James King

Here I am at Whitney Oaks Hall, Sacred Heart Society pasta lunch.  Good grief, there are so many old people!

Mary Holland

I never felt old until I realized that our daughter was 40 years old and that she was born when I was 28. A person with a 40 year old kid isn't young anymore! I have such crystal-clear memories of all the high school, college and young-adult years. Then the years begin to blur together with the sameness of real adulthood. Of course some things stand out but not with the jewel-like mental pictures of youth. My handsome husband looks old and when I look in the mirror I'm an old woman. The love we have is stronger and deeper now, though, because of the things we've been through together. 'Way back then when we first fell in love we didn't think it could be any deeeper or stronger than it was then. We were wrong; it just gets deeper every day.

John (Fred) Williams

In case no one has heard about this yet, Bill Weygandt died last Sunday, Mar. 27. His obit is in the Chronicle this morning.

Roger Felton

Thanks, Fred and may Bill R.I.P.

Mary, now that I'm "old, too, I've studied this inevitable condition and, you know, it ain't half bad.  Yeah, unless we Botox (which makes people look like they just had a stroke) or have surgery, we have no control over those wrinkles.  It seems like what doesn't hurt, doesn't work.

But we do have control over how we feel about aging.  A person's value isn't relative to a calendar.  When I was in my teens and 20's, I had issues and demons that I had to work thru.  I was never a bad person but I had to learn patience and discipline and a ton of other things that only life and years can teach us.  I had to learn how to love the way you do.  The kind of love that just keeps getting stronger with every passing year.  At 69 years, I am positive that I am a better person because of the years behind me.

When somebody asks how I am I simply say, "Im great! But getting better".  So next time you look in that mirror, don't look for an old person, look for the best one you've ever been.  Today you are, you know.

Lindy Clarke (Hall)

Wow, Roger.... nice!

Lana Johnson (Horne)

I am proud of my age--my birthday is at the end of the month---so I am definitely aware of the years.  I play tennis in several leagues and I am surrounded by lots of women who could easily be my children.  I always tell them that whenever we are playing or socializing, I am always younger than them in my mind.  I just never think of myself as old until I go for a visit with the doctor and hear that whatever is wrong is just because of my age!  I love them all because they definitely keep me young --in my mind!

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Jacquie Campbell (Biggs)

Congratulations to you and Kay. Amazing what can develop from lunch table conversations🍎!

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Roger Felton

Now I feel like such a bonehead.  After 50 years, Benny has just made me realize what I was doing wrong.  Why didn't I ever realize that the best place on the planet to meet girls was in the lunch room.  I was always trying to meet them in the hall between classes.  Gave 'em too much opportunity to run.  In the cafeteria they were kinda stuck unless they were willing to go hungry all day. 

Maybe if I walked up to one and said, "Hi, my name is Roger.  Will you marry me?" like Benny did with Kay perhaps it would have left a lasting impression. 

I always knew Benny was smart but meeting chicks in the lunch room was a stroke of genius.

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Sandy Spears (Koslosky-Siddall)

Wow, y'all realize there's either something wrong with those of us who don't "feel" or "act" our age OR there's a huge shift in that definition. Over the years I have met people my age who were old and I beleive it was in their minds. You're only as old as you feel. How 'bout Age is just a matter of mind; if you don't mind it doesn't matter! That's my philosphy and I'm sticking to it, although some days I do feel older than others. :-)

Roger Felton

Well, Sandy, Benny met Kay on my birthday so some good can come out of those nasty occasions.  The only difference is that Benny can name everything he ever got for his birthdays including where it came from and how much it cost.  I not only can't remember the color of my shoes but I can't even remember to look down to find out.

You know your old when you can remember when the Dead Sea just had a fever.

Kenneth Armbrister

Benny

We did all of that, bus, movie,, hotdog, then to Foley!s for a Model Car or Airplane kit, and it was all for $2.00.

Up until our last move I still had my Fun Club card for the Garden Oaks theatre, probably still do just can't find it

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Jacquie Campbell (Biggs)

And after we turned 13, we each had a junior discount card to the GO. I think we paid $1 for the card that reduced the cost of the movie from $1.00 to $.75.  But I am not sure about the movie costs.  

Patricia Bissonnet (Bissonnet)

Saturday morning Fun Club was the only babysitter my mother ever had.  She would drop me and my older sister off at 10, and pick us up at 12.  When my sister got too old for the Fun Club, Mom would drop off me and my "baby" brother.  I have no idea what she did with her two hours free time, but I am sure she made the best of it. I recall that we each had a dime to spend after we paid 25 cents to get in.  A dime would buy two small pieces of candy, or one large, or a coke.  I seem to remember that I went barefoot.  Could that be true? Fast forward 60 years and I am telling this to people who were probably sitting right in front of me in the darkened theatre.  I remember finding a crumpled dollar on the sidewalk there one Saturday.  Any of you lose a dollar? 

Stephen Ray Puckett

I thought the Fun Club shows were loads of fun but only got to go a few times.

Houston memories of Saturday Fun Clubs:

It must have been a Saturday in Winter:

Yale theater Fun Club:

Houston kids at the Fun Club at the Village theater.  Note some were barefoot:

Stephen Ray Puckett

Benny, I too loved James Coney Island.  The hot dogs were good but I loved the chili. Somehow the Delaware Punch just fit.  I usually went to the downtown one.

Carolyn Johnson (Blake)

I was a passionate attendee of the Saturday Morning movies. Before I moved to Oak Forest, I lived in the Village, out on Kirby and S. Shepherd. We walked the 3 blocks every Saturday morning to the Village Theater. Cost 50¢ to get in and also get a drink. If we were lucky we got another 50¢ to go to the World Toys store next door and find priceless treasures, and I still have a toy I got there. Or, we could go a couple of doors down after the movie let out and get a hotdog and a Coke, also for 50¢. It was Heaven! My parents owned the Village Rexall drug store, until they sold it in 1955. It had a soda fountain and a lunch counter. It's where I got hooked on comic books, sitting on a red spinning stool, drinking a chocolate soda, and reading Plastic Man. 

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Patricia Bissonnet (Bissonnet)

I am amazed with the speed with which Steve Puckett can produce historical pics of almost anything in Houston!  Where do you find this stuff, Steve? 

My father was a working stiff who worked an extra job as a bank teller downtown on Saturdays (I guess to buy me those shoes I never wore).  He had lunch each Saturday at James' Coney Island where he would sit next to Percy Foreman and talk about sports. I think it was the highlight of his week. Percy Foreman--a regular guy--just like Daddy.  

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Michael Bell

Way to go Benny. Good ole drunken Percy. I too had several police car wrecks. Those of us out there really working hard to crunch crime paid the price. I had so many they made me a driving instructor at the Academy, mainly to show what not to do, I guess. Funny how things work. We had a great and memorable career. Real glad it is behind us but so many memorables I would rather forget. Life was definitely interesting during those days.

Robert (Ben) Carbo