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Jim Taylor

J C I couldn't agree with you more!

Sandra Lee (Cole -Guard Drill Sponsor/English)

Thank you for the  hopeful posting about the continuing display of our shared past with the Imperial Guard. Am also interested in learning about the third group that has evolved.  Hello and good wishes for a great fall to all the Imperial  Guard girls....love to hear from any of you at vacoles@aol.com,  miss lee😃

Lynn Wren (Burkhardt)

I don't normally comment on the forum, i had to jump in here. I would do it again if necessary.   I think that was the first and last time I ever went dumpster diving.  I know I speak for Barbara too, I am thankful we were in the right place and the right time  to retrieve those items from the trash that day.  Our special "Class of Champions" is blessed to have many wonderful lifelong memories and friends.  I thank God eery day for those time and my family of friends.

God Bless

Lynn Wren Burkhardt

Jackie Crowe (Finch)

Miss Lee, so wonderful to hear from you!  We also wish you the best and if you are ever in Houston, please let us know and we'll get our group together.  I know you have a long way to come, but doesn't your sister still live in Houston?

Lynn, I am still so thankful you and Barbara found some of our High School treasures that had been discarded in the trash.  I still don't understand -----------

Okay on another note, I found this interesting and compassionate,  maybe someone will recognize the old military picture. 

Roxanne Vega found this photo on Thursday (9/1) afternoon lying in the street in Oak Forest area near 34th and Ella.  Hugs

"I have family in the military" she said "I have grandpas and uncles that will go back and look at their pictures, so I kind of just thought "Man, maybe somebody's missing it."

"The picture gives away some potentially helpful clues - his uniform appears to be that of an Air Force MP. The cacti on the left hand side suggests the desert Southwest.  And in the background, what would now be a vintage car."

Vega talked to Channel 2 and posted the pic on Facebook because she believes someone out there is searching for it.

"It's a long shot.  But you never know" she said, "It could mean something to somebody and if I lost something I hope that somebody would take the time out to return it to me."

Bennie Schielack

Picture might be posted on Roaming Rams on Facebook.  There is at least one other group on Facebook for North West siders.  Maybe one or more of these groups can help locate the owner of the picture and/or the subject of the picture . . . . . 

Beau Wann, Jr.

     Good evening myne fyne waltripynes !    Thought you'd heard the last of me eh!  Well, almost!  I'm afraid I've succumbed to a bad case of weariness.  It's rather hard to run Uptown Crabby with just two people. I mean, with the footmen and all the maids and the butler giving notice...Whatever will "M'lord and M'lady of the manor,  Wannfauntleroy do?  I know, the times they are a changing, but couldnt they do it without including me?

     It really is a struggle up here on the hill, trying to keep things the way I want them.  The reality of "getting too old to cut the mustard"  is a sad commentary on a body.  Ah, but "endeavoring to persevere" is somewhat of a cushion.   I've had to stop work on my "field of dreams", too hot, and then too much rain.  It should, however, be 99 percent finished by the end of this week, "God willing and the creek don't rise"...

     As my good friend Richard M reminded me, "it's always something" (Roseanne Roseannadana).
What a terrible picture of me on the home page!  Of course, it would be terrible on any page!  Yuk, I've never liked having my picture taken, and still don't! But I forgive sister Jackie...who could ever be angry with her! Certainly not me!

     It was a good time at Spring Creek BBQ joint.  I was late getting there because I had scheduled for something to be delivered on Saturday morning, and true to the companies word,  it came about at the other morning,  4 PM....Then the 18 wheeler got stuck on our one lane dirt and rocky road. Seems the driver was a novice at backing one of those monstrosities up, not that I could have done much better, but I think in retrospect,  I probably could have, given the skillless driving I witnessed!

    It was so good to see everyone, I didnt think anyone would show up, but I should have known, the class with class wouldnt let me down....and for that, I thank you ! ! !

    Ah yes, the saga of the bunnies Winken Blinken and Nod...Nod died not too long after birth. Seems he was impatient and decided to flee the nest and check out the whirld. Bless his heart, he was fearless and had such an indomitable spirit, His eyes werent even open, and he had no fur, or very little of it, and he decided to conquer the whirld.

        He succumbed to the elements, and we buried him on a quiet Sunday morn.  Then our wolfhound Jack the Beowulf, found Blinken, and he was gone in a blink en...Beowulf had him for a snack....Winken however left the nest, a fat and sassy and furry cottontail and made it to the safety of the field outside of Beowulfs domain, "the hundred acre wood"....

    We originally put up hog wire to keep the unsavory and oderiferous swine from entering the Manor and to keep Beowulf and white Fang in, now I have to put chicken wire at the bottom to keep the bunnies out so they will cease springing their offspring on us, because we become unsprung to that coil of nonsense. 

      Parenting bunnies just wears me out.  In me younger days, I'd had the rather silly notion of squiring "bunnies" around, the Hugh Hefner kind, and not the Marlin Perkins kind. So be careful what you wish for, you just might get it ! ! !  Same way with cats, if you catch my drift! ! ! But I digress ! ! !

      Even though I haven't been able to do much on the "field of dreams",  I have been excited about the prospect of opening day, sometime in the foreseeable future.   I envision "peanuts and crackerjacks"  hotdogs, lemonade and cold beer, straw hats for the gents and gingham cotton dresses for the ladies and, "get yur cold beah heah...." and "PLAY BALL"....and   Maybe a 5 cent cigar or two....ooooh, makes a heady picture eh what !

     Just sat through, I dont know how many days of "Downton Abby" marathon.  I hated it, but loved it!  It should have been called "Downtown Crabby"....man, did those people have a myriad of problems.  I was delighted to see that alls well that ends well....Mean ol Mary got married, and sweet Edith had the last laugh of all, and married the heir to a "lord" and was to become a duchess??? Well, I never have understood royalty, even though me own mum has told me that I am an "Earl"...and earl of what pray tell?  I'll wait for the paper work to catch up so I wont have the stationery changed to reflect the new title just yet.  I'll stick with the old one, "sir hurts alot"....

     We watched 8 seasons of "Downton Abby" in what, 4 or 5 days....I dont usually watch much on the telly, and tried not to watch the aforementioned, but had to settle in and watch it as I was disrupting Lady Diane with all the questions..."what happened to Mary, to Sybil, and to poor downtrodden Edith"...."If you want to know what's going on, just sit down and watch it, I'm not going to tell you anything from now on..."  blah blah blah...so I sat down and watched it....I love the English, but it's a good thing they have closed captioning, becuase I couldnt understand what was being said....When did the English switch to a foreign language?   Oh bother ! ! !

     You know, until this past weekend, I always thought it was "Downtown Abby", not "Downton Abby" . I thought it was the English "stuffiness" that it was pronounced Downton, you know how those people are! ! !

Well, time to Deplane, boss !  Carson is here to help me into my PJs and serve warm milk to me...of course it's laced with some good whiskey ! ! ! What, you didnt think I actually drank MILK plain did you?   Heavens to murgatroids no!   A few ounces of some Rebecca Creek is just the ticket for a smooth transition from wakefulness to sleepiness...

     So, keep the sun at your six and ride boldly ride...
Your frien and Lord of the Manor...Sir Olbeauwannkanobi, Earl of Chappell Hill....  

Beau Wann, Jr.

     Good morning fellow Waltripians !   Lord of the manor here !  Since I worked so hard Friday and Saturday, I was wondering if anyone would mind if I took today off as well as Sunday and Monday....It was, afterall, Laborday weekend, and I labored!   Got all the fields cut, and set in motion the foundation for the centerfield sky boxes for Coopers Memorial field.  Wont be long now....Maybe I'll just take the morning off, how's that?

     Ok then, it's all set, I shall repair to the boudoir for a morning snooze. My cats thank you, my dogs thank you, Lady Diane thanks you and I thank you....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Terry Jones (Gallemore)

Beau, it is really good to see you back here, after missing your posts for several days!  Soon the weather will be cooler and just right for those ballgames!

Beau Wann, Jr.

     Hey Terry, good to know you are still out there, thank you.  Wow, how about the post from Ms Lee (Cole).  Now, that's class.  Have we ever had a teacher post on here before?  I hope she hasn't been reading my posts, she's an English teacher for goodness sakes.  I'd better start minding my Ps and Qs from now on.  "How now brown cow", "the rain in spain falls mainly on the plains",  by jove I believe she's got it....what movie was that from?   Me thinks it starred Audrey Hepburn, oh bother with myne shoddy memory.

     Yes, the Imperial Guard was something !  The precision, pomp and circumstance, and discipline it took to look as good as they did.   For years, most half time shows on the telly conjured up images of the Guard.  Because I worked after school till at least 9PM,  I only got to see them perform once methinks, and it was at a Sadie Hawkins  game where I went with Denise Richardson, (had to think long and hard to remember her name) a very lovely young lady. I think she lost a bet, and had to ask me to the game.

     Well, on retrospect, what a wonderful time to grow up. Don't think I'd trade My Oak Forest days for all the Downton Abbys in the whirld.  Just the Downton Abby castle was about the size of Oak Forest and Garden oaks. Well, our little Frank Sharp house on DuBarry, was my castle, and the back porch was my castle turret !
I'm not sure if I had tinnitis back then or not, because I could hear the crickets and frogs and all the night sounds, even the silence.  Cant hear that anymore! But, I can see the dance of the fireflies! Oh wow, what a show they put on, just for me!

     Loud sounds like gunshots, and certain medicines will make your ears ring!  My ears have been ringing since I'd guess Junior high school.   Can no longer hear the crickets, in fact that's all I hear all day long, that and 1000hz to 3000hz tones.  Going deaf is only making it worse.  Nothing they can do about it though. I heard someone that had tinnitis had their audio nerve severed, thinking that it would delete or stop the tinnitis .   Nope, only heightened it. Heard they went mad and killed themselves! 

     I dont think I'd do that, as long as I have ear buds, bud, to listen to my music. I turn it up as loud as it goes, opera, choirs, big band and of course doo wop 50s.  And I have fans that hum to put me to sleep, when I can sleep. 

    Ok, Carson the butler has announced that breakfast is ready, so I must sign off, for now! But you know me, I will return.

Keep the sun at your six and ride boldly ride....
your frien and earl of the whirl Baron Von Wann

Bennie Schielack

Beau, have you ever thought about writing to publish ? ? ? ? ? I do believe many of the readers of the Message Forum enjoy your use of the (almost) English language . . . . . I believe people other than the members of our class would enjoy your muses, also . . . . . 

John Philip Adams

TITLE?

"REMEMBERANCES, more or less, FROM THE FAR SIDE. of central TEXAS"

i am sure some of the rest of us can come up with titles for Beau. i feel sure he is good for several books. he surely writes better than a lot of the idiots from California or Harvard.

Teddie Jordan

How about, "Wannglish, As spoken in Deep East Texarkana!"

Beau Wann, Jr.

Aye lads, I'm a thankin ya for the votes of cornfidence....I'm trying to write a book or two, but that thar is a whole nother discipline.

PLAY BALL ! ! ! ! ! BATTER UP! ! !

HEY BATTUH BATTUH BATTUUUUHHHH

SUWING BATTUH.........

AT LAST....MAN, THOUGHT I'd never giterdone. ahm still not quite through though, just about 98.6% .   This shot is from the center field skyboxes....

"gitcher red hots here, .15 cents....peanuts popcorn and crackerjacks, one thin dime, one tenth of a dollar, all for the rams STAND UP AND HOLLAR....YEAAAAAAAA! ! !"

Not YET DUDE, we have to see whether the weather is gonna cool down, DUDE! ! !

whatcha think?  Is this what dreams are made of?   it most certainly is.....

Beau Wann, Jr.

Pretty dogone nifty even if I do say so mahself...ha ! ! !  Dont look too close at it, cause it was done by a non union carpenter.  A union iron worker, and union communications worker, but as you can see, none of the latter applies to the above skyboxes in the picture.     See the fire pit/heater on the far left of the upper deck?  Well, when it gets cold, whoever has the most money, can rent that.  roasting marshmellows and hot dogs is extra.  If you get too close and catch on fire, that's extra as well, just stop drop and roll, preferrably in the center field grass. Of course that's extra too. 

Fireflies are free ! ! ! !   What a humanitarian I am ! ! !

I sure wish Cooper was here to see it, and greet the many millions of visitors we will surely have, Shirley!

I think my first book will be about Cooper and Me, mostly Cooper, yall know too much about me nohow.  And I'm sure yall know lots about Cooper as well also too!   Sorry Ms Simpson, a clowns gotta do what a clowns gotta do. 

Beau Wann, Jr.

Hey Ruth Ellen, I bought the "Jesus is Calling" book, and since I was behind over half a year, I read from the beginning to now.  Great book, thanks for mentioning it.  I got the leather bound one, where it lists the books and quotes at the bottom of the page. It was on sale. But a good book at any price, thanks again!

Jan Barnes '65 (Nimtz)

Beau, that field of dreams looks fabulous! I do not know how you accomplished it with all the pain you are mostly enduring, but you did a great job! I can't wait to see it one day. If you have your grand opening season starter while I'm traveling this fall I will just have to get a rain check from you. I would bet you are the only one in Chappell Hill who has his own, personal ball field in his backyard. Will you be renting it out to little leaguers?

Beau Wann, Jr.

     Hey Jan, I didnt do it alone, Jesus helped me.  I'm not a fan of little league sports. Parents and coaches put too much pressure on the kids.   I like sandlot ball.    I'll only rent it out to special little leaguers, like the ones pictured on your post.  I'll need to grow flawrs (east texas for flowers) and dandelions so the outfielderss can pick them.  I remember my grandson playing Tball and he was an outfielder sometimes, and he and all the outfielders were picking dandelions whilst the game was going on.  Ball came out to the outfield, but picking the flowers was of more important !   That was more special than the game itself, as they clearly demonstrated.

Ruth Ellen Winters (Schmidt)

Beau so glad you are enjoying the book. I have the one you got. I just rereadit every year. It has hit the nail on the head many many times over the last five years I love your baseball field.  Have a great week 

Jackie Crowe (Finch)

Wow, BroBeau, you have certainly out done yourself!!!   It took a lot of sweat, muscles, hard work and determination to have accomplished such a fine baseball field.  You're the best.  Hugs

Beau Wann, Jr.

     Hey Jackie et al, I couldnt not of have done er without all yall...WOW, that sentence could not have been more corrupt could it.   My new lawnmower is broken, so I cant mow the field. They are in the process of sending a new one to me, unbroken I hope!  Got lots O rye grass to plant, and some new stuff, Austrian winter peas, for corrosion control (I thought that woid looked funny, I meant ERROSION control)  and food for the wildlife. Just waiting for the days to drop below 90 gredees, so I can plant the new seed,  whenever in the heck that's gonna be!

     Wanna get some chickens eventually. I dont want to raise them from babies, I want already grown laying hens, preferrably Rhode Island Reds. They seem to be the most prolific at laying eggs.  And in the course of human events, that presents a math problem about how many eggs a certain amount of chickents can lay in a week, month and year....hmmmm, lets see,..."if a chicken and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long would it take a grasshopper with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle"?  So, you can see my delima!

    Be that as it may, notwithstanding,  and how some ever, I shall endeavor to persevere. 

     Those little leaguers on Jans post, now that's how it's done, especially the little guy in the middle. See how he's got his tongue positioned?   Well, I have found that's critical for getting stuff done, so that young man is well on his way to success, yea! ! ! !   How cute is that age eh what?  I think 4 is the best age for me, I was at my peak at 4, then it was downhill uphill all the way from then on out!

      time to deplane!  Got a busy zillion days ahead of me.  I need  a licensed electrician to finish my garage. got all the hard part done, just need hep and guidance on the dangerous part!   Need a fence guy or gal. Gonna cornstruct a split rail fence up front down in the valley along the road. That's a no brainer, and since my back is broke along with both shoulders and arms and legs, my nose is ok though, gonna need a strong young man or woman to work the post hole diggers. 

     Mercy me, I sure have lots to do. Need to get er all done before October 1st, special day. My beloveds birthday! 

Ok, keep the sun at  your six and ride boldly ride...
your frien and lord of the manor, Baron von Hoochie Coochie

Johnny Sheffield

Saw e mail from rick Strickland that Janet was in hospital in Gonzales Texas.

she was having arterial fiberlation and vertigo 

keep her in your prayers. 

Also does anyone have rick and Janet's new address. 

Johnny

Teddie Jordan

Prayers for Janet and Rick!

Fran and I went to a movie on Sunday, and really enjoyed it. We saw "Sully", a movie about the U. S. Airways pilot, Chesley Sullenburger, who ran into a large flock of Greater Canada geese (large 15-18 pound birds)  just minutes after taking off and lost thrust in BOTH engines, which was unprecedented. Air traffic controllers were instructing him to go back to La Guardia for an emergency landing, but he correctly estimated that he could not make it that far and instead successfully landed it on the busy Hudson River, the only other option he had! Quite a story and still a miracle! Every one of the 155 passengers and crew survived. The movie is obviously intense in a couple of scenes, but is well acted with Tom Hanks as Sully, and directed by Clint Eastwood who knows a thing or two about making movies. It seems to be hard to find believable or true story movies in this age of Far Out Sci-Fi stuff.   

Linda Breazeale (Allen)

My husband and I also saw that movie last Sun. and everyone in the movie clapped at the end.  We live about 20 miles N.E. of Medford, Or.  Such a great response to a wonderful movie!

Pat Brantley (Ross)

I was a stewardess for delta for a few years so I am on a website for flight attendants.  Some of Sully's crew from that flight are also members of the website.  Their stories are great.  We mostly discuss good passenger experiences, bad experiences and famous passengers.  Along the way we also bring up memories of those lost in accidents or terrorist acts.  I never get on a plane without checking exits for myself.  Old habits.  

I will pray for Janet.  Atrial fib can be really serious.  

I am sorry that we did not get to town for the last fling.  Our daughter and her family had to travel at the last minute and had no one to take care of their dogs.  The glamorous life of grandparents.  Silly reason, but it's the truth.  I am glad that we raised our girls with pets (except for that chicken-which is another story).  

Jan Barnes '65 (Nimtz)

There is nothing in this world like our Waltrip alumni! Traveling from Cypress to Giddings yesterday and then on to Boerne we passed through Chappell Hill. I have not seen Beau but once since Waltrip days and have only spoken to Diane once. Yet when I called to ask if we could stop by briefly (and that we would be there in 5 minutes), the Wann's were as gracious as if we had made reservations with them. Literally we were complete strangers with the common bond of having attended Waltrip. Yet while visiting with them we found many areas in common. Their yellow farmhouse on the lush, green hill poses a beautiful, pastoral setting. Their "homestead" is a beauty inside and out and blends unobtrusively into the countryside. And Beau's Cooper Memorial ballfield is more than we expected to see. It is truly a Field of Dreams! We hope we can see a game there one day. Thank you Beau & Diane for extending a warm welcome to us.