Wichita Falls history coloring book benefits two local nonprofits

From the oil-boom days to Hotter’N Hell, there is no doubt Wichita Falls has a colorful history.

Children of all ages can enjoy adding their own artistic flair to that history with a new coloring book that benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wichita County and the Museum of North Texas History.

Nicholas Schreiber, a longtime Big Brother, said this is the second year that BBBS has produced a Wichita Falls-themed coloring book.

He got the idea for a local coloring book a few years ago, he said, when his Windthorst Knights of Columbus group was considering a similar project for their city.

While that project did not move forward, Schreiber still thought a coloring book would be a great idea for a fundraiser.

BBBS has long benefited from events such as Dancing for the Stars, but a project, he thought, might be a different way to produce a product that more people could enjoy.

The Wichita Falls area is a generous community with more than 240 local nonprofit agencies.

To set BBBS apart from the crowd, Schreiber envisioned an affordable coloring book that could be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

The project last year featured 24 pages of familiar landmarks like the waterfall and Memorial Auditorium.

The first set of coloring books made $20,785 with all of the profits going to BBBS.

For this year’s project Schreiber said they teamed with the Museum to choose the best nuggets of history to highlight.

The Museum will get 30 percent of the profits from the book and BBBS will receive the other 70 percent.

The transition from photograph to page involves a team effort, Schreiber said.

Mary Helen Maskill, Melissa Prigmore, Marcela Trice, Leanne Ray, Lori Wilson and Carolyn Kressenberg gathered photographs, traced objects then transitioned them to digital images.

Schreiber said he used a computer program to take the high-resolution images and vectorized them to create the simplified outlines for the book.

A broad range of images of the town include the Littlest Skyscraper, Call Field, Sheppard Air Force Base, Midwestern State University, Davenport Grocery and the pavilion at Lake Wichita.

Each of the images in the 24-page book is paired with a local business sponsor, allowing for 100-percent of the $5 price to go to BBBS and the Museum.

About half of last year’s coloring book sponsors also sponsored pages this year, along with about a dozen new business sponsors.

The images are placed in chronological order as they happened in Wichita Falls, beginning with the Native American tribes that lived in the area.

With each picture is a short fact or statement about the image, like Miss Sugar – an elephant that was the most popular resident of a short-lived zoo near Scotland Park.

Schreiber said he, too, learned a great deal about Wichita Falls history through the process.  

He said it was especially interesting learning about the Wichita Falls Spudders baseball team that played from the 1910s to 1950s.

The Spudders played an exhibition game in 1930 against the New York Yankees, a team that included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Even with Ruth hitting two home runs in front of more than 9,000 fans, the Spudders went on to beat the Yankees 9-6.

The coloring books will be available at five locations in Wichita Falls or online at colorsomethingbig.com. All of the pages of the coloring book can be viewed online at the Color Something Big website.

Schreiber said an opportunity for other local nonprofits or civic groups to participate is purchasing the books in bulk at a discounted rate with BBBS providing the matching funds.

Last year, through various community groups the project provided 2,600 books to students at area elementary schools.

Schreiber said the coloring books have been a popular and unique fundraiser for BBBS, and they hope to continue the annual offering next year with a twist involving local artists. 

The coloring books are $5 each and are available at:

• The Finishing Touch, 4020 Rhea Rd., No. 1A;
• Storkland, 3004 Kemp Blvd.;
• Harvest Drug and Gift, 4426 Kell W Blvd.;
• Museum of North Texas History, 720 Indiana Ave.; and
• BBBS Office, 4822 Kemp Blvd., No. 1200.

The Chamber of Commerce purchased 400 of the books to distribute.

Schreiber said many local businesses – like pediatricians' offices or children's hair salons – make the books available for their customers.

The coloring books will also be available at various events including the University Kiwanis Club's Annual Pancake Festival on Jan. 27.

For more information about Wichita Falls history coloring books, visit colorsomethingbig.com.