| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Locally owned businesses are vital to the economic |
|
|
well-being of Texas communities, and on April 29, 2011, Fred's |
|
|
Corner Grille is celebrating 50 years of service to the people of |
|
|
Vernon; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Originally opened as a Dairy Queen franchise by Fred |
|
|
and Loys Ray in 1961, the restaurant was established with a contract |
|
|
of just a few typewritten lines; it was made independent more than |
|
|
40 years later, and it is now thought to be the oldest continuously |
|
|
operating restaurant in Vernon; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Fred Ray was a farmer and retail clerk who built |
|
|
bombers at the Boeing factory in Wichita, Kansas, during World War |
|
|
II, and his wife, Loys, was a bookkeeper; the couple ran the |
|
|
restaurant for more than three decades; after hiring Charissa |
|
|
Morrison in 1988, they turned over the day-to-day operations of the |
|
|
business to her in 1992, but remained involved even after their |
|
|
retirement; Mr. Ray passed away in 2001, and the restaurant was |
|
|
later renamed Fred's Corner Grille in his honor; Mrs. Ray, who loved |
|
|
interacting with the restaurant's customers, could still be found |
|
|
working behind the counter until her death in 2009; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Today, Fred's Corner Grille continues to thrive, |
|
|
thanks to the hard work and dedication of Ms. Morrison and her |
|
|
staff, and half a century after it opened, the restaurant remains a |
|
|
cherished community institution; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of Fred's |
|
|
Corner Grille and extend to all those associated with the |
|
|
restaurant sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it |
|
|
further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for Fred's Corner Grille as an expression of high regard by |
|
|
the Texas House of Representatives. |