Small Business Partner Applications open!
The Engler College of Business, in partnership with the WT Enterprise Center and America’s SBDC at WTAMU, is hosting its 3rd annual Buff Business Summit & Competition. High school students from across Amarillo and Canyon will be competing to solve challenges presented by local small businesses. Have a challenge to solve in your business or perhaps a new idea you want help implementing? Apply today to participate as a Small Business Partner!
There is no cost to you to participate. Applications close Monday, November 3rd. Check out the Small Business Partner FAQ for more information and apply at wtsbdc.com/buffbusiness.
Please let me know if you need anything else!
Thank you,
Calista Maldonado | Program Coordinator
America’s SBDC at WTAMU
(806) 651-5151
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1 –
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3
Chamber Closed: Working BBQ Cook-Off
The Chamber offices will be closed Wednesday through Friday while our staff is working at the Tri-State Fairgrounds to setup, host, and clean up the event. Feel free to email staff or leave us a message and we will get back to you on Monday, October 6th.
Advanced ticket sale price of $35 each ends at midnight online at TriStateFair.com. Tickets the day of and at the gate at 5pm Thursday will be $45.
CONTACT: Honnah Taylor
806-651-2235
Proximity: Rarely Seen Paintings from PPHM Come to WTAMU’s Dord Fitz Formal Gallery
Canyon, Texas — Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum and West Texas A&M University Art Program proudly present Proximity: Paintings from Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, a compelling new exhibition that invites viewers to consider how art brings us closer to one another, to the past, and to place. Exhibition opens August 25.
Featuring rarely seen works from the PPHM collection, Proximity showcases landscapes, portraits, and still life paintings by celebrated Texas artists including Isabel Robinson, Maurice Bernson, Olin Travis, Fred Darge, and Harold Bugbee. These paintings offer more than aesthetic beauty, they become vessels of identity, memory, and regional connection.
“In curating this exhibition, I wanted to highlight not only the individual artists but also the relationships their work creates,” says Deana Craighead, Curator of Art at PPHM. “These paintings reflect a shared geography, a shared history. In many ways, they help define who we are – then and now.”
In a region shaped by wide-open spaces and close-knit communities, Proximity explores how art narrows distance: between artist and viewer, between history and the present, and between the collective and the personal. It’s an opportunity to engage with the cultural richness of the Panhandle-Plains through works that have long been part of our story, yet rarely on public display.
Graduate students Kenedy Wheeler and Madilyn Ballew, serving as curatorial apprentices, have played an active role in developing Proximity as part of their coursework. Their hands-on experience includes selecting artworks, contributing to curatorial discussions, conducting research, drafting extended labels, and assisting with artwork preparation and
installation. Their contributions not only enhance the exhibition but also highlight the museum’s vital role in educating and mentoring the next generation of arts professionals in our region.
This exhibition also marks a continued partnership between PPHM and WTAMU’s Art Program, deepening the commitment to preserving, studying, and celebrating the art of our region. Visitors are encouraged to explore the gallery and reflect on ways art connects us across time and space.
Proximity: Paintings from Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum
August 25 – October 24, 2025
Dord Fitz Formal Gallery | Mary Moody Northen Hall | West Texas A&M University.
Admission is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours.
For more information, visit www.panhandleplains.org or call 806.651.2244.
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Thank you!
Honnah Taylor
Director of Marketing & Communications
Cultural Foundation of the Texas Panhandle
Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum | TEXAS Outdoor Musical
D: 806.651.2235 | T: 806.651.2244
cultural foundation | panhandleplains.org | texas-show.com
Tracy Sommers (she,her,hers)
West Texas Area Director
www.afsp.org/westtexas
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
tsommers@afsp.org
T: 806.670.1227
Save the Date: Amarillo International Film Festival — October 9-11, 2025 – Arts in the Sunset
Join us in celebrating Leticia Goodrich for her dedicated service to women’s health as the founder of Panhandle Breast Health.
We are deeply honored to welcome Amy Lovell, who will courageously share her personal journey with breast cancer.
Tickets and sponsorships are available online or by calling (806) 331-4710.
If you are unable to attend but would like to honor Leticia with a donation, contributions can be made online or mailed to:
Panhandle Breast Health
301 S Polk St, Suite 740
Amarillo, TX 79101
Thank you for your support!
Panhandle Breast Health (PBH) will honor Leticia Goodrich, founder of PBH, at the Pretty in Pink Tea Party and Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, at Amarillo Area Foundation, 919 S. Polk. Keynote speaker, Amy Lovell, will share her breast cancer journey from routine mammogram to recovery.
Goodrich saw a need to improve breast cancer screening rates in the Texas Panhandle and sought to fill it by forming the Amarillo Area Breast Health Coalition in 1994. Along with representatives from cancer-related agencies and hospitals, she worked to integrate services, identify and fill gaps in service, and improve access to clinical services. In 2016, Amarillo Area Breast Coalition became Panhandle Breast Health.
After 27 diligent years, founding and building this organization, Goodrich retired in 2021. Prior to retirement, she secured the first grant to pay for mammograms for uninsured residents of the Texas Panhandle. Since then, PBH has provided free breast cancer screenings to more than 550 women ranging from teenagers to senior citizens.
Lovell is self-employed as a Nonprofit Management Specialist. Previously, she served as executive director of the Turn Center. She has also worked as Director of Development and as a Leader for The Panhandle Gives at Amarillo Area Foundation.
Event tickets and sponsorships are available online at www.panhandlebreasthealth.org. Tickets are $50 per person. Sponsorships range from $500 Table Sponsorships to $10,000 Pink Diamond Sponsorship.
For more information, email Judy Neill, executive director, at judy@pbh-ama.org or call (806) 331-4710.
Open from September 20th – January 9th at the Don Harrington Discovery Center.
Calling young artists and inventors! Immerse yourself in the mind of Leonardo da Vinci– building, sketching, testing, and designing, just like the “Renaissance Man” himself. Hands-on activity tables explore his contributions to art, science, anatomy and engineering. Will you recreate da Vinci’s work, or add an exciting twist that’s all your own?
Included with membership or general admission.
Leonardo’s Lab, a traveling exhibit, was developed by Carnegie Science Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and produced in partnership with the Sciencecenter (Ithaca, New York).
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Join us as we cruise the mother road through parts of Texas for 2 days of fun . Come get a glimpse of what Route 66 has to offer as we cruise West to East starting in Tucumcari, NM With stops in Tucumcari, San Jon, Endee, Glenrio, Adrian, Vega and Amarillo
Join us as we caravan along old route 66 from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas. Your $66 entry fee Includes Lunch on Friday and Saturday as well as our Banquet Dinner at the Big Texan on Saturday Night. Entertainment and Music in Tucumcari Thursday Night. Admission to museums and entertainment during the Tour . We try to spend your entry fee on YOU to make sure you have a wonderful time on the motor tour.
We often get asked what do you do on a Motor Tour and do I have to have a classic car.
Well our motor tour is a group of like minded individuals interested in learning about or long time fans of Route 66. We Cruise as a group along as much of the original alignments of Route 66 as we can . Stopping as a group at different points of interest and sharing meals and our knowledge or interest in knowing more along the way. Its 2 days of fun and fellowship along the Mother Road. Whether its your first experience on Route 66 or your 200th. We usually have from the Novice to the knowledgeable on the tour and its always a good time for everyone. As far as a classic car . Of course we love them and usually put them in the front of the pack. But you do not need a classic car to join the motor tour. Bring Your mini van , your motorcycle, we even had a couple in a motor homes join us . Simply if it has wheels and you can cruise , your welcome to join in on the fun