Note: I have written about the Dixie Dog below. I thought it might be of interest to some readers. I wish the Dixie Dog could open again as it meant so much to our family. —Virginia (Ginger) Walker Davis
My family, Dick, Louise, Ginger, Bob and Richard Walker, moved from Presidio, Texas, to Spur in 1948. My dad worked for West Texas Utilitiesandmymomanddad opened the Dixie Dog Drive In a few years later. The Dixie Dog was one of the best decisions my mom and dad ever made. My mom was in charge and ran a tight ship. Many wonderful women and teenagers were employed, and they became family. I have so many fond memories of the Dixie Dog. After we first opened, I was thrilled to work there. I loved the opportunity to visit with my high school friends which kept me from my job. Finally, my mother took steps to alleviate the problem. She told me I had a new job working at the local bakery. After I had worked there a month or so, she said, Are you ready to come back to the Dixie Dog to servethecustomers?Ibecame more serious and curbed my desire to visit with my friends. My mother was a very wise woman! Another memory I will never forget occurred during my college years at McMurry College. Every time I would come home for a weekend my dad, who often worked on weekends, would ask, “Gin, do you want your regular?”
My reply was always, “ Yes!”
EachtimeIwouldtakethe first bite I would yell, “Daddy!” because once again he had laced it with toothpicks!
He’d yell back, “ Got ya!” I never learned, and my friends were delighted that I would forget.
One of my last favorite memories happened when my family would visit grandma and grandpa when we made the long drive from Colorado. Our four sons absolutely loved the Dixie Dog! When our twins, Mike and Marc, were about four they couldn’t wait to rush across the street to get a treat. They rushed up to the window, barely tall enough to be seen, and ordered a cone from Norma, one of mom’s faithful employees. They grabbed the cones, and Mike announced that they didn’t have to pay because their grandpa owned the Dixie Dog! Norma smiled and waved goodbye!
My dad died in 1978, and my mother kept the Dixie Dog open for many more years. She stood over the hot grill dishing out delicious hamburgers until she was 70.
I will always be grateful to my parents for their dedicated work to their jobs so that my brothers and I could attend college and earn advanced degrees!
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