A three decade era ended Thursday at the Texas Travel Information Center in Orange. Becky Barker had her final work day at the state run info center Thursday afternoon bringing to a close 29 years and 4 months of service to Texas and the traveling public.
Barker started working at the center right out of high school when it was still known as the Texas Tourist Bureau. After working several years in the insurance business Barker returned and eventually rose to become the supervisor of the center in 1997. Barker was supervisor in 2000 when the new travel information center opened over the Blue Elbow Swamp.
She also was in charge when hurricanes Rita and Ike blew through the area. Barker’s strongest memory of her years at the travel information center is the community reaction to another disaster. The evacuation of the New Orleans area following the flooding from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 saw the Texas Travel Information Center used not only as a shelter for the evacuees, but also a staging area for relief efforts to those that had been stranded in New Orleans. Barker recalls the outpouring of love and support by her coworkers and all of Orange to help feed, cloth, and just show they cared about the refugees of Katrina. Barker said, “I felt very proud to work here and felt proud to be from this area.”
There have been many fond memories of working at the travel center for Barker. She remembers worrying about encounters with snakes and alligators from the Blue Elbow Swamp, but those are few compared to the many friendships she has made, and also the friendly customer service encounters with the hundreds of thousands of people she has met over the nearly 30 years at the center. Barker sentimentally remembers assisting strangers who may have been down until that met Becky, and they left saying she made their day better. She extends a welcome even in her leaving. “It’s a wonderful place so I encourage everyone if you get a chance, sometimes we don’t always go to the places that we live in the vicinity, but it is a great place to come so I encourage you to do that.”
Although Becky is retiring from the Texas Department of Transportation, she is hardly retiring. Monday Barker begins working for Liz Hogan All State Insurance in Orange.
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