February 21, 1947
Marfa should “tell the world” about its climate and scenic attractions until certain other, desirable attractions are also available to outline to the prospective visitor as reasons for his spending time here. That is the opinion of the mayor of Marfa, H. A. Coffield, who spoke in that tenor to men of the Lions Club, and their ladies, Friday night as the club’s second anniversary was celebrated with a dinner in the Colonial Room of Crews Hotel.
The city official urged that business men be fair in their consideration of their business volume these days, making sure that they compare such years as 1946 and early months of 1947 with similar periods in pre-war days rather than with years when the community’s trade was abnormal as a result of military population. He continued:— “With what are we going to replace the trade that came with the army? Time will tell. In the meantime, we should stir up what we can, working for civic improvement and as that is done this person and that person will become busier and the entire town will profit. We have community advantages that many towns lack. Instead of bemoaning that which we do not have to attract the visitor we should tell those who would come here of those appealing things that we do have. Some day we’ll have more to tell them.”
Area planning rather than mere localized promotion was advocated by Mr. Coffield as being practical and wise. He urged that no aid be asked of the federal government at this time. In the course of time, in his opinion, a dam on the Rio Grande will be a reality and will do much for the benefit of this area.