The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 21, 1991 Page: 2 of 32
thirty two pages : ill. ; page 19 x 13 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
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A most important election
^^^HREE IMPORTANT local elections are on
JL the calendar for May 4...a date which
seems still distant, but a deadline which is much
more pressing is the time for filing of candidacies
for those elections and that is upon us. There is
urgent need always for good citizens who are
willing to devote some time to public service for
no pay. The deadline for filing of candidacies for
City Officer and School Board positions will have
been passed by the time this is in print (Wednes-
day was the final day) but we feel confident that
there are candidates for those offices who will
serve well.
Of greater concern at this point is finding
candidates for the Hospital District Board,
where three of the five board places are to be
filled, who will be concerned with maintaining
the vital services of that institution...and the
deadline for filing for those offices is still a week
away, next Thursday, March 28.
This newspaper will support the candidacies
*74e (ZattacUatt
RECORD
USPS 087-960
P.O. Box 898
Canadian (Hemphill) Texas 79014
BEN EZZELL Editor
NANCY EZZELL Editor
LAURIE BROWN Advertising Manager
Entered as second class matter December 20,
1945 at the Post Office at Canadian, Texas
under the act of March 3, 1879. Published
each Thursday afternoon at Canadian, Texas,
by Ben R. and Nancy M. Ezzell.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
THE CANADIAN RECORD, Box 898,
Canadian, TX 79014
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
$20/Year In Hemphill & adjoining counties
$ 25/Year elsewhere
of concerned citizens who will support a con-
tinuation of full medical and emergency services
for this community because we believe there is
no more urgent need. We also believe that our
hospital and its auxiliary services have been and
are being well-maintained and should continue
to be.
We are aware of the undercurrents of opposi-
tion which have surfaced at times during recent
months, and we believe the hospital as an in-
stitution is much too important to this com-
munity to allow it to be undermined. In a time
when the continued existence of many rural
hospitals is being threatened by economic fac-
tors, our hospital district is blessed with a solid
tax base and a tax rate which does not create a
hardship on any taxpayer. We can afford the
medical and emergency services which our hospi-
tal provides, and we cannot afford to lose any of
them. Our hospital services are vital to the
health and well-being of the people of this com-
munity.
We have a good hospital operation and we
want to keep it that way. Our attitude is as
simple as that. We want to editorially support
those who will pledge to carry on this operation
as members of the hospital board of directors, not
to raise an editorial voice in opposition to can-
didates who might threaten to tear it down,
although we will do that also if it becomes neces-
sary.
This election is not the time nor the place to
carry on some personal vendetta. It is the time
to elect conscientious and public-spirited citizens
who are willing to give a little of their time to the
management of this vital health facility.
We believe that is as important as any
decision which will face the citizens and voters of
Hemphill County this year. Of first importance
is finding candidates who will offer their services
to that end, and then to take an active part in
supporting their election.
Rural hospitals face all kinds of problems
from outside the local areas which they serve.
Let’s not allow ours to be destroyed from inside
our boundaries.
One of Canadian’s most memorable town characters, in
an era when Canadian had more than its share, was little
round Irishman named Bob Campbell, a real "Mr. Five-by-
Five" who stood 5 feet tall and weighed about 300 pounds.
Bob, who was 63 years old when he died in 1954, was
Canadian’s unofficial Town Greeter and No. 1 Booster for
much of his life.
Bob met all the trains for many years, and was a familiar
figure at the Harvey House until it closed shortly after World War
II, when he transferred his base to the lobby of the Moody Hotel
two blocks up Main street where he met and challenged every
Santa Fe official who came to town with "When you goin’ to open
the Harvey House again?"
Bob not only met all the trains but met and greeted all
strangers arriving in Canadian, inquired about their busi-
ness here, and let them know that Canadian had the finest
hospital, the best preachers, the prettiest post office, and
the greatest fire department. The Fire Department was
Bob’s pride and joy and he was an honorary member of it
and attended all its meetings.
Carter McKemy, Presbyterian church pastor, speaking at the
graveside service for Bob Campbell at the Canadian Cemetery,
observed that "Bob Campbell was one of the first persons I met
when I came to Canadian...and almost anyone else who has
moved to Canadian in the last quarter of a century could say the
same."
My own first meeting with Bob Campbell when I came
to Canadian to become editor of this newspaper in the
Spring of 1948 was in The Record office, which was then
next door to the Post Office and fronted on Second Street
(US 60). At about 9 o’clock in the morning, this short round
person bustled in, took charge of my telephone, and began
calling local residents. Miz Jones," he would begin abrupt-
ly, "this is Bob Campbell and you’ve got a special delivery
letter down here. Ya wanta come and get it?"
After half a dozen calls like this, Bob’s morning work was done.
I discovered that he was the self-appointed special delivery per-
son for the U.S. Mail and this was a morning routine. When the
persons summoned arrived to get their ‘special’ delivery mail,
they paid a 10-cent fee and Bob got the dime. That was the
established local custom, and nobody questioned it.
Bob was never addicted to regular employment, but his
daily routine included the ceremonial lowering of the flag
at the post office every afternoon...a task he seldom
missed. Bob’s interests were many and varied. He regular-
ly attended meetings of the Fire Department, of which he
was an "honorary retired" member, and of the Chamber of
Commerce, and few "public" meetings of any kind were
ever without his presence.
His loyalty to the Fire Department was reciprocated. When he
Continued on Page 4
Cti&tutgA,
Dragging MAY NOT bring happiness,
^L^but did you ever see a man, having caught
a large fish, go home through an alley.
"\
J
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Ezzell, Ben & Ezzell, Nancy. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 21, 1991, newspaper, March 21, 1991; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth738798/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.