Reader reaction: That time Johnny Cash came to the Trails

Billie Ruth Atchley was a waitress at the newly opened Trails Coffee Shop and Restaurant in 1957 when soon-to-be country music legend Johnny Cash came in and ordered a cup of coffee.

The coffee cost a dime. The memory lasted a lifetime.

"He left her a dollar tip, a silver dollar, which bought some groceries," said Raymond Atchley, Billie Ruth's son.

"She was impressed," he said.

Clovis newspaper archives show Cash was in town on May 30, 1957, for two performances with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys at Marshall Auditorium.

An article in the Clovis News-Journal described Cash as "a handsome Arkansas boy whose fame spread from coast to coast in shortly over a year's time," especially after the release of his 1956 hit "I Walk the Line."

The Trails remained at 1608 Mabry Drive in Clovis until the late 1970s, when it was replaced briefly by Gabriel's Prime Rib.

Today, the location is home to Juanito's Mexican Restaurant.

A recent Facebook post asked readers for memories of their favorite long-gone area businesses. A few responses:

• Deb Graham Whitecotton: My parents store, Wesley's Meat Market. It originally opened on Connelly Street next to an abandoned church by the police department. Then many years later it was on Seventh and Hondo. Store motto was "You Can't Beat Our Meat."

• Mickey Stephenson: The Silver Grill. I kissed my first girlfriend there.

• Linda Hadley Harrison: The 3D Drive-In in Farwell. The 3 Ds stood for Dials Dairy Drive-In.

• Lynee Marie: TG&Y ... Or turtles, girdles and yoyos.

• Noreen Frost: The miniature golf place where Burger King is now.

• MaryGarland Tipps-Sumner: Mac's Drive-In in Portales.

• Tim Davis Sr.: The two businesses I miss the most from Clovis are China Star - the reopened one was never as good - and the Prince Street Lounge; I had a blast working there. I did weekends as a bouncer.

• William Harpold: Towne Crier when it was in Hilltop Plaza and still sold records.

• Barbara Bieler Horner: Who remembers the corner of Seventh and Main in Clovis when it was a square of shops, and the radio station was right in the middle? Spudnuts on one corner, Silver Grill on another corner.

• Khadijah Ali: Red Onion Bar on West Seventh. I was a little kid, but I remember because my aunt's house was across the street.

• Leona Cottman: I remember the hamburger joint on Seventh called Shelly's. Best fries I ever ate.

• Randy Fields: Rips and El Monterrey. I used to go to both regularly with cousins from Sudan.