Updates On Recent Posts

My thanks to Jackie James (SLHS '57) for pointing out that the man pictured with Mrs. Moye in the photo below is Mr. Huffman, long-time bus driver and custodian at SLISD.  We're not sure of his first name, but it may be Willie.  I know his son (DHS '67) is named Willie, maybe he's a junior.

I received the following message from Jerry Anderson in Rockwall commenting on the article about Oswald's mother and step-father marrying in Rockwall.  I never knew Rockwall was the elopement capital of Texas!

Chuck, Marina Oswald and Kenneth Porter still live in the Rockwall area. They live out in the country. Rockwall used to be the marriage capital of Texas because the JP didn't require a blood test and a three day waiting period.  They would come to Rockwall at all hours of the night.  We used to hang out on the square and watch them drive up and get out all dressed up. 

 

Thanks for info.  Rockwall made the playoffs this year with a 3-3 district record.  First time in quite a while.  

 

Jerry

  

Sugar Land Pummels Pearland In '53 And Another Record Falls

 

  

As predicted in last week's newspaper article Kenneth Hall broke Dick Todd's single-season scoring record in the Gators' 47-13 victory over Pearland in 1953.  Just to keep it all straight, Hall now owns the single- game, single-season and 3-season scoring records.

Note the razzle-dazzle descriptions, and also note that Fatheree, Rychlik, and Kachinski played a good game, too.

  

Dallas Morning News Articles on the JFK Assassination

Thumbnail of Dallas Morning News Front Page, Saturday, November 23, 1963

 

As we passed the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination last Friday, you probably watched countless television documentaries and read several essays on the subject.  You may find it interesting to cherry pick these contemporaneous articles from printed in the Dallas Morning News.  They provide an immediate feel of what the American public knew and how it reacted to the event.  As someone said, journalism is the first draft of history, so here's a chance to read the initial rough draft.

This last item is an editorial that appeared in The Fort Bend Mirror.  Below it are links to more articles from the Dallas Morning News archive.

  

 

Front Page of Dallas Morning News on Saturday

Dallas Morning News Headline on Saturday


Assassination Details 
 
Dallas Reaction To Assassination

Reports On Police Investigation

Profile of LBJ

Stories About LBJ and Oswald

Oswald's Background

Clues Regarding Assassination & Murder

Profiles of LBJ and Oswald

Oswald in the USSR
 

The Vikings Are District Champs in '63!!

Two weeks ago the Vikings' prospects looked bleak.  Two teams, Boling and Sweeny, blocked their path to the district championship, but luck was with them and they grabbed victory from near defeat.

First they defeated the Sweeny Bulldogs in Sugar Land.

(Unfortunately, I don't have the whole article.)

Funny thing, I'd forgotten the Vikings were district champs in 1961, making them champions for three seasons running.

As Leonard Scarcella's article said, most of the home crowd waited on pins and needles after the game at Kempner Field for news from Needville on the Blue Jays' contest with Boling.  When it came, the news was just what they wanted to hear.  Needville beat Boling to leave Dulles tied with Sweeny for the district championship.  Since Dulles had just beaten Sweeny in their head-to-head match, the Vikings were in the AA state playoffs.

  

  

To top it all off, the Vikings debuted their new mascot and celebrated at their homecoming dance after the game.

A pre-game article.

It was a dandy night for the Dulles faithful, and maybe it wasn't all bad for the visiting fans from Sweeny.  I don't have a date for this little article, but I assume it appeared in The Mirror before the season began.  Until the '63 season, there was just one entrance into Kempner Field.  Visitors drove into the stadium from Wood St. onto a dirt road (which became 5th St.) and passed around the south end zone to their designated parking lot behind the visitors' stands on the east side of field.  Beginning in 1963, visitors could enter off Eldridge Rd. and drive a half mile eastward on the dirt road to the stadium.  At least the Bulldog fans avoided a traffic jam and got home earlier.

Rockwall continued its winning ways 50 years ago by defeating Cooper 27-0.  Unlike the Vikings, they rolled through their schedule with just one loss and easily claimed their district's title.  Their only feeling of unease came from the fact they faced Lake Highlands in the bi-district championship.  Lake Highlands beat them 20-12 in the second week of the season.

  

The serious part of the season was just beginning.

 

William 'Butch' Boyd 1940-1983

A classmate, Robert Brandon (DHS '68), told me recently he worked with Butch Boyd (SLHS '59) at HL&P.  In fact, they were colleagues when Butch died in 1983.  He liked Butch and found his grave at Morton Cemetery in Richmond.  Robert suggested I do a small memorial to Butch, which I've done here.

Senior profile in '59 Gator yearbook.

Photo in Gator yearbook.

Football photo in '59 Gator yearbook.

(Obituary courtesy of Robert Brandon.)

(Photo courtesy of Robert Brandon.)

 
Link to Butch sprinting at a track meet in 1959.

Link to Butch throwing the discus at a track meet in 1959.

 

Link to Butch playing football as a sophomore against Missouri City in 1956.

Butch was undoubtedly one of Sugar Land High School's premier athletes.
     

More People of Old Sugar Land

Last week's 1955-56 1st graders with identifying names.

Members of DHS Class of '66 as kindergarteners in 1954.  (Note: one member of the Class of '67 crashed the party and decided to take his guns to town.)

DHS Class of '67.

Four member of Mrs. Boyer's 1954/55 kindergarten class at Tommy and Lynell Laird's wedding in 2002.

Undated photo of Mr. and Mrs. Darvin Altenhoff.  (Mr. Altenhoff was Principal of SL Elementary in my day.  I'd never seen him in casual clothes until I saw this picture.)

Unidentified visitor to the Imperial refinery in the 1960s.  (He made certain everything looked ship-shape.)

Sugar Land Elementary 2nd grade class in 1956/57.  (No guns this time.)

William Gordon joins Imperial in late 1960s.

  

More Images Of Old Sugar Land

Construction Begins on Imperial's Raw Sugar Warehouse in the late 1950s.

 

Construction on Imperial's Automated (palletized) Warehouse in the 1970s.

Imperial's first computer (an IBM 360) in the late 1960s.

Imperial's first computer (an IBM 360) in the late 1960s.

New home in Mayfield Park in the 1950s.

Old homes in Mayfield Park in the 1950s.

Sewer system installation in Mayfield Park the 1950s.

Old homes in Mayfield Park in the 1950s.

Old homes in Mayfield Park in the 1950s.

Mrs. Moye, SLISD Dietician, in the Lakeview cafeteria with unidentified man in the 1950s.

Mrs. Moye, SLISD Dietician, in the Lakeview cafeteria with William 'Sweat Pea' Gandy in the 1950s.

Airplanes at Hull Field in the 1960s. (Note the T-6 trainer on the right.)

Airplanes at Hull Field in the 1960s. (Note the T-6 trainers on the far left and far right.)

1950s Cotton field in the Sugar Mill area of town. (Hillary Circle in mid foreground; Eldridge Road out of view on the right.)

Cotton gin on Ulrich St. (Area now incorporated into Nalco complex.)

Cotton gin on Ulrich St. (Area now incorporated into Nalco complex.)

Grand Central (?) during 1935 flood.

 

Syb Fowler, Sugar Land historian, Ted Harman, former mayor, and Denny Kempner with street sign designating Kempner St. (formerly Sugar Land St.) in early 1970s.  (Name change in honor of Denny's grandfather, I. H. Kempner, Sr.)

Syb Fowler, Sugar Land historian, Ted Harman, former mayor, and Denny Kempner with street sign designating Kempner St. (formerly Sugar Land St.) in early 1970s.  (Name change in honor of Denny's grandfather, I. H. Kempner, Sr.)

 

Sugar Land Demolishes Danbury 53-12 in 1953

No surprise that the Sugar Land Gators smashed Danbury in their match at Kempner Field in 1953.  The score was a lopsided 53-12 margin, but the newspaper story was about Kenneth Hall approaching another record.

 

  

He broke Dick Todd's single-game record with 49 points in an earlier game that season against Lutheran High School.  The previous week, he broke Todd's three-year scoring record.  Now he was rapidly approaching Todd's 4-year scoring record.

Those of you who attended the Chautauqua Talk a few weeks ago heard Ken say he held 17 high school records at one time.  I think they all relate to rushing yardage, total yardage and points scored.  I'm sorry to say I don't know which ones still stand.  I believe his record for average points per game over a career still stands, but I can't guarantee that I'm right.