Bonham, Texas -- Some records are meant to stand the test of time, like Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak or Secretariat's blistering time of 1:59.40 in the Derby.
It is hard to imagine a restaurant in Bonham ever matching Hickory Bar-B-Que's record of serving the community for 48 years.
A celebration of the Blevins family and Hickory Bar-B-Que is set for 5:00-8:00 p.m. Saturday, June 15, 2024, at Roy Floyd Community Center in Bonham.
To longtime residents and newcomers alike, Hickory Bar-B-Que was much more than a diner and more like a friend until a fire damaged the building and caused the business to close. For almost a half century, this family business has been woven into the very fabric of Bonham. Our fabric smelled like hickory wood on the smoker and we wore it proudly.
Although the Blevins name will always be synonymous with Hickory Bar-B-Que, Don Blevins had several successful business enterprises before launching the iconic eatery.
Don first opened Speedway, a convenience store on the corner of Russell Avenue and Center Street, with his partner at the time, P.E. Biggerstaff. They went on to open another convenience store on 9th Street, and then others. Later, Don opened the first automatic carwash where Smitty’s car lot sits today.
But new technology can be tricky sometimes. Glenna and Mike Bowman had purchased a new Buick Regal, yellow with a black ragtop, a beautiful car. The carwash malfunctioned with that spectacular car in it and banged up one entire side of the car.
Speedway had a delicatessen in it and they served plate lunches every day. That seems to have been Don's entry into the restaurant business.
"My dad enjoyed the delicatessen the most," explains Donna Shockley, Don and Ruth's daughter. "He sold Speedway and it became Woody’s. Once he didn’t have Speedway to occupy his time, he decided he wanted to open a BBQ restaurant. We spent a few weekends traveling to BBQ places on the weekends. My dad would tell the owners he was interested in starting a business. Everyone was so kind, and they would take Daddy to see their pit area. My dad and Bob McCraw went into business together and leased the location just off of the square. It had been a restaurant so the kitchen was already complete. Ray Stephens and a few of his oldest sons went to work getting things ready to open as The Hickory Bar-B-Que. They opened on March 3, 1976 and had a wonderful first lunch crowd. Bill Flowers was the first customer."
Don's wife, Ruth, was working at the Fannin County Clerk’s office when he started Hickory. Don quickly came to the conclusion that Ruth should quit working for the county and work with him instead.
A bit wary about a husband and wife working in close quarters full time, Ruth thought it would be prudent to do a little research.
"Ruth called me and asked, 'How do you and Earl get along while working together?'" Lois Kennedy recalls.
"Just fine," Lois replied enthusiastically. "He works over there...and I work over here!"
Under Don and Ruth's guidance, the BBQ restaurant became a local favorite. About a year after opening, the Blevins family acquired full ownership of the thriving diner.
It was a true family business. The kids, Donna, Phil and Christie, along with some of their friends, became the dishwashers and they distinctly remember that this was before the café had air-conditioning. Kyle Sanderson likes to joke that Don fired him "because I talked too much."
Local banker John Armstrong was a good friend of Don's and planted the seed for what would become the famous Hickory Club Sandwich.
The rest is Fannin County history!
Editor's note: Like everyone else in Bonham, I have a favorite memory of Hickory Bar-B-Que, only my experience happened blocks from the restaurant. It was a Friday night in the late fall of the early '80s and I was in my 20s and working a 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. shift as a commercial teller at what was then First National Bank. On Friday nights, it was always a struggle to get my teller drawer balanced in time to make it to the stadium to watch the Warriors take the field. And on this night, it was Bonham in McKinney and wild horses couldn't have kept me from being there for the kickoff. I was starving and I figured that I would have to grab a hot dog at the game. A few minutes before 6:00 p.m., Mr. Blevins turned into the drive-in lane. Everyone loved to wait on Don Blevins and, if I remember correctly, it seems like he was just dropping off his night deposit this time.
As I sent the commercial-lane drawer out, I said something like, "How we doin', Mr. Blevins?"
"Oh I'm doing alright, I reckon," he told me with a straight face that hid his surprise.
As the commercial-lane drawer came in, the unmistakable aroma of a hot BBQ sandwich filled the room.
I looked down at the zippered night-deposit bag and, positioned right on top of it, there sat the best-looking BBQ sandwich that I will ever see in my life.
A bit shocked at the thoughtfulness and generosity of this man, my mouth fell open and I glanced up just in time to see Don give me a little smile and say, "I thought you might be hungry," as he drove away.
That was 43 years ago, but acts of kindness are never forgotten. The same can be said for the Blevins family and Hickory Bar-B-Que -- Allen Rich
