By Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News
Photo by Lee Hoffpauir
At the Lampasas Boys & Girls Club annual banquet on Saturday, Lee Hoffpauir donates more than just a Polaris ATV. He holds the banquet, similar to an old-fashioned barn dance, at his barn and emcees the event.
“The barn comfortably has room for 320 people, we sold 475 tickets and we have 450 chairs,” he said. “But we figured it out.”
The ATV he donated was won by Casey Townsend.
The donation is one in a long line for the Polaris dealer in Goldthwaite, population 800.
Photo by Lee Hoffpauir
“We’re the number one Polaris dealer in Texas,” he said. “We were the number one Ranger dealer in the nation a few years ago, but some guy in Tennessee passed us. “We’re still increasing, though. When I bought it in 2007, I thought about moving it to Lampasas, but the Polaris people wanted me to stay. I’m glad they did — it was the best decision we made. Here, the city manager and employees are always asking ‘What can we do to help you?’”
The big dealership in a tiny town has given away upward of 30 ATVs or UTVs since Hoffpauir.
“We’ve given a bunch away,” he said. “But we have sold a lot more to groups at cost, minus any incentives from the factory.”
The eye toward conservation groups began with Hoffpauir’s relationship with the Texas Wildlife Association.
“My nephew was doing a membership drive for TWA while he was in school at Kingsville,” Hoffpauir said. “He asked me to buy a membership — I didn’t know anything about them at the time. Then I met Warren Blesh and he introduced me to the board and we concocted a deal where we give associate memberships for everyone that buys a Polaris from me.”
Since then, Hoffpauir, who has auto dealerships in Lampasas and outdoor superstores in Lampasas and Burnet became a director and last year, was named to TWA’s executive committee.
“I like how they stand for landowner rights, water rights and youth hunting,” he said.
But that’s just the first of many conservation groups his dealership supports.
“I’ve worked with TDA, DU, EWA, RMEF, Park Cities Quail and CCA,” Hoffpauir said. “There is so much return. These are all my type of customers for vehicles, tractors, guns, feed and just about anything we sell.”
The Lampasas event, in its third year, raises the entire annual budget for the Boys and Girls Club of Lampasas, about $250,000.
