dangerous for both the mother and baby.
Stephanie ended up being admitted to the hospital and remembers the moment, as her blood pressure kept climbing, when the room transformed from a standard “get some rest” scenario into a highstress environment. “Everybody kind of gets quiet. Everybody starts moving around you and things get a little numb,” she says.
Eventually, hospital staff rushed Stephanie into an emergency C-section and Charlotte was born on Oct. 25, 2016, at 29 weeks.
A lot of babies are born premature. In fact, modern neonatal care gives babies born as early as 29 weeks a 90 to 95 percent survival rate. Stephanie and Joe had every reason to be hopeful for Charlotte’s development. “They really just thought she was going to be a preemie,” she says of the medical team. Then a round of tests revealed otherwise.
underdeveloped organs—the condition is exceedingly dangerous.
The local medical team elected to send Charlotte and the family to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, where she ended up in a specialized neonatal intensive care unit with round-the-clock nursing care. Initially, Charlotte made strides in a positive direction, but a series of complications—a feeding tube, a punctured stomach, then kidney failure—set her back.
Charlotte had transposition of the great arteries, a serious, congenital heart defect in which the pulmonary artery and aorta are switched, causing oxygen-poor blood to circulate throughout the body. For preemies like Charlotte—already fragile and with
“Her little heart wasn’t working,” Stephanie says. “It was just too hard on her.” After several days at Cook Children’s, the Prices faced every parent’s nightmare. “We made the decision that we would rather her go peacefully, with us, than be hooked up to a bunch of machines and [endure] this really horrible kind of trauma moment, right?”
On Nov. 6, Joe and Stephanie said goodbye to Charlotte, 12 days after she was born.
Paying It Forward
While in Fort Worth, the Prices had been staying at the local Ronald McDonald House. These nonprofit facilities are located near hospitals all over the United States, designed to assist families forced to travel to access medical care for children. Stephanie and Joe had booked a room there because they didn’t know how long Charlotte would be at Cook Children’s. “Obviously, hotels every night are expensive, plus medical bills,” she says.
They called the House where they were staying after Charlotte passed. “They were so wonderful,” Stephanie says. The staff there packed up the family’s room, organized and cleaned all their belongings, “and never charged us a dime.”
The family still gets birthday cards from that Ronald McDonald House on Charlotte’s birthday.
“After the initial grief and shock and harsh pain wore off, we
decided that we wanted to do something to honor Charlotte’s short life,” Stephanie says today. “We felt like it was our job to pay that forward for other families, who we hope get to take their kids home.”
Stephanie went on what she calls “a health journey” after Charlotte’s death, becoming a runner and losing 100 pounds. The couple launched the Sunshine for Charlotte 5K and Fun Run in 2018, and in 2020 decided to use the event to fundraise for Amarillo’s RMHC. “Our Ronald McDonald House doesn’t necessarily have all the resources that Fort Worth has because of the big corporations there,” she says. “They’ve just been absolutely incredible to work with and do this for.”
Brandy Sanchez, the vice president and general manager at KAMR, had become one of Stephanie’s running friends. As the idea for the race developed, the news station agreed to sponsor most of the event’s expenses. Atmos Energy has covered the costs of the medals. Other local businesses help with sponsorships and donations, which allows the event’s registration fees for the 5K, fun run, and kids’ race to go directly to the Amarillo RMHC.
The organization’s own Oliver, himself a runner, participates in Sunshine for Charlotte. “I’ve run in the event the last two years,” he says. “It’s really one of the most fun events because it’s catered toward competitive runners in the area—which, there are so many of us—but it’s also a big, family-friendly event where kids can show up in costume, bring the whole family, bring the dogs, and have a big party in the parking lot.”
This year’s Sunshine for Charlotte event is Oct. 26, and the proximity to Halloween is part of the fun. Kids (and some adults) wear costumes. Families hand out candy and treats from the trunks of their cars. “It’s a great way to get people all across the community to rally behind the Price family, remember Charlotte, and do that in a way that raises funds and awareness for other families in the area with sick or injured children,” Oliver says.
In recent months, the Price family has used fundraising from past events to install a toddler playground at the Ronald McDonald House. Many families staying at the house have babies in the local NICU, but those children often have older siblings. “They need places to play and places that are safe,” Stephanie says. That playground is under construction now, and the organization hopes to unveil it at a ribboncutting the week prior to Sunshine for Charlotte.
When Skies are Gray
October
marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss
Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness of the parenting challenges and grief related to stillbirth, miscarriage and the loss of infants like Charlotte. For Joe and Stephanie Price and their family—which now includes two little girls, Charlotte’s sisters—it’s the perfect time to honor Charlotte and raise money for an organization that has been so meaningful.
“We honor Charlotte, but we also honor all of our friends,” Stephanie says—friends who may be running for children they’ve lost or other loved ones. Participants purchase yard signs on the racecourse with the names of those loved ones.
“When you lose a baby, you build a community of people you never thought you’d have,” she adds. “It’s a really hard community to be in, obviously, but one that we treasure. It has provided us a really safe haven to talk to other people who’ve been through our experience.”
During the last few days of her short life, when Stephanie would say goodnight to Charlotte in the Cook Children’s NICU, she would sing a song to her. It was the American folk song, “You are My Sunshine,” and that memory is behind the race name, Sunshine for Charlotte.
Most people think of it as a heartfelt song with a happy melody, but the lyrics are melancholy. “You make me happy when skies are gray,” the chorus says, before concluding with a plea. “You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
Death took Charlotte from Stephanie and Joe, but they’ve made sure her life brings hope to other families at the Ronald McDonald House—families who may be facing the gray skies of a child’s hospital stay.
The sunshine of her legacy continues.
It’s not just about off-roading! After a summer of trail work, Merus Adventure™ is expanding hiking, biking and running opportunities at the park this fall.
Our teams have been hard at work this summer grooming our 10 miles of single-track trails while also testing the idea of opening all 53 miles of trails in the canyon to hikers, mountain bikers and runners. (We’ve already had one person ride all 53 miles in one weekend.)
The trails offer breathtaking views along the rim of Palo Duro Canyon and, now, even more amazing vistas from the canyon floor. From our trails, you’ll have opportunities to see wildlife like wild Aoudad sheep, mule deer, and other smaller animals on every trip.
To celebrate the expanded offering—and to welcome more riders, runners and hikers to the park—we’ve extended our $6 Hike, Bike and Run passes through the end of the year.
Endurance Trail Running Races are coming to the Park in September
This is VERY exciting for us. On Sept. 14, trail runners from across the country will descend on Merus as they take on the challenge to “Conquer the Canyon.”
This race event, put on by Perspective Racing out of Austin, will test the will power, stamina and mental fortitude of trail runners in a setting that is both challenging and inspiring. The event includes races of multiple distances: 5K, 10K, 25K, 50K, 50-mile and youth trail runs.
For us, this race isn’t just about runners coming together to run a race. In true MERUS fashion, it’s about the community and camaraderie that will build over the weekend. We are excited to support this event with our team and volunteers.
For more information or to get questions answered, please visit perspectivepacing.com/ conquer-the-canyon or reach out directly to our Merus team if you need any additional info to make sure this event is a great fit for you.
Not to leave our Mountain Biking community out—we are hosting our own MTB Festival in November.
Join us for an unforgettable weekend at the Merus MTB Festival, packed with activities for mountain biking enthusiasts of all skill levels. Set against the stunning backdrop of Merus Adventure, this three-day event offers a perfect blend of adventure, learning and community.
FRIDAY, NOV. 15:
Kick off the weekend with an early check-in at 4 p.m. and get settled at your campsite. Enjoy an evening of relaxation at the Rec Center with food trucks and fellow riders, followed by a warm welcome gathering at 6:30 p.m. The Rec Center and hangout area will remain open until 10 p.m.
SATURDAY, NOV. 16:
Start your day with coffee at 7 a.m., then hit the trails with guided group rides beginning at 9 a.m. If you’re new to mountain biking or looking to sharpen your skills, the Beginner Skills Clinic at 10 a.m. is perfect for you. Later in the afternoon, test your mettle in the Test Track Challenge at 2 p.m.. As the sun sets, gather for a Night Guided Group Ride at 6:30 p.m, followed by a cozy Ride-In Movie and S’mores session at 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, NOV. 17:
Rise early for a peaceful Sunrise Hike at 7 a.m., and finish the festival strong with a Morning Guided Rim Trail Ride at 8 a.m. The festival concludes at 12 p.m., leaving you with memories of an epic weekend.
DROP-IN CHALLENGE:
Think you’ve got what it takes to conquer the Drop-In? Log your ascent on Strava and check in at the office to earn your exclusive Challenge Coin. It’s not just a ride—it’s a badge of honor!
ARTS
Deep within the lore of the Panhandle lies the centrality of art and culture. As the early pioneers fought the hardscrabble emptiness of the Plains, they longed for beauty, entertainment and inspiration. And so when ranching success and petroleum money flowed into the Panhandle in the 1920s, those families began funding the arts. We’re still benefiting from their generosity. The year 2024 marks the Amarillo Symphony’s 100th year. Amarillo Little Theatre is edging closer and closer to the century mark. And other organizations—from Amarillo Museum of Art to Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum to The Citadelle in Canadian—are far more influential than most locals expect. That’s a credit to our creative culture and the incredible local generosity that sustains it. We’re delighted to highlight the local arts organizations that are so central to our quality of life.
Amarillo Youth Choirs
In 1989, after an overwhelming response to a summer camp hosted by Amarillo College and and with the help of Dr. Dale Roller, the Amarillo Boy Choir crescendoed into existence. Under the direction of Billy Talley—then the choir director at Tascosa High School—the organization thrived. A preparatory choir was added for younger boys. Then, in 2001, the organization introduced the Amarillo Girl Choir, followed by a prep choir for girls.
Today, the Amarillo Youth Choirs retain that four-choir format and have performed for thousands of concertgoers over the years. They’ve collaborated locally with Amarillo Symphony, the Amarillo Master Chorale, and West Texas A&M University They’ve sung across the United States and Europe, even performing alongside the Vienna Boy Choir in Austria. At its height, pre-pandemic, the choirs totaled nearly 250 members.
Most recently, the group performed in Greece, and in September, will sing the National Anthem prior to the Sod Poodles’ game on Sept. 14.
The organization has been rebuilding since COVID—“How can you sing with people when you cannot be around people?” asks artistic director Rod Zeman—but currently numbers 100 members as it enters its 35th season.
“While the original focus was for young men to have a place to sing, it soon became apparent that there was a need for young women as well as men,” says executive director Kate Freeman. Pre-pandemic, each of the choirs seldom sang together, apart from performances of the National Anthem. “Since then, we have increased our repertoire to include more pieces that can be sung together and the Concert choirs have also traveled together. This helps it feel more like a family, and less like individual groups.”
Like many nonprofits, AYC exists only with the help of grants and donor support. “Donors can sponsor a student, make a lump sum donation, help with music purchases, travel, uniforms and more,” Freeman says. The organization also welcomes opportunities to perform.
The impact on kids is worth it. “Seeing the students get lost in something they love to do, knowing we are a safe space for them to express themselves and be at ease is wonderful,” Freeman says. “Being able to collaborate with other arts organizations lets the students see how far their love of singing and music will take them.”
“We have several choir members whose parents were members in AYC when it was still a very new organization,” says Freeman. In the coming months the students will perform at WT’s Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall for a fall concert Oct. 27, as well as the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts for the annual “Sounds of the Season” concert Dec. 15. That winter event also includes the choirs’ Alumni Concert, led by director emeritus Jerry Perales.
Amarillo Little Theatre
Established in 1927, Amarillo Little Theatre is just a few years away from turning 100, making it one of the oldest continuously operating community theaters in the country. It was guided for 38 years by the late Allen Shankles before the actor and director handed the reins to Jason Crespin in late 2020.
Today, ALT operates out of two locations: The Allen Shankles Mainstage Facility (2019 Civic Circle), which includes a 453-seat auditorium and administrative offices, and the ALT Adventure Space (2751 Civic Circle), which seats 180 in a flexible, black box theater space.
Each season, more than 30,000 patrons visit the theater to enjoy Broadway-quality productions. “Every show is made up entirely of local community volunteers both on stage and off,” Crespin says. ALT now has a nine-member staff, having added three employees over the past year, including a new Academy director, marketing director, and community relations director.
It also continues evolving to reach more people. “In a community theater, it can be easy to get tunnel-vision with the same, dedicated pool of volunteers,” Crespin says of the talented actors and musicians that fill ALT’s two stages. “Our volunteers include doctors, teachers, bankers, small business owners, moms and others who come together for one common goal: to tell stories to a supportive community who deserves to hear them,” he continues. “The only thing ‘little’ about us is our name.”
This year, during its 97th season, those stories include five Broadway-style productions in the Mainstage facility and three contemporary, Off-Broadway plays and musicals at the more intimate and experimental Adventure Space. Upcoming productions include the hit musical Waitress by Grammy-award winning musician Sara Bareilles in September, followed by Arsenic and Old Lace in October.
Meanwhile, the ALT Academy nurtures the next generation of performers and theater-goers, offering more than 600 children and adults comprehensive training in the disciplines of theater, dance, voice, playwriting, improv and even sewing. ALT’s Dance Academy provides instruction in tap, ballet, lyrical, jazz, hip-hop and musical theater to students from age 3 to adult. “The Academy has grown significantly through the years,” says Crespin, a former Academy student himself. He estimates the past 15 years alone have increased Academy programs and students by as much as 450 percent.
Along with training, the Academy gives its students opportunities to perform throughout the year, including the heartwarming play Charlotte’s Web in November.
“Our focus moving forward will be to continue to reach out as well as listen to the needs of the Amarillo community with regard to the arts,” Crespin says. “We are so grateful that the Amarillo community believes in ALT and our mission to produce highquality theater with local talent right here in our city.”
Amarillo Symphony
With a history that dates back to 1924, the Amarillo Symphony has now reached a milestone a century in the making, and as it enters its second century, has no plans to slow down. It remains the largest and most active performing arts organization in the Texas Panhandle. Now in his third year, London-based Music Director George Jackson has injected fresh energy into the organization and is planning a robust season built upon seven subscription concerts, three festive Holiday Pops performances, an outdoor community concert at Hodgetown, six intimate Chamber Music Amarillo programs, and exciting collaborations like The Nutcracker with the Lone Star Ballet.
In fact, ticket sales for Amarillo Symphony concerts are up 25 percent over the past two years. “By prioritizing meaningful collaborations with diverse partners across artistic, economic and educational sectors, the Symphony has successfully engaged new audiences and deepened its connection with existing patrons,” says Executive Director Larry Lang.
The Symphony began as a humble 12-member ensemble as Amarillo grew rapidly in the years following the discovery of oil in the Panhandle. One hundred years later, it’s a 65-member professional orchestra renowned for its innovative programming. And having recently brought the iconic Greater Southwest Music Festival under its auspices, this growing arts organization will impact the lives of more than 25,000 people over the next year.
And it continues to evolve.
Nationally, trends indicate attendance is declining at live performing arts events. The Amarillo Symphony has risen to the challenge by forging innovative and accessible programs that resonate with its community. “The annual concert at Hodgetown emerged during the pandemic as a safe outdoor haven for music lovers,” Lang says. This season’s Hodgetown Celebrate America! concert is scheduled for Sept. 7.
New concerts this year include a special 100th anniversary concert Oct. 11-12, In Dreams Awake at AmTech Career Academy Oct. 19, and the family-friendly Spooktacular Halloween concert Oct. 25. That concert features the combined talents of the West Texas A&M University Symphony Orchestra and choruses from WT and Canyon High School playing Halloween musical favorites.
Lang says the Symphony remains a critical part of a strong local arts community. “Despite its relatively small size and isolation, Amarillo boasts a vibrant arts scene fueled by the quintessential Panhandle spirit of self-reliance and creativity,” he says. “This cando attitude has given rise to world-class institutions, such as the Amarillo Little Theatre, the Amarillo Opera, the Lone Star Ballet, and numerous other cultural gems—not to mention the Amarillo Symphony.”
The best way to support that scene is to become a season subscriber to the Symphony or Chamber Music Amarillo, and support the Symphony during the Panhandle Gives via the Amarillo Area Foundation in November.
The Citadelle Art Museum
The location of one of the Texas Panhandle’s most influential art museums may come as something of a surprise to local residents: It’s The Citadelle, housed in a former Baptist church building in the charming town of Canadian, a community of 2,300 northeast of Amarillo.
Dr. Malouf and Therese Abraham have been civic and cultural leaders in Canadian for decades, and in 1977, bought the historic First Baptist Church building, which had been slated for demolition. They transformed the 8,000-square-foot landmark into their family’s home, then filled it with dozens and dozens of fine pieces of art.
In 2007, the Abrahams announced a $5 million project to transform their home into a public art gallery, now known as The Citadelle. The facility now features breathtaking gardens and an eclectic blend of more than 150 art pieces from famous American illustrators to 18th-century European painters. “Art enriches people’s thought process,” Dr. Abraham has said. “Art encourages people to do more in their lifetimes. Art enhances the quality of life.”
This mansion-turned-museum has since seen more than half a million visitors from all over the world. “As one of only three fine art museums in 26 counties, the idea that a tiny rural community would boast such an impactful collection is a gem of the Panhandle,” says Executive Director Wendie Murfee Cook. Visitors can view 150plus works of American and European art, alongside a collection of around 250 antiques. The museum also hosts several annual rotating exhibits from both national and international collections every year.
The educational focus of The Citadelle isn’t confined to the former church property, however. In 2016, the museum launched The Citadelle RoadShow, with a mission of bringing the joy of art to local school children throughout the Panhandle. “With art programs being cut in many schools, kids are missing out on valuable artistic exposure,” Cook adds. “We provide hands-on art activities while teaching kids about artistic styles, concepts, vocabulary and cultural studies. We strive to bring art history to life.” This program is free to Region 16 schools.
Upcoming events at The Citadelle include its newest exhibition, Spirit of Our Ancestors: Historic Ledger Drawings of the Southern Plains Indians, which opens Sept. 7 in tandem with the Lyman’s Red River War Foundation 150th Memorial Celebration.
In October, Amarillo chef Ruthie Martinez will cater a traditional Cheyenne/Arapaho Bison dinner, with artists’ presentations and featured speaker Dr. Michael Jordan, associate professor of anthropology at Texas Tech. During the Canadian Fall Foliage Festival Oct. 19-20, the museum will host its annual Native American Art Sale.
Finally, Oct. 19 brings the Artists’ Walk and Talk with Southern Plains artists Brent Learned and George Levi, featuring work from George Levi, Brent Learned, Beau Tsatoke and other Southern Plains artists, along with guest presenters, Dr. Michael Jordan and Dr. Ross Frank, associate professor of ethnic studies at UC San Diego. Admission to The Citadelle is $10 for adults. Children under 18 are always free.
Amarillo Museum of Art
Established by community leaders in 1967, the Amarillo Museum of Art focuses on art exhibitions, education and community engagement as one of the Texas Panhandle’s most significant cultural resources. Its permanent collection contains more than 3,000 unique works, including pieces by Georgia O’Keeffe and Elaine de Kooning, photographs by Dorothea Lange, and works by Ed Ruscha. The Price Collection of Asian Art houses an expansive array of stone Buddha figures, Japanese woodblock prints and Southeast Asian sculpture. More than 35,000 people visit every year, along with around 7,000 students.
As the only fine arts museum in Amarillo, AMoA offers regularly changing curated collections that span cultures and centuries. Each year, AMoA presents approximately 12 exhibitions representing a variety of artworks in diverse media and processes. Alex Gregory, Curator of Art, researches artists’ collections and collaborates with museums across the nation to bring inspiring exhibitions to Amarillo. Each exhibition includes programming such as: artist lectures, tours, gallery talks, and educational outreach.
Over the next few months, new exhibits include Shades of Compassion, a traveling exhibition containing thought-provoking international photographs, and UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage, stories and sculpted recreations of war-torn locations, which open on Sept. 6. The annual Ladd Lecture on Oct. 3 is titled That 1870s Show: The Impressionist Revolution featuring a free lecture by guest speaker Dr. Nicole R. Myers of the Dallas Museum of Art. This fall will also bring After Da Vinci: Experiments and Expressions, an interactive ArtSpace exhibition exploring art works from AMoA’s permanent collection, from a range of artists whose work exemplifies the ethos of Leonardo da Vinci’s diverse body of work.
And the weekend of Nov. 1-3, don’t miss the AMoA Alliance fundraiser, Christmas Roundup: A Holiday Market, at the Amarillo Civic Center.
The AMoA Alliance supports the many educational programs offered by AMoA including outreach to senior citizen facilities and after school art classes. AMoA has recently partnered with AISD to bring art education into the classroom with a new program, Museum in Residence. Currently in place at two elementary schools, this initiative has goals of expansion to bring art education to more elementary students.
Other exhibitions throughout the year offer a local focus, including the Texas Panhandle Student Art Show, the Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University Student and Faculty Exhibition, the annual 20x20 Exhibition and Silent Auction, and the AMoA Biennial 600. “The museum makes a conscious effort to recognize and encourage local and regional artists of all ages,” Gregory says.
AMoA also takes every opportunity to collaborate with other cultural and educational organizations in the community. Recent collaborations include working with Amarillo College, Panhandle PBS, HOODOO Mural Festival, Chamber Music Amarillo, Amarillo Opera, and the Amarillo Public Library, among others. Collectively, these organizations contribute to a dynamic environment that celebrates the unique character of our city by building a sense of connection to our citizens and providing them a platform for creativity.
2200 S. VAN BUREN ST. 806.371.5050 | AMOA.ORG
BERTHE MORISOT, PORT OF NICE, 1881-1882, OIL ON CANVAS, DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART, THE WENDY AND EMERY REVES COLLECTION, 1985.R.40
JON KOLKIN, NURTURED
Window on a Wider World
Based in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, the arts and education organization Window on a Wider World serves students and districts across the Texas Panhandle, providing arts and education programming for 48 schools through 65 partner organizations. That program includes ties to existing curriculum and TEKS objectives, but in an immersive, experiential learning environment outside the classroom.
These take place with the help of learning partners, including entities like Amarillo Police Department, Street Volkswagen, Texas Tech School of Veterinary Medicine or Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. For groups of schoolchildren, WOWW facilitates tours, conversations and nontraditional, project-based activities at a reasonable cost. Those partners also include local art organizations, of course, including the Globe-News Center itself, where children learn about acoustics, math and science in a space designed for musical performances.
In compelling, non-school settings, WOWW programs give a boost to in-class education. “No matter your ethnicity, income level, or knowledge of art, we all share the same passion to tell others how history, math, science, language arts and other core subjects learned in school are part of art,” says WOWW Executive Director Mary Bralley.
The organization also has a new career focus, with programs this year focusing on life beyond high school.
This year’s programs include several new opportunities, including a 2024 Science Collaborative at Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum (Sept. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 7-8); A Day of Ag at WTAMU (Oct. 23); the organization’s 2024 Annual Youth Art Show at Arts in the Sunset for grades 4 to 12 (Nov. 11-16 with a dinner on Nov. 15 at Arts in the Sunset); Passport to Careers in Arts at Amarillo College (March 21), and Write On! at the Globe-News Center, featuring local authors (May 7).
Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum
What compelled the founders of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum to start a museum in 1929—as the Great Depression hit—and then ask the area’s citizens to give financially to help preserve the history of this area’s early settlers?
Driven by an appreciation for history and storytelling, the people of the Panhandle responded, giving whatever they could. The Museum opened to the public in 1933, and with more than two million artifacts in its collection, has become one of the largest history museums in Texas. Every year, 50,000 to 60,000 visitors explore its treasures.
Current exhibits, like the art exhibit Dali’s Wonderland, give the public insight into some of these artifacts. This exhibit features a limited-edition copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Salvador Dali and published in 1969. The spectacular and rare book comes from the personal library of Amarillo philanthropist Sybil B. Harrington.
Curator Deana Craighead will lead “Exploring Dali’s Wonderland” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 6 p.m., offering a closer look at Dali’s edition in comparison to the original illustrations by John Tenniel. Reservations are required, and the event is free for PPHM members and West Texas A&M University faculty, staff and students.
Other upcoming events include Constitution Day (Sept. 24), the exhibition opening of the Regional Art Faculty Show (Oct. 4), the ever-popular Dino Day (Oct. 5), and on Oct. 10, a meet-the-author event with Timothy Egan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and National Book Award-winning author of The Worst Hard Time and A Fever in the Heartland
Amarillo Art Institute
In 2004, the late philanthropist and artist Ann Crouch teamed up with other local artists to establish the Amarillo Art Institute, an organization designed to support local artists and enrich the surrounding community. The Institute’s original focus was to bring in Master Artist instructors to teach workshops. Since then, it has expanded far beyond that original vision, and now includes ongoing classes, workshops, camps and studio opportunities for all ages.
Today, the Institute oversees the 120,000 square feet of the newly renovated Arts in the Sunset facility, which now includes 20 resident artist studios, the Institute, a gift shop, galleries and a performance space. Last year, the facility served more than 15,000 people through classes, art walks and exhibitions.
“Arts in the Sunset is a one-stop place for all things art,” says Rachel Flores, executive director. “Because of the size of the building, visitors can come to one place to take classes, visit with artists, see traveling and local exhibitions, purchase art, watch music and performances, and more.”
It also serves as a community hub “for people who love to create,” Flores says, offering free or very low-cost programs for all ages with the goal of creating more access to the arts for community members.
This fall, in addition to the art featured in its tenant galleries, the National Geographic Society’s Greatest Wildlife Photographs exhibit is on display from September through December in the Ann Crouch Gallery. The public is always invited to the popular First Friday Art Walk on the first Friday of every month, 5 to 9 p.m.
elevate your plate WITH
RUTHIE MARTINEZ
WAYS TO USHER IN AUTUMN
s the crisp embrace of fall inches closer, I find myself once again eagerly anticipating those misty evenings. To get a head start, I’ve been whipping up some delectable fall-inspired dishes—think hearty stews, velvety soups, aromatic curries and, of course, both savory and sweet pies. (Those piping-hot baked desserts make autumn irresistible.) One recipe that’s already a hit in my repertoire is my luxuriously thick and creamy Hearty Tuscan Vegetable Soup.Trust me—this one’s worth saving as it’s the perfect companion for that first cold autumn night. But before we dive into the details, let’s take a moment to celebrate the magic of autumn itself.
ASeptember is like the cozy sweater of months—soft, comforting and oh-so-perfect. Honestly, it’s my time to shine, waving goodbye to the sweaty misery of summer and embracing a crisp, fresh start. For me, September is the real New Year. It’s a time for growth, renewal and reimagining. Ever wonder why Vogue’s September issue could double as a doorstop? It’s packed with everything that lies ahead, and I see the start of fall the same way. The fresh, bracing air that fills me with creativity. Oh, and let’s not forget the comfort food. Autumn is basically an all-you-can-eat buffet of deliciousness.
So, how do you welcome fall like a pro? Here’s how I do it:
Organize! This is the prime time to tackle your pantry again. If you’re cooking up a storm like I am, a quarterly purge is a must. Say goodbye to expired spices and mystery cans, and make room for pumpkin everything. Label those jars like a boss, and make sure the cinnamon is front and center—after all, it’s about to become your new best friend.
Fridge Freshen-Up: Give your fridge a fall facelift. Toss out summer leftovers and stock up on soups and stews. Bonus points for adding a dedicated shelf for your baking supplies because, let’s be honest, fall is the unofficial season of baking.
Farmers Market Frenzy: Keep those Saturday morning market trips going strong! (The markets in Amarillo and Canyon last at least through the end of September.) Fall is prime time for seasonal vegetables like butternut squash, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. And don’t forget the fruits! Apples, pears and figs are at their peak, perfect for everything from pies to preserves. Make a habit of chatting with the farmers. They can offer tips on how to select the best produce and even share ideas on how to cook it. Plus, supporting local farmers is always in season.
Recipe Roundup: Pull out all your favorite fall recipes and give them a dedicated spot. Whether it’s a binder, a recipe box or a Pinterest board, having them all in one place makes it easier to dive into the deliciousness of fall cooking.
Meal-Planning: Set aside time each week to map out your meals. I like to do this on Sundays with a glass of wine (if you partake). Start by jotting down a few go-to recipes that you know you can rock—think sheet pan dinners, slow cooker soups and pasta dishes that can be on the table in 30 minutes or less.
Next, make a simple grocery list, including staples like pasta, canned tomatoes and beans. Your future self will thank you when you’re too tired to think straight on a Thursday night. Oh, and don’t forget the snacks! A stash of healthy, grab-and-go options will keep the kids from raiding the cookie jar while they wait for dinner.
And plan for leftovers! Make a point to cook a little extra on the weekends so you’ve got a backup plan when the week gets crazy. That pot of Sunday chili can magically transform into Monday’s gooey loaded nachos or Tuesday’s hearty chili mac.
The season’s all about diving headfirst into ultimate comfort foods. Bring on sweater weather, pumpkin spice, and the glorious mess that makes autumn the best!
RUTHIE MARTINEZ
Ruthie owns Black Fig Catering and is proprietor of a food blog at blackfigfood.com. Learn more about her online classes at blackfigfoodprograms.com.
HEARTY TUSCAN VEGETABLE SOUP
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 sprigs fresh thyme
½ yellow onion, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and chopped
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into small cubes
½ head cauliflower, cut into small florets
Grey sea salt or kosher salt
Cracked black pepper to taste
5 cups vegetable broth, homemade or store-bought organic
2 bay leaves
1 cup prepared marinara, homemade or store-bought
1 (19-ounce) can white kidney or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I like Cento brand.)
2 tablespoons pesto, homemade or store-bought
1 head broccoli, cut into teeny, tiny florets
2 cups kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
Heat a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, onion, carrots and thyme. Saute for a few minutes or until onions become slightly translucent. Add rutabaga, cauliflower, sea salt, pepper, vegetable broth and bay leaves. Cover loosely with a lid and cook over medium-low heat for about 30 to 45 minutes. Cauliflower and rutabaga should become soft and begin to break down. Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs from soup and discard. Add marinara, beans and pesto to pot. Stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Ladle about 2 cups soup into a blender and cover with a lid. Pulse on low, then increase to high and blend until smooth. Pour back into pot, and stir to combine. Add broccoli and kale to pot, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until broccoli is a bit soft.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
EXPERTS
Here on the High Plains, relationships are currency. Expertise is just around the corner, and word-of-mouth is how we find our favorite providers. Whether you’re looking for specialized knowledge or deep experience in a particular subject, our community is filled with professionals who excel in their fields. In a tight-knit place like ours, these experts become trusted resources—not just through their skills, but through the connections they build with their neighbors. In this special section, we’re excited to highlight the local experts who are serving local people and improving this community on a daily basis. This is the expertise you can count on.
HOME EQUITY Amarillo National Bank
What is your organization’s area of expertise? We specialize in helping our customers access the equity in their home to use on things such as home improvements, debt consolidation, college tuition and more.
How did you get your start?
Rebekah Gomez: I started 20 years ago as a teller downtown and worked my way up to Teller Supervisor. I eventually moved to Mortgage Loans in 2013.
Mackenzie Kelty: I started in 2019 in merchant processing, then moved to the Home Equity department in 2021. I was a processor until I was promoted at the end of 2022.
Debbi Trubkin: I began working at ANB in the proof department 18 years ago. I’ve been a CSR, Teller Supervisor, Mortgage Loan Officer and now manage the Home Equity Department.
How have you built your brand? Amarillo National Bank has a reputation that has been built over 130 years of excellent, local customer service. We are family-owned, with no outside shareholders. This allows us to put customers first. We know our customers and neighborhoods. We know why this is a great place to live and own a home. When it comes to home equity, we are equipped to walk alongside our customers through every step of the lending process, which can be a big advantage.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? The key to the culture at ANB is to work hard and have fun! The simplicity of this mission is the key to its success. Our team members love what they do, love where they work, and love helping home equity customers use their equity in beneficial ways.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? Amarillo National Bank has stood the test of time without question. This is a credit to the wisdom and generosity of the Ware family, both to its employees and the community. Their time-tested, conservative leadership means continuity and stability for our customers, through good times and bad. We’ve stayed true to our family values and to the communities that make Texas a great place to live, work and do business.
What is your company’s vision for the future? To continue to provide exemplary customer service and offer loan products that help our customers navigate life’s ups and downs. We have deep roots in the Texas Panhandle and have been family-owned for five generations, so our future will be much like our past: We’ll keep making quick decisions and keep focusing on serving Panhandle people.
(L-R) MACKENZIE KELTY, REBEKAH GOMEZ AND DEBBI TRUBKIN
FAMILY MEDICINE Northwest Physicians Group
KOLEY PACK, M.D.
What is your area of expertise? I am a board-certified family medicine physician, providing care for the entire family, from newborns to older adults.
How did you get your start? I was inspired at an early age. In third grade, I was diagnosed with a tumor and the whole process of diagnosis to treatment left me inspired to learn more about a career in healthcare. Coming from Spearman, Texas, I was able to shadow my family physician to see if this was, in fact, the career I wanted to pursue. The rest of the story is that it was, and I enjoy my practice as a family physician.
How have you built your brand? I am part of the Northwest Physicians Group, a trusted brand known for providing access to reputable physicians, competence and compassion.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? Enjoying what you do and surrounding yourself with those who love what they do just as much.
What is your vision for the future? I look forward to building my practice, becoming ingrained in the community, and being part of my patient’s families.
Disclaimer: For language assistance, disability accommodations and the nondiscrimination notice, visit our website.
SEAN ANDERSON, M.D.
What is your area of expertise? I am a board-certified family medicine physician. I provide care for the entire family, from newborns to older adults.
How did you get your start? In college, I got a job in an ER where I was able to see the teamwork between the physicians, nurses and other medical professionals, as well as the patients. I knew then that I wanted a career in medicine.
How have you built your brand? I am part of the Northwest Physicians Group, a trusted brand known for providing access to other reputable physicians and colleagues. As part of this team, we all are known for our commitment to our patients.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? I enjoy humor—laughter is the best medicine. Beginning a positive relationship with my patients helps them trust me and become comfortable in sharing their health concerns.
What is your vision for the future? Being the most trusted health partner for my patients where their care extends to others in their families, kids to grandkids.
WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE
Blūmologie
WHITNEY DOWD, DNP
What is your area of expertise? My expertise lies in offering individualized care to my clients as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner.
How did you get your start? I received my Bachelor of Science and Master of Science, both in Nursing from West Texas A&M University, then attended Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, for my Doctorate in Nursing Practice. My professional background includes working in settings where I have cared for women’s health as well as pediatric patients as a Nurse Practitioner. A large portion of my patient population included people of color from all over the world. Early into my career, I began to notice a lack of representation in my field, which translates into a lack of options for the population of patients I worked with and cared for. As my career progressed into owning and operating a health care practice, I knew the options I offered would have to be safe and effective for all my patients, regardless of race or ethnicity.
How have you built your brand? My brand and the way I practice have been built based on past experiences and the experiences of the people around me, including clients, patients, co-workers, employers, family and friends. I want my business to operate in a way that supports a culture of trust and validation. I am passionate about maintaining a standard of excellence when it comes to treating my patients. This is done through shared decision-making and offering a higher level of care. I make treatment decisions based on a simple concept: If this patient were someone that I love, someone close to me, how would I want them to be treated? By doing so I have successfully built a brand that encompasses love and trust—two things that I want to experience when seeking care.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? I believe positivity starts from within. My office is small, so it’s not hard to figure out where negativity is originating from. I know if I am taking care of myself—emotionally, physically and mentally—I am able to maintain a level of positivity that is infectious to the people who frequent my business.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? Blūmologie has been open for a little over a year and a half. For this, I feel very blessed and give God all of the glory. Blūmologie is surviving and thriving and in the process of blooming!
What is your company’s vision for the future? My vision for the future includes continuing to offer the perfect combination of health and holistic care treatments that are tailored to each individual clients’ needs. Ultimately, I want to encourage and empower my clients to take their health into their own hands, with my guidance of course, so they can bloom into their best self!
GLASS SPECIALISTS Glass Doctor of Amarillo
What is your organization’s area of expertise? At Glass Doctor, we specialize in automotive glass, which includes installation of windshields, side windows and rear windows. The automotive industry is always changing with new safety features, and we strive to stay on top of that technology. Our expertise extends to repair and replacement of these components. We also specialize in residential glass, which encompasses shower doors, insulated glass replacement, cabinet glass, tabletops, and much more. Our goal as a company is to take care of our customers’ needs in any situation that involves glass.
How did you get your start? We started as Wayne’s Quality Auto Glass in 1986, specializing in automotive glass. In 2006, we transitioned to the Glass Doctor brand to broaden our expertise and services to encompass all areas of the glass industry, including residential glass and other specialties.
How have you built your brand? We’ve built our brand by fostering strong relationships with our customers, who act as our best advocates. As a family business, we treat our customers like family, which has helped us create a loyal customer base and build a positive reputation in the industry.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? The key to maintaining a positive culture is treating both our customers and employees like family. Our employees are integral to our success, and we always want to ensure they feel valued and appreciated. By fostering this supportive environment, we have created a dedicated team that drives our company’s success.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? The past few years have been challenging, but they’ve also been a time of evaluation and growth. Faced with the possibility of shutdowns, we relied heavily on our faith, looking to the Lord for guidance in our decisions. This period underscored the importance of our business, but also highlighted that our employees and customers are central to our success. Thanks to the dedication of our employees and the support of our customers, we navigated through the uncertainties and emerged stronger.
What is your company’s vision for the future? Our vision for the future is to continue growing, learning and expanding. We are committed to finding better ways to serve the Amarillo area and the surrounding communities, ensuring we meet their evolving needs effectively.
OFFICE STAFF
FLAT GLASS TECHNICIANS
AUTO GLASS TECHNICIANS
FLORAL DESIGNER Avant Garden
What is your area of expertise? Avant Garden specializes in creating unique, high-end floral arrangements that blend artistry with nature. Our team is dedicated to crafting bespoke floral designs for various occasions, from small gatherings to large celebrations. We take pride in our ability to translate our clients’ visions into stunning floral displays that add a touch of elegance and creativity to any event!
How did you get your start? Our journey began with a deep-rooted passion for flowers and a desire to bring something fresh and exciting to the floral industry. Avant Garden started in 2019 with a dream to create more than just beautiful bouquets—we wanted to offer an experience that combines creativity with luxurious quality. Our team has a combined 43 years of experience in floral design and event planning.
How have you built your brand? Building Avant Garden has been a labor of love and creativity. We focused on differentiating ourselves through innovative designs and exceptional customer service. By consistently delivering high-quality, custom floral arrangements, we’ve established a reputation for creative excellence. Our playful yet sophisticated brand identity resonates with clients who appreciate creativity and elegance.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? At Avant Garden, maintaining a positive culture fosters creativity and collaboration. We encourage our team to bring their unique perspectives and ideas to the table, creating an environment where everyone feels valued and inspired. A happy team translates to happy clients, and we strive to create a supportive and fun workplace for everyone.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? The past few years have been challenging, but our commitment to adaptability and innovation has helped us navigate these uncertain times. We began offering more products online and increased our deliveries to make it more convenient for clients to receive flowers. We’re fortunate enough to have a client base that recognizes the need for design.
What is your company’s vision for the future? Ultimately, we envision Avant Garden as a brand synonymous with elegance, creativity and sustainability. We continuously push the boundaries of floral artistry and provide our clients with unforgettable experiences.
PHYSICAL THERAPY
Optimal Physical Therapy Solutions
ALETTA DAVIS-PITRE, PT AND CAMILLE FRITZLER, PT, DPT
What is your organization’s area of expertise? Optimal Physical Therapy Solutions specializes in comprehensive orthopedic, sports, pre- and post-partum, and pelvic floor rehabilitation for patients across the entire lifespan. Our team is passionate about getting to the root of our patients’ pain and limitations to correct the true cause, provide individualized care, and empower our patients to improve their lives. Our approach is rooted in a deep understanding of biomechanics, enabling us to design tailored treatment plans that meet the unique demands of each individual.
How did you get your start? Aletta’s interest in physical therapy began in her teenage years. Her passion for pelvic health began in PT school, leading her to pursue specialized postgraduate education and establish pelvic floor and pregnancy rehab in Amarillo and the Panhandle in 2003, filling a gap in pelvic health. Her drive to provide quality care while maintaining a patient-centered culture led to her opening Optimal in 2011.
Camille’s journey into physical therapy was sparked by a lifelong passion for sports and movement. Growing up, she was a competitive runner and played collegiate soccer. This firsthand experience with the physical demands and challenges faced by athletes drove her to pursue a Doctorate of Physical Therapy at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, blending her love for sports with a rigorous academic focus on biomechanics and rehabilitation. After graduating, she gained diverse experience working in outpatient orthopedics, outpatient neuro, home health care, and pediatrics. Joining Optimal Physical Therapy Solutions in 2018 was a natural progression, allowing her to bring her sports medicine expertise to a practice that shares her commitment to individualized, high-quality patient care.
How has Optimal PT built its brand? We have built our brand on the foundation of evidence-based clinical evaluation and interventions, personalized care, and a genuine commitment to the success and well-being of our patients. By focusing on patient needs and delivering high-quality care, we have earned the community’s trust and respect. Our clinicians are motivated to continue learning and expanding their knowledge base to enhance our care. Our brand is also defined by our proactive approach to education and injury prevention. We regularly engage with our community through workshops, seminars and outreach programs, not just to empower our patients, but also to reinforce our reputation as a trusted resource for health and wellness.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? We foster an environment of collaboration, respect and continuous learning. Every team member—from our administrative staff to our physical therapists—plays a vital role in patient success, and we encourage open communication. By prioritizing work-life balance and supporting each team member’s personal and professional growth, we create a space where everyone feels valued and aligned with our mission. When we take care of our team, they are better equipped to take care of our patients.
How has Optimal persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? It has required adaptability, resilience and an unwavering commitment to our patients and community. Pandemic restrictions on in-person visits prompted us to think outside the box. Our ability to remain flexible and innovative, while staying true to our core values, has been instrumental in navigating these challenges. We’ve also used this period to refine our practices, improve our services, and reinforce our role as a dependable resource for the Panhandle.
What is Optimal’s vision for the future? To continue expanding our services and reach within the community and the Texas Panhandle, while maintaining our steadfast commitment to personalized, high-quality care. We plan to enhance our expertise by incorporating the latest research, technologies and treatment methodologies, and always remain open to expanding our services. We aim to deepen our community engagement through health education and wellness initiatives as well as youth sports and sports-specific injury prevention campaigns. Ultimately, our vision is to empower our patients to lead active, healthy lives, knowing they have a supportive team behind them.
EXPERTS
PRIVATE SCHOOL/ COLLEGE PREP
Ascension Academy
How to be Prepared for Success in College
Ascension Academy prepares students in grades 6 through 12 for success in college and beyond. As the Panhandle’s only independent college preparatory school, our students are already planning to attend college when they arrive at Ascension. Often, our alumni report to us that they take the lead in their peer study groups and they are the go-to students in class projects because they not only are familiar with the rigor of a college course but are also confident in their work.
So what does college preparation look like? Ascension Academy helps your student develop the tools and skills they need to get into college and be successful in those college courses.
Ascension Academy students learn to:
Be an ENGAGED LEARNER who discovers and develops their passions through exploration and creative expression.
Be a CRITICAL THINKER who analyzes, contextualizes, and evaluates information to form a growing foundation of essential knowledge and values lifelong learning.
Be a CONFIDENT COMMUNICATOR who can express their ideas clearly and effectively through their use of language, visuals, tone, and nonverbal communication.
Be an ADAPTABLE PROBLEM-SOLVER who can think across disciplines to form ideas, build upon existing ones, and imagine new ways to approach problems.
Be an EMPATHETIC COLLABORATOR who listens openly, speaks respectfully, and works collectively toward shared goals.
Be a RESILIENT INDIVIDUAL who strives to build a healthy mind, body, and spirit to find purpose and overcome challenges in life.
Be an INFORMED CITIZEN who is knowledgeable about current events and global challenges, respectful of other cultures, and mindful of their impact in a connected world.
Be an ETHICAL LEADER who carefully considers how words and actions shape leadership and character in order to accomplish shared goals.
Ascension Academy intentionally develops these attributes in our students across all grade levels to develop this portrait of a graduate.
Each year, Ascension graduates receive thousands of dollars of merit-based scholarships, and often begin college with 1 to 2 years of college courses completed. Our alumni then have the opportunity to leverage time and money for early graduation or a head start on an advanced degree.
If you are ready to invest in your child’s future and fine-tune these skills, contact us and schedule a tour. We accept students throughout the academic year and are happy to help your family through the enrollment process, including financial aid and customized tuition plans.
FIRST RESPONDER TRAINING
Amarillo College First Responders Academy
What is your organization’s area of expertise? Amarillo College trains more than 98 percent of all first responders throughout the Texas Panhandle, making AC’s highly accredited first responder programs crucial to the entire region. The College’s First Responders Academy, which opened in 2024, serves as a unique and essential hub for Emergency Medical Services, Law Enforcement, and Fire Protection Technology training.
How did the Academy get its start? Empowered by Amarillo voters’ passage of an $89.2 million bond referendum in 2019, the First Responders Academy enabled the College for the first time to assemble all its first responder programs under a single roof. The state-of-the-art facility stands on AC’s Plains Boulevard Campus in close proximity to Amarillo ISD’s AmTech Career Academy.
How will you build the Academy’s brand? Until 2024, students in AC’s EMS, Law Enforcement, and Fire Technology programs trained on separate campuses; however, cross-training has become a preferred, even optimal, method for training first responders. By bringing these critical disciplines together in one space, the Academy fosters collaboration. By aligning AC programs with and locating them alongside AmTech, the College has created a highly visible and fully seamless pipeline for students pursuing these careers.
How will the Academy maintain a positive culture? The First Responders Academy boasts a meticulously designed building layout that is a hub for comprehensive training in emergency services that
exudes positivity. The facility has been thoroughly organized to replicate real-world scenarios, offering trainees an immersive and effective training environment from which graduates can emerge with confidence and go on to serve the public with assured expertise.
How has Amarillo College persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? When faced with restrictions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, including expectations of having to shelter in place, the College—including its emergency services faculty—preemptively enacted curricular changes on Zoom or in a synchronous remote environment to keep students on track to completion. While students from coast to coast expressed disenchantment with the universal shift to remote learning, AC actually had fewer students (3 percent less) withdraw from classes than normally would in a typical spring semester.
What is the Academy’s vision for the future? Establishment of the First Responders Academy signifies a bright and promising future for all branches of emergency services personnel region-wide. The College is committed to excellence, innovation and meeting the community’s evolving needs, ultimately leading to flourishing programs that not only set the standard for training and education in each of these fields, but for their ability to be revised as needed and stand the test of time.
3701 PLAINS BLVD.
EXPERTS
What is your firm’s area of expertise? We have a long history of excellence in the legal community, offering full-service, clientcentered legal solutions across a broad spectrum of practice areas. From business transactional services and oil and gas to renewable energy and wealth planning, we cater to the diverse needs of our clients with unparalleled expertise, including specialties in real estate, agribusiness, bankruptcy and creditor’s rights, family law, nonprofits, water law and rights, governmental entities and commercial industries.
How did Sprouse Shrader Smith get its start? Sprouse Shrader Smith was established in 1990 by three visionary partners committed to delivering exceptional legal services. Over the past 35 years, the firm has grown significantly, expanding its reach and expertise. Today, Sprouse Shrader Smith boasts 22 partners and more than 40 active attorneys and paralegals, offering comprehensive legal services from its offices in Amarillo, Austin, Dalhart, and Victoria, Texas.
How has the firm built its brand? Understanding a brand extends far beyond a logo and marketing budget. The Sprouse Shrader Smith brand was born and built with a client-centered mindset. Our team of lawyers, paralegals and staff members work tirelessly to exceed client expectations through consistent hard work, efficiency and innovation. By prioritizing client needs and fostering long-term relationships, our firm ensures that every client receives personalized attention and a strategic legal solution tailored to their specific circumstances.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? Our firm created and adapted six core values that provide our firm, our
Sprouse Shrader Smith PLLC
AND
employees and our leadership with a clear roadmap on how and why we practice law, and how each employee can contribute to our culture in a positive way. At the end of the day, we have hired attorneys and staff members who genuinely enjoy working alongside one another in the legal services industry and who genuinely enjoy serving clients, which is the greatest contributing factor to our positive culture.
How has Sprouse Shrader Smith persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? Like many organizations, we faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health crisis, along with the protocols and mandates that followed, challenged the firm physically, emotionally, professionally, and economically. During these uncertain times, we prioritized our attention on the human side of our business, focusing on the wellbeing of our employees, neighbors and clients. Despite the challenges and uncertainties, the firm persevered by focusing on what matters most, our “Sprouse Family.”
What is Sprouse Shrader Smith’s vision for the future? We are very optimistic about the firm’s future. Without a doubt, there will be new challenges and uncertainties we face in the days to come; however, we have a great firm, we have great attorneys, and we have a great staff ready to face the next set of challenges. Facing challenges and uncertainty is truly in our blood—we help clients navigate challenges and uncertainties each and every day. It is simply what we do.
(L-R) LAURA PRATT, MINDI ZANOWIAK, SHANE BROOKS
BLAIR OSCARSSON
HOME DESIGN CoCo
Curtain Studio and Interiors
BRENNA SMILEY, DESIGNER/OWNER
What is your CoCo’s area of expertise? We are experts on all things home. Combined, our team has more than 100 years of experience with interior retail and custom home design. CoCo designs and fabricates window treatments, custom bedding, and houses an upholstery workroom. We oversee remodeling projects, draw floorplans, consult on finish selections, and design cabinetry. Our retail side sells everything from bedding, wallpaper and rugs to lighting and accessories. Our furniture lines can be purchased in-store or custom designed in-house from our 500-square-foot design center, which offers a spectrum of fabrics and trims. How did CoCo get its start? We started as independent designers and store owners that came together over the past 10 years to work at CoCo. Owner Brenna Smiley purchased the business from Becky Gross in October 2024. Becky started the business as a custom drapery franchise in 2010, and left the franchise in 2015 to offer more than drapes. We are now a full-service drapery and upholstery workroom with more than 3,000 square-feet of retail space plus a design center with fabric, trim and wallpaper samples to complete your perfect project.
How have you built CoCo’s brand? By providing beautiful, custom products for Amarillo and the surrounding communities for more than 14 years. We offer excellent customer service and pride ourselves in quality products. We are truly a full-service interior design firm, dedicated to serving our clients and making their homes and businesses comfortable and beautiful.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? Honesty, integrity and respect for one another and our clients is key. We support other designers in the community with our services and believe in promoting local business through partnering with local builders and contractors.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? We have flourished through the last few years due to people spending more time in their homes and the wonderful support of our community.
What is your company’s vision for the future? We hope to grow and provide our services to the Texas Panhandle and surrounding states for years to come. We want to be known as Amarillo’s onestop-shop for all things interiors with in-stock and custom choices.
EXPERTS
LOANS FirstBank Southwest
What is your organization’s area of expertise? FirstBank Southwest is a full-service bank dedicated to supporting our customers at every stage of their financial journey. For businesses, we offer everything from loans to advanced treasury management solutions, all backed by the expertise and tailored services you need to succeed. We pride ourselves on truly listening to our customers and providing the right solutions to help your business thrive.
How did FBSW get its start? FirstBank Southwest has deep roots in the Texas Panhandle, having started in 1907. For more than 117 years, we’ve been committed to serving our community with the same dedication and care that has been our hallmark since day one.
How has FBSW built its brand? Our motto, “Faith. Family. Bank.” is the foundation for FirstBank Southwest and is found in everything we do, both within our organization and throughout the community. We’ve earned our reputation by staying true to these principles, fostering trust, and being a reliable partner for businesses and families alike.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? Maintaining a positive culture at FirstBank Southwest is all about open communication, collaboration and growth opportunities. We prioritize a work-life balance that ensures our team is engaged and motivated, which naturally translates into a better experience for our
customers. By staying true to our values and nurturing our people, we’ve created an environment where both our employees and customers thrive.
How has FBSW persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? We’ve been fortunate to have many tenured leaders who have guided us through the ups and downs of the economy and changes in our nation. Their experience has been invaluable in ensuring that, even as the world changes, our core values and approach to business remain steadfast. At the same time, we also have a dynamic team of newer staff who bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas. This blend of wisdom and innovation allows us to navigate uncertainties with confidence and adaptability, ensuring we continue to meet our customers’ evolving needs.
What is FBSW’s vision for the future? We see a bright future ahead for the Texas Panhandle, and we’re excited to continue serving this great community for another century. Our vision is to provide comprehensive solutions that help our clients grow and succeed. We remain committed to innovation and to being a trusted partner for the businesses and families we serve.
SUPPORT
WT Enterprise Center
BRIAN ENEVOLDSEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR
What is your organization’s area of expertise? The WT Enterprise Center serves the Texas Panhandle as an entrepreneur support organization. More simply said, we help entrepreneurs. From helping aspiring business owners just beginning to think about their big idea, to serving mature companies continuing to find new opportunities to scale, we help them succeed. Small businesses have a profound impact within a community. As business coaches, we believe the entrepreneur is the expert in their product or service. WTEC instead looks to be experts in supporting them in a wide variety of ways, including providing them with space, taking new products to market, certified business coaching, access to capital and strategic planning.
How did you get your start? I started with the WT Enterprise Center in 2019 as the program manager. I remember thinking how incredible it was that such a place existed and what a difference it makes in both individuals and the communities they are a part of. Even before my time with the WTEC, I have always enjoyed helping others, and it is deeply rewarding for me to be someone that others can lean on for help or encouragement.
How have you built your brand? Personal relationships. I know it’s cheesy and overused, but I truly believe that the best awareness comes from the personal relationships that are built along the way. Clients, partners and personal relationships are the best and most trusted way to get a pipeline flowing. We also have the tremendous benefit of being a department of the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business at West Texas A&M University. WT and the Engler
College of Business show tremendous passion for our region and the people who live in it.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? Constant conversation and celebrating the wins along the way. Culture is built upon or destroyed daily, and this is something WTEC stays focused on. We know what to do, but how we go about accomplishing it and the joy we feel along the way is driven by culture. Framing out what success looks like as it relates to culture becomes much easier to share and work toward once the vision is clear for the organization.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? By staying mission-minded. Having a personally meaningful mission serves as my compass when I am unsure of the road ahead. The mission and its impact are too great to give up on when things have gotten hard or prove more difficult then was once believed. More so, the people involved—both WTEC staff and clients—make it worth pushing through hard times. The work we do is legacy work, and understanding that great things take time to build and sustain is step one.
What is your company’s vision for the future? To bring awareness to the success someone can have in building their dream business right here in the Texas Panhandle. We want entrepreneurs to know about important partners, support organizations and resources that are ready to help them realize their business, all without having to leave their hometown to do it. The WT Enterprise Center is a place built for entrepreneurs at any point, stage or level.
EXPERTS
CREDIT UNION Education Credit Union
MARCUS GLASS, CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
What is ECU’s area of expertise? Education Credit Union is one of the Panhandle’s leading financial institutions. ECU was founded in 1935, and has a rich history of serving our community. ECU proudly serves more than 39,000 members across 11 locations in the Texas Panhandle—including Amarillo, Canyon, Stinnett, Borger and Bushland—with a wide range of financial services. These include checking and savings accounts, loans and financial coaching dedicated to meeting the diverse needs of our members.
How did you get your start? I began my banking career as a parttime teller at a local bank while finishing my bachelor’s degree in business at WTAMU. After graduating, I took a management role, where I learned diligence is key in this industry. I joined ECU with 17 years of experience in the financial services and technology space. Now, as Chief Operations Officer, my responsibilities include ECU’s Payment Department, Project Management, Call Center, IT and Marketing Departments.
How have you helped build ECU’s brand? Invest in people, and lead with empathy every time! Remarkable mentors who have gone before me taught me the significant impact of leading by example. My favorite quote by Warren Buffett is, “Always associate yourself with people who are better than you.” Surrounding yourself with a great team encourages you to grow and excel in ways you never thought possible.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? My leadership style is rooted in grace and is solutions-oriented. I try to serve as an example for the entirety of our team. I strive to be a leader who shares the responsibilities of the team, empowers each person to do their best work, and creates a positive and ultimately productive work environment.
How has ECU persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? We are only as resilient as our membership, which is why our focus has always been on their financial well-being. Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives—our focus is on helping people achieve their goals—and when you’re helping people live healthier financial lives, you can’t lose.
What is ECU’s vision for the future? ECU’s mission, “To Love Our People with Smarter Banking,” and our vision, “To Be People That Love People into Financial Prosperity,” reflect our core value of “People First, Impact Always!” You don’t often see vision statements with the word “love.” We love what we do and we love who we serve.
806.358.7777
FULL-SERVICE INSURANCE AGENCY
Leslie Massey Farmers Insurance
What is your area of expertise? My agency specializes in auto, home, business and life insurance.
How did you get your start? I started my agency in 2009 after being laid off from a short stint in pharmaceutical sales. I posted my resume online and got an interview with the Farmers Insurance District office soon after. It was a leap of faith to start my insurance career, but I’m so happy I did. I started from scratch and have built a strong insurance business over the past 15 years.
How have you built your brand? Our agency is known for customer service and community involvement. I encourage my team to go the extra mile for our clients. I joined the Amarillo Association of Realtors, The Texas Panhandle Builders Association and The Apartment Association of the Panhandle at the beginning of my career, and I have remained an active member. These memberships have given me an opportunity to network and build strong relationships that have helped build my career as an insurance agent. I also believe in supporting nonprofit organizations that make our community stronger.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? We talk a lot about focusing on what we can control and not getting too worked up about things that we cannot influence. We laugh a lot and try to give each other grace when it is needed. We all have stressful interactions at times but we have a good, supportive team.
How has your agency persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? I believe it all comes back to basic customer service and communication. I have an amazing team. The insurance industry is in a lot of disruption right now, and we are doing our best to help our clients understand why the changes taking place are happening and, in some cases, presenting alternative options.
What is your vision for the future? Our agency has always been known for auto and home insurance but we offer much more. I want to continue to diversify into more of a business and life insurance agency while maintaining our position in auto and home insurance. It is more important than ever to have a local agency you can talk to about your insurance needs.
2700 S. WESTERN ST., SUITE 700 806.352.7388
Advanced Dentistry of Amarillo
DR. TREY MILLER, DDS, FAGD, LVIF
What is your area of expertise? Our areas of expertise are primarily cosmetic smile rejuvenation (full mouth and cosmetic veneers cases), treating and correcting TMJ joint and bite misalignment issues, and treating obstructive sleep apnea.
How did you get your start? I got my start here in Amarillo, which is home to me. (I was born here and attended Bushland schools all through my childhood.) After completing my Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at the University of Texas School of Dentistry, and my cosmetic and TMJ Fellowship at the Las Vegas Institute of Advanced Dental Studies, I had the wonderful opportunity to move back to Amarillo and take over Dr. Clinton Esler’s cosmetic and restorative dentistry practice. I was able to work alongside Dr. Esler for a few years until he retired, and now I solely run the practice. We have an excellent clientele and are always looking forward to creating more beautiful smiles.
How have you built your brand? Our brand is focused on the very niche services of cosmetic/full mouth restorative dentistry, neuromuscular TMJ treatment, and dental sleep apnea. We also provide general restorative dentistry and hygiene services for our guests, but our brand is built on our specific and specialized knowledge in creating complex cosmetic smile restorations.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? The key to maintaining a positive culture in our office is centered on our desire to always keep learning and implementing the very latest in cosmetic dentistry. It is never boring here! We are always on the cutting edge of the industry.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? What is your company’s vision for the future? Though the last few years have been difficult for most businesses, we are fortunate to keep growing each and every year. Our clients have continued to seek us out because they know that we are the most specialized cosmetic practice in the area. They want someone they can trust that is solely focused on restoring their smile. Our vision for the future is to continue this growth and success, and keep the Panhandle smiling proud!
CUSTOMER SERVICE
EXPERIENCE Street Toyota
SYDNEE BATEN, MARKETING DIRECTOR
What is Street Toyota’s area of expertise? We are experts in all things auto-related. The Texas Panhandle has an array of transportation needs that must be met, and we love nothing more than to be that reliable, one-stop automotive dealership members of our community can always trust.
How did Street Toyota get its start? Since 1983, Street Toyota has been caring for its customers. Joe and Laura Street have continued to grow Street Toyota into what it is today. The Street family prioritizes great values, supporting the community and building a consistently passionate team. These are just a few reasons for more than 40 years of successful business. I am proud to be a representative of such a great dealership.
How has Street Toyota built its brand? Community is key. We prioritize our customers and fulfill their unique needs. This includes supporting our community outside of the dealership through service and sponsorship. Street Toyota assists with a vast range of services for an array of ages/life situations/necessities, and we handle each with the care it deserves. Putting our community members and customers first is our mission. Without them, we wouldn’t be in business.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? We thrive to maintain an honest, eager, servant mindset in each of our employees. Always striving to provide the best possible assistance to anyone, including fellow employees, is how we maintain an uplifting and positive culture at Street Toyota.
How has Street Toyota persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? The automotive industry hasn’t always been the most consistent business to be in, especially over the past few years, but we stay knowledgeable and tackle each challenge day by day. We focus on building and maintaining relationships with the customers and community we care so much for. Those are the fundamentals of who we are, so continuing it is top priority.
What is Street Toyota’s vision for the future? Street Toyota strives to grow better each and every day. We want to grow with our clientele and drive with them through each step of their lives. From their first car, upgrading to a “mom” car, helping with their kids’ cars, and servicing everything in between, the lasting impression we have on them is important to us.
LAW
Whittenburg Law Firm
BRAD PARKIN AND MARIO CARRANZA-FLORES
Whittenburg Law Firm has been serving people around the world since 1970. Its principal office is located in Amarillo, with other established offices in Lubbock and Dallas.
The dedicated attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants have created a sense of family in their clientele as they have dedicated their lives to help build and unite families through the immigration process.
Immigration law is always changing and it is crucial to have a legal team that cares to help families remain together and achieve the American dream. Whittenburg Law Firm strives to create a positive culture of unity and firmly believes in keeping families together. When families are kept intact through geographical boundaries, they can spread unity and security throughout our community.
The uncertainty of the past few years was felt by most people globally. However, Whittenburg Law Firm stays determined to continue its mission to support and build up families. When the core family has the support needed to thrive, then our communities will be stronger and future generations can help make our country stronger and healthier for all.
Managing Attorney Brad Parkin has been in the Texas Panhandle for the past 10 years, adding to this culture of success by working to build a vision for continued progress in our community. He has volunteered his expertise with the community by attending and sponsoring many pro-bono events, including hosting a Q&A over the radio for the past decade. Being fluent in Spanish, he is able to serve a larger population of families in the Panhandle.
He is determined to continue seeking out individuals and families that are looking for immigration relief. Whittenburg Law Firm’s goal is to provide the necessary information so families can make informed decisions throughout their immigration process. Ultimately, the Whittenburg Law Firm is ready to help families bridge their current situation with one that will improve their lives and the future of our community.
Champion BBQ Supply
What is your organization’s area of expertise? Our area of expertise is barbecue. We and our staff have lived and competed in barbecue for the past 10 years. We pride ourselves on being experts on the grill and educating others on how to perfect their grilling game and cook better.
How did you get your start? We began our barbecue journey in 2014 by actively competing throughout the country. Co-owner Robby Staggs could not find his favorite grilling products in one place, so he created Champion BBQ Supply, where competitive cooks could shop and backyard grillers could come for advice on how to become the neighborhood pitmaster.
How have you built your brand? We have focused on great customer service and helping everyone cook better. From the backyard cook to the seasoned pitmaster, we love sharing our expertise and talking about barbecue. Our staff travels and competes throughout the year to continuously learn new techniques and methods to share with our customers. We research new products so our customers can get the latest and best products.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? The key is doing what you are passionate about and what you love. Sharing our love
of barbecue and helping others create togetherness with their family and friends is what we enjoy. Our staff enjoys learning new techniques and building relationships with our customers.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? We have run the business differently through uncertainties by going above and beyond for our customers and their needs. We have partnered with vendors that can help us get the best products for our customers in a timely manner. We pride ourselves in valuing our customers by keeping the most affordable fuel and the best selection of products in town. We are your onestop shop!
What is your company’s vision for the future? We are excited to be celebrating our eight-year anniversary. We are blessed to have so much support from the Texas Panhandle. We opened our second location in Oklahoma City in 2021, and we are looking to open more locations in the next two years to keep sharing our love of barbecue.
ROBBY AND JENNIFER STAGGS (CENTER) AND STAFF
EXPERTS
CHIMNEY & FIREPLACE CARE
KATHY AND JIM RAY, OWNERS
Our company specializes in comprehensive chimney and fireplace services, including cleaning, inspection, repair and installation. With a deep-rooted commitment to safety and efficiency, we ensure that every service is performed to the highest standards, enhancing the performance and longevity of our clients’ chimneys and fireplaces. We also have expertise in dryer ventilation.
Our journey began more than two decades ago when I became passionate about home safety, quality craftsmanship, and cleaner air in the home. I saw a significant need for reliable chimney maintenance in our community. What started as a small, local, one-man operation has grown into a respected business known for its expertise and customer satisfaction. Our early success was built on word-of-mouth referrals and repeat satisfied customers with a steadfast commitment to doing the job right the first time.
Building our brand has been a deliberate process. We focus on transparency, reliability and excellence. Our branding efforts include a strong online presence with informative content that educates homeowners about chimney care and emphasizes personalized service. We achieve consistent, high-quality results and positive relationships with our clients through certification and continuing education of our technicians.
Maintaining a positive company culture is essential to our success. We prioritize open communication, recognition and
West Texas Chimney and Venting Solutions
professional development. Our team members are encouraged to contribute ideas and take pride in their work, which not only boosts morale, but also drives exceptional service. We encourage a family-like atmosphere by having family parties, picnics and employee recognition.
Navigating the uncertainties of recent years has been challenging but rewarding. We adapted by embracing digital tools and enhancing our online services, ensuring that clients could easily access our offerings and book appointments remotely. Additionally, we implemented rigorous health and safety protocols to protect both our team and our clients. These adaptations have helped us maintain operational stability and continue serving our community effectively.
Looking to the future, our vision is to expand our services and reach while continuing to uphold our commitment to quality and safety. We aim to incorporate new technologies and practices that enhance the efficiency of our services, and we are dedicated to sustainability by exploring eco-friendly solutions and improved air quality of the home. Our goal is to remain at the forefront of the industry, consistently delivering exceptional value and setting new standards for excellence in chimney care.
ELEVATED DINING EXPERIENCE
Cellar 55
CHRIS HAZEL, OWNER/OPERATOR
What is your organization’s area of expertise? Our management team has many combined years of experience in every facet of the restaurant business. My personal expertise comes in the front of the house, specifically on the wine and spirits side. We aim to give our guests an experience unlike any other restaurant in Amarillo.
How did you get your start? My start in the restaurant business began, like many restaurateurs, as a dishwasher for a summer job during high school. From there, I have worked in every role within a restaurant, which has taught me the value of each position and each employee.
How have you begun to build your brand? I wanted our brand to mean something more than just a name. I thought about what we wanted to be known for and what was important to me. So Cellar 55 has multiple meanings. Of course, Cellar refers to a wine cellar. The 55 has three different interpretations. First, 55 degrees is the perfect temperature for a red wine cellar. Fifty-five was my son, Justin’s, football number and is also my daughter, Harper’s, club volleyball number. If you look at the logo, you will see three circles around 55 to represent each meaning. It has personal significance for me and reminds me why I do what I do.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? I truly feel it’s all about who you surround yourself with and getting those people to buy into your concept and a certain standard. It’s letting each group of employees, whether front-of-house or back-of-house, have a voice equal to everyone else’s.
How have you overcome the challenges of opening a new restaurant? Our Executive Chef, Shelby Swindell, is amazing and holds our kitchen staff to a high standard. I have two front-of-house managers, Janice and Sean, who have exceeded my expectations. They get quite a bit of praise for overcoming many of the challenges we have faced.
What is your vision for the future? I am focusing on taking this new adventure day by day and week by week. We will launch other concepts at some point, but right now, I want to ensure Cellar 55 is Amarillo’s premier dining establishment.
Capitol Peak Realty
SHELBY MASSEY, BROKER
What is your area of expertise? My brokerage is focused on commercial real estate and development.
How did you get your start? I have been selling real estate for more than 11 years in the Amarillo and Dallas markets. I originally started working in a boutique brokerage in Dallas, which mainly focused on homes. When my family moved back to Amarillo in 2018, I transitioned my focus to commercial real estate. I obtained my broker’s license in 2021, which led me to open Capitol Peak Realty.
How have you built your brand? Building my brand has primarily taken place through the relationships I have cultivated. Most of my client base is referrals, however, the current project I am working on started with a cold call, and now I am representing Amarillo’s newest retail space, The Plaza at Tascosa. This opportunity has opened the door to larger retail brands and interested parties. I am excited about this development and what it will bring to Amarillo.
What is the key to maintaining a positive culture? I find positivity in my clients and the service I provide them. It’s not just closing a deal. It’s creating and maintaining relationships based on how you helped your clients get the best possible option for themselves. What works for my brokerage is the collaboration that happens within the office. Hearing ideas and opinions from everyone is important to maintaining a positive, healthy culture.
How has your business persevered through the uncertainties of the past few years? We stick to our mission and goals while staying focused. We also work to adapt to market conditions while creating proactive solutions for our clients.
What is your company’s vision for the future? Our population keeps growing, which means that companies that may have skipped over Amarillo will now stop and look at us as a location to expand their businesses. Also, the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. has done an amazing job of bringing large companies to our community. Businesses like Cacique, Amazon, Producers Owned Beef, Bell Textron, CVMR, and Albers Air will provide great employment opportunities in Amarillo. With this growth, I hope to keep reaching my goal of expanding throughout the Texas Panhandle.
CELLAR 55
Locally owned restaurants come and go all the time in Amarillo, but few garner the kind of instant buzz and positive attention that accompanied the launch of Cellar 55 this summer. Owner Chris Hazel’s modernization of a large space off Civic Circle—most recently it had been home to Copper Fire Grill—makes a solidly upscale first impression.
The food seals the deal. And as many now-regular patrons will attest, Cellar 55 seems to have made it into the fall with very few growing pains.
Hazel is known locally for his wine expertise from years in the industry. The Cellar 55 name comes from the ideal storage temperature for storing wine—55 degrees—and also has personal significance for Hazel, since that number, his favorite, has also become his son’s football number and daughter’s chosen volleyball number.
A frequent traveler who gathers menu ideas from visits to other restaurants, Hazel has teamed up with Executive Chef Shelby Swindell to create a menu he describes as “steak-and seafood-focused New American cuisine, but with something for everyone.”
That includes the popular seafood tostada and the fun bacon sampler, which creatively displays different cuts of bacon hung from clips. One of his favorite restaurants, Press in Napa Valley, serves a hanging bacon appetizer as a secret, off-menu item at its bar. “You have to ask for it. All the locals know about it,” he says.
Recreated at Cellar 55, that sampler is no secret.
One of the restaurant’s most popular menu items is also Hazel’s personal favorite. The Sweet Tea Fried Chicken, served with Alabama white sauce, has already earned a dedicated local following. “I lived in South Carolina for a handful of years,” Hazel explains. “About 15 years ago, I stopped at this hole-in-the-wall barbecue joint in Birmingham” called Saw’s Soul Kitchen. “I saw something called Sweet Tea Fried Chicken on the menu. Got it, and it was fantastic. I always had it in the back of my mind.”
While developing the menu with Swindell, Hazel explained the concept of a bone-in chicken brined with sweet tea. Swindell developed the dish and customers love it. “A few weeks ago, I had someone ask for me to come to their table,” Hazel continues. “I went out there and he said, ‘Where did you come up with Sweet Tea Fried Chicken?’”
Hazel started to tell the Birmingham barbecue story and the guest stopped him: “Saw’s?”
The man had grown up in Alabama and not only knew the dish, but knew the restaurant where Hazel first encountered it. “He said he ordered it, planning on complaining about it, but ours was actually better than what he grew up with,” he says.
Beyond the menu, diners have raved about Cellar 55’s attentive service and the luxurious space itself. “The entire layout is 3 percent me and 97 percent my design team,” Hazel adds. “They walk in the door and [say], ‘I don’t feel like I’m in Amarillo.’ That was the goal in mind.”
2800 Civic Circle, Suite 500
806.322.7655
cellar55ama.com
COWBOY BONE-IN RIBEYE
BACON SAMPLER
SWEET TEA FRIED CHICKEN
AMARILLO
575 PIZZERIA
Owned by an Amarillo native, the two local 575 locations (plus a food truck) serve the best pizza in the city. Locals rave about the incomparably thin crust, the way the thin-sliced pepperoni crisps up in the oven, and the fresh ingredients. Their easy to-go ordering includes craft beer and wine by the bottle. 2803 Civic Circle/ 7710 Hillside Road, Suite 700, 806.322.5575, 575pizzeria.com $$
9TH INNING BREWS & BITES
Billing itself as “Amarillo’s Newest Sports Bar,” this west-side location represents the rebranding of what once was J’s Bar & Grill in the Shops at Soncy. It offers 57 TVs, dozens of draft beers on tap, a reliable pub-style menu and a family-friendly environment for watching the game. 3130 S. Soncy Road, Suite 100, 806.358.2222, $
ALOHA KITCHEN
Spam is on the menu at Aloha Kitchen, an authentic Hawaiian eatery located inside From 6th Collective in Bushland. A former food truck, Aloha Kitchen serves breakfast items like Moons Over Spammy, a breakfast sandwich with Spam, and egg and cheese on delectable malasada, a type of frybread. The Aloha Kitchen menu changes frequently, so check the menu before you visit. 18100 I-40 West, 806.557.8036 $
BANGKOK TOKYO
The name should give you an idea of the Asian fusion available here. The dining area is very small—thanks, weird triangle roofline!—but you can get fantastic Thai food combined with even better sushi. Takeout orders are quick, and it also now offers an expanded glutenfree menu. 2413 S. Western St., Suite A, 806.353.4777 $$
BLACK BEAR DINER
Part of a restaurant chain mostly located west of the Mississippi, the Amarillo location takes advantage of the abundant traffic along I-40 headed east. It serves traditional, homestyle comfort food including burgers, sandwiches, chicken-fried steak, meatloaf and breakfast all day. Customers love the huge portions. We hear good things about the pie. 7000 I-40 East, 806.342.3080, blackbeardiner.com $$
BLUE SKY
Burgers are big here, and locals almost always rate these the best in town, which is why Blue Sky’s two locations are always busy. We also love the homemade shakes, the fried anaheim chile sticks and the cheese fries. Families love the casual setting and outdoor dining. 4201 I-40 West, 06.355.8100/5060 S. Coulter St., 806.322.3888, blueskytexas.com $$
BURRITO STOP
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A mainstay for downtown workers, this unique, collaborative restaurant between Taylor and Polk offers menu items from some of the city’s favorites: coffee from Roasters and food from Belmar Bakery and The Bagel Place. The tortillas are always fresh and the breakfast burritos are some of the best in town. Open early for breakfast and closes at 3 pm. 114 SE Ninth Ave., 806.418.2705, burritostop.com $
This is not a comprehensive list of local restaurants. From issue to issue, we will try to include a wide variety of dining options based on the space available. If you notice an error, please email mm@brickandelm.com.
Most entrees under $10
$$ $$$
Most entrees $11 to $20
Most entrees over $21
CASK & CORK
The rooftop patio in southwest Amarillo offers unparalleled views of Panhandle sunsets. It’s also a great spot for live music and cocktails. And while we love the shareable apps, we’re most impressed by the attentive service here. Every employee seems eager to please. 5461 McKenna Square, Suite 101, 806.410.1113, caskncorkamarillo.com $$
CHICKEN SALAD CHICK
The Amarillo franchise of this chain made a splash when it opened in Wolflin Square, serving chicken-salad flavors named after the friends of the Alabama stay-at-home mom who first launched the business. We advise trying all the flavors, but for non-fans of chicken salad, the chicken tortilla soup is delicious. 2620 Wolflin Ave., 806.808.0709, chickensaladchick.com $$
CHOP CHOP RICE CO.
This long-standing fast-casual Asian restaurant is Amarillo-owned, with two locations here and three in Lubbock. It’s a favorite of high school and college students, who appreciate its generous portions and reasonable prices. 3300 S. Coulter St., Suite 1, 806.457.0700/2818 Wolflin Ave., 806.731.4499, chopchoprice.com $
CITY CAFÉ AND ESPRESSO
“Wanna eat at the PD?” Don’t be surprised at the question. This basement location at the Amarillo Police Department offers a full breakfast—it’s very affordable—and lunch menu with an espresso bar. The daily specials are popular, along with sandwiches, wraps, flat bread, burgers and salads. Call-in and to-go orders welcome. 200 SE Third Ave., Level B, 806.378.6104 $
CRUSH WINE BAR & GRILL
A fixture of fine dining downtown, Crush serves great steaks, pasta and shareable appetizers in an upscale, modern environment. We love the bar area downstairs as well as the rooftop bar, which overlooks a busy Polk Street and occasionally hosts live music. On weekends, enjoy a street-side brunch. The service is consistently great and the wine menu extensive. 627 S. Polk St., 806.418.2011, crushamarillo.com $$
THE DRUNKEN OYSTER
The opulent, moody atmosphere of the Drunken Oyster feels like you’ve stepped out of the Panhandle and into the heart of the bayou. The Louisiana-style cuisine never disappoints, from the fresh oysters to the jambalaya and crawfish étouffée. It’s also a great spot for live music. 7606 SW 45th Ave., Suite 100, 806.418.6668, drunkenoysteramarillo.com $$
EL RINCÓN DE LA CRUDA
First things first: The name is Spanish for “the Hangover Corner.” That’s intentional. The owners hail from Arandas, Mexico, and designed the traditional menu of this restaurant/bar to offer rich dishes to help out with hangovers. And if that doesn’t work, delicious drinks will help put off dealing with the feeling. 2706 S. Osage St., rincondelacruda.com $$
FENG CHA BUBBLE TEA
Tea is a big deal in the Panhandle, but this isn’t just another place for blueberry green iced tea. Feng Cha offers bubble tea and milk foam teas with decidedly not-quite-Texan flavors like cream cheese, matcha, taru and durian. Add-ins include boba, lychee jelly, grass jelly and more. Enjoy the sleek Instagrammable atmosphere, and try the dessert menu. 5611 Gem Lake Road, 806.437.1556, fengchausa.com $
FIRE SLICE PIZZERIA
A little hard to find—this pizzeria is hidden on the back-alley side of the Summit Shopping Center—but it’s definitely worth the discovery. We love the fun atmosphere, calzones, paninis, craft beer and shareable starters. The brick-oven pizza toppings are inventive, too. 7306 SW 34th Ave., Space 10, 806.331.2232, fireslice.com $$
FREDDIE’S FISH & GRILL
Remember FatCat? That’s the heritage of this fry shack, and the catfish is still the best thing on the menu. (Good news: It’s actual freshwater catfish.) The new incarnation serves beer and boasts an updated interior. The menu feels familiar to the FatCat of old: Lots of fried seafood, hushpuppies, fries and the popular Build-Your-OwnBucket boil. 1309 Dumas Drive, 806.373.3581 $
GEORGIA STREET TAPHOUSE
This locally owned sports bar in Wolflin Village offers a really solid bar and a nice outdoor patio. The craft beer selection is diverse, with daily drink specials, making it a popular place to kick back for Happy Hour. Foodwise, expect typical pub fare. The fries are tasty, and the pizza, burger and app menus never disappoint. 2001 S. Georgia St., 806.803.7000, georgiastreettaphouse.com $$
GLORIA’S OYSTER BAR
One of the original Mexican seafood places in Amarillo, Gloria’s is known for its soups, oysters and traditional Mexican dishes like chile rellenos. In a city filled with quality Mexican food, Gloria’s stands out as unique. And the capirotada (Mexcian bread pudding) is incredible. 1300 S. Grand St., 806.373.2722 $
THE GOLDEN LIGHT CAFE
This doesn’t need an introduction from us, but are you a real Amarilloan if you’ve never dined at this icon? In business since 1946 at the same location, it’s the oldest-operating restaurant in Amarillo and maybe even along Route 66. Fantastic greasy burgers with outdoor dining and a music venue next door. 2908 SW Sixth Ave., 806.374.9237, goldenlightcafe.com $
GOLDEN ROSE TEA ROOM
If you’re searching for traditional British tea service, look no further. Golden Rose has carved out its place in this delightful niche, offering all the coziness and tradition of a delicate tea service. Expect three pours per meal, balanced alongside a three-tiered food service, including savory sandwiches and dessert. Reservations are required for meal service, but stop-ins for dessert and tea only are always available. Proper fun! 3314 Olsen-B, 806.803.1450, goldenrosetearoom.com $$
MAC JOE’S KITCHEN & CELLAR
Always a popular date-night choice, Mac Joe’s is an Amarillo institution known for elegant ambiance and attentive service. The menu relies on Italian dishes but also offers fantastic steaks— with one of the best wine lists in all of the Texas Panhandle. 1619 S. Kentucky St., Suite D1500, 806.358.8990, macaronijoes.com $$-$$$
MY THAI
One of the original Thai food restaurants in a city famous for them. My Thai has been family-owned since 1986 and is absolutely a local favorite. In fact, My Thai is probably the standard for comparing the
quality of the rest of the city’s Thai restaurants. Lunch specials daily. 2029 Coulter St., 355.9541, mythaiamarillo.com $
OISHII JAPANESE SUSHI & SAKE
Oishii elevates the local sushi experience with creative flavor combinations and presentation. The menu is huge. The seafood is fresh. The dishes are designed to induce gasps as they arrive at the table. All the sauces are made from scratch in-house. If sushi’s not your thing, the traditional Asian staples are just as worthwhile. 2721 Virginia Circle, 806.877.2464 $$-$$$
PACIFIC RIM
This longtime establishment on Paramount is one of our favorites, thanks to its excellent Asian-Fusion cuisine and huge portions. We love the build-your-own stir fry options and speedy delivery. Pay attention to the menu’s spiciness levels, though.
Level 5 (“Hurting”) is no joke. 2061 Paramount Blvd., 806.353.9179, pacificrimam.com $
THE PLAZA RESTAURANT & BAR
If you remember its original strip-mall location with the indoor, lighted fountain, then you’re already a loyal customer of this longtime Tex-Mex favorite. The menu is still affordable, with excellent fajitas, enchiladas and sopapillas—with a full bar. 2101 S. Soncy Road., 806.358.4897, theplazaarestaurant.com $
PONDASETA BREWING CO.
Already popular for its craft beer, a new mobile trailer enables the brewery to serve a food truck-style menu. The focus is pub-style food like burgers, sandwiches and mac-and-cheese bites. Kids meals are available. The adults will want the charcuterie adventure board, with hummus, cheese, meat and crackers. 7500 SW 45th Ave., 806.418.6282, pondaseta.com $$
PUBLIC HOUSE
Known for one of the best brunches in town, this southwest side hangout boasts inventive cuisine and an upscale, service-oriented atmosphere. The Happy Hour menu is extraordinary, as are the whiskey and wine lists. Give one of the daily bar and food specials a try. 3333 S. Coulter St., 806.398.7777, publichouseamarillo.com $$
RED RIVER STEAKHOUSE
It’s not hard to find a decent steak in the Panhandle, so when a local steakhouse earns a reputation for its hand-cut steaks, you pay attention. The Amarillo version of the owner’s original Red River Steakhouse in McLean, this old-fashioned establishment may be one of the area’s best-kept secrets. 4332 SW 45th Ave., 806.316.5082, redriversteakhouse.net $$
ROCKET BREWS
Seemingly made for Instagram, this Boulevard location quietly built a loyal clientele. Then it got featured in Season 14 of the Texas Bucket List. Head there for to-go micheladas and daiquiris with Jalisco-style
WEEKEND OF EVENTS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST
Shopping from 12 PM - 8 PM
RED’S EARLY BIRD SHOPPING
12 PM - 2 PM
Refreshments and giveaways to the first 100 shoppers!
COCKTAILS & SHOPPING
5 PM - 8 PM
Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, select merchant specials, and door prizes!
Plus, Art in Action live event!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND
Shopping from 10 AM - 6 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD
Shopping from 11 AM - 4 PM
PICTURES & CRAFTS WITH SANTA
Christmas Roundup
$10 Weekend Ticket, Children 12 and under FREE Shop two full halls!
AMARILLO CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX
SPONSORED BY
snack trays and bowls. Locally owned by Palo Duro grads. 1506 Amarillo Blvd. East, 806.350.7830, rocketbrews.com $
THE RUFFLED CUP
It all started with cupcakes, but now this beloved bakery also serves a daily lunch menu of straight-up comfort food, including soups, salads, and hot and cold sandwiches on fresh-baked bread. Grab a to-go order, and don’t forget to order some of those cupcakes for dessert. 3440 S. Bell St., Suite 100, 806.318.3961, theruffledcup.com $$
SCRATCH MADE BAKERY & CAFE
Here’s all you need to know: The owner won an episode of “Cupcake Wars” and then moved to Amarillo. Scratch Made is her and her business partner’s downtown bakery, and it’s as good as you expect. 118 SW Sixth Ave., 806.731.4477, scratchmadebakery.com $
SHELBY’S DINER
Never had a reason to go out to Tradewinds Airport? Now you do. This fun, home-cooking menu comes with runway views of private-plane takeoffs and landings. Locals love the breakfast options—served from 6:30 a.m. until 11—as well as the burgers on the lunch menu. Open for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays. 4105 Tradewind St, 806.699.1008, shelbysdineramarillo.com $
SIX CAR PUB & BREWERY
One of the best things to hit downtown since the Sod Poodles, this Polk Street restaurant is known for its craft beers, amazing outdoor patio and rooftop, and its trendy vibe. The Nashville chicken sandwich is one of the best in the city. Like IPAs? Make Good Choices. 625 S. Polk St., 806.576.3396, sixcarpub.com $$
SPICY MIKE’S BAR-B-Q HAVEN
The spice is nice at this very popular barbecue joint in west Amarillo, known for chopped brisket sandwiches, tender pork ribs and more. We also love the daily specials—like Saturday’s smoked turkey sandwich—and homemade cobbler for dessert. 6723 S. Western St., 806.358.8550, spicymikesbarbqhaven.com $
TAQUERIA EL TAPATIO MEXICAN RESTAURANT
Most locals assume the most authentic Mexican food is on the city’s east side, but this joint serves authentic Jalisco-style Mexican food near 34th and Coulter. The menu is huge, but we love the breakfast, massive parrillada meals and seafood. (There’s also a Dumas location.) 3410 S. Coulter St., 806.331.6248; 5630 Amarillo Blvd. West, 806.803.3220, tapatiotx.com $
TOSCANA ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE
Housed in The Barfield Hotel, Toscana Italian Steakhouse offers authentic Texas steakhouse fare with savory Italian flair. Heavy on premium Panhandle beef and locally grown vegetables, Toscana’s menu also includes scratch-made pastas and sauces made in house. Don’t miss the melt-in-your-mouth zeppoles. Think of them as tiny Italian doughnuts, available with a variety of toppings. 600 S. Polk St., 806.414.2200, toscanaamarillo.com $$-$$$
TYLER’S BARBEQUE
Amarillo has no shortage of authentic Texas barbecue, but Tyler’s always seems to be residents’ first choice. Maybe it’s because he’s got a reputation all over the Lone Star State. Or maybe it’s secretly because of the Frito pie and green chile stew. Plan ahead: Most menu items sell out. 3301 Olsen Blvd., 806.331.2271, tylersbarbeque.com $$
THE WESTERN HORSEMAN CLUB
In the 1980s, the Western Horseman Club was one of the hottest country-and-western bars in the city. Now, prominent local chef Rory Schepisi has taken on the task of breathing new life into the storied club. Schepisi has transformed the once-dingy, sprawling space with a swanky, modern-saloon vibe. The menu is western-focused, with options like Angus Beef burgers and sandwiches, Prime Certified Angus Beef steaks, chicken-fried steak, catfish and more. 2501 I-40 East, 806.877-1600, westernhorsemanclub.com $$-$$$
YOUNGBLOOD’S CAFE
An Amarillo classic, where you can grab a hearty breakfast starting every day at 6 a.m. or wait a few hours to try its illustrious chickenfried steaks. Our favorite thing at Youngblood’s? It’s gotta be the free banana pudding for dessert (while supplies last). 620 SW 16th Ave., 806.342.9411, youngbloodscafe.com $$
X– STEAKHOUSE
The name is a play on cattle brands—say “X-Bar”—and this Town Square steakhouse definitely knows beef. It’s locally owned, has a full bar, and the prices are extremely reasonable for such a swanky atmosphere. We hear great things about the weekend brunch, too. 9181 Town Square Blvd., Suite 1311, 806.322.4227, xbarsteakhouse.com $$-$$$
CANYON
BUENOS DIAS
There’s a lot to love about a place that specializes in breakfast, and definitely a lot to love about a locally owned, small-town diner. Buenos Dias was born in 2018 as a home-cooking gem that specializes in breakfast. The cafe opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays and 7:30 on weekends serving up breakfast and brunch every Wednesday through Sunday. 1202 23rd St., 806.452.7277, facebook.com/ buenosdiaskitchen $
BUFF’S
This small, locally owned spot advertises itself as an “old-school diner with a new school touch.” That’s a great description. The college crowd and Canyon families love the homestyle comfort food, including burgers, sandwiches, and daily specials. Try the breakfast burritos. 2201 Fourth Ave., 806.655.2833, buffscanyon.com $
HONEY BUZZ WINERY
The honey is made onsite from Creek House’s hard-working bees, and those fresh, sweet flavors find their way into homemade items from
cheese boards to salads, sandwiches and baked goods. Check social media for daily specials, and definitely try the impeccably brewed mead. 5005 Fourth Ave., 806.381.3446, honeybuzzwinery.com $
HUDSPETH HOUSE COFFEE HOUSE
Georgia O’Keeffe once lived in this historic boarding house, and the newly opened coffee house has become a beloved weekday spot for light breakfast items, quiche, baked goods, sandwiches and soup, and even afternoon tea. The scones are almost as amazing as the history here. 1905 Fourth Ave., 806.655.9800, hudspethhouse.com $
MICKEY’S PLACE
Family-owned, this restaurant offers Italian specialties and craft cocktails right off the Square in downtown Canyon. The two outdoor patio areas are perfect for warm evenings. The pizza is great and the rest of the homestyle menu offers fresh pasta specialties along with steak and salmon. The complimentary bread and sauce nearly steal the show. 1512 Fifth Ave. (Canyon), 806.452.7320, mickeysplacetx.com $$
RANCH HOUSE CAFE
Every bit what you’d expect from a small-town, home-cooking restaurant. This is comfort food at its best, with all-day breakfast, chicken-fry and steaks, Tex-Mex specialties and desserts made from scratch. You didn’t hear it from us, but whole pies are available to order. 810 23rd St., 806.655.8785, theranchhousecafe.com $
ROCKIN’ ZEBRA SODA SHOPPE
The motto here is “life is short, eat dessert first” and we can’t disagree with that. Everything at Rockin’ Zebra is pure nostalgia, from the ’50s-era barstools and soda fountain to the abundant signage on the walls. (Not to mention Canyon’s Square right outside the diner.) An ideal setting for a classic cheeseburger and milkshake. Or splurge on a Monte Cristo and an ice cream soda. 404 15th St, Canyon, 806.655.3381 facebook.com/rockinzebrasodashoppe $
SAYAKOMARN’S RESTAURANT
This traditional Thai and Laotian place is extremely popular with locals, who mostly have given up trying to pronounce the name and instead call it “Soccer Moms.” (It’s … close.) We love the pretty dining area and separate to-go pickup entrance. We also love the Boba tea. 421 16th St., 806.655.2698, sayakomarns.com $$
Saturday, October 26th @ 10:00AM
1501 Streit Drive, Amarillo, TX 79106
Registration: $15-$55
Race shirt | Finisher Medal (5K)
Breakfast | Parking Lot After Party
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lmost 250 years after the start of the American Revolution, we Americans still like to remind the world how we told the mother country to shove off, then struck out on our own. But every so often, we still tend to buddy up with the Brits if there’s something in it for us.
The dawn of the Panhandle’s ranching empire was one of those moments in time when the on-again, off-again AngloAmerican bromance was quite effective, and it played a strong role in shaping the permanent settlement of our home region.
It all began in 1877 when Col. Charles Goodnight formed a partnership with John Adair, a British aristocrat living in Denver with his American wife, Cornelia. Goodnight had established his home ranch in Palo Duro Canyon in 1876, but he needed capital to make it work. The British, represented by men such as Adair, were willing to provide it. This partnership was the genesis of the famed JA Ranch, the Panhandle’s longest-lived business venture.
What followed was a small but steady influx of British businessmen dipping their toes in the Panhandle ranching business, either as faraway investors or as an outright cowhand, such as Alfred Rowe, who established the RO Ranch in Donley County in 1878.
Rowe assembled a vast estate that eventually spilled out over portions of four Panhandle counties. And though his proper accent was likely as surprising as a harpsichord solo in the fiddle tune that was the southeastern Texas Panhandle of the time, Rowe was accepted and admired by his neighbors because he lived and worked alongside his cowboys.
when MOO BRITANNIA
drink in Mobeetie. Archie began to pay more attention when farming interests south of the Rocking Chair range agitated to form a county government that would be funded in large part by taxes assessed against ranch property. In hopes of winning Archie’s approval, the organizers named their prospective county seat after the Duke of Wellington.
Bleeding money and feeling hemmed in by the onrush of settlers, the Rocking Chair owners sold the ranch in 1896. Aside from leaving some curious place names behind, the noblemen introduced a breed of dog that is now one of America’s most beloved. One of Archie’s “blooded hounds” turned out to be a Golden Retriever named Sol, a representative of a breed developed in Scotland by—you guessed it—the Baron of Tweedmouth. According to the American Kennel Club, Sol was the first Golden to call North America home.
Other British investors played a valuable role in constructing the landmark Texas Capitol in Austin in 1888. The Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Company was organized in London in 1884 to inject $15 million of British capital into the famed XIT Ranch, developed by a group of Chicago investors as payment for building the Capitol building. Though famous in ranch lore, the XIT was short-lived, as were other large ranching ventures situated in fertile areas that could generate more money in the form of land sales to newly settled farmers.
Adair and Rowe were among the first Brits to develop an interest in Panhandle grass, and according to historian Michael Grauer, McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture and Curator of Cowboy Collections & Western Art at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, those who followed were greatly influenced by the rosy picture of western grazing painted by James S. Brisbin in his best-selling book The Beef Bonanza; Or, How to Get Rich on the Plains, published in 1881. It was likely handed around many smoke-filled rooms in London and Edinburgh because from that point onward, British capital began to flow liberally.
It’s not known if Englishman J. John Drew had read the book or not, but he had the same idea when, in 1883, he and his partner Early W. Spencer purchased the Rocking Chair Ranch in Collingsworth County. After acquiring the ranch, Drew flipped his property to British investors Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks (pronounced like “Marchbanks”), the first baron of Tweedmouth, and John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, the 1st Marquess of Aberdeen. Unlike Rowe, the noblemen had no intention of getting their hands dirty, but they did send over Marjoribanks’ youngest son, Archibald John, to oversee the ranching operation.
The Rocking Chair, from its home base of Aberdeen, grew to more than 150,000 acres in northeastern Collingsworth County and southern portions of Wheeler County. The operation had trouble turning a profit as the younger Marjoribanks, known by the locals as Archie, didn’t make much of a hand. It was said he took leave fairly often with his “blooded hounds” to gamble and
While its lands were not as expansive as the XIT, the Britishowned Francklyn Land & Cattle Company came to control a whopping 700,000 acres of rangeland in Carson, Gray, Roberts and Hutchinson counties. The blizzard of 1886 devastated this operation, however, and the Francklyn acreage was taken over by another venture known as White Deer Lands Company that was more of a liquidator than a ranching operation. It was at this time that one of the Panhandle’s most admired British immigrants, Montague Kingsmill (M.K.) Brown, arrived in Pampa to promote the sale of White Deer lands to farmers moving into the area. In 1924, Brown joined forces with another British expatriate, Cecil Victor Payne Buckler, to co-manage the remaining White Deer Lands properties.
According to Anita Gullett, executive director at Pampa’s White Deer Lands Museum and a scholar on the British influence on Panhandle ranching, Brown and Buckler shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to the importance of the British in the development of the Panhandle. What’s more, Brown and Buckler made the Panhandle their permanent homes and contributed greatly to community life. Most of the others moved on to other ventures.
Alfred Rowe eventually moved back to England to raise his family, but paid regular visits to his Texas ranch. On what would be his final return trip, he booked passage on the RMS Titanic and died in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic when the ship went down in 1912. But Sol, the Scottish-born Golden Retriever—who trailed along on Rowe’s booze and gambling forays into Mobeetie—died in his adopted country. According to legend, this sire of the Golden Retriever breed was laid to rest here in the Panhandle, buried under Collingsworth County sod.
If there is any town in Texas in which you could feel it apropos to break out your best Bavarian attire any time of the year, it would be Fredericksburg. Located about seven hours southeast of Amarillo in the heart of the Hill Country, it is my favorite getaway. Judging by the crowds and rave reviews, apparently I am one among many.
Founded in May 1846 by German immigrants under the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, it reflects its heritage with an air of authenticity seldom found in touristy places. This is no Helen, Georgia, a town that was created to look like any Oktoberfest reveler might be seen walking down the sidewalk. From streets and highways to local businesses bearing settler names, this is the real deal.
While the food is at the top of the list (German pancakes, sauerbraten, spaetzle, and pastries anyone?), Fredericksburg is also known for its many boutiques and exotic shops. Ditch your vehicle on Hauptstrasse (Main Street), and set out on foot to explore the bazaars. There’s something for everyone, and if you need a break, stop by Fredericksburg Brewing Company for a cold one. They’ve been brewing fine beers since 1994.
But Fredericksburg has evolved, reflecting the ever-changing demographics of Texas. And that explains why you can simultaneously be treated to Texas-size servings of German food, but right alongside it on the menu you’ll find fine Mexican cuisine, the kind we have
Nick’s Picks
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is located about 15 minutes north of town along RR965. This dome of pink granite beckons hikers to make their way to the top, where expansive 360-degree views await. The park is very popular and the parking lot small, so plan on coming early in the day.
Luckenbach, Texas, was popularized by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings in song in 1977, but the “town,” which consists of a small store, post office, and dance hall, has been around since 1849. Today, it is an iconic attraction for everyone from motorcyclists and bicyclists to motorists of all stripes. There’s nearly always someone strumming a guitar, and concerts on weekends pack the hall with revelers. It’s about 15 minutes southeast of town, off US 290.
The Willow City Loop provides breathtaking vistas, and is one of the most popular places to view bluebonnets in spring. The narrow, twisty roads with frequent cattle guards require a slow pace, which is the whole idea, anyway. Take Texas Highway 16 north of town and watch for the signs.
Hill Top Cafe, located less than 10 minutes northwest of town on
embraced in these parts for years. It’s an odd mash-up visualizing lederhosen topped with a sombrero, but it could happen at your party’s table.
The last couple of decades have witnessed Fredericksburg and the outlying region emerge as premier wine country. It’s the Napa Valley of the south. There are more than 90 wineries within an hour of Fredericksburg, and professional wine tasting tours are available on comfy buses so you don’t have to worry about driving. My favorite winery is Pedernales Cellars just south of Stonewall. Join their wine club like I did. You won’t regret it.
The National Museum of the Pacific War in the heart of downtown is a history lover’s dream come true. It is considered one of the top five history museums in the U.S., and abides by its promise to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz: to honor everyone who served and supported the war effort in the Pacific. Ongoing research ensures that the museum and its holdings change and grow over time, while its mission remains steadfast.
While Fredericksburg is busy year-round, there are busier times than others. Spring brings throngs of visitors to view bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes, and other wildflowers, while late autumn finds folks doing their Christmas shopping and enjoying holiday decorations. Even in winter, the normal daily highs are about
US 87, is a popular dining destination. The Greek-Cajun cafe opened in 1980 in what was once a remote gas station and is owned by former Asleep At The Wheel member Johnny Nicholas.
Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site is located east of town adjacent to US 290, and provides a fitting homage to the 36th President. Multiple historic structures beckon, and the park’s main roadway offers not just history but also many scenic glimpses of the Pedernales River.
Wildseed Farms, east of town on US 290, is not just a delight to see and photograph, but also to peruse its offerings to take a little bit of it back home. Naturally, offerings vary by season.
Altstadt Brewery and several distilleries near town round out the extensive adult beverage offerings of the area. Use your favorite mapping app to find them all.
For breakfast, don’t miss the Old German Bakery & Restaurant on Main Street, or if you want to see where the locals congregate, visit Andy’s Grille on South Washington. Either way, you’ll leave with a belly full.
I established and managed for many years before passing the baton), Oktoberfest, the Christmas Nights of Lights, and Kinderfest. Check the calendar at VisitFredericksburgTX.com
Fredericksburg is small in terms of population (a little more than 11,000), but it has abundant motels and more than 1,500 B&Bs. Take your pick from vintage motels to modern chains, as well as quaint cottages and full-size houses that can accommodate a range of family sizes.
The biggest factor that drew me to Fredericksburg 30 years ago, and caused me to host my cycling camp there, was the nearly 500 miles of paved roads in Gillespie County, of which Fredericksburg is the seat. Many of these are barely wide enough for two cars to pass, and most are open range, meaning you’ll be sharing the road with cattle, sheep and goats. Cattle guards keep livestock from straying too far. Low water crossings of seasonal creeks are often rough, so drive with caution.
Between the rolling hills, wildflowers, and peach blossoms and eastern red buds in the spring, it makes for an idyllic tableau, one that spoke to my soul back then, and each time I return. It is distinctly Texan, but with a European twist. I was fortunate to share this little piece of heaven on earth with several hundred of my best friends each year, as well as scores of others with whom I have shared the story, just like now. Pack your bags and head south to Fredericksburg, for a weekend or a week. And don’t forget to pack your lederhosen and dirndl. You never know when a Bavarian party might break out.
Fuel up before you travel at a convenient Pak-ASak store location in Amarillo or Canyon WITH
NICK GERLICH
When Brick & Elm planned our 2023 feature about Prayer Town, we were inspired by this Texas Monthly photo, taken on the property of this religious community near Boys Ranch on Highway 385. McSpadden’s 2016 photo accompanied a piece by Bob Phillips about the sisters of Prayer Town. It was his first time to visit. “I had driven by a thousand times on the way to New Mexico,” he says. McSpadden attended St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Amarillo, where some of the sisters once taught. “I’m a lapsed Catholic, but I talked to them about that,” he remembers. “They were really into this picture, which I love. It tells the story—the Canadian [River] breaks, the big sky, the wonderful hill.”
WYATT MCSPADDEN
Last month at the Amarillo Museum of Art, photographs by Wyatt McSpadden played a major role in the museum’s “Cadillac Ranch at 50” exhibit. McSpadden is an Amarillo native who spent part of the 1970s working for eccentric, controversial arts patron Stanley Marsh 3. That proximity put him in a position to document the installation of the Cadillac Ranch in 1974 and to spend time with the crew of artists and colorful characters in Marsh’s orbit—including the iconic fashion photographer Richard Avedon, who came to dinner one night. “I was just one of the Toad Hall gang,” he says of Marsh’s estate north of Amarillo. “Interesting people came through all the time. It was a wild, vibrant scene.”
McSpadden had an interest in photography at the time but “didn’t know what I was going to do about it.” His family had been in the grocery business, after all. But he ended up being present for much of the development of the Cadillac Ranch concept by Chip Lord and the Ant Farm, under Marsh’s patronage. When the Cadillacs were buried, McSpadden was there to take photos. “That was major for me. I wasn’t really supposed to be out there—I was supposed to be doing chores at Toad Hall—but I couldn’t stay away. It just triggered something in me.”
In 1976, McSpadden began advertising his services as a freelance photographer, working for Amarillo ad agencies. When Texas Monthly wanted a portrait of Marsh related to a 1978 feature on the T. Cullen Davis murder trial, the publication contacted McSpadden. His photograph got a full page in the magazine. “That put a hook in me to start thinking about going to a different market and trying different things,” he says.
He has remained a contributing photographer for Texas Monthly ever since, and moved to Austin in 1992 to focus more on editorial photography. Today, McSpadden’s documentary-style work is nationally known. His Texas-focused subject matter resides in permanent collections and museums from Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts to AMoA. He’s also the photographer behind the popular books Texas BBQ (2009) and Texas BBQ: Small Town to Downtown (2018).
(continued on p. 122)
For the cover of the cowboy poet Buck Ramsey’s album, Rolling Uphill from Texas, McSpadden had the idea to capture a horse in motion behind Ramsey’s wheelchair, shot on medium-format film on a ranch north of Bushland. “I can’t believe we got it,” he says of the formally composed image. “The blur of the horse tells the story. It’s one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever done.” The original photo is now part of The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.
For a Texas Monthly cover story about the ranching business, McSpadden took this photo on the JA Ranch. Still operational today, the ranch was established in 1876 by John Adair and Col. Charles Goodnight (see Wes Reeves’ history on p. 117). McSpadden feels comfortable in that setting; his Amarillo advertising career had involved work for the McCormick Agency, which managed major contracts with companies like Pioneer Seeds. “That work turned me onto a whole world of agribusiness, ranching and farming,” he says.
When local cattle ranchers sued Oprah Winfrey after a segment on her show about mad cow disease, Texas Monthly sent McSpadden to Amarillo to cover the high-profile 1998 trial. “I got one distant picture of Oprah,” he says. Needing to find other beef-related content, he ended up at the city’s famous Beef Burger Barrel on Plains Boulevard, and captured this photo. “It’s such a classic place.”
Locals may remember a brief moment of national attention in 2010, when religious activist David Grisham was attempting to burn a copy of the Quran during a protest at Sam Houston Park. Jacob Isom was skateboarding through the park at the time and snatched the Quran away from Grisham, reportedly saying, “Dude, you have no Quran!” The incident went viral and was covered by media outlets across the country. Texas Monthly sent McSpadden to Amarillo for a portrait of Isom, shown here in front of another Stanley Marsh-related landmark, “Ozymandias of the Plains.”
(continued from p. 120)
Though no longer an Amarillo resident, McSpadden’s ongoing connection to the city brings him back from time to time, and Amarillo continues to feature in his work—from his photos of barbecue joints to his coverage for Texas Monthly. “I feel claustrophobic around all these trees,” he says of living in Central Texas. Amarillo’s big horizon provides a sense of relief. “The biggest influence on me is all about the sky. The background is the sky but it’s an essential part of the picture. I still come up just to take pictures for that reason alone—the horizon line.”
Brick & Elm asked him to share some of his favorite Amarillo photos with our readers, and he graciously agreed.
SEPT. 21
SAM HOUSTON PARK, AMARILLO
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Director of Marketing and Communications, High Plains Food Bank finish
ZIVORAD FILIPOVIC
The best advice I ever heard is: compete against yourself, not others. Compare yourself to the person you were yesterday, last week, a year ago. Look at that person and ask yourself, “Am I a better, more skilled, more complete person than I was before?”
My three most recommended books are: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus: This book is about a female chemist who challenges societal norms in the 1950s and 1960s. It explores gender stereotypes and the importance of challenging societal expectations.The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer: The main characters embark on a wild and magical adventure that will change their lives forever. It is a fairytale for grownups, a beautiful and immersive reading experience that will leave you wanting more. The Only One Left by Riley Sager: This is a page-turning thriller that will keep you reading with many twists throughout the book.
To me, success means: making a difference and contributing positively to my community.
People who know me might be surprised that I: am a part of The Hive community, which is a division of HarperCollins and Harlequin Trade Publishing. As a member, I get to read and review books before they are published. This unique program allows me to read books by authors I enjoy, discover new authors, connect with fellow readers across social media platforms to discuss what we are reading, and introduce my followers to books they might enjoy. We get to dive into thrilling stories, thought-provoking narratives, and captivating characters. Creating a buzz about books makes me incredibly happy and is something I thoroughly enjoy!
My biggest pet peeve is: littering. We all need to keep the city we live in beautiful.
Everyone in Amarillo needs to experience: Hoodoo Mural Festival. I love what it has done for Amarillo. People from all walks of life come to experience this amazing event full of acceptance and collaboration. Hoodoo brings together the most creative in our community, as well as adding vibrant art that brings a new kind of energy to the city.
If I could change any one local thing it would be: I want Amarillo to grow and expand in the future, but with that, I believe we need to look at ways we can support the renovation of current entertainment buildings as well as ways we can expand to attract more performers. I hope to see our entire community get behind this so future generations can benefit from the changes we make today.
This city is amazing at: philanthropy! The people in our community are so giving and supportive of local nonprofits and helping them fulfill their missions. We have a one-of-a-kind spirit of giving in Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle.
PHOTO BY VENICE MINCEY
My favorite place in Amarillo is: downtown! I absolutely love the changes and revival of historic buildings that bring new life to the neighborhood. The Barfield Autograph Collection Hotel holds so much history within its walls, and I am glad it has a life once again.
A local organization I love right now: Junior Achievement of the High Plains. Executive Director Kasey Long and her team do incredible work with students to give them the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for the future, and make smart academic choices. JA BizTown allows students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for a mayor, helping them connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world.
A Century of Care
Opened on March 22, 1924, the hospital has been meeting the healthcare needs of our community for 100 years. Today, Northwest Texas Healthcare System offers advanced technology and award-winning specialized care for a variety of health issues. Visit nwths.com to learn more!
