Latest news with #locallegend
CBS News
a day ago
- General
- CBS News
A pilgrimage to the desk with the greatest view
In the high desert of West Texas, there's a trail dodging cactus. No signs or guideposts here … just the crunch of gravel underfoot, and above, a wide-open sky. But for those in the know, like Matt Walter, this is the journey to a local legend. It's become known as The Desk on Hancock Hill. Locals call it simply "the desk" … an unlikely landmark in the city of Alpine that's been holding court for more than 45 years. Matt Walter has been making the trek to it almost as long: "The first time I came up was like January 1986," he said. "It was cold. There was snow on the ground. I didn't know about the desk then; that was before the signage. And I was just kind of like, Oh my gosh, this is so cool!" An amateur photographer, Walter has documented the changes over the years. The desk isn't much to look at. It could have come from any classroom – weathered by the weather, and covered in graffiti. But when seated at it, and looking out over the desert, you feel changed. Walter said he has felt introspective when visiting the desk: "I've had a couple of moments like that where you reflect on the views, the distance, looking out onto this vastness, and wondering about the amazement of Mother Nature," he said. Dani Bell, who was visiting the site, said, "It's very therapeutic. You can clear your mind and really just get some stuff out if you need to." What may be more remarkable than the feeling it inspires is how it came to be. In the late 1970s, Jim Kitchen was a student at nearby Sul Ross State University. He wanted a place to study with a view, so with a couple of classmates, they hauled up a desk, planting it at the top, like a flag on a new frontier. Kitchen's nephew, Tony Curry, said his uncle was someone who would drag a desk to the top of a hill: "He is that kind of guy," Curry said. "He's a wild, wild man and he's got a lot of energy." Curry showed us one of the earlier desks. (They're now swapped out every decade or so, as the elements and visitors take a toll.) And Kitchen left more than a desk up here – also, a notebook and pen, because with vast views come big thoughts. Curry said he'd written in the book many times. "It's kind of like a meditative place, you know, where you can go and you can just think about things and kind of sort out your problems," he said. Dozens of filled notebooks, dating back decades, are catalogued at the university library, and meticulously preserved by the school's archivist. You might call Paula Kitchen Curry, Jim's sister, the unofficial archivist, having gone up to the desk at least 30 times to rotate out the notebooks. "I've copied them one time and sent them to my brother, just so he can see what has happened," she said. What she's comes back with is something akin to a confession booth wrapped in a time capsule … the entries, often heartbreaking. "To 18 y/o me & everyone who needs to hear it: It does get better. Change can be good. The world is bigger than you think it is." Reading the entries, Paula said, "Sometimes it breaks my heart, and sometimes it makes me laugh, sometimes it makes me want to be a better writer!" Asked what he believes the notebooks, and the solitude at the desk, provide to people, Tony Curry said, "There are times when you find yourself looking for a way to get something out of your head, and going up to the desk gives you time to think about it, and then the notebook gives you a place to put it down, and then the journey back down gives you a place to kind of leave it behind." For more info: Story produced by Christ Laible. Editor: David Bhagat.
BBC News
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Tributes to Wakefield's 'Chestnut Man' billed 'local legend'
There are plans for a permanent memorial to a street vendor from Wakefield after an "unprecendented" reaction to his death. Allan Jones, better known as The Chestnut Man, passed away last month, having been a regular fixture in the city centre for decades, most recently trading on who was 71, inherited the stall from his father Jonah in 1980 and, accompanied by his beloved dog Albert, was trading until shortly before his Riley, who described himself as one of Allan's closest friends, said he was "a character and a half". Austin, 54, said he was 13 when he first met Allan at Thornes Park Fun Fair and began working as his assistant."We would travel up and down the country in the summer and be back in Wakefield in winter selling chestnuts."Allan's father opened the stall in 1959, trading underneath the famous clock tower at the old bus station and the former Ahmed, a Wakefield councillor born and bred in the city, said the stall was known to several generations of reaction to Allan's death locally had been "unprecedented", he added."A lot of people won't know him as Allan, they would have known him as The Chestnut Man."He was the reason kids tried chestnuts in the first place." Austin said: "He was a people's person. He liked to know all the gossip."He was always laughing and joking. I'll miss him truly deeply."A spokesperson for Wakefield Council described Allan as a "local legend".A fundraising page set up for a permanent memorial to him had raised almost £500 by Saturday afternoon."I'm hoping that he's recognised," said Ahmed."It's right that Wakefield recognises some of the people that were famous in their own way." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Man celebrates 60 years working at Chippenham camping shop
A man has been celebrating his 60 years working for a camping shop that he considers his "second home".Doug, 79, joined Millets on 10 May 1965 at a store in Wales when he was 19 but settled in Chippenham, Wiltshire, where he has been for five 1965, there were still a lot of surplus World War Two goods on the shelves. "When I first started, I was selling gas masks," he said. I would wear a smart suit – now it's more casual."Just a few years later, he became one of the youngest store managers in the company's history. Charlotte Johns, regional manager, said: "I adore Doug, he's one of the kindest people I know. He is always happy and smiling."Doug said the best part of the job was the people. "Most people in the town know me – they always pop in to see me. This is like my second home." His colleagues, who have joined in the celebrations, described Doug as a "local legend".One said he was a "joy to work with" who "always has a story to tell and always has help and advice when you need it". Doug stepped down from management 15 years ago but still works part-time in the one moment in his long history with the shop that he remembers well – when the owner of the whole chain presented him with a cheque to help him buy his first house."I'll always be very grateful," he said.
Washington Post
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Washington sports fan Walter Wiggins Jr., D.C.'s ‘Pump It Up Man,' dies at 72
D.C. sports fans may not have known the name Walter Wiggins Jr., but chances are they knew who he was. Wiggins, a D.C. native who died at 72 on May 10, was a fixture in the crowd at Washington Wizards and Commanders games, among other local professional and high school sporting events, where he danced and pumped his arms in support of his teams. To many, he was known simply as the 'Pump It Up Man.'
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Devon Waitrose worker, 94, has no plans to retire
A man who started a job at Waitrose at the age of 80 is still working there aged 94 - and said he has no plans to Shipton has been described as a "local legend" and a "national treasure" by colleagues at the Exeter branch of the said he had been asked many times about the prospect of retirement but had no plans to give up."At first I thought I would probably stop at 95, but the most important thing is that I can still climb the stairs to the canteen because that is vital," he said. Mr Shipton has had many jobs in his long working life. He served in the army before working in electronics, has been a cabinet maker, restored antique furniture, maintained swimming pools and programmed he said his job at Waitrose did not feel like work."I come here to play with my customers; the relationships with the customers are beautiful," said Mr McConnachie, deputy branch manager for Waitrose, Exeter, said Mr Shipton was brilliant with all customers: "Young and old, he will talk to anyone; he is sort of a national treasure for us in the branch."Customer Dana added: "John is an amazing man, he teaches us all what it is to be human."John said the secret to a good life was having fun and working in a job you said: "You just have to find what you are passionate about, and do that".
