As The (Rotary) Wheel Turns

Across the country and around the world travelers will find small metal signs tacked to buildings and billboards that represent service club such as Kiwanis, Lions Club and Rotary. If you are not a member of a service club, it’s easy to ignore the signs that are often dented and faded. For many years, however, traveling businessmen and tourists have sought them out to locate meetings and connect with club members far and wide.

Each service club has its unique traditions and goals but they are all more similar than different. Millions of people around the world meet regularly in service clubs for fellowship and the desire to help others. They tackle problems such as eradicating polio or providing clean drinking water or conquering the causes of blindness. They also eat a lot of food, tell a lot of bad jokes and generally have a lot of fun.

One of Allen’s oldest service groups is the Allen Noon Rotary Club, which was chartered in 1978. Allen’s first club was the Jaycees who were formed in 1968. In fact, many of the early Rotary Club members were also part of the Allen Jaycees.

A fellow who called himself Orville Fudpucker was responsible for bringing Rotary to Allen. Orville, whose real name was Terry Dobbins, was chairman of the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) board in Plano and made it his personal goal to start up an Allen club. His Plano club sponsored the new Allen group and Orville attended almost every Allen meeting that first year.

He made contact with Charlie Claytor, an Allen homebuilder and Carl Gilliland, an insurance agent. Charlie’s son Mike was the club’s first president and Carl fell in as president-elect. In all, twenty-five members made up the charter group including familiar names such as ET Boon, Don Rodenbaugh, Newton Buckley, Mike Long, Don Brazeal, John Horn and John Pierce.

The club first met in the old one story cafeteria which sat on McDermott behind the old red brick school on Belmont. Both buildings were razed for construction of the new First Baptist Church in the late 1990’s.

Our lunches were catered by Tinos in Plano, according to Carl Gilliland “but we had to drive down to Plano and pick them up each week. Tino Trujillo was a big supporter of the Rotary Club and deserves some credit for helping us get on our feet financially.”

“We really had no clue what Rotary was when it started. We just listened to Terry (Dobbins) and started recruiting members,” said another charter member Buddy Camper.

Like most service clubs, the Rotary meeting space moved as the club grew and its needs changed. They first moved to St. Jude’s Catholic Church, then the First United Methodist Church, then the Allen City Hall courts building and Chase Oaks Golf Course. Today the club meets each Wednesday at noon at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Allen.

Each hour long meeting includes an informative program of about 30 minutes on almost any topic of interest to club members.

The club’s first program chairman, ET Boon, admitted that good programs in the early days were hard to come by. “We pulled in every elected official in the city and county and then brought in police and fire chiefs, football coaches and school administrators.”

One of the more memorable ones, according to Boon, was Billy Clayton, who was speaker of the house in Texas and running for governor. Several days later our Rotary speaker was indicted (but later acquitted) on bribery charges.

Charter members Carl Gilliland and Newton Buckley have remained with the Allen Noon Rotary Club for 33 years.

As Allen has grown, so have the number of service clubs. Our community now benefits from a morning and noon Rotary Club, a noon and evening Lions Club and a noon Kiwanis Club.
Despite the growth, the goal of Allen’s service clubs remains the same; to benefit the community and groan at corny jokes. Some things never change.

I-35 Attractions and Distractions Part One

Pulling out of my Allen driveway several weeks ago I found myself dreading the 300 mile drive (race) to San Antonio along I-35.

It’s difficult to say how many trips I’ve taken down I-35 but each time I seem to notice something strange or different. On this particular trip I finally took time to jot down just a few of the I-35 sights that fellow road warriors have passed by for years. The list is referenced by the mile markers that count down the distance to the highway’s end in Laredo.

Once I see the Dallas Zoo’s giraffe sculpture I know that Dallas traffic is behind me and the long haul begins. The statue is the tallest in Texas at 67.6’ and was built in 1997. It is no coincidence that the giraffe is 5” taller than Sam Houston’s monument which opened three years earlier. (425)
If your house stayed cool this past month, you can thank the folks at Owens-Corning and the massive plant in Waxahachie that produces fiberglass insulation. The company best known for its Pink Panther mascot, was founded in 1938 when Corning Glass and Owens Illinois joined forces to create glass fiber. (403)

Approaching exit 387 travelers spot one of the weirdest sights along the trip – Bruco the 240’ giant caterpillar. Bruco (Italian for caterpillar) is the headquarters for the Monolithic Dome Institute. The Institute was created by David South in 1975 to study alternatives for building construction. His company builds 100 monolithic domes each year which have been used for gymnasiums, churches and private homes across the United States and 52 countries. The Institute’s property on I-35 also includes 25 smaller dome home rental units. (387)

The exit also features an abandoned restaurant shaped like the Starship Enterprise. The place was called the Starship Pegasus Restaurant and featured roadside food, entertainment and photo opportunities with aliens all under, what else, a monolithic dome. (387)

Just far enough from Allen for a stretch break is Carl’s Corner. Originally owned by Carl Cornelius, the “town” became a favorite stop for truckers in the late 1980’s. Carl and his friend Willie Nelson co-founded a bio-fuel business in 2004 and turned the Carl’s Corner Truck Stop into Willie’s Place. The truck stop operated as a Willie Nelson museum, saloon, theater and headquarters for BioWillie fuel. Apparently the enterprise never made a profit and Willie’s Place declared bankruptcy. Travel Centers of America bought it at auction and have converted it into a modern Petro Truck Stop. The museum and theater are gone but the classic Carl’s Corner sign still invites travelers to stop in. (374)

The best way to ruin lunch in Waco is to stop for gas in West; the “Kolache Capital of Texas.” The Little Czech Bakery at the Czech Stop cranks out 200-600 kolaches a day and moves a fair amount of peanut brittle as well for 24 hours a day. My favorite Czech Stop memory was standing in line outside in the late November cold with Allen Eagle and Plano East football fans. Both teams had won big football playoff games earlier in Waco and fans needed some comfort food for the ride home. (353)

With almost 200 miles to go and so many more distractions, we will need to stop for some kolaches and continue our tour along I-35 in next week’s column.

Seventies Schlock For Sale

I passed a garage sale recently and one item caught my eye. It was a water bed frame and headboard. The sign said best offer and it was late in the day. I’m guessing that the husband will dutifully haul the massive frame back into the garage where it will sit for another decade.

Sixties memorabilia always catches my eye but I still find it hard to get nostalgic for seventies stuff. I don’t look for it and I often cringe when I see it being slightly embarrassed that I owned many of the tacky objects. Many others do not share that opinion and openly sell their seventies stuff on E-Bay. Here are just a few examples of seventies memorabilia that you too can own by visiting www.ebay.com.

What better way to make a seventies statement than in an American Motors Pacer. I found a 1977 hatchback with 99K in poor condition listed at only $550. It would make a great conversation piece even if it doesn’t run.
Music is important so bid on the new Sears Underdash 8-Track player. It is listed at $199 and has never been used says the owner. You will also need to stock up on music so consider the lot of twenty-four 8-track tapes and leatherette case that are listed at $7.85. Tapes include Foghat, BTO, Mountain and The Eagles.

If disco music is more your style, check out the DecoGlam vintage platform shoes (size 8) for $20. The red shoes will match the vinyl high waisted disco pants for $19.99 and the polyester atomic print disco shirt also for $19.99. An outlet on Long Island is selling vintage mood rings for $4.50 to complete the ensemble.

Decorating the hot tub room with seventies stuff is easy with Ebay. A six-pack of unopened Billy Beer is going for $17 and a 1979 Skylab Protective Helmet is $8.99 today. Go all the way and bid on an original Bell Telephone phone booth starting at $999. Shipping is not included. Calls are only ten cents.

Friends will be impressed or confused when you display your Dallas Tornado soccer pennant ($9.95) and even your kids will be amazed that you spent $225,000 on an original Roger Staubach rookie football card. Amazement may not be the first reaction you get from your wife however.
Speaking of collectible cards, you can re-buy your Jaws movie trading card collection (volume 1) from 1975 for only $1.99. A similar set of 1977 Star Wars trading cards start at $36.99. An original copy of the Saturday Night Fever lp in good condition is about $15 and an autographed photo of John Travolta from the movie Grease will set you back $199.

My favorite seventies item was a “Hard Side King Size Water Bed and Frame” with headboard, mirror and a black light. The heated bed is only $300 but the listing states that the owner will only deliver it within 20 miles of Billings, Montana.

How much will it cost to recreate the seventies in your house? Figure it out on a vintage Texas Instruments 2500 Calculator. The unit, which cost about $135 in 1972, has dropped in value to $99 in 2011.