Tuesday, December 21, 1999
Fairway Oaks teeing off on its rich past
By Bill Whitaker
Out in front of retired Judge Robert J. Kalafut’s home
in Fairway Oaks, visitors are greeted by something slightly less
than a welcome mat. It reads: “I play golf, therefore I am
not here.”
The judge is willing to swear on a stack of Bibles in any court
of law that this is not a true reflection of his daily pursuits.
Yet apparently he also can’t resist playing up to the stereotype
some folks have about the upscale Fairway Oaks neighborhood in
southwest Abilene.
That said, the judge and other residents of this golf club-oriented
community are also anxious to set the record straight, especially
with a new millennium at hand. While Fairway Oaks hasn’t
been around in its present form even 30 years, let alone a century,
let alone a whole millennium, homeowners are nevertheless feeling
historical-minded these days.
Maybe this just happens when it’s too cold to play golf.
Admittedly, you can’t write a history of Abilene without
alluding to the oil boom of the late 1970s and early ’80s
— and you can’t really discuss the boom without mentioning
Fairway Oaks, both the posh club and community around it. To that
end, the judge and his neighbors are fashioning a special directory
containing articles about the neighborhood’s past.
“On the surface, it’s just our homeowners association
annual directory, but it’s also shaping up to be our millennium
magazine,” the 70-year-old retired Ohio city judge said.
“We have all sorts of articles in the works. They’ll
be nostalgic about the past, yet they’ll also look toward
the future with optimism. And we’ll have a lot of pictures
from the old times.”
The “old times” naturally include the LaJet Classic,
which became a Professional Golfers Association tour event at
the dawn of the 1980s, bringing pros to Fairway Oaks, enlivening
local folks (including area beauties who took vacation time just
to pursue golfers) and raising money for the West Texas Rehabilitation
Center.
Few events summed up the high times as well as the LaJet Classic
did.
Quiet, please
Not all tales told at the clubhouse will see print in the millennium
edition of the neighborhood directory. For instance, 80-year-old
Howard Tucker, who has lived in Fairway Oaks since the start of
the ’80s, still enjoys telling stories about how prickly
golfing pro J.C. Snead proved during the LaJet.
Seems the properly dignified ways of Fairway Oaks unnerved
the down-to-earth golfer.
Beginning his game very early one day, well before the crowds
from Abilene materialized, Snead became rankled by the fact a
volunteer followed him from hole to hole, raising up a “Quiet”
sign, even though there was nary a soul around watching. Finally,
Snead could ignore this absurdity no longer.
“What the heck are you doing, holding that stupid sign
up for?” Snead demanded. “There’s not even anyone
around here!”
“I don’t know,” the Fairway Oaks volunteer said,
“but till they tell me not to, I’m gonna hold this stupid
sign up!”
Although LaJet went the way of the boom, Fairway Oaks continues
to maintain a certain aura, one that is sometimes misunderstood.
Sandy Kaiser, twice president of the Fairway Oaks Homeowners Association,
admits Abilenians who don’t live in Fairway Oaks sometimes
unfairly pigeonhole the neighborhood’s residents.
“The truth is, we’re like everyone else,” she
said of the Fairway Oaks residential community, now numbering
more than 560 folks. “Some have money, some don’t. Some
are snooty and most are not. But we hear a lot of comments from
new people who say they never expected us to be as friendly as
we are.”
The homeowners association endorses spirited get-togethers
in the neighborhood.
“We encourage block parties,” Sandy said. “You
really do get to know your neighbor better. You know, after every
block party, people throw up their hands and wave when they see
their neighbors, and we like that. That helps put a face to the
name in the directory. It’s a real bonding agent.”
Teens at work
Not only that, the directory — free to residents and assembled
with donations — includes names of neighborhood children,
their birthdays and whether they’re handy for baby-sitting,
pet-sitting, yard work and house-sitting chores. As longtime Fairway
Oaks resident B.C. Roberson, 77, says: “If the kids around
here want to work, we’ll use ’em.”
The Fairway Oaks Homeowners Association hopes that by trotting
out some of its golden-age memories and keeping neighbor informed
about neighbor through the directory, the community can remain
cohesive. That said, association officers admit they occasionally
send letters out to homeowners who neglect their property or infringe
on others’ standard of life.
At the moment, the judge, who is Fairway Oaks Homeowners Association
president, handles much of that. However, he’s careful not
to put down his former title in the notices he sends out.
“Of course, after he sends out the notices,” Sandy
joked, “he leaves town!”
Bill Whitaker can be reached at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com.
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