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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6a272673ed976.image.jpg\")
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Dr. Don Newbury<\/p>\n
(File Photo)<\/p>\n
The story goes that a long-ago West Texas man \u2014\u00a0beloved in his community \u2014\u00a0talked incessantly about Fort Worth, his favorite city, even though he\u2019d never been there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He usually referred to it as \u201cCowtown\u201d or \u201cWhere the West Begins.\u201d (The former nickname was introduced by cattle barons in the 1860s; the latter description started in 1923. That\u2019s when \u201cMr. Fort Worth\u201d \u2014 late Fort Worth Star-Telegram publisher Amon Carter \u2014 included it on his newspaper masthead).\u00a0<\/p>\n
One slow news day in West Texas years ago, a radio station personality gathered with the \u201ccoffee crowd\u201d at the Dairy Queen. He suggested \u201cpassing the hat\u201d so the old duffer could visit the city he loved but had never seen.<\/p>\n
It had been a good year for crops, and farmers, so they set the giving pace. Greenbacks splashed into a John Deere \u201cgimme cap\u201d like frogs at a fishing hole. The radio guy had expected only coins. However, two men dropped in twenties, and several, five-dollar bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0A couple of misers \u2014 intent on giving 50 cents each \u2014 were shamed into contributing a dollar, so the bunch could brag that everyone gave folding money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Would you believe they raised $125? Thankfully, that much cash–at the time–covered cost of train fare, lodging and food for an entire week in what is now the nation\u2019s tenth largest city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Upon his return, he was invited to spend 10 minutes \u201con the air\u201d for a radio report about his visit to the local community. Most of his buddies figured he\u2019d \u201crattle on\u201d for much longer than 10 minutes. (It turns out, they were wrong).<\/p>\n
\u201cTell us everything about your magical visit,\u201d the radio host instructed. What did you see in Fort Worth?\u201d following was a long stretch of \u201cradio silence,\u201d a situation greatly feared at radio stations. \u201cDead air\u201d could be their undoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see it,\u201d the oldster finally confessed. \u201cThere was so danged much happenin\u2019 around the depot.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how I feel about May, June and part of July. I didn\u2019t see \u2018em, what with health issues of both my wife and me were of the \u201cmust face\u201d variety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I plan to write remaining summer columns about material that has stacked up. So much to cover, so little space, but I\u2019ll try.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Reacting to the \u201clettuce scare,\u201d most rabbits are throwing up their paws, ingesting only collard greens, spinach and carrots, hopping about with \u201cI told you so\u201d grins. People who have usually included lettuce in their diets, have largely eliminated it).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Poor Taco Bell, with so many allegations about using bad lettuce, now has a \u201clettuce free\u201d menu. In one state, rumors abound about contaminated lettuce AND pork. One \u201cmom and pop\u201d cafe, formerly known for its \u201cBLT\u201d (bacon\/lettuce\/tomato) sandwiches, is shunned by its \u201cT\u201d substitute. Patrons consider it to be a tragic disappointment without the \u201cBL\u201d in front.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lettuce thing impacts other vegetables. For years, NatureSweet has produced smiles with just two words on the label of \u201cCherubs,\u201d packaged miniature tomatoes. The cellophane cover has a red arrow in one corner reading, \u201cLettuce Out!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They\u2019re likely to settle for \u201copen here,\u201d even if it lacks humor.<\/p>\n
Republicans are red-faced about renting a live elephant for the state convention in Houston. Fee for the four-ton African pachyderm was $25,000, a figure thought to be a bit steep by convention participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This awakens memories of the state democratic convention in Houston 66 years ago. A friend, the late Groner Pitts–Brownwood\u2019s \u201cmerry mortician\u201d \u2014 pulled a good one, delivering two donkeys to what was then the swanky Shamrock-Hilton Hotel. Wearing name-identifying collars, \u201cPeace\u201d and \u201cHarmony\u201d grazed and neighed for hours on the lush front lawn. High-ranking Democrats–figuring that some other high-ranking delegates had authorized the shenanigans–\u201cdummied up,\u201d (This was an expression Archie Bunker often directed to his wife, Edith, on TV\u2019s long-ago popular weekly show, All in the Family). The hoax was discovered hours later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My guess? Groner orchestrated the whole thing, delivering the animals with a pick-up truck pulling a trailer. Second guess: He may have \u201cborrowed\u201d the donkeys without the owner\u2019s knowledge. And both the pick-up and trailer likely were property of the guy who owned the donkeys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Newbury, longtime chancellor of Howard Payne University, lives in the Metroplex. Email: newbury@speakerdoc.com<\/a>. Website: www.speakerdoc.com<\/a>. Phone: 817-447-3872.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Don Newbury (File Photo) The story goes that a long-ago West Texas man \u2014\u00a0beloved in his community…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[141978,16720,17326,116,118,117,3787,141977,11128,141976],"class_list":["post-405286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-archie-bunker","tag-chancellor","tag-cowtown","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-fort-worth-star-telegram","tag-groner-pitts-brownwood","tag-howard-payne-university","tag-shamrock-hilton-hotel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}