Back in 1967 there was an old service station in Burnet at US 281 and League St. The owner decided to replace the old gas tanks with new larger ones.

After they had removed the old tanks it was discovered that some rock would need to be blasted so the hole would become large enough for the new tanks.

Cec (the name that Kenny and I called him by – short for Cecil) was contacted about coming up to Burnet to drill & shoot the the rock. (Shoot the rock means to dynamite it or blast it)

Off he went to do that little project one morning and I went to off to work at the Texaco Service Station in Marble Falls.

Around 11:00 that morning I received a call at the station giving me the news that Cec had been involved in an accident and was at the Allen Clinic.

I told Charlie Ulbricht, the owner of the Texaco, that I needed to get up to Burnet.

Clay Simmons and Tommy Houy were both there and jumped in the car with me and we tore out for Burnet. I was pushing that old “63” Ford Galaxy along at about 100 mph when we got to Park Rd. 4, in the curve. The right rear tire blewout. I somehow kept control enough to get I’d off on a level enough place to jack it up and change the tire.

All three of us jumped out, had the tire changed in a matter of a few minutes were back on the road.

When we got to the hospital, we found out that when he set off the blast, he had backed up a few feet from the edge of the hole and set down in an open window of the gas station. He had miscalculated how the blast would go and several large chunks of rocks came flying out striking his legs, breaking the right femur and bruising him up pretty good on both legs.

He stayed for a day or 2 in the hospital. I don’t remember him spending much downtime over the ordeal. If memory serves me correctly he went back after he left the hospital and finished blasting that hole. He was pretty tough like that.