Big Dreams For Small Town Newspaper

“The first two guys I met in town were Walter Curtis and Alvis Story. They took me over to Don Rodenbaugh and the deal was done.” That is how a young man named Buddy Camper started The Allen American newspaper in November of 1969. 

 “I had been running the newspaper in Whiteright and wanted to start a country newspaper of my own,” said Camper. “I was checking out Allen when I ran into Walter and Alvis at the tax office. They thought it was a good idea and wanted me to meet Don, who also saw the need for the small town to have its own newspaper.” 

 “Don Rodenbaugh convinced most of the local businesses to take out advertisements and we started a charter subscriber campaign for $5 a year,” he added. Camper operated the business out of a small 12’ x 18’ block building on Main Street but it kept him close to the action in the city and business community. “It wasn’t long before I was on a first name basis with everyone in town,” Camper said. 

 There weren’t many big news stories during the ten years I was in Allen but a few stick out, said Camper. One story in 1974 involved a woman who streaked down Main Street and was picked up by the police. Her husband barged into the small office one night demanding to know who wrote the story. Camper admitted he was the writer and the husband promptly asked him for extra copies! “I thought I was in big trouble but it turned out to be a good laugh,” he said. It is best to let Camper tell his other “big story” in his own words which were written in a newspaper column called Scribbles in 1972. 

 “I was standing at the counter at The State Bank when there was a loud crash. I heard a scream and the walls of the bank seemed to be caving in   Then I realized it: your editor was right in the middle of an honest to goodness news story….My camera was handy so I rushed out and took a picture of the woman screaming, then came back to see bank president Dudley Robertson helping Mary Meyer out of her station wagon. Her foot had slipped off the brake pedal. … no one was hurt and all’s well that ends well….and I had a subject to write my column about this week.” Speaking with Camper, who now lives in Hideaway, Texas, he paused to remember many of the people who are familiar parts of our town’s history. 

 “I saw Pete Ford almost every day. He knew all the politicians and was a great source of information for the paper. Guys like Jerry Burton, the sheriff and Frank Dugger, the mayor were just fun people to be around. Then there was Lee Rountree, the school superintendent who was a genuine person that always had the best interests of kids and the schools in mind.” “Allen has grown into a first class city but it was also a great place back then,” added Camper, who can regularly be found visiting Allen with a set of golf clubs in tow. “It was a small and cozy place in the 1970’s and I am happy that I was able to be part of that. I still consider it home.”