MATADOR

By Mary Ann Edwards

MATADOR – a small west Texas town – was hit by an F-3 tornado on the evening of June 21, 2023.

On most news days, it would have been just another weather story about a horrible tornado devastating a small town.

But Matador is different. It’s different and oh so personal to me.

I was in high school when I got my start in the publishing field at the Matador Tribune, the weekly newspaper for Motley County.

My brother was already working there, and one night they really needed help rolling newspapers in the middle of the night to get them to the post office for an early-morning mail run.

So that became one of my weekly jobs until I graduated from high school. And the job expanded to more: opening the newspaper office on Saturday mornings, working after school, running the Linotype machine and setting the type for the newspaper, and whatever else needed to be done.

We printed checks for the bank and funeral notices, church bulletins and shower announcements – whatever someone brought in to be done. And we sold office supplies. The men’s restroom shower was the dark room for developing film and printing pictures.

Matador High School had amazing teachers who cared about their students.

Students could be involved in anything they wanted to try – sports, academics, talent shows, and so much more. Principal Wayland Moore took his personal car and drove us to the academic UIL meets.

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans came to Matador for filming of the movie “Mackintosh and TJ.” It was Roy Roger’s last movie.

I stayed up most of the night because they had told us at the newspaper office that we were welcome to eat with them but it would be sometime in the middle of the night.

Well, it was nothing fancy, but I sat right across from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and ate a sandwich.

The people of Matador are as good as they come – no pretense. They are just who they are, and you sure can’t beat that.

The stories of the people and places of Matador could go on and on.

For me it was indeed a special time in my life, and the impact the Matador folks had on my life lives on in me each day. And yes indeed, it’s just still so personal.