[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5165]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING CLIFTON J. SHIPMAN FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

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                         HON. CHARLES H. TAYLOR

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 2002

  Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor one of Western North 
Carolina's most outstanding citizens, Mr. Clifton J. Shipman of 
Hendersonville, on the occasion of his receiving the first-ever 
Community Service Award given by the Hendersonville Merchants and 
Business Association. On Wednesday, April 17th, 2002, the civic and 
business leaders of Hendersonville gathered to pay tribute to Cliff's 
character, entrepreneurship, generosity and community service in 
bestowing upon him this prestigious award. Clifton J. Sliipman truly 
exemplifies the best combination of the American spirit of enterprise 
coupled with service to his community, and the following newspaper 
story gives an account of why he is held in such high esteem.

          [From the Hendersonville Times-News, Apr. 18, 2002]

             Shipman Receives First Community Service Award

                          (By Jim Wooldridge)

       Hendersonville, NC.--A local entrepreneur, known as much 
     for his modesty as for his business success, won the first 
     ever Community Service Award given Wednesday night by the 
     Hendersonville Merchants & Business Association.
       Clifton J. Shipman, 79, owner of the Chariot and the 
     Cedars, plus much of the property on both sides of Seventh 
     Avenue downtown, was chosen unanimously for the award, said 
     presenter Carolyn Swanner.
       ``In reviewing his record, we found he started more than 25 
     businesses here and was operating 15 of them at the same 
     time,'' Swanner said. ``And that was before we had 
     computers.''
       A third-generation native, Shipman started his enterprises 
     between the time he ended his World War II service in 1946 
     and his partial retirement five years ago. He was probably 
     best known, she said, for Clifton's Cafeteria at the corner 
     of Church Street and Seventh Avenue. The building is now the 
     Chariot, a dining room for private meetings and for most of 
     the Hendersonville civic clubs.
       ``The impressive thing about Cliff was his extraordinary 
     modesty,'' said Mac Drake, a lifelong acquaintance who got 
     his first job from Shipman. ``He never sought recognition for 
     charitable work that touched so many people.'' An example, he 
     said, was Shipman's giving the former Lutheran church 
     building across Church Street from the Chariot to the 
     Reformation Presbyterian Church.
       His first business was the Hendersonville Riding Stables 
     and Saddle Club, which offered not only horseback riding but 
     three dances a week, many featuring big-name orchestras such 
     as ``Les Brown and His Band of Renown.''
       This property, on State Street, was Clifton's home until he 
     bought a farm in Flat Rock several years ago. A barn on the 
     property is the theater for the Hendersonville Little Theater 
     company. He opened a newsstand in 1948 in the Brooks Building 
     on Third Avenue West. It was named The Smoke Shop and was 
     popular with young people, Swanner said. He opened his first 
     restaurant, Clifton's, in the same building in 1950.
       In 1951, he leased Hendersonville's public swimming pool on 
     Washington Street and ran it until 1954, when he sold it to 
     the American Legion. He started the Smokehouse restaurant on 
     Asheville Highway in 1954, a business which today is the 
     Quarter House.
       He leased Boyd Park in 1954 and built a miniature golf 
     course, tennis courts, shuffleboard courts, and a dance 
     pavilion. In 1958 he leased Jump-off Rock from the Town of 
     Laurel Park and built another dance pavilion, this one with 
     picnic area and gift shop.
       Shipman converted a gasoline service station on the 
     Asheville Highway into Hendersonville's first fast-food 
     restaurant. It was a huge success, Swanner said, because 
     burgers, fries and milkshakes were priced at 19 cents; soft 
     drinks, 5 cents.
       Started in 1959, this restaurant was named the Hasty Tasty. 
     He built a new building for it in 1962 on the corner of 
     Church Street and Eighth Avenue East. The building cost 
     $3,800 and Shipman sold enough 19-cent burgers to pay for it 
     in four weeks, Swanner continued.
       The Chicken Shack restaurant was another converted service 
     station he operated in on Seventh Avenue West until 1995. It 
     is now used as a bus stop.
       Concentrating on Church Street, Shipman built his Minit 
     Carwash in 1966 and the cafeteria two years later. Using the 
     cafeteria's cooking capability, he bought the Chariot 
     building on Seventh Avenue in 1970 and made it the main 
     meeting place for service organizations.
       He bought the Cedars in 1976 and spent two years restoring 
     the former mansion as a location for wedding receptions and 
     dinner meetings. His last major purchase was the former post 
     office, now called the Federal Building, at the corner of 
     Church Street and Fourth Avenue East.

     

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