Refueling During Mid-Flight

Something had taken Kenny & me to Burnet one day back in our youth. Mostly likely it was to Bill Heckman’s Parts Store so we could get parts to fix something that was broken down. Clay Simmons had ridden along that day in that 1966 Chevrolet pickup with us. We were returning to Marble at about the only speed Kenny Lewis knew, about 90 MPH or greater. It was typical for us to have a 55 gallon drum of gasoline with a pump screwed into the top of it, to fill up any of our old dump trucks, as the … Continue reading Refueling During Mid-Flight

George Corker and Sammy Hall – Doing Laundry

Sammy Hall is always asking if I’ve heard how George Corker is doing. Then he’ll tell me about the two of them washing out some red grease rags with gasoline at Dale Corker’s Mobil Station. Then they took them across the street to TQ Brown’s Laundromat and put them in a dryer. When those gasoline fumes made it to the pilot light, it blew the front windows out of the place. No matter how many times he tells me that story, I always laugh. I remember it actually happening. Continue reading George Corker and Sammy Hall – Doing Laundry

Austin Radio People & My Friend Sonny

Bob Cole and Sammy Allred where the duo that probably stayed together the longest, at least to my memory. Of course there was Jim W W Travis at KVET for a long time. Tom Allen was a fixture. There were many that came through there over the years. Jerry Gee. Penny Reeves. Arlie Duff was at KOKE and moved to KVET for a while before he retired or moved on. The list is pretty long. A lessor known and remembered DJ at KVET was Sonny Butler. He was a night man a lot of the time and filled in in … Continue reading Austin Radio People & My Friend Sonny

The Gift

Some of my best memories growing up was hauling hay and doing the hard work. Back in August of 2012 when Madeline and I turned 60, our kids along with Kenny and Carol threw us a grand party out at their place on Cow Creek. Jimmy Palmer brought me one of the best gifts I could have received. It was his hay hook that had hung in their barn for all these years. He wanted me to have it to remind me of the time that when he got out to open a gate and he got back in I … Continue reading The Gift

One Thing That Shouldn’t Be Said During Church

I had a good friend that was a steady church goer. When they got to the prayers and concerns portion of the service this friend stood up ask for prayers for this fellow out in West Texas. The West Texas fellow was the father of this friend of mine’s grandson. A divorce had caused a lot of consternation between each side. Back to the church house that day: He said, if old (what’s his name) doesn’t watch himself, “I’m going to drive out to West Texas and shoot him”. Now taking that this was a very small church 4 or … Continue reading One Thing That Shouldn’t Be Said During Church

The Bet – The Naming Of A First Born

I got to the visitation at the funeral home for my friend LJ Henderson. Joy, LJ’s oldest daughter said “your mother’s name was Bonnie, right” ? To which I said yes. She told me the following story. LJ and Cecil were sitting in a beer joint just a couple of days before Joy Henderson was born in the early part of 1950. Both wives were heavy pregnant at the time. Cecil said, “that baby of yours is gonna be a little girl”. A little arguing went back and forth and a bet was formulated right then and there? If it … Continue reading The Bet – The Naming Of A First Born

Going To Get Our Motorcycle License

Houy and I were just a little over a month difference in age, with him being born in July and me in August. That made important happenings in our early lives coincide. While I can’t remember whether we went together to get our drivers license. But we did go get our motorcycle endorsement together. He had a new 350 Honda that we took it took on. We were 14 years old. Tommy had been riding for awhile, so it was easy for him to ride along doing as the officer instructed while following behind. I will never understand how I … Continue reading Going To Get Our Motorcycle License

Long Distance Calls

I mentioned once a post once that it was long distance to call from Marble Falls to Burnet. Hard to believe how much phone calls could cost, relative to the times. Even the 13 miles between towns. Times sure have changed. In the early to mid 1960s we would listen to the radio station out of Burnet. For the life of me I can’t remember the call numbers. KHLB sounds right. But that may have been the second naming of it. Big Jimmy Palmer got in a habit of calling up to the radio station for contests they were running … Continue reading Long Distance Calls

Saying Goodbye To Butch Crownover

When I think back to our time growing up in the 1960s in Marble Falls, the friendship between Butch and Kenny always comes to mind. They spent a lot of time together, therefore I spent a lot of time with them. The first story is one time I’m glad I wasn’t along. A Trip To Look At A College In spring of their senior year of high school, Butch and Kenny got in Kenny’s 63 Pontiac Tempsest with a 4 cylinder and a 3 speed factory floor shifter and headed out to check out Sul Ross. Oh by the way, … Continue reading Saying Goodbye To Butch Crownover