Cenizo Journal Summer 2014 | Page 21

MAIN STREET CHANGES W by Danielle Gallo hen I first came to live in Marathon in 2002, I worked at the Marathon Coffee Shop, owned at the time by Connie Vaughn. Marathon’s Main Street was where everything happened in town: the two-and-a-half blocks from Mary Baxter’s gallery to the Coffee Shop contained the nexus of every person’s trajectory within a 30-mile radius. At the center of that web of radiating lines, traced day to day by the 400 souls that call Marathon home, sat Shirley Rooney, Main Street’s queen. Shirley owned and operated Shirley’s Burnt Biscuit in the tiny store- front next to the Post Office. Her fried pies and biscuits sustained the early mornings of many a cowboy and coun- ty worker, beginning their long days before the sun had peeked over the hills. Her hot coffee and maternal air kept the locals warm all winter, through the late Easter freeze that inevitably takes the young apricots. Shirley knew all the Marathon doings, comings and goings. She knew every- one and all their relatives, their family tree, their provenance, their ambitions. Many times, when asked a question by a visitor about the history of our little town, there was only one answer: “Go ask Shirley.” When Shirley retired from her bak- ery, having sold it to Don and Jackie Boyd, it was the end of an era. Getting to work at 3:30 in the morning and staying on her feet until well past noon had been a labor of love and independ- ence for her, after working in the kitchen at the Gage Hotel for many years. It was hard to imagine a Main Street without Shirley, but I think everyone was happy to know she would have the rest and relaxation she deserved. When I look at Main Street now, I think about all the changes that have taken place in the past dozen years. Where Shirley’s Burnt Biscuit was, there is now Lechugilla Liquors. Mary Baxter’s gallery is becoming the High Desert Emporium. Cottonwood Station became The Famous Burro, which just recently reopened after sev- eral years’ hiatus, to the delight of Marathon. Nancy Lee has the Coffee Shop, and the sign that Dan Picasso painted on it the year I came to Texas is still there, faded and charming. San Rosendo Crossing is where the old Cowboy Church used to be before it became The Purple Sage Antique Store. And there on the corner is The Rusty Rabbit Antiques. Allen and Sally Haley have just opened a delight- ful café, Pickle Creek, where Don and Jackie Boyd had been continuing Shirley’s legacy with the Burnt Biscuit. San Rosendo to catch up on the gossip Allen makes wonderful little pies, rem- of the day, I think back to those long iniscent of the Queen of Main Street’s afternoons at the Coffee Shop or the confections. early mornings at Shirley’s Burnt I think too about what Main Street Biscuit. Shirley Rooney is still a matri- will look like as my two-year-old arch of Marathon, though she is no daughter grows. What changes will she longer the Queen of Main Street. witness, to make her nostalgic? When Some of the other faces have changed, she has guests, will she walk those short but most of the topics of conversation blocks and point to where the Gage are the same, as is the feeling I get Hotel used to be? As our demograph- when I go to check the mail at the post ics change and the oilfields spread in a office and wind up spending half the widening radius, I’m curious about the day on Main Street. Everything future of our little towns in many ways. changes, but some things remain—I I like to think that decades from now, hope. Main Street will still be full of tiny, inde- pendently- owned stores, where the shopkeepers sit on benches out on the sidewalk, Peggy Walker, Owner passing time with friends and neigh- Flax ˜ Brighton ˜ Tribal ˜ Double D bors. And other speciality brands Nowadays, when I sit on 121 West Holland • Alpine • 432/837-3085 the sidewalk 120 South Cedar • Pecos • 432/445-9313 o u t s i d e M-F 10 am ‘til 6 pm • Sat. 10 am ‘til 4 pm Johnny B’s or Needleworks, Etc. Ladies Fine Clothing Alpine Community Credit Union The only local financial institution in Alpine If you live or work in Alpine, bank with us See the difference at your local credit union Now serving Presidio and Jeff Davis Counties 111 N 2ND STREET • ALPINE • 432.837.5156 Music To Your Ears CDs • DVDs • Vinyl Games • Special Orders Mon-Fri 10-6 Marfa’s Swiss Café 203 E Holland Ave, Alpine 432.837.1055 ringtailrecords@sbcglobal.net Cenizo Third Quarter 2014 21