—
Page 8/The Battalion/Wednesday, October 2, 1985
MISSOURI REPERTORY THEATRE PRESENTS
DELIGHT!
In the splendid music of America’s
most celebrated songwriter.
"This is a dream of a shoui Happy
Funny. Witty and so compassionate.
It makes you feel good."
NEW YORK TIMES
BY STEPHEN SONDHEIM
presented by
MSC Townhall
October 3, Rudder Auditorium
8 p.m.
Call MSC Box Office or any
Ticketron outlet for more
information
000(3
The Missouri Repertory Theatre Tour is made possible by financial assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts,
the Missouri Arts Council, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Texas Arts Exchange and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Waldo
by Kevin Thomas
Last Depression-era cannery
in Texas victim of the times
- -i - T'.
$
S irt!.
Associated Press
LOCKNEY — The Floyd County
Community Cannery will soon take
its place among the other relics ot
the past, a victim of dwindling can
supplies, county belt-tightening and
waning public interest. With it goes a
piece of Depression-era Americana,
the last of its kind in Texas.
“I hate to see it shut down,” said
cannery manager Eunice “Pete”
Hulcy. “It’s been a lot of help to a lot
of people for a long, long time.”
In existence since the ’30s, the
cannery was a product of FDR’s
Work Progress Administration. At
the time it was one of many across
the nation where farmers and rural
folk could bring their produce and
have it canned, paying for the serv
ice with a portion of the canned
product. The rest of the canned
goods were kept for the family’s use
or traded in town for other mer
chandise.
Now, according to Rex Sherry,
training officer with the Food and
Drug Division of the Texas Depart
ment of Health in Austin, the com
munity cannery is “a dying breed.
People were very dependent on
them once. To my knowledge, it
(Floyd County’s cannery) is the only
one in the state at this time.”
One of the reasons for the demise
of the Lockney cannery, which is
housed in an old military barracks
building, is dwindling use. Three
years ago, following a food poison
ing scare, state health department
rules forced cannery employees to
K ut an end to the barter system that
ad existed since the Depression.
People bringing in produce were re
quired to do most of the work them
selves, paying for the cans, and can
nery employees had to keep strict
records.
Although the food poisoning was
ultimately traced toother causes, the
rules remained, and use of the com
munity cannery dropped sharply,
according to Hulcy.
But use is still fairly high during
The cannery was a prod
uct of FDR’s Work Pro
gress Administration. It
was one of many across
the nation where farmers
and rural folk could have
their produce canned,
paying for the service with
a portion of the canned
product.
peak
tember, with anywhere from 10 to
30 people a day using the cannery.
Some of the cannery users come
from other counties.
The number of out-of-county res
idents using the cannery is one of
the problems, according to Floyd
County Judge Choice Smith.
Floyd County residents pay 22
cents a can while out-of-county users
pay 25 cents a can for produce proc
essed at the facility. The county
makes 2 to 5 cents profit on the ac
tual cans, but employee wages,
equipment maintenance and utility
bills are paid for by county taxpay
ers.
The county budgets $10,000 a
year for operation but two of the last
three years the cost has slightly ex
ceeded that amount. Smith conceeds
it is not a huge percentage of the
county’s $1 million-plus annual bud
get, but points out that the cannen
isn’t the only victim in the fiscal bell
tightening.
County commissioners have beer
coping with property valuationstk
are down by almost $98,000 andes
peeled to decrease even more tk
next two years.
But the real death-knell for lit
cannery was Smith’s discover) thi:
the 20-cent tin cans the county ptii
chased from American Can Co.,:
Arlington, would no longer beavaif
able.
He checked around and finaii
found another source — in New Or
ica ns — with a price of 40centsper
can.
“And that didn’t even takeintoa
count the increased cost of transpo
tation.” Smith said. “A lotofpeopit
have Ivenefitted from the cannen;
But they just wouldn’t be willingtc!
pay that much. It’s sad it hastodox [
(nil it just priced itself out.”
Hulcy agrees that there is proii I
bly no alternative to closing the ft I
cility: "Nobody can pay 40 cents for I
empty cans. 1 hate to see the plan I
close down, but when you ant gel
materials, you can’t get material! |
There have been a lot of businesse|
around town that have closed.Tit'j
(commissioners) have hung on fori;
long time.”
Hulcy estimates there is about;.
two-day supply of cans left. Wheil
they are gone, the cannery will rti
main open until the end of Novetr-1
her so tnat people have access totk I
grinder ana pressure cookers.
After that the facility, an institu I
lion in Lockney and Floyd Counttf
for almost half a century, will be per I
manemly closed — relegated to tk i
memories of those who partially ok I
their survival through the GreatDt-1
pression to the community cannen
S'
Freshmen & Sophomores!
i&$ce
The schedule for Freshmen and Sophomore photos for
the 1986 Aggieland has been extended to October 1-11.
Photos will be taken at Yearbook Associate’s studio
located above Campus Photo Center at Northgate.
Office hours are 8:30-12 and 1-4:30.