|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country
of West Texas
Opinion
Sage
Views
By Smokey Briggs
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
Now showing… Perseverance
I went to the movies Friday night.
In Pecos.
The movie was "Chicken Run," and it was the first movie shown in the
State Theater since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
As "claymation" cartoon chickens hatched escape plans to escape their
prisoner-of-war-camp-chicken-coop, I realized that not only was I watching
a movie in Pecos, which was pretty cool, but I was also witnessing a testament
to perseverance.
Since I was very young I have admired perseverance above most ideals.
My infatuation with being mule-stubborn in the face of long odds began
when I discovered I was essentially talentless.
Perseverance requires no talent, so I thought, "that is the trait for
me." You don't have to be strong, or fast, or smart, or good-looking, or
glib of tongue. You simply must refuse to quit.
The longer I live, the fonder of this trait I become. Eventually, we
all find ourselves in a situation where our God-given abilities are no
match for the competition. If that never happens you are not doing much.
When talent isn't enough, when luck, strength and brains all desert
you, you find out what you are made of.
You persevere.
You take one plodding step. Then you take another. It is rarely glamorous,
and only seen as heroic in retrospect, if at all.
If there was an award for perseverance, Richard and Lillian Creasy,
the owner/operators of the State Theater, would get it.
For more than a year they have fought one nasty little battle after
the next as they tried to resurrect the State. For most of that time, few
of us have dared to hope that they would accomplish their goal _ that they
would actually bring moving pictures back to the pigeon coop the State
had become.
Friday night was a premier showing of sorts.
The movie was supposed to start at 8:00 p.m.
At first the movie was projected backwards. Then the picture was too
dim and the sound was off. Then the theater went dark.
No picture.
A half hour passed.
Still no picture.
Finally Lillian Creasy came out and apologized to everyone. The old
projector had blown a fuse and they were working on it, she said. She graciously
thanked everyone for coming and said she understood it was getting late
if they had to leave.
The crowd hung on tenaciously, but gradually most everybody headed home.
It looked like the movie was not to be. Opening night, after 18 months
of anticipation and doubt, looked like a bust.
There were still a couple of families hanging out, finishing popcorn
and soda pop, and letting our critters play chase, when sound crackled
out of the speakers.
Cartoon chickens were again trying to escape their certain fate as chicken-pot-pies
and this time the picture was bright and the sound was clear.
About a dozen of us settled down and watched the whole movie.
When it was over everybody clapped.
Not for the chickens. Except for my three-year-old daughter. She was
clapping for the chickens. The rest of us were clapping for Lillian and
Richard and what they had accomplished in the face of very long odds.
That there are again moving pictures flickering across the silver screen
of the State Theater is testimony to their dogged determination and perseverance
in the face of very long odds.
In the tradition of the theater:
Bravo.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the
Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at:
smokey@pecos.net
Your View
Hat goes off to town
Dear Editor,
I am very pleased that Pecos Enterprise is online.
I am living in Rota Spain, with my husband while he serves proudly in
the Navy. My parents are from Pecos, then we later moved to Seminole. But
I have always considered Pecos "my hometown".
Spending every summer there was the highlight of my school year, and
being able to tell my friends what a blast I had. I am fortunate to say
that I am from a state that stands proud and from a town that has so much
history.
Well, my hat goes off to all who have contributed to making this paper
& town stand out among the rest. I am hoping to make it out to Rodeo
next year & to the cantalope festival as well.
With the Enterprise online makes it so much easier to know what is going
on in my special little town.
Thanks,
ABIGAIL M. SALINAS
Return to top
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Peggy McCracken, Webmaster
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
We support Newspapers in Education
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
|
