The Rotary Club of Amarillo’s annual Hold-Up program nabbed a couple from Winnsboro, South Carolina on Wednesday, June 27.
Shirley and Robert Pullen were passing through Amarillo on their way back home from the Grand Canyon when they agreed to be held up, treated to dinner, a night’s lodging, and an evening watching the musical “Texas” in Palo Duro Canyon’s Pioneer Amphitheater.
The following day they enjoyed lunch with The Rotary Club of Amarillo in the Amarillo Club atop the Chase Tower.
Robert and Shirley Pullen are both retired from the world of manufacturing that is so prevalent in South Carolina.
A car accident brought them together and their first date was very proper with Shirley’s younger brother chaperoning the evening.
Once home, her brother promptly told her parents that Robert had held Shirley’s hand.
A few months later they eloped and now 58 years later, one can still see the spark that first brought them together.
The Hold-Up program has been an ongoing project of the Rotary Club of Amarillo.
It occurs each summer during the run of the “Texas” musical. Rotarians, accompanied by an Amarillo police officer, invite visitors at the Texas Department of Transportation travel information center at I-40 and Airport Boulevard to a night of food, fun and new friendships. Rotarian and APD Captain Jeff Lester and Cpl. Jerry Neufeld assisted with the effort this week.
The club’s effort aims to create good will for the Amarillo community and those who are willing to be “held up” for a night on their travel through the Panhandle.
The club works with area hotels and restaurants, who provide complimentary meals and lodging, as well as with the “Texas” staff, which provides complimentary passes for the play for the Rotary Club’s visitors and host Rotarians.
The couple was treated to dinner at Feldman’s Wrong Way Diner in Canyon and a night’s lodging at the Ambassador in Amarillo. Rotarians Teresa Clemons and Isbell Corinna accompanied them to dinner and to the “Texas” production.
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