Project
Pride, the organization in Cross Plains that runs the
annual Robert E. Howard Days Festival, has mailed out the official
schedule for REH-Days 2001.
Here is that schedule, along with some additional information added
by myself.
The annual Robert E. Howard Days will be held this year on Friday
and Saturday, June 8th and 9th, 2001. Pre-registration
is necessary for the Friday Dinner Banquet and the Saturday
Luncheon, so first read all of this information carefully, then mail
in your registration information.
2001 HOWARD DAYS SCHEDULE
The
Howard
House is located at 625 W. 4th
Street (AKA Highway 36 where it meets Coffman street),
Cross Plains, TX 76443). It will be open all day on
both Friday and Saturday from 10am-4pm. There will be
constant tours of the Howard House conducted by Project Pride (it is
now a museum and official historic landmark), various souvenirs and
mementos will be available to purchase, and a nice new pavilion has
been built outside where you can talk and mingle with other guests
and with Cross Plains residents.
When
you first arrive it is recommended that you register at the front
porch, where you will receive a nametag and other useful
materials. There will also be a guestbook for you to sign your
name and city of origin in, and they will use this information to
introduce you at the banquet on Friday night. There are
bathrooms and a full kitchen in the Pavilion for those who need
them. Last year there was free punch served throughout the
day, so perhaps they will do that again (it was absolutely terrific
last year).
Several
restaurants are located close by:
Jean's
Feed Barn: (349 West Highway 36
Jack's
Place: (416 West Highway 36, Cross Plains TX
76443). Another possibility for breakfast.
Dairy
Queen: (Highway 279 & 36
Subway
Sandwiches: (416 South Main Street, Cross
Plains TX 76443)
The FRIDAY Schedule of Events is as
follows:
8 AM - 4:30 PM: Postal
cancellation at the Post Office. At any time during the day you
may bring postcards or mail to the post office, where upon request
it will be stamped with an official Robert E. Howard design and
artwork before being mailed. This is a great way to create a
souvenir of the weekend for yourself, or to mail one to a
friend.
10 AM - 4 PM: Howard House open for tours, starting at the front door.
1 PM-5 PM: The Cross
Plains Public Library (149 N. Main Street, Cross
Plains TX 76443) will be open for the purpose of viewing their
Howard collection. The Library has an extensive collection of
original Howard typescripts, rare Howard books, and old Weird Tales
magazines all available to peruse. Many Howard fans make it a
point to bring any extra Howard books they have to Cross Plains and
donate them to the library. Cross Plains is such a small town
that it is really lucky to have a library at all. The library
is well-kept and very nice, but it is small and they can always use
all the help they can get. So if you have some extra Howard
books, please consider donating them to the
library.
1:30
PM: Walking tour of Howard's Cross Plains,
lead by Rusty and Jack Baum. Rusty Burke is a REHupan and
Howard scholar, while Jack Baum is the current owner of Robert E.
Howard Properties. Together they will walk you through the
town and show you many places where Howard lived, worked, and wrote
about. The icehouse where he used to box, the homes of his
friends, the businesses he worked at...all will be shown and
described in detail. Between Rusty's scholarship and Jack's
first-hand experiences (Jack grew up in Cross Plains) it should be a
fun and informative tour. Judging from last year, it will
likely last an hour or so. You need no reservation to take the
tour, just meet Rusty and Jack in the Pavilion outside the Howard
House at 1:30pm.
Although
it isn't listed as an official event this year, many people use part
of the afternoon to go to Brownwood to visit Howard's Gravesite.
Howard is buried in Greenleaf Cemetery (located on Brady
Highway, right off Highway 377 in Brownwood TX, 76801). This
is about a 1/2hr drive south of Cross Plains, so many people go to
Brownwood, eat lunch there, then visit the grave in the same
trip. Usually they take the Cross Plains Walking Tour on one
afternoon, then visit the grave on the other afternoon. Some
people also use Thursday or Sunday to do this. The cemetery is
right off Highway 377, it is hard to miss. There is a
historical marker by the grave, and anyone going to REH-Days is
encouraged to make time to go there and pay their respects.
There is a website on the Internet called FIND-A-GRAVE
which has information and directions to Howard's gravesite.
7PM:
There is a Friday Night Banquet which is held at the Cross
Plains Community Center (located at 701 E. 8th
street). To attend this event you must have pre-registered
through the mail (see below
for information on pre-registering). To tell you the truth,
the food was pretty bad there last year, so you may want to fill up
somewhere else before coming. The banquet is not to be missed,
however, because after dinner REHupan Charles Gramlich will be the
Guest Speaker, speaking about Robert E. Howard. Usually the
Baums will speak about the current state of Howard publishing as
well.
After
the banquet, the night is far from over. Many people generally
go back to the Howard House to sit with other Howard fans and talk into the wee hours of the morning.
Generally they meet in front of the 36
West Motel (501 West 4th Street aka West Highway 36,
Cross Plains TX 76443), which is right down the street from the
Howard House. It has a nice garden area out front with
numerous park benches to sit and talk, and many people bring soda or
snacks to share. Numerous Howard fans stay at the Motel, which
means restrooms are generally available to all for as long as
everyone is out there talking. One more thing: Cross
Plains is still as "dry" beverage-wise as it was in
Howard's time, if you get my drift (or draft, so to
speak). Anyone who has an idea to bring little
fiesta-beverages to the late-night discussions would be wise to keep
that fact discreet while amongst the Cross Plains locals (and they
would be wise to do their shopping long before they enter Callahan
County).
The Saturday Schedule of events is
as follows:
All of the same events going on Friday (House Tours, Postal
Cancellations, Pavilion, Library, Walking Tour) will be going on
again on Saturday, with the only change being that the Walking Tour
will occur at 1pm on Saturday rather than 1:30pm. In
addition, the following extra events will also occur:
10AM:
There will be a morning panel discussion in the Pavilion
outside of the Howard House. The subject will be "Robert
E. Howard in Cross Plains" and the speaking
panelists will be REHupans James Reasoner, Steve Tompkins,
Charles Gramlich, and Rusty Burke. Project Pride is
asking that all those planning on attending the panel please register
ahead of time, so they can ensure there are seats for all.
1130AM - 1PM: There will be a
special Saturday Lunch served in
the pavilion next to the Howard House. Last year it was
shredded BBQ Pork sandwiches, potato chips, and soda, and it was quite good. You do
need to register
for this lunch, see below for details.
230PM: The afternoon panel
discussion will be entitled "Robert
E. Howard - Past and Future", and the speaking
panelists will be REHupans Bill Cavalier, Frank Coffman, and Rusty
Burke. Again, if you are planning on attending the panel
please register,
so project Pride can ensure there are enough seats out there for
all.
530PM:
It is a REH-Days tradition on Saturday night to head over to West
Caddo Peak in a caravan and watch the sun set. West and
East Caddo peaks are popular landmarks in Cross Plains, and Howard
mentioned them in his letters fondly. It's very beautiful and
serene, and Howard likely watched the sun set on occasion there
himself. People planning on going to the peak generally meet
outside the Howard House between 4:30pm-5pm, and most people carpool
together from there. Soon after sunset when it gets dark people head
back to Cross Plains.
Technically
this is the official end of REH-Days, but again, many people stay
out in front of the West 36 Motel on Saturday night and talk into the wee hours of the morning.
As
stated above, you need to mail in a reservation for the Friday Night
Banquet and the Saturday Afternoon Luncheon. Friday's banquet
costs $10 per person and Saturday's lunch costs $5 per
person. In addition, Project Pride would like to know if
you plan on attending the Saturday morning and afternoon speaking
panels.
To
register, simply send Project Pride a letter telling them how many
people are coming to each event, and enclose a check or money order
for the appropriate amount made out to PROJECT PRIDE. It is
helpful to include the names of the people in your party and the
city you are from, so they can properly introduce you at the banquet
(they introduce all of the out-of-towners at the banquet).
Mail your registration information to:
Project Pride
PO Box 534
Cross Plains, TX, 76443
ATTN: REH-Days 2001 Registration
Some
further helpful tidbits....
FLYING
IN: Most people fly in to either Dallas or Austin, rent a car,
and drive to Cross Plains from there. Dallas is slightly
closer (about a two-hour drive), but the Austin drive is more scenic
and pleasant.
DRIVING
TIP: When driving in Texas and not being sure where to go, you
may be tempted to head down one of the many side streets that branch
off the highways, streets that are usually just labeled by a
number. This is a bad idea, as these are generally ranch roads
that lead out aimlessly into the middle of nowhere. Nothing
Howard-related (Howard House, Flagship Resort, etc.) are hidden on
side-streets. Everything is located on main highways and
roads, so stick to them. This advice goes especially for the
Flagship Hotel. When driving towards the Flagship from Brownwood,
you will see several roads with "Resort" or "Lake
Brownwood" signs branching off from the main highway. Do NOT
take these. The Flagship is all by itself right on the highway, so
just keep driving north on the main highway and don't give up and turn
around, you'll see it.
LODGING:
The two most popular places to stay are the 36 West Motel in
Cross Plains and the Flagship
Resort on Lake Brownwood (halfway between Cross
Plains and Brownwood right on the highway). As of April 2001
the 36 West Motel is already fully booked for REH-Days, but the
Flagship likely still has rooms (they generally have a family
reunion going on there at the same time as REH-Days, so the sooner
you reserve your room, the better). The Flagship is a short 20
minute drive from the Howard House, they have a nice pool, and it is
also 20 minutes closer to Brownwood, which is really convenient if
you want to take advantage of the many restaurants that Brownwood
has to offer instead of settling for the few places in Cross
Plains. The Flagship's website says that they have a
restaurant on the premises, but this is untrue, the restaurant has
been closed down (at least it was last year). If you book a
room at the Flagship, please note that their website booking does
not work, it always says they are full regardless of what dates you
put in. The only way to get a reservation is to call.
But in general the Flagship isn't as far away from Cross Plains as
it seems, and many REHupans and other Howard fans usually stay
there.
Paul Herman adds:
"The last time I was down that way, there is a new
chain motel, Best Western (most likely this
one in Cisco) I think, where you turn off of I-20, coming down
from Dallas. Also about 20 minutes away, looked very nice.
Anyone thinking about fly-n-drive, be sure and get good directions, Cross
Plains is small enough to not make it onto a lot of maps. Don't
expect the rental car folks to be too helpful."
RESTAURANTS: In
addition to the four previously-mentioned restaurants in Cross
Plains, there are many more restaurants in Brownwood, about a half
an hour south of Cross Plains, and many people go there to
eat. In addition to the normal array of fast-food joints,
there are several restaurants in Brownwood that are noteworthy.
HUMPHREY
PETE'S is a good steakhouse. PULIDO'S
is a good Mexican restaurant. There are many other restaurants
throughout Brownwood.
USEFUL
PHONE NUMBERS AND LINKS
Flagship
Resort: (915)784-5432
36
West Motel: (254)725-4550
Brownwood
Lodging
If you have any further questions about REH-Days, including where to
stay, what to do, who is going, sharing a room, etc. you should post
your question to the REH Inner Circle
List, where many REHupans and
attendees can assist you.
REHupa Home Page