Dateline: February 13, 2003

Chamber gives top award to Henson

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

2002 Saints' Roost Award winner Wes Henson.

Wes Henson picked up the honor of being the 2002 Saints’ Roost Award winner during the annual Clarendon Chamber of Commerce Banquet last Saturday in the Bairfield Activity Center.

Jack Hall and Bobbie Thornberry also received top honors as Man of the Year and Woman of the Year.

Henson’s recognition was like history repeating itself. Just two years ago, his father, A.R. Henson, was given the Saints’ Roost Award, which recognizes an individual who has given a lifetime to the service of the community.

A Clarendon native, Henson grew up in the family business started by his father and has worked there full time since 1971.

Coming from a family of volunteers, Henson has helped with the annual Turtle Race for more years than anyone can count, has painted the lines for the races, and has wrangled more terrapins than anybody else in town. He also helps sell tickets for the Shriners’ July Fourth barbecue.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Henson was a member of both the Kiwanis Club and the Jaycee Club and served as president of the latter. For the last 15 years, he has been active with the downtown merchants and has helped with their beautification projects by encouraging fellow business leaders to decorate Clarendon with white Christmas lights and to install flowerpots on Kearney Street.

Since 1984, Henson has tended to the Clarendon Community Center on behalf of the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association in such capacities as financing, maintenance, and housekeeping.

The crowning glory of Henson’s volunteer work is his involvement with the Saints’ Roost Museum. In addition to being a board member for more than 20 years, he has performed duties from lawn care to fundraising.

He helped prepare the home of the museum by repairing the roof of the then-abandoned Adair Hospital – a process which involved installing thousands of screws, gallons of caulk, and mopping the entire roof with sealant. Though not alone in this endeavor, Henson spent many weeks completing the project.

Henson and his family have also personally overseen the annual museum party, working on ticket sales, managing the drawing, cleaning up the day after, and more. He also is instrumental in handling the ticket sales for the annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff.

2002 Woman of the Year  Bobbie Thornberry.

The Woman of the Year was described as dependable, friendly, loyal, helpful, steadfast, caring, knowledgeable, and diligent. Bobbie early career was spent as a teacher – first in Silverton and then in Clarendon. She was hard, but the kids all loved her and left her classroom knowing they had been taught well.

Since 1986, Thornberry has been employed by the Donley County State Bank, where she is affectionately known as “Sarge.”  She was instrumental in establishing a program whereby the bank honors Clarendon High School students who maintain a 90 average.

Thornberry is an active member of the Clarendon Lions Club, and her fellow Lions elected her to be the club’s first female president. She can often be seen putting up flags for the club on holidays, which shows her dedication as she has to drive 25 miles from her country home to help with that project on her days off.

She attends the First United Methodist Church, is a member of the museum board, and served as wagon chairman of the Chuckwagon Cookoff last year. She is in her second year of a three-year term on the chamber board and has helped with chamber activities from the hospitality stand on Memorial Day weekend to directing the July Fourth parade in the rain to working the booth at the rodeo.

Thornberry is perhaps best known for her cooking and baking and furnishes goodies for her co-workers and fellow volunteers.

2002 Man of the Year Jack Hall.

The Man of the Year was born and raised in Alanreed and taught and coached at Clarendon Public Schools for 33 years. Since 1997, Jack Hall has served as the Donley County Judge.

Hall was first appointed to fill the remainder of a term upon the retirement of W.R. Christal. He was elected to his first full term in office in 1998 and re-elected in 2002.

During his coaching career Hall attended every school event, and he has continued that practice since he retired from that profession. He currently serves as president of the Donley County Retired Teachers Association, vice president of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission Board, and vice president of the Panhandle Community Service Board. He is also a member of the North Plains RC&D Board and the Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation Advisory Board.

Hall was described as having a deep passion for the prosperity of Donley County while maintaining a devotion to its history and forefathers. He has been instrumental in the efforts to restore the 1890 Donley County Courthouse to its former grandeur rather than see it fall down in decay.

Other awards presented at Saturday’s banquet included the Pioneer Man and Woman of the Year and the Young Men and Women of the Year.

Naomi Green was named the Pioneer Woman of the Year, having lived here for 72 years. Her family have been stewards of the soil with farming operations at Ashtola, Martin, and Sunnyview, and they pioneered irrigation in this area. In addition to raising her family, Green served as a Scout leader, Sunday School teacher, Red Cross chairman, Pathfinders Club president, Library Board member, and Ashtola-Martin community reporter for the newspaper. She has volunteered with the Extension Service, the Something More after school program, and the Donley County Junior Livestock Show Association. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, the First United Methodist Church, and the Donley County Senior Citizens.

Tommie Saye was named the Pioneer Man of the Year. He grew up in the store his grandparents started, attended Clarendon schools, and served in the US Marine Corps. He became interested in photography in high school, and he and his father took pictures all over the Panhandle. He has kept records for the National Weather Service since 1955. He has been a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America since 1960, and he currently also drives for the Meals On Wheels program. He has survived a battle with cancer during which he was an active member of the Clarendon College Board of Regents, working like there was nothing wrong with him.

The Hedley Young Man of the Year is Lisle Rowland, who has been involved with math and science UIL events, FFA, 4-H, and Owl football. He is a member of the Hedley NHS and is an Eagle Scout. He is employed at B&R Thriftway and has done other jobs from mowing lawns to building fences and digging post holes.

Chuck Robertson was named the Young Man of the Year from Clarendon. He has been a member of the Bronco Band, has been an all-region band member for four years, was a state qualifier in solo-ensemble for two years, was an area qualifier for two years, and was the drum major for three years. He has played football for four years and was honorable mention district center this year. He is an Eagle Scout, and he restored the fence surrounding the graves of the old Clarendon colonists and the sign to the Citizens Cemetery entrance. He is a junior member of the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department, has helped put out flags for the Lions Club, and has volunteered at the Medical Center Nursing Home.

Ashlee Kidd is the Young Woman of the Year from Clarendon.  She has been a member of the Bronco Band for four years, served as the color guard captain two years, and was the drum major one year.  She has been active in the Junior Historians, qualifying for the state contest for two years, and has placed first in the National History Day competition for two years. She won first place in Regional UIL Feature Writing, qualified for state UIL competition one year, and is a member of the Clarendon NHS chapter.  She has been involved in golf three years, was academic all district in golf one year and was a third place winner in the Texas Press Association’s Lone Star Journalism Contest. She is employed by The Clarendon Enterprise and is a member of the United Methodist Youth Group. She has volunteered to clean the park, collected coats and clothes for missions, and helped the elderly in her church make repairs to their yards and homes. She teaches Bible study every Wednesday night and has volunteered at the nursing home to decorate for Christmas.

The Hedley Young Woman of the Year is Lauren Hill, who has been involved in basketball, tennis, track, cross country, One Act Play, Business Professionals of America, choir, FFA, and UIL math and science. She is president of the Hedley NHS chapter and is involved in her church youth group. She has been employed by the Clarendon Outpost and Herring National Bank. She was named all state and all region in basketball the last two years, went to regional competition in tennis the last two years and in track the last three years, and has been a regional qualifier in UIL academic meets for three years and a state qualifier for one year. She plays piano at church and has sung with the Hedley choir at the nursing home and the Hedley Senior Citizens.

The featured speaker for the evening was 100th District Judge David McCoy, who presented a moving speech on patriotism and the contributions of everyday Americans and more especially of veterans.

Musical entertainment was provided by Kevin Gausepohl of Clarendon College.

Greg Henry was named as the incoming chamber president, succeeding Jim Blackerby. Incoming chamber directors are Mike Word, Eddy Eads, Jerri Ann Shields, Sherol Johnston, and Markeeta Howard.

An estimated 215 people attended the banquet, up from 178 last year.  This year’s banquet was sponsored by B&R Thriftway, Clarendon College, Greenbelt Electric Cooperative, KEFH, Robertson Funeral Directors, Suna AutoMall, Northwest Texas Healthcare Systems, and GreenLight Gas.