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Panhandle Town Feature
Panhandle Magazine reached out to a few of our smaller Panhandle towns for a 2020 update. Panhandle, Friona, Pampa and Stratford responded and gave us these brief updates on what you can look forward to next year. Article By : Panhandle Magazine Staff
Panhandle, TX
Population: 2,500 Located 28 Miles Northeast of Amarillo City Manager: Terry Coffee What is planned for 2020? We have begun to develop a reinvestment zone for Main Street and are planning for revitalization of our downtown area. The TIRZ will give incentives to rehabilitate the downtown area. The development of new homes is being talked about, and there is interest from several contractors to build approximately 30 new homes. Both projects will be ongoing and other projects to enhance and attract people to our community. For a city our size, we have a lot to offer. We have a great school system, a beautiful retirement complex with sixty-one units and excellent health services with our clinic and 24-hour EM service.
What are your personal goals or resolutions for 2020? Personally, I want our city to be the best community in the Panhandle. I’d like to attract more people to come here and create development. We are looking to bring in some restaurants or stores along Highway 60. The sky is the limit.
What is your favorite Christmas song?
There are many good ones, but one of my favorites has always been, “O Holy Night.”
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Friona, TX
Population: 4,000 Located 70 miles Southwest of Amarillo City Manager: Lee Davila
What is planned for 2020? Friona is strategically located between several major industries as well as a highway that connects traffic from Texas to New Mexico. In the coming year, the City of Friona will focus on housing development options, promoting tourism and expanding our waste management program, Keep Friona Clean, to include recycling services. The City will also work with the Friona Economic Development Corporation to help local businesses with storefront improvements and establish an economic incentive program to attract commercial businesses. Our goal is to stimulate growth and show anyone living, visiting or passing through all that Friona has to offer.
What is your favorite town or personal holiday tradition or event? When I was younger, my favorite holiday My personal goals for 2020 include spending more time with the
tradition included driving through the Western Subdivision of Friona to observe the Christmas decorations and luminarias. The entire neighborhood sparkled with Christmas glee. Now, we have Christmas in the Park which gives everyone in town an opportunity to adopt a tree in our City Park and showcase their holiday spirit. Along with booths, baked goods, carriage rides, Christmas music and photographs with Santa, this year’s event promises to be our best one What are your personal goals or resolutions for 2020?
yet. family, finding a better balance between my work and personal life and slowing down to enjoy all the sights and sounds that Texas Panhandle communities have to offer.
What is your favorite Christmas song? I grew up in Friona as a proud member of the Friona Chieftain Band, so instrumental music or concert music has always resonated with me. An instrumental version of “Sleigh Ride” is my all-time favorite Christmas song. It’s fun, up-beat and ends with an awesome trumpet solo imitating the sound of a horse whinnying.
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Pampa, TX
Population: 18,000 Located 54 Miles Northeast of Amarillo City Manager Shane Stokes
What is planned for 2020? Pampa’s City Hall has long needed new windows. The near 100-year-old windows are original to the building, and this year we have finally found money to replace them. Through the years the doors have been replaced and do not align with the original architecture of the building. We are looking forward to replacing those as well and getting the historical building back to its original beauty. We will be replacing one of our fire engines in 2020 to go along with the new ladder truck we purchased in 2017, and we will be doing over a million dollars in street improvements in 2020, including street rehab projects as well as a major seal coat project. We are also excited to be working on our second reinvestment zone in the City of Pampa to promote economic development.
My favorite holiday tradition is getting together with family, and when that happens in Pampa, we love to visit the City of Pampa’s Celebration of Lights, which is a drive-through light display at Recreation Park. We started that program back up a couple of years ago, and it has grown to quite an impressive Christmas light display. And very worth the price of admission – FREE!
My 2020 goals or resolutions are to be a better Christian in 2020 than I am in 2019 and always do what’s right for the betterment of our community. What is your favorite Christmas song? My favorite Christmas song is probably “Silver Bells.”
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Stratford, TX
Population: 2,000 Located 80 miles North of Amarillo City Manager Terry Coffee
What is planned for 2020? We’re hoping to attract a hotel and more restaurants; we’ve got a high volume of traffic thanks to two major highways intersecting in the middle of town. The city has received the first grant towards a swimming pool so that’s in the works. SCDC started our second round of Façade Grants to help businesses in the city limits renovate/remodel their properties; curb appeal is very important. Three businesses have opened on Main Street this year, and we’re getting a new newspaper, The Sherman County Gazette, so we’ve been busy. Stratford ISD completed the renovation projects that were funded by voter support of the school bond, so students and teachers have new surroundings for learning. Here’s hoping 2020 is just as profitable!
What is your favorite town or personal holiday tradition or event? Our local daycare Lollipop Junction has The Reindeer Dash which serves as a fundraiser. It includes a lighting contest, vendors and a fun run that winds through the neighborhoods which are lit up with Christmas decorations. After the activities, many residents drive through town enjoying the bright lights! Lots of fun that night! What are your personal goals or resolutions for 2020? My personal goals will be working towards making Stratford a destination, a place where people want to stop, shop, eat or visit; we have an awesome Main Street. We’re a great little town!!
What is your favorite Christmas song? My favorite song is “When It’s Christmastime in Texas” by George Strait.
Storybridge has quickly become Amarillo’s leading provider of children’s books to families at many local Title 1 elementary schools. Since the organization was founded in 2016, they have distributed over 90,000 quality children’s books in an effort to equalize a gap in access to literacy at home for at-risk children.
Chandra Perkins, the founder and director, explains her commitment to this mission: “I know that for many years I did not give much thought at all to the truth or the impact of thousands of children coming to Kindergarten without having the repertoire of early literacy experiences that are necessary for academic success. Today, after all the research we’ve seen on the impact of books in the home at an early age, there is no doubt that every single book we can give to a child with limited resources makes a difference. Providing children’s books is a zero-risk investment in the future of our city.”
ARTICLE BY: CHANDRA PERKINS
Storybridge is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and accepts financial donations as well as donations of gently-used children’s books at many local drop-off locations. Go to www.storybridgeama.org to donate online and to check out the map of drop-off sites.
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