The Old Sugar Land Club House: September 2009

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Beatitudes of Mr. White, Superintendent & Football Coach

I got a note from B. I. Webb, who graduated from Sugar Land High School in 1951. He participated in an independent documentary about Kenneth Hall a few years ago. As part of the film, he wrote Mr. White's football tenets, or his Beatitudes as B. I. called them.

I thought they were great. Of course, Mr. White was the school superintendent, but apparently he was a hands-on kind of guy. As Dot and Scotty Hightower have told me, he was fully committed to getting things done right. If the football team didn't play well, he was at practice on Monday afternoon telling them what they needed to correct. If the band didn't perform well, he was at band practice telling them what they should do to be better. He was probably over-bearing and stepped on people's toes, but he was fully committed to making Sugar Land High School the best.

I think that comes across in his football beatitudes as B. I. states them:

1. Every play I design is designed to go all the way. If it doesn’t someone has missed his block.

2. My practices consist mostly of running plays. You can practice a play 100 times but if it doesn’t go all the way you do not have it right. Therefore, we will stay here all night if needed.

3. Score on the first play of the game. Score 21 points in the first quarter. Most teams can not come from behind by 21 points.

4. Have fun playing football. That is its object. You can only have fun when you win by 30 or more points. A 1-point victory is a hard job.

5. 1950-We will not win the district championship this year, but by the end of the season we will be district champions. (We were when we beat East Bernard on the last game and gave the championship to Needville). Next year we will win the Regional. We did.

6. A track team makes a football team therefore everyone who plays football will go out for track this spring. Now we will win the Regional this year and next year we will win the State Championship. After that meeting we all laughed because we had never had a track team to speak of at Sugar Land. His prediction came true.

7. We will run from the Notre Dame Box formation. Very few have ever seen it and fewer coaches can defend against it. We will run with a balanced line however the wing back makes it unbalanced but few coaches realize it and leave their ends “in” where they are easy to block and useless on an end run.

8. We will not block the defense tackle on an end run because there are not any tackles in Texas who can catch Kenneth or J.B. on an end run.

9. If you do not want to block in practice, please go up in the stands and watch us. Therefore, you will not be in our way while we are practicing plays.

9. The hole you are to run through changes by the time you backs get there. It is not where it is on the chalk board. For instance Kachinski, the 4 hole is off the guard’s block not where he lined up.

10. Center the ball with a slight lead so the back can receive it on the run.

11. If you linemen are not interested in blocking down field go sit in the stands. You will not get hurt, have a better view of the play and be out of the runner’s way.

12. Kenneth needs more playing time but we can not afford to score anymore points.

13. We lost to Needville by a touchdown because I thought you knew how to tackle. After the following Monday’s practice everyone did. The only day we did not scrimmage or run any plays.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Sugar Land's Medical Team, 1950

This photo comes from an article on Sugar Land that appeared in The Houston Post published on March 29, 1950. Dubbo Jenkins, Carlos Slaughter and Leslie Wheeler are standing on the front steps of the Sugar Land Clinic. (I was always terrified when I went in that door. Nothing good ever happened at the Clinic as far as I was concerned.)

I have a couple of stories I want to tell about Dr. Slaughter. I heard them when when a group of old-timers (all women) told stories about old Sugar Land over lunch.

The youngest woman (just a year younger than I am) said this: "Well, I remember the time I thought I was pregnant. I went to a specialist and he said I wasn't. I thought I'd go see Dr. Slaughter because I still thought I was. He took my blood pressure and said, 'You're pregnant. Go back and tell your specialist.'" (They all had a big laugh at that.)

Dot Hightower told this story: "I can't remember if it was Steve or Valerie, but one of them broke out with something ... it caused spots to break out ... Well, Mary took the child to Dr. Slaughter, and he said it was nothing - it'd go away on its own.

"Well, Dugan (Coach Hightower) saw the child and said he had something that would cure it. He made up this cream that was real black and said, 'Rub it on your face at night - be sure you don't get it on your pillow or sheets - but it will cure your spots.' Well, sure enough it did.

"It wasn't too long before Dr. Slaughter saw Dugan in the drug store. He went up to Dugan and said, 'Coach - you stick to football!'" (Everyone laughed.)

One more story. Someone asked another woman if she had any funny stories about Dr. Slaughter. (The second woman worked as a nurse at Laura Eldridge Hospital.) She shrugged her shoulders, grinned and said, "Well, there's one I can tell. He was diabetic, so he had to limit the amount he could eat. His meals at home were just a dab of this and a dab of that. However, when he was at the hospital he'd go into the kitchen and get a spoon. He'd go to the pots where the patients' food was cooking and go from pot to pot eating a spoonful of this and a spoonful of that. He'd get enough so he was full. I guess Vera Belle never knew he was getting second helpings at the hospital. (Everyone laughed.)

"I told him if I ever got mad at him I was going to tell Vera Belle what he was doing."

Sugarland Industries Awards Banquet, 1966

As you can see, these photos come from The Fort Bend Mirror published on February 17, 1966. It shows some of the employees honored at the banquet. The photo in the lower right corner has several well-known old-timers in it.

Sugar Land Grocery Store, 1952

I can't recall if the Rozelles or Krehmeiers gave me this picture. No matter, it's a great one because it shows the store as I remember it in my childhood. Hal Rucker, store manager, is in the picture. I think this was taken when the shopping center opened in 1952.

Sugarland Industries Commercial Managers

I can't recall where this newspaper article came from, or when it was published. I assume it was sometime in the '50s. Old-timers should recognize some of these men, if not all of them. I have to say there are a couple I didn't remember.

[Added note: I just reread the text. It's obvious this newspaper article appeared in 1952, just after the shopping center opened. I don't know which paper published it. I'll have to check my paper files to find out.]

Photos From Belknap Realty Brochure

These pictures come from a promotional brochure for Belknap Realty. Of course, the brochure contained lots of text, but I haven't posted it. I thought these pictures of various elements of Sugarland Industries and the local community were interesting.

Alligator Gar Caught in 1952

I got this picture from the Rozelle family. I'm not sure of the date, but it was taken at the shopping center, which opened in 1952. You can see the old Imperial office building is still standing by the Char House. It was torn down in '52.

I think this is one of the Borowski brothers, but I can't be sure who it is. Maybe someone knows?

Pretty big fish. I assume it came out of Oyster Creek.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Sugar Land's Incorporation, 1959

Read about the early days of the City of Sugar Land's incorporation in issues of The Fort Bend Mirror dating from October 22, 1959, through June 23, 1960.

October 22, 1959