April 2004
Volume IV, Issue 3

“SPRING  FORWARD”
Don’t Fall Back
(Greenie Gusher Spring Issue)
by Gwen Garig Watkins, Editor

Spring is Sprung
The Grass is Rise.
I wonder where
      Them Little Birdies is?         

          How silly can we get?  Ha.  But surely I am not the only one who says this little verse every time I see Spring approaching.  Tell me I’m not.  J

          “Spring Forward” just seemed like a nice title for this issue.  Spring is my very favorite month when every thing is turning green again and I get to hop on my riding lawnmower and make zig zags across my 3 acre lawn. 

          And by now, most of us have learned the valuable lesson to “Not Look Back”…except to the good times.  So we may as well “Spring Forward” together.

          Many of us are just looking forward to each new day.  Our days have now become settled into a somewhat peaceful routine and we love it.  Our house is how we like it.  We’ve learned that worry does no one any good, but that a cheerful joke can keep the air fresh and the door open for love. Others are taking great trips to places we never had time to visit before.  One of our favorite places is visiting our grandchildren.  And some are following the path of birds.  Thanks, Janice. 

SPEAKING OF BIRDS
by
Janice Adams  

GRAB YOUR BINOCULARS AND JOIN THE SQUAD; IT’S BIRDING TIME.  Spring migration is on.  Birding has become so popular that you shouldn’t be surprised it you see people on the side of the roadway with binoculars at attention or the tripod focused intently.  Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. has identified and marked three coastal routes in Texas and for those who were not formerly all-knowing avid birders, the word is out now by publicity and birding tourism is hopping. 

          A number of cities in Texas have birding festivals at migration time and others have gatherings simply because certain types of birds show up to gather for migration such as the hawks.  Often aside from migration there are occasions when annual bird counts occur to try and determine movement, i.e. change in territory or losses or gains in population.  Cornell University operates a website that involves year around counts possible at your backyard bird feeder and reporting via the internet.

          Texas has possibly the largest number of bird species counted each year.  They may be passing thru on migration or they may stay in the area but the large count adds to the draw for the human birding tourists. 

          Those of us near the coastal areas have a double opportunity when it comes to viewing birds.  We have the opportunity to observe the water species as well as woodland and prairie bird species.  That gives you a jump on a lifetime birding list that some enthusiasts keep.  In addition, the varieties have increased since our days at SPHS because the Nature Conservancy, Audubon, TP&WD and local ornithology groups and private individuals have done considerable toward conservation in the last 25 years.   However, I find the red-wing blackbird that was on every post it seemed in those days has now become scarce due to poisoning in fields in La. to preserve their crops!  On the other hand the whooping crane and brown pelicans have been saved from extinction.

           For those of you with cats, you should know that they are the greatest single detriment to protected songbirds in the environment.  It wouldn’t be practical for me but the birding organizations recommend that housecats be just that…kept fulltime inside the house.

          Galveston will be having its second year of Featherfest  activities the first weekend in April with The Galvez being the host hotel.  You can locate it on the internet with all the lectures and activities.  It also lists the major birding areas in Galveston as well as nearby areas such as Brazoria which you can locate on your own.  Pt. Arthur and Beaumont have their own lesser activities thru their local organizations.  The Big Thicket is involved and High Island being one of the first major protected land tracts for the migratory birds and for viewing.

          There is no excuse for staying home and being bored.  Get the binoculars and a recommended birding book and get on the road.  You can go as far from or as near to home as you chose.  If you really aren’t hung up on the birds, go anyway as it gives you a great excuse (kind of like guys and fishing!) for getting out;  and after all a trail is already laid out for you in Texas so it can be an adventure just following the trail and seeing the state.  It is a mighty long coastline.    You might catch bird fever and I don’t mean flu.

60’ Something Humor 
by
Wanda Wilson Ryals

               Spring has sprung, and here we are wishing for that old spring in our steps like we had many years ago.  Some were cheer-leaders, some played tennis, ran track or played baseball.  The only cheers many of us give out now is when we get good reports on our blood test and our Cholesterol is lower than usual.  As for running track?  Maybe a treadmill in the home would be a good place to attempt to run (slowly).  Baseball?  How about a good NBA Computer game?

          They say.  “Spring Forward one hour on Sunday, April 4^th.”  I don’t mean to sew negative thoughts but do want to be realistic.  I will say if you are still Springing Forward…More power to you!  For those still having those firm, strong bodies?  Don’t get too puffed up.  They say for you, the “minds” go first.  (smiles).

          When I think of Springtime, I like to think of the flowers in bloom and those wonderful cool evenings after a rain.  I’d rather not have to think of getting up an hour earlier than usual or for sure SPRINGING anywhere for any thing.

          With having said all of that, I’d like to say this.  Judging from what we saw at our last reunion I believe our Class of 1954 all looked to be in pretty good health.  Some were in better shape than others but all in all the Spirit is still there and that is what counts.  We will not be gathering for this reunion (I hope) to judge each other’s successes in life or how together our bodies are but just to visit with friends of Fifty years and have a good time together.

          We have lost a few of our classmates and for that of course we are sad but I do believe their spirits linger on and we can look back and think of their smiles and fun times we had together through those years gone by.  Let’s enjoy some 60’ Something Humor from all the many memories and have a wonderful 50^th Anniversary Reunion.

The Sun that sets may never Rise.  BUT Greenie Fight never Dies….

We may be older, and some are sick.  BUT Class of ’54 still has KICK!!!

THANKS FOR RESPONSE, LOUIE

          I asked Louie what was going on in his life and this is what he said:  As for my life, I’m enjoying retirement and being home after 15 years in Austin and on the road. I’m enjoying spending time with my wife, children, and granddaughter and just smelling the roses.

IT WAS GOOD

(Contributed by Louis Sandidge)

Were you a kid in the Fifties or earlier? Everybody makes fun of our  childhood! Comedians joke. Grandkids snicker. Twenty-something's  shudder  and  say "Eeeew!" But was our childhood really all that bad? Judge for  yourself: 

In 1953 The US population was less than 150 million... Yet you knew more  people then, and knew them better... And that was good. 

The average annual salary was under $3,000... Yet our parents could put  some  of it away for a rainy day and still live a decent life... And that was  good 

A loaf of bread cost about 15 cents... But it was safe for a  five-year-old  to skate to the store and buy one... And that was good. 

Prime-Time meant I Love Lucy, Ozzie and Harriet, Gunsmoke and Lassie...  So  nobody ever heard of ratings or filters... And that was good. 

 We didn't have air-conditioning... So the windows stayed up and half a  dozen  mothers ran outside when you fell off your bike... And that was good. 

 Your teacher was either Miss Matthews or Mrs. Logan or Mr. Adkins...  But  not  Ms Becky or Mr. Dan... And that was good. 

The only hazardous material you knew about... Was a patch of grassburrs  around the light pole at the corner... And that was good. 

 You loved to climb into a fresh bed... Because sheets were dried on the  clothesline... And that was good. 

 People generally lived in the same hometown with their relatives.. So  "child care" meant grandparents or aunts and uncles... And that was  good. 

 Parents were respected and their rules were law.... Children did not  talk  back..... and that was good. 

 TV was in black-and-white... But all outdoors was in glorious  color....And  that was certainly good. 

 Your Dad knew how to adjust everybody's carburetor.. And the Dad next  door  knew how to adjust all the TV knobs.. And that was very good. 

 Your grandma grew snap beans in the back yard... And chickens behind  the  garage... And that was definitely good. 

 And just when you were about to do something really bad.. Chances were  you'd  run into your Dad's high school coach... Or the nosy old lady from up  the  street... Or your little sister's piano teacher... Or somebody from  Church....  ALL of whom knew your parents' phone number... And YOUR first name...  And  even THAT was good! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

 REMEMBER... 

Share this with someone who can still remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy  Boys,  Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Sky King, Little Lulu comics, Brenda  Starr, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow  Knows  Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk as well as the  sound  of  a real mower on Saturday morning, and summers filled with bike rides,  playing cowboy, playing hide and seek and kick-the-can and  Simon  Says, baseball games, amateur shows at the local theater before the  Saturday  matinee, bowling and visits to the pool...and eating Kool-Aid powder  with  sugar, and wax lips and bubblegum cigars 

 Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that!   

And was it really that long ago? 

SPRING TIME IN CUERO
by
Helen Hughes Dale

 Dearest Gwen, 

          Thought of you today because it is springtime, near Easter, and you once lived in Cuero.  Had planned on going to Cuero area to see the wildflowers but didn't make it.   We had too much vacation going on already.  

          The Cuero area has the most varied wildflowers of the state and when we lived there I rode the highways and byways to see all of the flowers and still can smell the marvelous aroma of them.

          We became friends of a lot of the locals and most of them were second generation Germans and Czech families.  We visited in many of the homes where most of their furniture was brought over from Germany and it was beautiful, massive, dark and carved furniture.   The people we knew were so thrifty I learned a lot.  When they made potato salad, mashed potatoes, etc., they never threw the peelings away but fried them separately in a little butter as a side dish.  They never threw anything away!!!  While there I was taught how to make molasses cookies and prune cake and fruit pastries.  But at Easter time I remember most the children made their Easter baskets out of the wildflowers out in their front yards, and in the morning they found the eggs left by the Easter  Bunny.  

          We went to Indianola and were shown where some of the townspeople landed when they came to America .  Since J.C. was telephone company manager and managed 10 towns we went to every chamber of commerce banquet and many a sausage supper in the outlying area.   Did you ever go to them?  (Yes, I did and remember the Smoliks who had the sausage plant.) They were great fun.  Lots of home cooking, etc.  (Mostly etc.)   The whole family went.

          After supper they would put the babies on blankets under the tables and they would sleep (in all that noise) while their siblings and parents danced the night away.  It always amazed me how much beer those people drank but I never saw a drunk, no vulgar language, etc.  just a lot of laughter and good cheer and even for those who did not drink we had a very good time.  Just a thought I had and wondered if you had those same memories.  Love and I hope you have a very good Easter.  Helen  [Thanks Helen.  Enjoyed this little trip.]

GREENIE COOKS

The following recipe was sent in by Virginia McDaniel, Hurley.  It seems she has put a cook book together for her daughter and this is one of the recipes from it.  I hope it will prompt others to send their recipes to me.  It would be nice to be able to put a Class of 1954 Cookbook together.  Thanks, Wanda Wilson, Ryals

DINNER ROLLS

1 pkg. dry yeast

3 Tbsp. warm water

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. salt

1 cup hot water

4 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In blender or small mixing bowl, mix oil, sugar and eggs, then add yeast mixture.

In large bowl mix flour and salt. Add blended mixture and hot water. Mix well until flour is absorbed. Cover bowl with damp cloth and allow to rise until double in bulk. (May place in refrigerator and let rise overnight.)

If to be used same day, set aside at room temperature. Each time mixture rises to double, punch it down and knead to remove all air bubbles. The more times this is done, the lighter rolls will be. Must allow to rise at least 2 times.

Two or three hours before baking pour dough onto floured surface and knead. Pinch off one roll at a time (about 2" diameter) and knead in flour as you shape roll. Place in greased pan. After rising until double in bulk, about 2 to 3 hours, bake at 425 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until done. Makes 20 to 24 rolls, according to desired size.

HINT: Yeast breads become lighter the more the dough is handled by kneading. Pie crusts and biscuits become tough through excessive handling.

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