08/14/12
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The year was 1957 and I had never played any kind of football except in my backyard with an older brother and my neighbor, Bruce Bratton We threw passes and pretended to be Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry. One day after basketball practice at WW Bushman our young coach (I didn't realize how young then) asked me if I had ever thought about coming out for the school football team. No, I said. Coach Bill Hitt gave me a school football and said practice throwing this and let's talk about it next season. I did and then I tried out. I didn't even know how to put on the uniform and when I did I was facing the likes of Larry Haning, Tim Freeman, Ronnie Salter, James Poston and Wild Bill Goss. These guys wanted to hit me a lot harder than my brother or smaller friend Bruce ever did. Coach Hitt put me at quarterback and for one Cinderella season I started, we went undefeated and it was a highlight of my school life.As I look back on those years I am grateful not only for the fine young man who coached us. He taught us how to have fun. He worked us hard but he laughed and talked and made it where we wanted to win just because we wanted to be the best we could be. I will never forget passing to Tim and Ronnie, who were absolutely two of the best receivers in SOC history, pitching out to speedsters, Mike Walker, Billy Grindelle, Tommy Morales. Taking center snaps from the best center a qb could have, Larry Haning. Having great blocking by Mike Barr, James Cothran, Don Lawson, Dan Hubig. And having some great teammates Bruce, Dickie Tatum, Don Hanlon, Jerry Samford, Jerry Wellborn, David Offill. Life was good at WW Bushman. The coaches and teachers made it that way and so did so many incredible students. Betty Gibbs, Suzan Horne, Barbara Knotts, Jo Van Meter, Brenda Thomas, Susan Murray, Charlene and Darlene Wilson, Billy Relf, Venita Leach, Dee Dee Cole and the list goes on. Most, like me, children of WWII vets and just discovering how great it was to live in a free and robust America. Lest you think I live in the past like many nostalgic addicts, I am on my way Thursday to a Civil War reenactment in Missouri where my wife's great great grandfather died in battle 150 years ago. And to see our oldest son coach for the Kansas City Royals about 30 miles from the battle site. Then we are off to Whidby Island, Washington, about 100 miles northwest of Seattle so that we can participate in the pinning of the Crow on our youngest son as he is officially promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the USN. I don't live in the past. However, I do value it with all my being. The people I knew then had a tremendous impact on my life. I see those faces as they were in 1957, smiling, laughing, talking, and my heart smiles with sweet memories. Thank all of you I have mentioned for being good people. Your friendship helped a very confused young boy grow toward manhood. In a way, I love you all for being who you were. And my great parents. And on Aug. 20, we are honoring that young man who gave me that football and told me to come out for football next year. Bill Hitt, coach, friend, mentor, turns 82 on that day and we are having a surprise birthday party for him. You are and were a great man, Coach. You impacted many young lives for generations. Happy Birthday! Memories......and making new ones.
08/08/12
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Wanted to let Mike Moree's friends know his sister, Dora Gay Moree Wright passed away 8-6-12. Her sister, Darlene Moree, is from our class of 66.
The family visitation will be today, Wed, at New Hope Funeral Home, 500 E. Hwy 80, in Sunnyvale, btwn 6-8pm. Services will also be at the funeral home on Thurs, 8-9, at Noon. You may click the link below for the obit. Prayers and thoughts to Darlene & Mike, as well as the rest of the Moree family.
http://www.asimas.com/ASIMAS/newhope/obituaryDescription.jsp?domain_id=5&deceased_id=258199
08/07/12
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Shannon, do you have a telephone number or address for James Cothran or Bill Goss or Dan Hubig from our class? Thanks, Steve
08/05/12
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Evets,
Planning to take a day so I can be there. Will email as well.
Ecurb
08/04/12
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I think I am the only contributor these days but I hope I'm not the only reader. If there are any of you guys out there who know Coach Bill Hitt, please take note: There will be a surprise birthday party for him on August 20 at Boude Storey Jr. High in the lunch room. We will be there at 10 am and he will be there fifteen minutes later. Coach Hitt will be 82 and he is a super individual. He coached many of us at WW Bushman and Boude Storey. Please come if you can and try to drop me an email by August 16 so I can tell the person making arrangements how many to expect.
07/31/12
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SOC Mens Luncheon tomorrow, Aug. 1, at Benevidos on I35 in Lancaster at noon. Come on out and join us. I need some of you young guys to join me with all those old guys (Class of 63 and older).Also, spoke with our class leader Mike Walker the other day. Mike and Wanda (Kelly) live near San Francisco and are doing well. He sounded just like he did as a yellow bird at Bushman 60 years ago.
07/23/12
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Having a newspaper route was my goal in life at age 10. Seemed like a good way to make a little spending money and an opportunity to ride my bike all over the neighborhood in the afternoon. Exercise? Not really, just trying to spot Suzan Horne outside at her house one afternoon, wherein perhaps I could talk to her and express my love and loyalty of which she knew nothing about at the time. Getting the route was easy enough. Some character in a pick up stops by the house, gives me the information, tells me how to wrap the paper (come on, man, it's a rubber band and a paper) and gives me the names and address list of the subscribers. Rats, the Hornes weren't on there but there neighbors were and that was good enough for me. I didn't pay much attention to the other 80 or 90 names. Then he explained how at the end of the month I would go by and collect 3 dollars from these people and give him 2 dollars and fifty cents of those three and I could keep the other fifty cents. Wow. That's some real dough. By the third day I was sick of that job. Every afternoon about three I would find a huge stack of Dallas Times Herald on my porch. I would try to solicit a brother or two to help me wrap with promises of pay off at the end of the month. By six o'clock I would be done and totally exhausted. And then came Sunday. Holy cow, the papers were ten times thicker and heavier. I could get only about five papers in my bag so I was making 15 trips back home between every five deliveries. When I told my Mom I couldn't possibly be through in time to get ready for Sunday School, she told Dad to help me out and for the first Sunday or two that was fun too. By the third Sunday he was sick of it, my unpaid wrappers were sick of it, I was worn out and still hadn't seen Suzan Horne. I did have old Roy Beggs on my route and saw him a time or two and waved hello. Anybody ever hear from old Roy? I haven't seen him in 40 years but I do know he had a tour of Viet Nam. The newspaper route lasted about six months. I think I averaged clearing about $20 a month after paying for rubber bands, unpaid subscribers, brother wrappers and other incidentals. Dad probably lost at least that much in gas for the Sunday deliveries but thankfully he didn't ask to be reimbursed. Never did see Suzan. Never got to profess my true love and loyalty. Did know I did not want to have any more newspaper routes though. Memories.
07/10/12
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FYI: Now closer to 70 than 60. Wow.
Shudder...
| Brucie (Apparently) | Email |
07/10/12
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I'm not sure when my mother quit calling me Rooster, but I am pretty sure it was before I went to high school.
Thank you Steve for helping me remember those days. We were truly blessed. We had no idea we were poor. And, although we would sometimes fight among ourselves, heaven help any outsiders that started any trouble.
A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to drive through the old neighborhood, and I was amazed at how short the distances seemed, and how small the houses were, but I could still remember chunkin dirt clods, getting goatheads stuck in our feet, and climbing that chinaberry tree in your back yard.
God was good to this little freckle faced, knotheaded kid.
Just scattershooting, but who remembers Mr. Walling?
07/09/12
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Our kids (I guess it's okay if I refer to them as our kids although they are all 30+ years old) like to give the old man a hard time saying I used to tell them about walking to school five miles through the snow....barefoot. I don't know where they got that hogwash but I did walk to school many days, in shoes and very very seldom in snow. Walking to school was fun. For six years my first stop was the house right behind ours, the Scott household where my best buddy from the age of 3, Bruce Monroe Bratton lived. For the past ten years he is known as Brucie Bratton in all the stories I make up for our grandkids and they have become quite fond of Brucie although they wonder why I always turn out to be the brave kid in the stories and Brucie is always in trouble. My seven year old Hailey, who lives on an island just north of Seattle, asked me "Pop, is Brucie Bratton still alive?" Gosh yes, I say, he is still alive and well and causing just about as much trouble as he did when he was seven years old! If I ever put all those stories in print and make any money, Bruce, I promise you get a share of the profits. Bruce's house was my first stop and then we were off, laughing and throwing rocks as we sauntered down Prosperity AVenue (a proper name for a road in South Oak Cliff). When we reached Bonnieview, usually the Coles and Mike Crouch would join us although Mike came from a little more protective home and sometimes if it misted rain or was a little bit cold his Mom had to drive him. Fragile Mike, we called him. The Coles were cousins, cotton haired James and freckle face DeDe. James didn't talk much. DeDe never shut up so we got used to having a girl with us on the rest of our walk. The Relfs would join us sometimes. Diane was a little bit older than me and Bruce and the Coles so she tried to walk ahead of us so as not to be seen in our presence, but her little brother Billy joined right in. Seems like Billy and Bruce would usually get into a disagreement but that wasn't anything we weren't used to with Bruce. I know I stayed in the middle of the group no matter who was talking or fighting. I wanted to get by those dreadful Mankins brothers who lived in some cave nearby and came out to beat up kids from normal homes. I feared the Mankins like I feared polio. We usually could stroll on through the neighborhood without a bad dog or the Mankins biting us. We might get lucky and see a ripe peach hanging on a tree too near the road and of course we knew better, but if it happened to fall at exactly the same time our hands went under it, we couldn't be held accountable. That rag not bunch stuck together for several years as we made our way through Bushman Elementary School. It wasn't five miles and I wasn't barefoot. But it was an experience that I thank God for often.
07/09/12
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attention teachers(and friends):You all need to get a copy of "Called To Teach " by Sylvia Artman,Mrs. Ed Artman.It is a wonderful book,by a great lady and a wonderful teacher,retired prof. at DBU.I think you'll love it.I can put you in touch.Copies are $14.email me or call 972 571 9749 Thanks
07/03/12
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Steve, you are to funny, I know we all have those wonderful grandkids don't we. Then there will be the greatgrand kids. not to soon I hope for me. haha... My grandmother had 6 grandkids and only bragged about two of them so the other 4 of us are really close... hahah!!! we laugh about it now but it wasnt funny at the time.
I want to wish everyone a Happy 4Th of July and remind everyone to Vote in November....
06/29/12
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One good thing about getting old is so few people know you or your background of 40-50 years ago. So an old man can just lie up a storm about how successful he was, how much money he made, how unfair he was treated by all those women in his past life and who's to know better? Since most of us guys have egos the size of a small city, lying to soothe that ego comes easy. "Yeah, buddy, I made big money back in my day. Had a big important job with lots of people answering to me." Then we skip right by how great our kids were or are and go right to the real issue. Bragging on our grand kids! I'm one of those old men who's up to here (hand to chin) with grand children bragging. Good grief. My brother has me sit and look at pictures on his phone of his gk's for ten minutes. Telling me about all their honors. A relative of my wife comes by for a visit and honestly says, "Steve, my 12 year old grandson is very special." Great I say, that's enough. "NO, really, he is the top student in his class, absolutely the cutest boy in class and this is what you are not going to believe, he is the best athlete in the whole school!" Wow, I say, Bill, here's what you aren't going to believe. I've got ten just like him! My wife gave me a mean look and I shut up. Then another relative told me last week that his nine year old grandson had received special honors at his class and the teacher said he was such a special kid. Let me guess, I say and my wife gives me the look, that he's the best looking kid in the class too, right? He smiles and says he really thinks he is and I feel my wife's big brown eyes bearing down on me. I decide not to add anymore to that one. Oh well, just one of my Andy Rooney moments of being a grumpy old man. But hey guys, we all got exceptional grand kids and I do have ten I will absolutely bore you out of your mind about if you ever ask. So don't. And I promise not to ask about yours.
06/19/12
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It doesn't surprise me the impact Mr. Rogers had on so many students. He tossed me out on the first day of class. I was allowed to return, and he became one of my all time favorite teachers. I too wish I had taken the time and effort to let him know that he turned me into a history buff. Second, Delores Schmeltekoff (sp), speech.
06/18/12
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I've always been a history buff and took every history class I could in school. Jack Rodgers was my favorite teacher. I wish I had told him so. I enjoyed his teaching style and learned if he said something twice, it was probably going to be on the test.
06/17/12
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I also took Latin American history, had Jack Rogers, and loved the class. George Waggner refered to our class as Cooper's Troopers. Mr Rogres was in the Army reserve with my brothers brother-in-law Cecil Bates. I was not his favorite after I learned what the L in his middle name stood for.
06/17/12
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Sophomore year Marilyn Hammons and I were in the same Biology class and we sat at the table in front of Gary Bass and ??( would the Mystery man please come forward!) It was in Mr Artmann's class! I was not his favorite student....but I passed! When Chemistry came the next year, he told me " If your taking my class, YOU WILL change your ways" OUCH!!! I ran out of the room in tears!!!
Not a bad man and he was a good teacher BUT he called me "asinine" in class at Zumwalt and I had to go home, grab the dictionary, and that kinda shot any friendship we might have had!
Jack Rogers was my all time favorite! I was too caught up in the time(poofed hair, guys,etc) and he called on me after the first assignment! Needless to say I had not completed it so I sat with my mouth half open, and my face red as hell.....my real sense of HORROR struck me knowing my beloved cousin Wayne(Turk)was sitting in the same class ,I never screwed off again!Mr. Rogers signed my yearbook.."To one of my FAVORITE students" and yes I cried!! Fear is a great motivator!
I love those memories!
06/13/12
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Biology was your punishment for making me fight all of your cousins.
06/13/12
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I never was really meant to take Biology. I was more geared for English, Journalism, Bookkeeping, Latin and subjects more about words and numbers. Even foreign words. Not biology. In biology we had those double desks. Two people sat side by side in the same wide desk. So I did my best to sit beside one of my best buddies who just also happened to the son of a physician, young Bobby Lutz. Now Bobby and his twin sister, Andy, were just cool kids. I knew them both from the 7th grade on at OW Holmes and never had a cross word with either one. Andy made me think of the girl from Grease who all the guys liked but she always had that twink in her eyes that she knew just a little bit more than most of the guys did. Not Olivia Newton John. The other one. Rizz. Would have loved to ask her out but she was like Linda Christopher and some of the other lucky girls who I never bothered to ask out, she just seemed like too good a friend to go on a date with. Look at this way, at least she never had to turn me down. Her brother Bobby and I were good friends too. He drove his Dad's jeep and we had some wild times shooting up and down Illinois Avenue over by Cedar Crest Golf Course. Once the windshield popped up and shattered in Bobby's face while we were doing about 60 mph and it nearly killed us all but hey teenagers laugh it off if they survive. So I sat by Bobby in biology and tried to get some of his "biological knowledge" to drift over my way. It never worked. He zipped through pop tests while I sat there wishing I had at least read the book. And the day the teacher had us cut up dead frogs was my worst. I sat there looking at that poor little frog wondering why I couldn't be like the other guys and enjoy this stuff. All three of my sons love to go hunting and fishing. They cut up a deer or a hog like it is child's play. So why did their Daddy when he was 16 years old have such a yuck attitude about the whole thing? I don't know. Never have understood it. Bobby did cut up my frog for me and never told anyone that I was too much of a wuss to do it myself. Thanks Bobby. Memories.
06/10/12
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Thanks for your kind words, Carol. No, I was not in the band although I loved the band music and two of my grandchildren are band members and I love the music! By the way, I see you live in Overland Park, KS. My son, Steve Jr., is a coach for the Kansas City Royals and if you ever want to go to a game and get an autographed baseball just let me know. Take care and God bless you, Steve
06/08/12
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Steve Foster, I really enjoy reading your posts.
Were you in the band - a saxophone player? I seem to remember a Senior Steve Foster when I was a Sophomore.
I was sorry to hear of Tim Freeman's mother's passing. She and my mother worked together at Texas Lamp Manufacturers. My mother and I share our home in Overland Park, KS. She is 96.
Carol Carpenter
SOC Class of '66
06/02/12
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After reading Tanya's post I went to our "In Memoriam" page. As I read the names of our classmates departed, I saw in my minds eye smiling faces long past yet vividly remembered. The older I get the easier the tears flow. That's OK I have heard Geaorge Younce say many times "If your eyes leak your head won't swell."
05/26/12
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Yes Steve we had a lot of classmates, our class of 65 was huge, probably did not know half of them. We are losing our classmates at an alarming rate lately and still have the wonderful memories they left behind for us during our times at SOC or other times after we all left high school and went our separate ways and grew in different aspects of life. My friend Cheryl Hawkes-Walker class of 65 just lost her husband this week, Bobby Walker class of 62 from cancer. Jimmie Lemmon passed away after he fell and hit his head, no one was there to help him before the EMS crew got there. My best friend Sherry Franklin passed from a brain tumor, yet we were able to connect again right before I lost her. There is still time to look for those lost friends we miss, see what they are doing now days and reminence of days gone by, during the innocence of our youth. I still think we have the best of the best from SOC, great writers such as yourself, people who contributed to our society and those who gave it all for our country that this special weekend is a great reminder of our heroes from SOC and all over. God Bless you !
05/25/12
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It's graduation season in Texas as thousands of 17 and 18 year olds will be walking across a stage, a field, a room, a gym floor, and accepting a piece of paper that officially says they have completed their high school education. They will hear speeches about the brightness of their future, the hope of their contribution to society, the efforts of their parents and extended families, and how they can "change the world". Little do they know that for 12 years most of them have gone to school with friends day in and day out, they have shared their most intimate thoughts with, fought and loved, and likely after this particular night, they will never lay their eyes on them again. Out of 550 people I graduated with in 1964 I have seen probably 100 of them and talked with on more than a casual "hi, how are you?" basis, about 50. Where did they all go? I never saw my buddy Jim Steele who I had so many laughs and good times with on a baseball field, again. Jeff Lewis and I went to church together as well as tried to be the best brown noser in Latin class and I never heard or saw him again. Paulette Hankins? Never. Jimmy Lemmon? Never. Kathy Davis? Never. Hundreds and hundreds of others who graduated SOC 1964? Never. How much did we contribute to society? Me personally, very little. Change the world? I changed a few diapers and changed jobs a few times and that's about it. So when the caps fly this weekend at the conclusion of the ceremonies, watch them sail, it is also dozens of your friendships and acquaintances sailing off into eternity. Memories.
05/22/12
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Please continue to pray for Sylvia (Mrs.Ed ) Artmann,as she continues to battle cancer.
05/20/12
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Dennis Simmons, I don't get on this site very often so I just saw your post of Nov. 11. I didn't know you were in the Navy. What years were you in? I was on the Oriskany before the fire in 1966 and I was on a destroyer behind the Forrestal when she caught on fire and had the massive explosions. Our life boat picked up the first crewman in fact.
05/16/12
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P.S. I am especially grateful to have had a Dad like Jessie Scott, and a second Dad like Earl Foster. Great men, and I miss them very much.
05/16/12
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Steve, I do have many memories of our childhood. What is amazing is that it was really such a carefree life. I didn't have a clue that we were "poor." We had a good roof over our heads. I don't remember ever missing a meal, as a matter of fact, if my memory serves me well, we ate pretty darned good. And, although I rarely go the PF Flyers that I wanted, going barefoot was a choice (which we exercised frequently). I remembered the summer days of playing ball up at Bushman, fall days playing football in our side yard, and winter days shooting hoops by your garage. We ran the creeks, the woods, the gravel pits, and I wish I had a dollar for every mile I rode my bike without a helmet (and many of those with pedals that weren't all there). My dad always told me to never hit girl, and I learned that lesson well. One day I actually got into a fight with a girl down the street named Jackie Sams. She wore me out like a red-headed, freckled faced, step child. I NEVER made that mistake again. I have talked often with Brian and Scott about our childhood, and I actually think they were envious.
Thank you for using your talent to help me remember how blessed we were growing up in the Honey Springs area. Bushman, Holmes, and SOC. Many people in this world were nowhere near as blessed as we were.
05/16/12
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Bruce, I think I remember so well because I have lived such a boring life that I lived vicariously through some of my more exciting friends (i.e. you, Tim, Mike, etc.). Two years ago I was sitting in the delivery room at Washington University Medical Center in Seattle reading War and Peace (yes, again) waiting for our 11th grandchild to be born. Deb and I were there because our daughter in law had been told to expect a seriously ill baby with major complications. Praise God that did not happen. However while I was waiting I laid my book down and went for coffee. One of my daughter in law's best friends walked in saw the book and said "Who is reading that? He must be the world's most boring man!" Hence my title. When someone calls me that I say "stay thirsty my friend", like the world's most exciting man on the commercial but of course I don't come across that well. So anyway I have my memories and your memories and memories of all you people who lived a real life while I pined away behind a book cover. Also, good news to report on our classmate Johnny Pee Wee Lawrence. He has survived the heart attacks, recovered and preached the Sunday night message at the First Baptist Church of Blooming Grove, Texas, two weeks ago. Johnny is the real deal and I love the little guy. Working for our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing better.
05/10/12
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Man am I glad Steve remembers all that stuff. Heck, Esther has to put a name tag on me at night so I will know who I am in the morning. What is really neat is that she writes it backwards so I can read it in the mirror while I take all my meds.
05/08/12
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You are a truly blessed man Steve and a blessing. How wonderful to have such long time friends and you each have memories for the good times of 6 decades. May you all enjoy more decades of memories ahead.
05/08/12
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There is just something special about having lunch with friends who I have known since the first day of first grade in 1952. That is sixty years ago for those of you without a calculator handy. Six decades. Good grief. I sat there today at noon visiting with Bob Chaney and Tim Freeman and watching two men whom I remember as baby faced boys on the school grounds of old WW Bushman, the old building that looked like it was made out of sandstone. We all remembered the day Tim ran into the goal post on the school field playing soccer and a goose egg came up on his head the size of a golf ball. We recalled Bruce Bratton and Betty Gibbs singing a duet in a school program and the fact that Suzan Horne lived just down the street from where I lived. Bob was a whiz bang student and got "double promoted" from the third grade to the fifth and we lost touch with him a little bit. Tim turned out to be a super football player, president of the class and given a football scholarship to Texas A&M. He told us Mr. Sonntag took several future Aggies out to the Naval Air Station and introduced them around and bought their lunch. We all had admiration for Cecil Sonntag. Bob became an accomplished piano player and computer programmer in the airline industry while Tim went on to a career of law enforcement and criminal investigator. We laughed about how we were all afraid of TC Stone our whole lives and never knew him (Bob said even people from Adamson were afraid of TC Stone!). Bob and Tim had both lost their dear Mothers in the last few months and my Mom died five years ago but I too lost my mother in law just this past January. We talked about all those amazing women and Bob recalled getting to ride in Mrs. Freeman's 53 convertible and I remember riding in that cool car as well. It is special to have friends from that time period and still be able to sit and laugh and be somber with too. Bushman in 1952 was a wonderful place and it stays etched well on our memory walls. Friends and Memories.
05/04/12
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Steve, do you know what hospital Jerry Vessels is in?
05/01/12
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Martha, I am having lunch today with one of your distinguished class members and highly regarded pianist, Robert Chaney. We are old buddies and have scheduled a lunch today. I will mention the road trip to him and perhaps he will be interested. Keep up the good work. Steve
| Martha Bass Hunt '63 | Email |
04/27/12
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Just a reminder - this is posted in '63 Events
SOC MAY ROAD TRIP LUNCHEON - SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2012
So far these are the people coming to Crockett for the May Road Trip Luncheon:
Harriett Custer Ott, Mary McCord Bach, Bill Akin, Donna Akin, Judy Bass, John Southworth, Dru Southworth, Cynthia Huse, Betty, Gibbs, Larry Mitchell, B.J. Field, Tommy Barr, Kerry Norman, Glenna Blackstone, James Anthony, Jean Anthony, Jim Bailey, Teri Bailey, Martha Speaks, Charlotte Gibbins and (a strong maybe from Jud Caldwell).
If you are planning to come and your name is not on the list, please let me know and if your name is on this list and you are not coming, please let me know. marz.golf@yahoo.com or 936-544-4108 or 214-784-2050.
04/27/12
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The sophomore year in high school is a difficult time for boys. Actually the entire three years was difficult for some of us no names but the tenth grade can be a real test of a boy's manhood. Of course some guys like Loden and Livingston were already seven feet tall and ruled the hallways and had girl friends in the senior class. Lucky dudes. Then you had your Freemans and Salters and Walkers who were blessed guys with athletic ability, brains and charm and they certainly gained all the respect they were due. Unfortunately life has a lot of us no names to deal with, some like me, five feet tall, bad teeth, flat feet and a real struggle with chemistry and geometry. And we had to fit in with those other guys. Not easy in the tenth grade. I wanted to drive but Dad said I could drive when my older siblings did, at 17 and not until. So there I was in the world of 57 Chevies, 55 Fords, all with cool guys driving and all the pretty girls beside them. Man I wanted one of those babies (the car and yeah, one of the pretty girls too) but there I was; riding the bus, no money for dates even if some girl had misunderstood who I was when I called and said yes, and watching Beverly Hillbillies at home on most weekend nights while all the cool guys were out partying at Judy Blackburn's house. Just once, Judy, you could have had a generic party where you invited all the no names. One guy in our group was able to talk his gullible parents into letting him go for what I had never heard of "a hardship license". Mike Parrish fell into a hardship situation about like Bill McCracken needed food stamps! But he got it anyway and soon was driving a pretty 1962 white Ford Fairlane. We piled in that thing like it was a school bus and Parrish drove like a 60 year old but the radio worked and that was the main thing. Sixteen year old boys just being cool with acne faces, button down shirts, two dollars in our pockets and no dates. Except for that last part, life was getting better. Wee Saint Andrews Miniature Golf was a hangout for most of us no names. Occasionally you would see a cool dude like Ken Haas and one of his gorgeous women there but they sure didn't act like they knew who we were. They had fun flirting and laughing while we took it serious. We were actually trying to win. One night Mike picked me up and Bruce Bratton came along with me. Now Bruce is also one cool dude but he and Mike never mixed too well. Mike was my new best buddy and Bruce had been my best friend since our parents moved next door when we were 3 years old. Bruce was like my parents fifth son. Only they couldn't spank him and so he could dish it out and then go home and that didn't set too well with my old man who was an expert in the field of spanking and "whuppings". And then of course there was the "Susan Hudson problem" with Bruce and Mike. The three of us had all been in love with Susan Hudson since she transferred in from the local catholic school. Mike had the looks. Bruce had the natural charm and smooth talk. I'm not sure what I had other than the stand around and smile ability. But Bruce and Mike always had a conflict over Susan. So the night at Wee Saint Andrews promised to be a night of serious competition and golf. We no sooner arrived at the place than Mike, who was much more worldly than me and my neighbor, cut loose with a "Jesus Christ! Look at that girl!" Now Bruce being a good Southern Baptist boy like myself cringed. We both would have gone to the woodshed over a statement like that and certainly not used the name of our Lord like that. Mike had heard it and thought it was cool. Bruce took issue with it since he claimed Mike had broken one of the 10 Commandments and demanded an apology from Mike. Of course he refused and the fight was on. Bruce was going to smash Mike's good looking face but then he would have to find another way home for sure. And I didn't want that because Mike might put me out as well. So it was at the tender young age of 16 that I learned the art of compromise and problem solution. After lots of words like "he didn't mean it as it sounded" and "he is just sensitive about the use of the Lord's name", and "let's just play golf". We made it through and home with no bloody noses or skinned knuckles. But it still a difficult age and I see some of my grandsons going through it right now. Hopefully with no bloody noses or skinned knuckles. Memories.
04/16/12
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Steve, that was so funny about Shirley's house, I ran around with her and Sherry Franklin back in the high school days. I talked with Shirley not long ago, she married Jackie Patterson and they live in Forney, but they had some sadness in their lives. Her only daughter was about 3-4 years old was sitting on the curb at their house when the neighbor backed out and ran over her. Shirley lost her only child that day and was an emotional wreck. She dedicated her life back to God during that time and it actually saved her life. I believe she goes to the Lutheran church there in Forney. When I talked to her, she remembered lots of fun things we used to do during high school and I heard her laughter come out, I would be willing to bet she would be laughing right now hearing about the toilet paper incident, that would be yet another happy memory for her! Oh by the way, She is a Blonde now! 
04/14/12
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Steve that is hilarious! Daytime papering! No revenge intended? heh heh!
I have a few photos done in video that was from '65's 40th that has a few '64's in it. Here it is:
04/14/12
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There was just too much time on our hands and too much mischief in our hearts to not do something. It was a Saturday morning for four SOC boys and they had nothing to do except try to figure out a way to make somebody notice them. Their first break was in getting Bobby Lutz's Dad's jeep out for a fun run. Dr. Lutz would never know the ways that jeep was used over the years and it's best he didn't. Ken Cochran and Johnny Dubiski had nothing better to do that drive around with me and Bobby and look for any SOC girls that might be mowing their yard, sunning in the front yard, washing the family car or any other activity that might put a girl outside for our hungry eyes. Our second item that set us up for trouble was the fact we probably had three or four dollars between us. Teenage boys and extra money is not a good combination. As we cruised around the neighborhoods just hoping to see someone out of boring desperation, I came up with a good plan. A friend of mine from the class of 1965 Shirley Emmons lived on the next street over and had turned me down on several requests for a date so I felt it would be fun (no revenge intended) if we dropped in on Shirley and left a ton of toilet paper in her front yard. As you can see I was blessed with maturity as a very young age. So we pooled our money, bought a package of Scot Paper and off we went for a daytime adventure. Now all good high school boys know you toilet paper a house at night. But this was daring. On the edge. Ground breaking stuff. Bobby pulled the jeep to the curb and the three stooges bailed out of the jeep and commenced to throwing and chasing. We tossed the rolls over the trees, hoped they unfurled and came down because a stuck roll is gone. Within minutes we had the Emmons house looking like it had snowed. We ran for the jeep as their front door opened. We heard voices as the screech of the tires took us away. We laughed about it as long as we could and finally counted our money and realized we didn't even had enough left to go to the Freezette to celebrate. The daytime adventure was a complete and utter success. Except for the fact Shirley never did agree to go on a date with me. Memories.
04/10/12
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I am right there with you Shannon on Steve. I hope he continues to post. I also hope you will really try along with other classmates to make it to Crockett. It can be done in one day if people cannot stay over. Martha is a great host and her country club is really nice with great cooks. I hope to see many 64ers there. It will be fun.
04/10/12
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Hi all, and Steve, especially. I do enjoy your musings, Steve, and glad you are keeping this Guest Book alive! Hope everyone had a lovely Easter, despite the rain. But the rain was much needed even if it does cause me to have to mow the lawn. My home and yard are small and as I age, I'm grateful that I don't have a lot of space to deal with. Heck, I don't clean what I have!! Martha Bass Hunt's invitation below looks mighty inviting. Don't know if I'll be able to attend but I certainly hope others of you will.
04/05/12
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 ROAD TRIP LUNCHEON-----MAY 5, 2012
Visiting will start at 11:00 a.m., with all afternoon
to celebrate old friendships and make new ones.
Spring Creek Country Club
433 Spring Creek Drive
Crockett, Texas 75835
Hosted by: Martha Bass Hunt, SOC '63
The luncheon will be on the deck that overlooks the lake at the country club.
Casual dress.
We'll have a fajita buffet with all the trimmings.
Price is $14.95, plus tax and gratuity.
A full bar is available
Crockett is a fun and interesting small town
midway between Dallas and Houston.
Bears from all over the state will not want to miss this.
You can't spend too much time with old friends!
RSVP by April 28, 2012
marz.golf@yahoo.com
Hope to see many of you here in beautiful Deep East Texas
03/18/12
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Prayer partners: Johnnie "Pee Wee" Lawrence in Big Baylor Dallas after back to back heart attacks. Please pray for this dear brother in Christ. I will keep you posted if I hear more. Steve
03/17/12
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Logistics has put me and Deb on the funeral circuit here lately. Something about being in my sixties (Deb still has six more weeks before the big 60 hits her)and living 25 years in this small town that has us knowing lots of people slipping out into eternity. Being a lay minister, I have found there are a number of people searching for something in their lives that prepares them for the day they depart or the day a loved one departs. At this age I always counsel someone to prepare physically. In other words, stay in as good a shape as possible. Eat right. See the doctor. Take his or her advice. Prepare emotionally and fiscally. You are certainly going to leave and may be sooner than you think. Prepare your loved ones for it. You don't need to dwell on it but it certainly never hurts to prepare your children in case you lose capacity and need to be cared for. If you have more than one child it's quite likely the two or more children may disagree when the chips are down as to what to do with Mom or Dad if they need to be fed and diapered. Tell them now, while you still have your capacity. Just in case. Write a will. Do you need one? Only if you have property to be distributed and transferred or if you have bills. Does it matter what size your estate is before you write one? No. Usually a lawyer will charge you between 1-3% of your assets, whether you have 50thousand or 5 million. Do you have to have a lawyer to write a will? No. You can write it in your own handwriting and sign it and it's as solid as one typed on 40 pages on a blue back. Now it will take a little bit more legal work to get it admitted to probate but it's still valid. Prepare spiritually. Even if you don't believe in any Higher Being, it would probably do you good to meditate to yourself and try to reach peace in your mind. I'm surprised sometimes by the remarks I hear from family members of someone who has passed away. They may have very little knowledge of Jesus Christ, God or Noah and the Ark, but they are convinced Daddy is in a "better place". I will ask a family member of someone I do not know (and believe me, many people have no pastor and don't know one) if the person was a Christian. "I heard him say he was going to pray for someone one time," they say. Okay, I say, that's a start. I hear some unusual descriptions of Heaven. I think some of those ideas are from a Warren Beaty movie but they are their ideas. Or maybe something from Star Trek. There are many Trekkies out there who think our description of Heaven is just as far out. Be sure your understanding of Heaven is based on Scripture and not just your imagination. A good source is a book "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn. Take care and God bless you. Steve
03/01/12
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Out mowing this beautiful March 1 morning I wondered about a couple of things: First, why am I still doing this after six decades of pushing a lawn mower? Shouldn't a broken down old fool live in a retirement home by now? Please don't think I am not grateful to a loving God that I still can push a lawn mower. I just don't want to. I think I will try to find a kid and see if he wants a job but I will have to find one between new video games. Second, I thought back to my first mowing job I had for a little munchkin lady named Mrs. Cox over on Aztec Street. She hired my brother Larry first and he mowed her yard for a couple of years until he up and joined the Navy and then it was my turn. She had a small yard like all of them on Aztec and Landrum and Cardinal Streets but there were lots of flowers and shrubs and trees to work around and trim. It would take about two hours and we always tried to finish about lunch time. Mrs. Cox had one grown daughter and no grand kids so we urchin Foster boys were adopted. She would take us in, feed us great sandwiches and soup and always a piece of apple or lemon pie. Wow. Make ten bucks and have a feast. She would scurry around changing dishes and getting me more tea, I can still see her, about four feet ten inches tall, kind of stout, curly gray hair, glasses, and talking all the time she moved. Thank you again, Lord, for letting me know and work for Mrs. Cox. She is one of those angels the Lord put in my life to guide me along and try to keep me on the straight path. Memories.
02/24/12
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Hi Steve, even though I am class of 65, I come over and lurk on this site a lot, enjoy reading your comments and stories, they are heartwarming reminders of our fun times growing up. I think now with the Facebook thing going on, most of our class sites have just been overlooked these days, our 65 site comment part is pretty dead, only notifications of someone ill, one who has passed away. It is sad after all the work each group has put into the project, but the FB site, all classes come together so to speak, you can keep the friends you talk with daily, post pictures, etc and there is just a lot more talking going on over there. The 2 sites I see that usually have some talking going on regulary is class of 62 and 63. Hang in there Steve, I may not talk on the sites like I used too, but I still read and like I said, enjoy your stories! God Bless.
02/21/12
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Since I am the only one contributing these days, any of you readers will just have to accept my writing and live with it. Or delete it. With the presidential campaign in full stride these days I recall a dream I had about four years ago. Yes, I still remember it. I was a flunky in the campaign of a young man named Michael Walker who was running for president of the USA. Our Michael Walker. We were all young men then and that alone made the dream worthwhile. It was election night and the confetti was pouring down as Mike made his acceptance speech. His vice president was another of our class, Tim Freeman. I remember how proud I was that I had worked on the campaign and how confident I was that Mike and Tim were going to lead this country back to greatness. Having worked on a few campaigns in my younger years, I know the thrill of winning and the utter heartbreak of losing. It was a great thrill to work for George Bush in 2004 but I recall the emptiness of losing when my brother in law, Jeff Bryant, SOC 62, lost in his bid for sheriff of Ellis County in 1995. I was his campaign manager. We were all singing and laughing and hooting it up in the thrill of Michael and Tim winning. I don't know if dreams mean anything to you. Some of them do to me. There are many significant dreams in the Bible. Only a dream but I do believe Michael would have made a great president. Memories.......and dreams.
02/01/12
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Always a pleasure to run into old 64 SOCites as I am out and about. Such was the case today at noon at the SOC Mens Luncheon in Lancaster. A group of men from SOC meet once every three months at Benevidos on I35 E and just have a good time and meal. Today a couple of classmates Mike Jones and Bill Hendrix were in attendance. I really enjoyed catching up with them on what they had been doing for the last 48 years. Good grief. Forty eight years. Both looked great and I wondered what I had done wrong to look like Andy Rooney when these two looked like they could still go 36 holes of golf and take their women dancing afterwards! Good to see you guys and hope you (and more of our 64 class) will join the group on one of the quarterly meetings.
01/31/12
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Steve and Deb so sorry for your loss many of us have been in your place and totally understand what you are going through.
God Bless her and your family as we all know she is in a better
place and we are only sad because we will miss her but so happy for her to be with the Lord... Peace be with you all
01/29/12
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Thank you, Cynthia, and all of our other SOC prayer warriors. Fabris Bryant, Deb's 88 yr old mother, went home to Jesus Friday afternnon at 4:28pm. Psalm says the Lord rejoices at the death of one of His saints. We join Him in rejoicing her homegoing. Her services are by Wayne Boze Funeral Home in Waxahachie, the service will be at Farley St. Baptist Church in Waxahachie, I will be delivering the eulogy and my son, Steve Jr. will be delivering the funeral message. Pray for all of us and for Deb and her father and her brother Jeff, a SOC 62 grad. God bless you all. Steve
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