Message Forum

I still take my Mom to Barbeque Inn too! It's hit and miss when we do it, but she loves their shrimp and oysters. Linda, I'll look for your Mom and sister if we are ever there on Tuesday. I have a story, that my family thinks is funny about me being asked not to come to Doyle's anymore by the manager there now, who is possibly the owner. At Fudd's, if you're interested, remind me and I'll share it with you. By the way, I still do eat there. I'm having lunch with Diane Levay Bonazzi today. We haven't talked in years, but this web site has made it possible to reconnect. I've heard it is doing that for alot of us. They still serve the "Summer Special" plate, now called Playa at "Leo's Mexican Restaurant" (I think that's the name, short term memory issue there) on the corner of 34th and Oak Forest. Does anyone remember the Oasis Pool right off of Oak Forest, somewhere near the RR track before it crosses to go to 34th? We had some fun times there too. Does anyone like Blues music and would like a different place to hear some? Robby Wallis has a place off of Kirby that looks kool. Anyone interested in making a plan to go, just contact Robby or me. I think it would be fun to do something like that with old friends and schoolmates. If anyone else has a different place we can throw it in the hat too!

09/26/09 09:45 AM

#245

Jennie--

Are you planning on going to the '64 Reunion on either night? Friday 10/2 is just like a cocktail party and then Saturday is a dinner also. I am going to both so I probably won't be at Fudd's in October. Suzie is also going to the '64 bash. All classes are invited. Try to come if you can. I would love to sit down & talk w/you.

09/26/09 11:33 AM

#246

Lindy, I am very sorry to hear of Gordon's passing. Like I said, I lost contact with all the guys after I quit the group.....we all went in different directions to different
careers. I think I heard at one time that Charles Webb went on to become a college professor. We did play at a club in Spring Branch....I forget what the name was....but it wasn't The Catacombs....which was on the west side of Loop 610
somewhere south of Northwest Mall. I also do not remember Paul V....maybe he joined after I left the group.....and you are correct, we did have a keyboard player and I cannot remember his name....he is in the picture I mentioned.....maybe you will recognize him....for some reason, I seem to think his first name was Harold....but that may be wrong. Thanks for bringing back memories.....and it is sad to learn of Boo's passing....he
was always a bundle of laughs.

09/26/09 03:15 PM

#247

Linda,
I will come to the Friday night cash bar deal. But I will go to Austin Saturday night, to babysit for my grandbabies while their parents go to some big concert event there next weekend. I will look forward to seeing you, as well. I just had lunch with Diane Levay Banazzi and we spent so much time laughing. She looks EXACTLY the same, the same, the same, cute as EVER! She wants to come with her sister Suzy to one of the Fudd night's. Is there going to be one the 1st Tuesday of October, or not? Again, thank you, Suzie, and whoever else made this site possible, it has brought a lot of laughter and sharing into "Waltripins" lives. My new word! See you Friday, is Leah coming?

09/26/09 08:13 PM

#248

Genie Hackenjos (Kistler)

Jennie--

Leah can't make it but she will be coming to Houston around Christmas. Yes they are having a Fudd's gathering on 10/13 but I don't think I can make it, not that that is any rason for anyone else not to show up. I look forward to seeing you on Fridsay night.

Has anything changed w/ Jimmy May since I spoke to you last?

09/26/09 10:03 PM

#249

Robert (Robby) Wallis

I think the Oasis pool was just off the intersection of Oak Forest and Judiway...if memory serves it was a membership club...I remember the evening Justin Wilson performed at Soundtrack... afterwards ,I went with my parents to the Oasis (or whatever it was called) for dinner...Justin Wilson was there ..he got up and did about 45 mins of Cajun comedy..(can't remember if it was funny, I wasn't Cajun hip then)....OK, the first Doyles was in a strip center on Oak Forrest...at about Lou Ellen, which, at that time, was the only street available to get to Oaks Dad's Club Little League Park....they'd give you a free po'boy for every home run hit at ODC....I got the most poboys one year, hitting the most home runs ...only because Pete Biggs broke his leg and couldn't play.....Pete was an exceptional athlete and competitor..
will try to make it to the 64 shindig next weekend...I'll bring a Doyle's poboy in hopes that Pete and or Jacquie are there..
robby

09/27/09 01:44 AM

#250

Well, I've read about six months of the on-going conversations tonight/this a.m., and just "have" to check in.

1) All my life I thought I was the only kid who had a bad experience in Dr. Craemer's dental chair. It made me so paranoid that whenever I found a good dentist, I kept them - even over long distances - to the point that I went to Dr. Nichols in Houston after I was living in Colorado, and now that I'm in SD, I still go to a great one in ND. Fortunately, it was also a bad experience for my parents, and we found a different dentist!

2) I had a birthday party at Happyland--still have the group picture from the carousel.

3) John Brown's funeral was the first one I attended, too (but there were 2 more for me that same year).

4) I didn't get to ride the bus downtown till I was in the 8th grade when Suzanne Peranteau and I went to stuff envelopes for JFK's campaign.

5) The first pizza I ever ate was at Doyle's - and it's still the best I ever ate! But speaking of food - Suzie, how many times did we go to the Western Kitchen??? and yes, Monterrey House was excellent - we always had take out from there for Christmas eve supper. Who remembers the Gizmo?

6) We also made the move from Oak Forest to Mangum Manor when I was in 7th grade. I liked Mangum Manor, but Oak Forest was always "home" to me. I lived on Saxon - in both places. In Oak Forest, were were just 4 houses off T.C. Jester - and the bayou. I ran away from home to the bayou (which was an off-limits place in our home) one time, and got in double trouble.

7) I think the Oasis pool was more in the Garden Oaks area, and the one off Judiway was a private club - Oak Forest Country Club - or some such. I took swim lessons at Oasis and then my parents belonged to the other one for a while.

8) Does anyone remember Mr. Claussen - 9th grade General Science at Black? He made my life miserable in that class to the point that I never took another science class except for biology at Waltrip and in college. And how about Gladys Poole? She was so great! I loved being on the Banner staff and going to Scardino's when we put the paper out. We got out of school for half a day, plus it was a neat experience being with Miss Poole and the other staff members in that setting.

9) And I remember when Candlelight park was on the edge of "the woods," and we had Girl Scout day camp there. this was before any of the new homes were built back in
that area. It felt pretty exotic to this second grader!

And finally, someone asked if there was anything in the plans for our 45th next year? I only get back to Texas for reunions any more, so will need to plan for that!

Take care, everybody!
Genie (Hackenjos) Butler

09/27/09 11:25 AM

#251

Genie, I remember the Gizmo....was right there on Oak Forest north of 34th St......had great burgers. I think you are right that the Oasis Pool was further north....the club and pool on Judiway at Oak Forest was called the Suburban Oaks
Country Club when it first opened.....I think it was renamed in later years before it closed. There was also the city park pool just west of Oak Forest on Judiway...very near the Suburban Oaks club. How about the little place that was across the street from Waltrip on 34th that used to have the "Ramburger".....doesn't sound too appetizing now :-)
I was in Houston a few weeks ago to visit my Mom and I was amazed at all the big homes that are being built in Oak Forest. People are buying the older homes and demolishing them to build huge new homes on the lots.....they seem to be popping up everywhere in that area.....I suppose for people who need to commute to downtown Houston, that is a prime location.
-John

09/27/09 02:06 PM

#252

Genie, Yes, Mr. Claussen. I posted on this or the '64 site, about me having to cheat to do those stupid packets, that were counted as our weekly tests, b/c I never could find the answers. Just think, I could have been a nurse, if it wasn't for him, and of course if I ever really studied. I bet Janne Semeyn Boone would love to see any pictures of Happyland if you can post any.

Yes,it was Surbuban Oaks Club. I do now remember the Oasis Pool too! Wasn't there a GOOD hamburger place down 34th street nearer Shepherd, across from the fire station that had great hamburger's? You ate outside and ordered through a little window. I went to Girl Scout Day Camp at Candlelight also, never dreaming someday I would be living in those woods someday. We met right next to Susie Groberg's house. Her Mother was a scout leader, wasn't she?

Linda,
My brother Joe, took Jimmy May to play golf labor day weekend when he came from England to my Mom's party. He said he seemed fine, believe it or not? He will live in a halfway house, I think, starting this month, and then will be able to live on his own. Joe seemed like he was okay with just some minor issues with memory.

John, the prices for those homes are said to be pretty high. I bet it kills the property tax rate around there. In another 10 years we won't even recognize the place anymore.

09/27/09 05:44 PM

#253

Genie Hackenjos (Kistler)

The burger place across from the fire station on 34th was owned by Lynn Prewit's family and he married Pat Wilcox.

John
My Mom and younger sister still live in Oak Forest on Thornton between Oak Forest and 43rd so I go down rather frequently and there are some huge houses especially in the Chippendale, Wakefield & DuBarry areas for 600 to 800K.

09/27/09 05:56 PM

#254

OK - obviously several heads are better than one (mine at least!) It was Suburban Oaks, and then - help me out here - was the Oasis north of 43rd Street? Because there was yet another pool back around 38th or so in Garden Oaks and that's the one where I took swimming lessons, but I don't remember the name, unless it was the Oasis, in which case, what was the other one? I spent enough time in all of the pools that I should remember them, but alas, I'd forgotten.

There were also a couple of other places to eat that I can't remember for sure. I believe one was the Plantation, or something like that on N. Shepherd across from the old Shopper's Fair (remember our very first discount store???). They had great friend shrimp, as I recall. And there was a place back by the pool in Garden Oaks that had a white fence and shuffleboard tables inside. My family used to go there for supper sometimes - BBQ or burgers, etc. It wasn't fancy, but I remember it as a fun place.

You know, for those of us who live away, and whose families are all gone now, this is one of the few opportunities to do "remember when" stuff - Thanks everyone!

09/27/09 06:53 PM

#255

Mildred Sue (Suzie) May (Cunningham)

Linda,
My Mom still lives on Althea, in the house in which I grew up....it is in the 1700 block. There are a couple of those huge homes on Althea....and when I was there, they
had cleared another lot at Althea and Oak Forest, where they are about to build another one. I guess it is a good thing....it will drive up property values, and also taxes.
Whoever thought houses in that area would be selling for $600K plus?

09/27/09 08:14 PM

#256

Lindy Clarke (Hall)

Yes, many mini-mansions in Oak Forest now... April Sorrell's old house on Wakefield (across from my old house, just a few doors west of Ella), is gone, and was replaced by a mansion. There are almost a dozen mansions on Wakefield. Kinda sad really... guess I'm anti-progress... it ruins the ambiance of "Oak Forest" as I like to think of it.

Oh, I loved Shopper's Fair (my first credit card, still have it!)... and just north of there was Globe Dept Store (the WalMart of it's time). My first job was in Globe, at the bakery counter, and it was so great being able to take leftover pastries home at night.

The Oak Forest pool was where I learned to swim... and the best part was getting snow-cones at the snow-cone stand across the street. We rode our bikes to the pool, there were lots of bicycles there, and back then, I never heard of a single bike getting stolen. Crime didn't seem to exist in those days.... I'm sure it did,
but not in my world.

At Ella & 43rd, s'east corner was a store called MidgitMart or MiniMarket, or something like that... and the guy at the counter always called us "little lady", and used to say "ya'all come back now"... the first time I'd ever heard those phrases. They were so friendly.

We used to roller skate up and down Ella. Also, my mother had not yet learned how to drive, and we often had to walk all the way from Wakefield to 43rd to go grocery shopping (when my dad was at work). It was such a nice walk. The fluffy pink mimosa blooms smelled like strawberries. First we had Minimax (the Florians lived on 43rd, I think, and bought girl scout cookies from me, which I thought was extremely kind of them), then later we had Weingartens.

We used to always go to the library on Heights Blvd., which I adored... my parents would drop us off there, leave us there all day, and give us food money. From there we would walk to Rettig's Ice Cream Parlor on Yale... then back to the library. I was maybe 10-12, and my sister was 2 yrs younger. That would be unheard of today. And later when we got our own library on 43rd, that was great, but it didn't have quite the same "Old World" charm as the one in the Heights.

09/27/09 08:41 PM

#257

There was a private pool on Fisher, 1 block north of 38th/Wakefied, between Alba & Golf. The names that I remember are Little Oaks & Spark's Pool. I took swimming lessons there; Peggy & Cathy Chaplin's mother was my teacher. Mrs. Chaplin was also the P.E. teacher at Black. My family didn't belong to the pool so I was dependent on being someone's/anyone's guest. Both the Barnette family (Joy, Chip, & Gordon) & the Parsley family (Janet) used at least 1 of their 3 permitted guest passes per week so that I could swim. Others who were members & also on the swim team include Carla Westmoreland, Kim Raben, John & Jud Sidman, Debbie & Wendy Sherrill, Diane Jaenecke, & John Long. I think Lou Ann Curtis was also a member. The pool boasted 2 diving boards (high & low), a slide, & a trampoline! Hot dogs, snow cones, sodas, chips, & candy were sold out of the "office."

09/27/09 09:17 PM

#258

Stephen Ray Puckett

I liked the burgers at The Gizmo. My folks didn't much so I seldom got any. As I recall, most of us ate at home with mom-cooked meals. Mom went through a period where she would try different things in jello. Fruit was usually OK but meat & veggie pieces were pretty weird. Cabbage or beets in jello: Yuk!

I took swimming lessons at a private pool that a guy owned off N. Shepherd north of 43rd, as I recall. He was a great swimmer himself.

When I was probably 11, a kindly librarian at the Heights library quizzed me one summer about what I liked to read. She learned enough to point me at the science fiction section. A whole new wonderful universe opened up to me - I devoured everything I could and begged Mom to take me back to that wonderful library as often as possible. It got to the point that Mom said I was reading too much and needed to go outside and play! Aside from SF, I also tried other adult fare: Kim and Hawaii stand out in my memory. Wonderful!

09/27/09 09:33 PM

#259

Stephen, I think that pool off N. Shepherd north of 43rd was at the home of C.O. Wiley....that is where I took swim lessons too.....that was a great house and had a really nice backyard, although the pool was most of the back yard. Does that sound like the same place you are thinking of? I think his wife's name was Piggy, or something like that.
He made his living giving swimming lessons back in those days.....or maybe he was retired from some other career.

Interesting observation: There seem to be very few of the Waltrip guys here in the Message Forum....wonder why that is?......I see you here and saw Robby Wallis recently, but not many other guys......only the ladies....which is great, but it would be nice to get some of the guys in here exchanging memories of our past as well.

09/27/09 09:56 PM

#260

Stephen Ray Puckett

Yep, 'Wiley' sure sounds correct.

I spose the other guys are just shy, I reckon, not at all like the guys on the 1964 site message forum.

Perhaps the guys can talk about chemistry lab antics. Someone poured something molten out the window and caught the grass outside on fire. The fire department was called on that one. Someone filled his bottle with CaO rocks rather than just a few, then filled the bottle with water rather than just a few drops. It exploded, making a mess, and acetylene gas went all over the countertop and across the floor. The gas eventually igniting, sending a sheet of blue flame everwhichaway. That was exciting. Someone heated a penny over the bunsen burner to play a trick on a friend. While he was talking to the friend, the teacher came around the corner and picked up the penny, burning his fingers. It was Mr. Mulholand, as I recall - Ol' Headlights.

09/28/09 07:17 AM

#261

Stephen,
My Mother said she played bridge with your Mother sometimes and Pete, Joe and I had to endure those jello dishes too. She would get those recipes from her card playing friends. One night she made jello with "tomato aspect", which I recently found out was some animal, but anyway we all started gagging at the table and refused to eat it after the first bite. My Dad, this strict Navy type man, made us all go to our rooms. What a relief that was not to have to eat that stuff. I think it had pieces of celery in it. Were you served that one?

We usually at "ROAST" on Sunday after church when we didn't go to the cafeteria on 43rd. Joe and I seemed to have a problem eating the pieces of roast. And , it is possible it was an overdone roast, or we didn't like gravy, BUT anyway we would chew forever and it just got bigger and dryer. Sometimes, that would send us to our rooms, too! Joe usually hid food he didn't like under his plate, and my job was to clear the table. I hated that job when Joe did that! Dinner was a miserable time for me, consequently I ended up with an eating disorder for many years, not just b/c of mealtime, but it played a big part. I just hated vegetables and we were expected to eat them back then.

09/28/09 09:52 AM	#262
Lindy Clarke (Hall) I never went to Candlelight Park, but I understand that many others did, and that it was a cool place to go... it was too far from my home(s)... Any memories or stories you all could share?

09/28/09 10:53 AM

#263

Jennie-- The tomato aspect story mad me laugh so hard. Good way to start off the week-Heaven knows I need it. Chk your email. I sent you some funny ones I recv'd from Sandy Beshear & Sheryl Knight.

09/28/09 12:18 PM

#264

Linda, you are a hoot!

Stephen, my Mother says she didn't play bridge with your Mom, but went to Circle Bible study with her at St. Matthews. That could be why you were spared the dreaded "TOMATO ASPECT", if you indeed, were.

Lindy, back in the early days of the forum we did share some stuff about Candlelight, so you might want to look there. We lived near it so exploring the woods and wading in the bayou were every day occurances for some of us, unless it rained. We had very high tree houses back in there. I would never have allowed my kids to do what we did in those woods.

09/28/09 12:37 PM

#265

Lindy Clarke (Hall)

Jennie, thanks, but I did read aaallll the old posts a couple weeks ago... and it was briefly mentioned..

What I'm fishing for, here, was prompted by a comment made by someone in an off-line email, regarding "dances" at Candlelight Park. This was news to me... I knew some kids that hung-out at that park, but I thought it was just a park.
Perhaps there was something else called Candlelight Park I didn't know about, or maybe the subdivision clubhouse?

09/28/09 12:44 PM

#266

Lindy Clarke (Hall)

BTW... Monterrey House is still around, but now it is called Mexico Inn... you can still order the Monterrey Special, even tho' it's not on the menu (unless they've added it due to popular demand), and they know what you want.
After the switch, some locations closed, but there's one on 290 betw Mangum & 34th, one on Gessner, etc.
It was nice that you always knew what to expect... still love it.

09/28/09 02:11 PM

#267