March  2002
Volume II, Issue 2

Funny, but in January I omitted comment regarding my date in court and jail time.  And, nobody seems to care whether I go to jail or not.  Well, that is okay for I don’t care either.  I would have to look at the record to find out how many delays there have been but we are now hoping to go to trial in late March.  The fateful event happened on June 24.  Will you like my stories better if they are written from jail?

Winston Hamby and I are still moving with the Greenie Roster.  Remember that we are looking for a current mailing list for all of the classes from 1923 to 1986.  We will also accept a list for the classes of ’87 and ’88 even though they did not have a chance to graduate.  Funny but nobody that Winston and I initially talked with could give us the date of the last class.  I even called the Beaumont Independent School District to no avail.  Then, when I was visiting my brother, Bobby (Class of ’44), and his wife, Sammie, on my recent trip to Beaumont, Sammie gave me the answer.  Their daughter, Kathy, was in the last class.  1986.  Sammie should know. Katy was the last of their eight children to graduate from South Park. Sammie said that she forced the school administrators to keep South Park open until Katy got through.  (Go to www.geocities.com/~anperez to see a photograph of the Last Class.)

I did get some feedback regarding the Ice Show story.  Don Barton told me that the show was a fundraiser sponsored by the South Park Lions Club.  Don said that the Club members were very reluctant to sponsor the show for they did not think that an ice rink could be built in South Park during the heat of the summer.  As many of you know, Don is still cutting hair across the street from our old high school building.  Don is now 86 and he still looks the same.  He bought the barbershop in 1946 and it still looks the same, too.  Many of you also know that Joe Stelly still cuts hair across from where our elementary school was located.  South Park Elementary was replaced by a new seventeen million dollar building.  (I am writing my remembrances of "grade school" as we called it back then.  How about you?  The teachers, the cafeteria, the gym, the auditorium, Mr. Wentz, etc.)

Bennie Pattison remembered the ice show for he was part of the crew that took the show down after the last night’s performance.  Bennie said that we broke up the ice with sledgehammers.  Now wouldn’t you think that I would have remembered that?  Mickey could not remember this either.

While I was in Beaumont in early February, we had a dinner for Beaumont area class members.  We were at Don’s Seafood. Attending were:

Allen and Sherrie O’Briant
Mary Ann Wills Welty
Annie Ruth Bobino Finley
Luther Laminack
John and Mildred Watson
Helen Matula Guidry and her husband, E. C.
L. J. and Ruth Ann Breaux
Louis Sandidge
Marvin and Sherry Laurent
Bennie Marie Pipkin Deaton
Billie Sue Nixon Goodeaux
Don Miller

Margie Gibson Crabtree and her husband, Jack, were at Don’s Seafood that night celebrating Margie’s Dad’s ninetieth birthday.  Fortunately, they came in to visit us as well.

Many of us had not seen Louie Sandidge and Marvin Laurent for too many years.  Louie has recently retired and he is planning on doing a write-up about his career for the Gusher.  Marvin has been retired for a number of years.  He still lives in Georgetown.

On the day of the dinner some of us took a little road trip.  Louie, Marvin, John Watson, Laminack and I visited Mickey Sellers and Joe Stelly.  Mickey is still taking the chemo treatments and he is getting along okay.  Ronny Walker visits Mickey almost daily.  Ronny takes a Pig Stand Malt every time he goes over.  He is trying to put a little weight on The Mick.  I wish that I could get sick in Beaumont.  Do you think that Ronny would provide those special malts for me?   Write to Mickey at 7525 Wickersham Pl., Beaumont 77706.

While we were in South Park we drove all of the streets looking at old addresses.  I never quite got the explanation but some of the crew had lived in numerous houses in the area.  Me, I only lived in two but they are both gone now.  Of course, we stopped by for a visit with Joe Stelly. Have you seen the barbershop photo that John Watson created for the webpage?  John will soon be adding a face or two to that photo.  Before the day was over we visited the beach to recreate some of the more infamous events of our high school days.

We have been out of touch with Don Kaye while he and Lory were moving.  Don now writes to us with a new address, phone and email address.  From Don:

You got it: 51 Hobokans Way, Coldspring, TX 77331, Phone (936) 377-3026.  It took 3 months to move, but we are settled in now and love every thing about retirement and our new home.  I may have to go back to work to get some rest, as chores seem to be never ending.  Lory made a list and according to my calculations I have to live to 93 years to complete all.  I finished my new boat this week & will launch next week-end.  20 feet long, cabin, open cockpit, all wood (what else).  Great for fishing & slow cruising with over night capabilities. "If God had intended us to have plastic boats, he would have given us plastic trees."  I have a large shop & will start building furniture again in a week or two.  There is one lot between us & the lake. We're high & have a great view (sunrise over the lake from the front balcony).  Four bedrooms, three baths, 2,900 S.F. on one-half acre, three stories, 2 balconies. No such thing as too much company, just call ahead to confirm.  Open invitation to Greenies.  Bring lots of beer & a lazy, laid-back attitude.  Entertainment is slow cruising & cat fishing.  Have already caught a 9-pounder plus a freezer full.  Exact location is 8 miles northwest of Coldspring on Hwy 224 @ Holiday Shores #1.  One block from the Marina.  Guys, it's tough out here!!!!!!!!!!!        

Don too aka. WOOD MONKEY donk@samlink.com

Cars From the Past

A lot of my past with Mickey is related to cars.  His family had three and his brother, Dale, was very generous with his car.  Mickey had a lot of access to cars.  Most of us were, and are, car nuts but in high school it was more than a love of cars.  It was transportation.  In our gang, Mickey was often our only way to get around.  The family cars included an old Hudson Teraplane, a beautiful two-tone Hudson sedan, and a Chevrolet pickup, about a 1949 model.

The oldest family car was a Hudson Teraplane.  I think that it might have been prewar.  It was old and it looked old. They said that it was built like a tank and it looked a bit like a tank.  It was a two-door sedan that Mickey’s sister, Martha, says was black.  It seemed to be Mr. Sellers’ work car. We did not use this car much and I don’t know why.  Maybe Mickey or Mr. Sellers preferred that we use the truck.  I can only remember a time or two that I was in the Teraplane so it is a coincidence that one of the most memorable events ever happened in that car.

Hunting was in but I was barely involved.  Some of the gang had been shooting rabbits along some back roads and I was with them on one occasion.  There was no shooting for we saw no rabbits.  But, there was also an interest in duck hunting.  Again, I was hardly involved.  I had a twenty-two rifle that I supposedly used for squirrels at my Mom and Dad’s Village Creek camp but I was hardly serious about hunting.  Check Ronny Walker’s story in last month’s Gusher if you don’t believe that.

However, on one fine morning I found myself in the backseat of the Teraplane and a hunting they were.  They?  Something like Mickey, Louie, John Watson and Laminack . It seems like it was out toward Spindletop and there was some getting in and out of the car with the two shotguns as we looked for ducks.  I don’t recall any shooting for the ducks were all too far away.  There might have been a few shots fired at tin cans but I am just guessing.

What I do recall is that when we started home I was sitting in the backseat right behind Mickey and John Watson was sitting in the middle beside me with a shotgun in-between his legs.  It was pointed, of course, straight up at the roof of the Teraplane.  Laminack claims that he kept hearing the safety on the gun clicking on and off as we traveled along the back roads, homeward bound.  We were still out in the boonies when we happened to hit a big bump in the road, and, BOOM!  The shotgun beside me went off with a deafening roar and a big hole appeared in the top of the Teraplane.  We stopped and all piled out of the car holding our ears.  After the shock wore off there were several attempts to bang the metal back down to hide the hole.  I can’t imaging that we had any success for wouldn’t a twelve gauge make a good-sized opening?  What on earth must have become of the hole?  I don’t remember much of anything about the aftermath but Mickey must have thought up a very good story.

I know, however, that I felt that my ears were damaged and that it was several days before I began to feel normal again.  After that noisy ride, I was never in the Teraplane again.  I don’t know what happened to that hole but my ears, I remember.  I have never blamed my loss of hearing on that shotgun blast.  It could have been damaging but it probably did not make a big difference.  Why not?  When I was thirty, we moved to Missouri and I took up deer hunting with the boys.  At that time I fired a number of rounds with a .308 Winchester.  Hearing protection?  Not quite.  Unfortunately, we had yet to think of it. 
Don Marshall  dcmarshall@eee.org

Bobbie Jean Killen Marberry passed away Sunday, January 27, 2002.  Bobbie's husband, Riley, wrote, "although Bobbie has passed away I would like to keep up with her classmates because they were especially kind to both Bobbie and myself.  So if possible keep my name on the Gusher." Riley's name and e-mail address will be kept on all of our contact lists; he is a true GREENIE.  Bobbie was always at all of our reunions and we will all miss her. rdm@mobiletel.com (Riley Marberry)

If you haven't heard Jarred Stokes, grandson of James and Orelia Robbins, was injured in a 4-wheeler accident Saturday, 2-23-02.  He is 12 years old and was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont and later transported to Herman Hospital in Houston where he underwent brain surgery.  He was placed on a ventilator and a drain was inserted to help removed fluids building up on his brain.  Jarred continued to have bleeding from the drain and was taken back into surgery Sunday afternoon.  After he pulled the ventilator tube out twice, it was left out and he was taken him off oxygen.  When they were cutting away a bandage he came around and was able to talk to Darlene and Steve (his mom and dad).  Doctors feel that if everything remains as it is now, he'll be past the worst part.  He continues to improve and all medical equipment has been pulled from him with the exception of one IV, which is an antibiotic. He was still in ICU for visual observation, there doesn't appear to be any neurological problem and if things continue the way they are Jarred will be moved to a room by the weekend.  Jarred, James, Orelia, Darlene, Steve and all the family thank everyone for their prayers and support during this trying time.  I will try to get an update on his condition and post it on the "News and Announcements Page".  Please keep this family and those mentioned above in your prayers.
james-orelia@prodigy.net (James Robbins)

Had a great mini reunion getting together with several class members at Don's Seafood. Louis Sandidge, Marvin Laurent, Luther Laminack, Don Marshall and myself started the day off reminiscing old times.  We met early one Saturday morning for breakfast at the Pig Stand and spent the day retracing some of our OLD tracks from the past.  The highlight of our trip was visiting with Mickey Sellers.  We had a good visit with Mickey and he seems to be doing well.  Afterwards we drove through the old neighborhood where we all grew up, and of course we visited with Joe "the barber", then headed down to the beach.  Would you believe Don drove down on the beach against our protests, thought the car was going to take on water before we finally turned off.  What a day!  Nothing has changed a lot of  tall tales and Don Marshall is still trying to collect gas money.  John Watson jlwmil@aol.com