July 2008
A Flair for Rural Hometown Business
by Karen Boehler
Debra Smith has her roots firmly buried in New Mexico soil. But like a tumbleweed, it took a bit of wandering before she finally settled those roots down.
The daughter of Herman and Roberta Burkstaller, Debra was born in Roswell in 1947 and says her peers all called themselves “aliens” because that was the year of the UFO crash. But Smith also had another claim to fame, grandfather Bob Crosby of rodeo cowboy renown. He died when Smith was eight-years-old, so she never knew him, but was raised by his morals. “He never drank, he never smoked, he never cussed and that’s how I lived my life. He was kind of an example for me. And I tried to raise my children that way,” Smith says.
Smith eloped at age 19, and she and new husband Burton Smith, a musician, went on the road. They started out in Denver, where he performed as a member of “The Kandy Store Prophets.” Then, one night, the band got a recording contract and the pair moved to Hollywood, where the band fronted for some big names including “The Animals,” Jimi Hendrix, and “Jimmy Gilmore and the Fireballs.”
Eventually, the pair decided to have a family, and got out of the business. They moved back to Roswell, then Plainview, TX, where they operated an appliance business. Still, show biz wasn’t entirely out of their blood, as the entire family did television commercials for the store. And, when daughter Summer started singing “and showing promise” they went back on the road. “We thought she was fantastic, so we traveled with her for two years, on the road, when she graduated from high school,” Smith says. But then, Burton developed heart disease, and the pair decided to get out of “the rat race.” “We picked Elida because my grandfather (Crosby) had a ranch at Kenna, years ago. We thought Elida would be a cute little town, non-stressful.”
They bought a house on the corner of US 70, paying $5,000 for a 100-year-old house and five acres. When Burton felt well enough, they worked at repairing the house. “When he didn’t feel good, we just sat.” Smith says. “And we just made it happen. We turned that old house into a nice house. And in the weeds we found an RV Park.” When the State Highway Department needed a place for employee lodging during road repairs, the pair fixed up the 11 spaces and rented the park out for two years, giving them an income. Thus The Elida RV Park was born.
Eventually Smith bought the Branding Iron Cafe, the only restaurant in the town of 190 residents. It also required some repairs, but Smith was up for the challenge. “All my life, I’ve had an interest in art, antiques, decorating,” she says, “and I thought, ‘I’m going to make this little cafe cute as a bug’s ear.’”
So she cleaned and painted, and added what she calls a “graffiti wall,” a bright yellow corridor where customers can sign their names. The restaurant is open 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. daily. Smith has regular customers among the locals and truckers, and says Highway 70 is good for business. “Some days I’m real busy, some days I’m dead. You never know,” Smith says. “It’s not a booming cafe, but it’s making us a small living.”
If you know anyone who’d make a good profile for this column—including yourself—let us know at sespinoza@enchantment.coop.
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