Category: Past Angora Chronicles Stories

Amazing Things, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Flying Down The Colorado

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You can travel far and wide and not see prettier sites (or sights for the grammar police 😭🤣) than right here in the Hill Country. These were taken on a return trip from out in West Texas in Kenny’s Helicopter – Dec. 2009 (excuse the glare on some photos – shooting thru the bubble) I had a lease agreement with Kenny and could lease it when I need to look at projects that were farther away. Came in pretty handy. Flying right down the Colorado River to the upper end of Lake Buchanan. Continue reading Flying Down The Colorado

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., My Friends, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

John, We Ain’t In Marble Falls Anymore

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I posted pictures of laying pipes across Lake Marble Falls back in the early 1980s. On this forum my friend John mentioned in a post about things going so well on the pipes going across the lake that he, Belinda, Madeline and I took a trip to Vegas to enjoy our successes. Our flight was out of Austin. The plane had passengers on it that had originated in Houston. When John, the 2 blond bombshell’s and I boarded we looked back and our friend and fellow MF Classmate, Winfield was toward the back. With hand gestures we agreed to visit … Continue reading John, We Ain’t In Marble Falls Anymore

Aging, Amazing Things, Crazy Times, My Friends, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Texas History, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Remembering Oak Hill, Texas in a completely different time

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Oak Hill was quite a place in its day. I suppose it’s lost most of it’s charm with all the building and a freeway running through the middle of it. I think of the place it was in the 60s … Continue reading Remembering Oak Hill, Texas in a completely different time

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, My Friends, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Cruising The UT Drag

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The spring of 1971 found me and my friend Jimmy in Austin one Friday afternoon. Probably for no other reason than hoping to find some excitement. I had a new Chevrolet pickup and we decided a drive down to The Drag. We got as far a 34th street on Guadalupe, heading south when we encountered a red light. A couple of pretty young UT types were in the car in right lane, with us in the left lane. Paying more attention to the girls than to driving, when the light changed as they eased off, so did we. The only … Continue reading Cruising The UT Drag

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The Green House Mall on RR 620

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Matt and Muriel Wiggers started The Greenhouse Mall sometime in the 1970s. There was some variation of that business still operating (or was at the time of this original writing) with the name Outside in Style. I have heard it is relatives of the original owners carrying on the family tradition. Mr. Wiggers’ Dutch accent became quite recognizable in Austin in the late 70s and 80s with his TV and radio ads, “250-0000, come see us, won’t you?” My own personal story about this business. Hooked On Hydroponics: A takeoff on the name – Hooked on Phonics We took our … Continue reading The Green House Mall on RR 620

Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Texas History, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Von Boeckmann-Jones Co. Building in 1950

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G&L VBJ – The Next Chapter G&L was a great office supply store in downtown Austin for many years – Just across the Congress Ave Bridge, south of the River. The initials G & L were two brothers. Gunnar and Louis Johnson. G&L Stationers teamed up with VBJ (Von Beckman, Jones) to form G&L VBJ and moved across into a new store building south of Riverside on the east side of So. Congress – in the early 80s. Below is a blurb from the Chronicle. Below is my own story about G&L The Strange Things We Remember It’s been almost … Continue reading Von Boeckmann-Jones Co. Building in 1950

Amazing Things, Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Kenny Lewis, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

It Wasn’t Me

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Kenny always had a lot of company pride. He liked for all of his machines to be looking nice and clean. Everything needed to be ship-shape in Kenny Lewis’ world. He enjoyed having his company name on jackets and caps. He spent a lot of advertising bucks and it paid off for him. You would see people wearing them often, putting the CCI name out in the public. Kenny and I had an arraignment for about a decade that lasted until 2003. We pooled resources and CCI was the name that was in the forefront of the business. I still … Continue reading It Wasn’t Me

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Replacing The Old Brackenridge Apartments On Lake Austin Blvd.

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Sometime in the earlier part in the mid 1980s, I contracted to run the underground utilities (water, wastewater & drainage) for the New Brackenridge Apartments that were being built. The project involved the tearing down of the old wooden buildings that had far outlived their normal life. Then the site was prepared and prefabbed concrete modules built by the HB Zachery Company In San Antonio were brought in and stacked together like toy building blocks. It was a new building concept. The Zachery Company had just finished building the Palacio Del Rio, a high rise hotel on the San Antonio … Continue reading Replacing The Old Brackenridge Apartments On Lake Austin Blvd.

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The Early Days, The History of TexasLeave a comment

Nike Missile Bases Built To Protect Bergstrom Air Force Base

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In 1960 my Dad, Cecil worked as a construction inspector for Marvin Turner Engineering. He was assigned to overseeing the building of two missile launch sites in the Austin area. There were deep underground silos dug into the ground where the Nike Missiles were to be launched from. I’ve read that the launch sites were decommissioned in 1966. I think the program was being scuttled before it really ever got off the ground. There is one off of Bee Caves Rd. The Command Center, for both launch sites, has now become the Bee Caves Armory, is across Bee Cave Road … Continue reading Nike Missile Bases Built To Protect Bergstrom Air Force Base