This Month in History
November 2, 1947 - The first and only flight of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" flying boat occurred in Long Beach Harbor, California. It flew about a mile at an altitude of 70 feet. Costing $25 million, the 200-ton plywood eight-engine Hercules was the world's largest airplane, designed, built and flown by Hughes. It later became a tourist attraction alongside the Queen Mary ship at Long Beach and has since been moved to Oregon.
Interesting Facts about Eastland
Charles Ulrich Connellee, the "Father of Eastland", first dreamed of bringing a luxury hotel to Eastland long before it became a reality. Connellee expressed his desire for a magnificent hotel with a spacious lobby designed to accommodate a large congregation of people to San Antonio architect, Henry T. Phelps, in a letter dated June 18, 1918.
Connellee envisioned his hotel and the theatre his son-in-law, John M. Graves, would build. Complimenting each other in the heart of downtown Eastland, construction began in 1919; however, while the theatre completed rapidly, Phelps was relieved of his duties and the hotel project abandoned by September of 1919. With the excavation complete and construction of the hotel's basement well underway, the site remained deserted for almost a decade. But in May of 1927, John T. Jones and Jesse H. Jones of Houston, the power brokers responsible for the Rice and Lamar Hotels and the Houston Chronicle building in their hometown and the Worth Hotel and Theatre in Fort Worth, commissioned a new set of plans for a grand hotel in Eastland designed to rival any in the oil belt. A local hotel committee, Rotarians, and Lions contributed material aid to the project, and on June 14, 1928, the Jones brothers christened the Connellee Hotel, a seven-story, 100 room masterpiece crowned by a luxurious roof garden with stunning views of the west Texas countryside.
Et cetera...
Need a RipFest or Rip's Ribs Cook Off t-shirt? We have 'em at the Chamber office. Just let us know... we deliver!
We also have Old Rip jewelry, gold or pewter color... tie-tacks, necklaces, earrings, lapel pins. We even have Old Rip paperweights for your desk!
Give us a call at 254-629-2332. They will soon be available in our on-line store.
Free Advertising!
Are you taking advantage of the FREE advertising that comes as a part of your membership in Eastland Chamber of Commerce? Just to to www.eastlandchamber.com and login with your username and password to see all the features that are available to you at no additional cost!
Free classified ads, employment ads, coupons, discounts, business card advertising and more.
If you don't have your username and password, send us an email at chamber@eastland.net and we'll send you a link to reset your information. |
New Board Members
At a meeting of the membership on October 31st, nominations were made to replace retiring members of the Board of Directors. For 2014-15, your Board members are:
President - Trent Swearengin - First Financial Bank
Vice-President - Angela Robinson - Kennedy Financial Services
Treasurer - Rosa Cervantez - Girling Home Health
Ex-Officio - Terry Slavens - KATX Radio
Director - Richard Barron - Eastland Office Supply/Radio Shack/TXOL
Director - Clint Coffee - State Farm Insurance
Director - Teresa Echols - La Quinta Inn & Suites
Director - Leisha Hodges - Eastland Memorial Hospital
Director - Carla Ramsay - Texas Bank
Director - Amy Reed - Amy's Cards & Gifts/Merle Norman
Director - Norma Taylor - Ranger Realty
Chamber staff is very appreciative of these folks taking time out of their busy schedule to attend to Chamber business. Meetings of the Board are conducted on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 3:00 PM at the Connellee Hotel. Congratulations to all!
Welcome New Chamber Members!
State Representative Charles Perry
Charles Perry
robyn.tepper@house.state.tx.us
Join Date: 07/07/2014
Christy's Gifts & More
Christy Herrera
chrisherre@aol.com
Join Date: 07/14/2014
Sundance Club
Joel Taylor
Website
joel@sundance-club.com
Join Date: 08/07/2014
Clear Path Home Care
Shannon Nicklas
Website
shannon@clearpathhomecare.com
Join Date: 09/04/2014
Williamson Surveying
Lynn or Gail Williamson
Website
williamson@txbusiness.com
Join Date: 09/04/2014
Sunnie's
Heather Granahan
sunnies0814@gmail.com
Join Date: 10/01/2014
Shredding Services of Texas, Inc.
Rick Spalding
Website
shredserve@aol.com
Join Date: 10/21/2014
Chamber Spotlight
The Eastland Chamber of Commerce has recently begun recognizing members in a segment named "Chamber Spotlight". Each week, a business is recognized in a newspaper article in The Eastland Telegram, on KATX Radio, and on MicroplexNews.com.
The most recent Spotlighted businesses are:
Town & Country Real Estate
317 E. Main
254-629-1725
www.tcrealty.com
Connellee Hotel & Civic Center / Eastland Community Foundation
209 W. Main
254-631-0708
www.eastlandfoundation.com
Kennedy Financial Services
106 S. Seaman
254-629-3863
www.kennedy-financial.com
Eastland County Arts Incubator, Inc.
112 S. Seaman
254-488-2417
facebook/eastlandartsinc
Jay's Mini Mart
400 S. Seaman
254-631-0217
Gary D. Peak, Attorney & Mediator
101 W. Main
254-629-1333
Williamson Surveying, Inc.
201 W. Main, Ste 302
254-629-8151
www.williamsonsurveyinginc.com
Lone Star Ag Credit
101 East Road, Stephenville, 76401
254-965-3612
lonestaragcredit.com
Want to be featured in the Chamber Spotlight? Download the application form at www.eastlandchamber.com
Business of the Month
For the month of October, Greer's Western Store, located at 1414 E. Main, was named as "Business of the Month", and the employees were treated to a pizza lunch from Pizza Pro. You can reach Greer's Western Store at 254-629-3989.
The "Business of the Month" for November is Bryan's Auto-Signs-Computers, located at 925 E. Main St. Bryan's Auto Supply can be reached at 254-629-2158, Bryan's Signs at 254-629-2631, and Bryan's Computers at 254-629-1201. The date for their free pizza lunch will be announced later.
Who will be the "Business of the Month" in December? Stay tuned...
Want to know more?
To get full details of Coming Events, go to the Chamber's webpage at www.eastlandchamber.com and click on Events Calendar. Clicking on a particular event will give you all the details of that event.
Remember?
A view of downtown Eastland, circa 1927. For more old pictures of Eastland, go to the "Remember When in Eastland" group on Facebook. |
