Who Says, “There’s Nothing To Do In Olney?”
There was an item on one of the Wichita Falls news stations. I wasn’t paying much attention to it, but the closing comment from the person being interviewed included, “There’s nothing to do in Wichita Falls,” a complaint he’d heard.
Growing up, it was a complaint I had heard from the kids around me.
We had no movie theater, no “goofy golf,” no arcade, and no mall to “crawl” - things available in Wichita Falls.
We had a roller skating rink for my junior high and early high school years.
There were annual rodeos, and some children participated in “playdays” where they competed in rodeo-type riding events. Moving a horse carefully around a set of poles in a straight line (pole bending), as well as barrel racing.
We had access to the lake for swimming, boating, and fishing, as well as the city swimming pool.
There were tennis courts at the Country Club, the old high school, the new (1973/1974) high school, and the city park.
We used to “drag main,” about a mile from one end of town to the other and back again. We would park in businesses’ parking lots (to save gas) and wave at friends when they passed by. I met my husband in one of those parking lots!
My kids even had parking lots where they would “hang out” with friends.
The school had clubs like Future Farmers of America and Future Homemakers of America, and some mechanics students in the Vocational Industrial Club of America competed with mechanical projects.
There was a school program, Vocational Office Education, where high school girls learned about various office jobs. After being introduced to typewriters and even computers during the first semester, in the second semester, they were placed in local offices for some real-life experiences.
There was Little League baseball in the springs and summers, way before baseball was a school-sponsored sport.
There were Cub Scouts and Blue Birds for the younger kids. Boy Scouts - Olney had a huge number of Eagle Scouts honored for their achievements.
Of course, there were jobs in Olney for high school students. Fast food places that needed wait staff, gas stations that hired young men to wash windows, air up tires and run the pumps for the ladies in town. And grocery stores would employ young people to sack groceries and carry the bags to the customers’ vehicles.
4-H is an organization still available to young people.
These days, both high school and junior high have Texas Math Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) competitions. Both Olney High School and Olney Junior High School won State 2A championships last year! And Junior High won state this year.
And the bands that start in fifth grade and go through high school are impressively successful. They have Christmas concerts as well as Spring concerts.
Olney has a most unique public/school library. Besides books, there are periodicals and computers that are available for research.
When I was in high school, there was a city library in the original city hall, and the high school had a library, which was a study hall as well, in the old building. Now there’s the combination public and school library.
I don’t remember if the elementary school had a library when I was there, but the teachers had books, and there were reading programs.
Olney Junior High had a library with books appropriate for students in the seventh and eighth grades.
When the “new” high school was built, there was a library, but it has disappeared with the more recent renovations, and the Olney Community Library and Art Center serves all ages.
There is a variety of churches: Baptist churches, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, Methodist, Lutheran, and Catholic churches. Many of these have opportunities for young people. And facilities like The Refuge, where young people can play games and interact with others.
And we cannot forget our families. Each family is unique, and from parents and grandparents, kids can learn many things.
Who says, “There’s nothing to do in Olney”? It’s here; we just have to take advantage of what we do have in Big Friendly Olney.