Dulles Beats Palacios 19-0 in '63 Bi-District Championship

Last week saw Dulles back into the AA play offs with a win over Sweeny and a Needville victory over Boling.  Had Boling won their game, the district race would have ended with a three-way tie at the top, and a coin toss would have determined who advanced into the playoffs. 

This game occurred on the evening of November 22nd, so there was a somber mood in the crowd.  I guess the NFL's announcement to play on Sunday influenced the UIL, but they would probably have run into all kinds of problems had they postponed the games because the playoffs would have extended beyond Christmas.

I recall watching Air Force One land at Andrews AFB, the Secret Service detail unload JFK's casket, and LBJ make his short address before we left home for the game in Sweeny.

This short schedule, which appeared in The Houston Post (I think), shows the state-wide field in the football play offs.

The Mirror featured the freshman team and predicted a bright future for Viking football.

The Dulles basketball team was gearing up its season without players still involved with football.

We end with a short article indicating there was some excitement at Dulles High.

As I mentioned last week, Rockwall faced Lake Highlands in their bi-district game.  Lake Highlands handed Rockwall it's only loss, so this was a chance for revenge and maybe the cause of a little anxiety.  

Here's a pregame article.

Didn't matter -- Rockwall stung 'em good.  At this point, I get the impression that Dulles and Rockwall are taking two very different paths into the play offs.

 

Sugar Land's Water Supply in 1953

Some of you may have read articles on the recent completion of Sugar Land's $69 million surface water project.  I thought I'd post this article about Sugar Land's water system, which appeared in the July 1953 issue of The Imperial Crown.

I learned quite a bit from the article.  There were 4 wells in 1953.  Two supplied industrial water; the other two supplied residential water.  The residential water tank is still in place although I don't think it is operational.  The article says there were two water towers at that time.  Of course, the taller one remains standing near Main St.  (Here's a recent photo showing the relevant area on Main St.)

 

More People Of Old Sugar Land

All the photos in this post come from The Imperial Crown, which was Imperial Sugar Company's monthly employee bulletin.  They appeared in 1953/54 issues, and all but one are brief profiles of long-time employees.

I've posted items about Willie Reese before.  He retired with 58 years of service at Imperial.

Myrtle Friend Stabler's profile didn't include a picture, so here is one showing her (middle) in the old Sugar Land Drug Store in 1956.  With her are Louise Salter Dunkerly and (I believe) Regina Robertson Loper with her back to the camera.

 

More Images Of Old Sugar Land

The first 5 photos spotlight Imperial's Sales & Accounting Departments.  The years span 1951 to 1964, and show the old General Offices (north of the highway) and the new ones (built in 1952 south of the highway).

Sales Department in old General Offices in 1951. (Ken Laird, Oscar Armstrong, unidentified against back wall, Bob Armstrong seated at desk, Buck Herder behind him, Lily Mae Hickey, and Vlasta Fatheree in white blouse.)

Sales Deptartment in new General Offices in late 1950s. (Bryant Harrington, Buck Herder, and Lily Mae Hickey.)

Sales Administration in new General Offices in late 1950s. (Bryant Harrington and Buck Herder.)

Accounting Deptartment in new General Offices in late 1950s. (Louise Salter Dunkerly, unidentified in background, Regina Robertson Loper with back to camera, and Bill Little in background.)

Accounting Deptartment in new General Offices in late 1950s. (Sybil Means, unidentified with back to camera, and Louise Salter Dunkerly.)

The next 3 photos show T. M. Kerley, chief mechanic in Imperial's Packing Department.  We see him working on complex packaging machines sometime in the early 1960s.
  

The remaining photos show Packing Department operations from the '20s to the '80s.  A couple of notes: I don't have names at present, but I will eventually find them as I do more research.  Second, some of these photos are redundant, but I thought they had aesthetic appeal, so I included them anyway.

 

Box packaging in 1920s.

100-lb. cloth bags in 1940s.

5-lb. paper bags in 1960s.

10-lb. paper bags in 1960s.

10-lb. paper bags in 1960s.

10-lb. paper bags in 1960s.

10-lb. paper bags in 1960s.

200-lb.(?) paper bags of powdered sugar in 1960s.

'30-lb. Bales' contain two 15-lb. paper bags  in 1960s.

New additions in early 1980s.

New additions in early 1980s.

New additions in early 1980s.

New additions in early 1980s.

    

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.