Towana and Otis Thompson have owned the Dairy Bar for “about a year and a half.” They took over operation of the burgers and fries stand on May 4 of this year. They plan to be open seven days a week this summer offering the kind of food you would expect to find at a burger joint: burgers, fries, tacos, chili, etc.
The building on East Main is an historic part of Red River, created in the late 1940s or early ‘50s by Tony Simion Jr. in carhop-style without the carhops and featuring outdoor seating. Needless to say, it was a summer season operation. The seating area was enclosed in the late 1990s for year-round use.
Natives of Oklahoma, the Thompsons lived in Pampa, TX. when they decided to move to Red River in 1985 to establish a four-wheeler rental business. “I saw other people doing it,” Towana says with a twinkle in her eye, “making money – good money – so that’s what I did!”
They established Mountain Top Recreation in a vacant lot next to J. Griffin Company on West Main, putting in a portable building. They operated one season before moving across the street to the Valley Lodge – currently the Rio Rojo Apartments – which they managed for a year, booking four-wheelers in summer and snowmobiles in winter out of the lodge office.
Towana remembers that there were two or three seasons that Mountain Top was the only ATV rental in town.
Eventually Towana grew tired of the rental business, so in 1990, she and Otis bought several carnival rides, despite the fact that neither had ever been in the carnival business, and moved to Southern California where they remained for 22 years.
The work was seasonal, with six months of hard work, long hours and lots of travel. In the winter months things were a bit less stressful as Towana and Otis would spend time in Yuma, Arizona, operating the rides on weekends at a local swap meet. “We did events for churches, schools, parties and cities from San Diego to San Francisco,” she says. “No fairs – that wasn’t my cup of tea.” The last several years they’ve spent a month in Red River, providing entertainment for kids with a giant fiberglass slide. They came to visit their kids and enjoy the cool air.
So what brought the Thompsons back to Red River for a second time?
“We traveled a lot over the years but with fuel at nearly $5 a gallon for the two vehicles we used to run up and down the road, expenses were pretty high. And it was hard, setting up and tearing down and we did all that.
“We’ve come back because of the kids and grandkids!” The “kids” are the two sons, Levi Curry and Cary Thompson and four grandkids in the area.
Why buy The Dairy Bar? While Towana worked in burger joints as a young girl, Otis has never had any connection with the restaurant business, but he confesses that he’s always wanted to own The Dairy Bar.
“When we moved here in 1985, I saw this place and I wanted to buy it then,” Otis says with a big smile. “Every time Cary would tell me it was up for sale, I was gone! But two years ago, when I heard it was for sale, I called the guy and said ‘I want it!’”
There’s a Dairy link in this story. Towana says that her first job when she was a girl in Oklahoma was at a place called the Dairy Twist! “It was my first job and now my last job!”