Category: The Early Days

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days3 Comments

The Race Was On

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The story of one of the greatest car races ever held in Smithwick. His name was Curtis “Brown” Parker. Brown Parker was how he was known. He was the person my Dad looked up to more, maybe than anyone else. Brown was several years older that Cecil Lewis. I believe that Brown help him become a man in more ways than one in his early days in Smithwick, Texas. In the 1940s Brown and Eula left Smithwick and moved to California, the same as a lot of people did during that period of time. They operated laundries in and around … Continue reading The Race Was On

Smithwick, The Early Days2 Comments

A Thanksgiving Feast With Charlie And Minnie

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I’ve written before about this couple. They showed up in Smithwick in the early 60s and became a part of the community. They had passed through the area back a couple decades before. They were content to live down in the pecan bottom on river back then. Everything they owned was in the back of an old car back then and when they returned in the 1960s their circumstances hadn’t changed much. After a few days Cecil Lewis invited them to move into the “Old House”. It had been sitting empty since my grandpa, Theron died in 1958. Nonie just … Continue reading A Thanksgiving Feast With Charlie And Minnie

Amazing Things, The Early Days5 Comments

The Little Things That Happen

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Every day events in our life happen that shape the course of our history. I sometimes play the “IF” game with myself. The most simple occurrence, the conversations we have, the chance encounters change the course of everything that will happen for the rest of our lives and will impact the lives of so many others. The most important chance encounter that changed my life happened by simply stopping at a beer joint one afternoon. The old 281 Club, that many of you remember, used to set on the side of highway between Johnson City and Marble Falls at Round … Continue reading The Little Things That Happen

Crazy Times, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The GM Executive Coach – The Money Pit

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I had always loved these motorhomes. My neighbor, Udo Haufler had one for a few years. They were only produced for 5 years in the 70’s. The oil embargo hit and people’s buying habits changed for several years and General Motors decided they needed to concentrate on things other than a cool looking motorhome. They were made from a lot of aluminum and fiberglass so weight wise they were great. They had been designed around the Oldsmobile Tornado engine and front wheel drive setup. They never had the power needed in my opinion. I knew all of this but bought … Continue reading The GM Executive Coach – The Money Pit

Amazing Things, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

There Used To Be Some Big Bullfrogs Around This Area.

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When I was a small child there used to be a lot of really large bullfrogs. We had frog legs fairly regularly. I guess they have mostly been killed off. These pictures of my brother, Kenny holding big ones. This was about 1953. But those look small compared to this on I saw here on FB. Now that would make a mess of frog legs. Continue reading There Used To Be Some Big Bullfrogs Around This Area.

Construction, Crazy Times, The Early DaysLeave a comment

It Was A Sign Of The Times

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Back in 1976 we headed off to Houston to build a project out off of Highway 6 between I-10 and 290. A new housing development. We installed the utilities (water, wastewater and storm sewers) while a company from Houston built the streets and did the grading for the project. This company was new to that type of work, as their primary business had been building and maintaining railroads. It may have been their first venture into subdivisions. They were really a bunch of nice guys that were easy to get along with. Something I can’t say for all companies we … Continue reading It Was A Sign Of The Times

Another Daily Happening, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Early Days, UncategorizedLeave a comment

We Did Things Much Differently Back Then

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I grew up around construction equipment and trucks. In the 60s when I was in high school, my dad, Cecil Lewis ran a fleet of dump trucks. Among other things we had the contract to haul the blasted rock from the Pure Stone Quarry out south of Marble Falls back to the crusher in town. Even as young and as small as I was at 14 or 15, I would single-handedly pull transmissions and replace clutches in those old dump trucks and did brake jobs. I knew how to do all that then. For sure, there was always a lot … Continue reading We Did Things Much Differently Back Then

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Cec’s Pry Bar

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(This was written by Kenny Lewis) Ronnie and I had our share of mishaps growing up and for that reason, were known by the men of the community as being rather reckless. Among those men was one of Dad’s closest friends, Brown Parker. He always said that “Cec could have been a millionaire had he knocked the two of us in the head when we were pups”. Daddy owned a pry bar that had previously been a truck axle. It was at least six feet long and 1 ½” in diameter. Brown always swore that it was the only thing … Continue reading Cec’s Pry Bar

Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Double Cross

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The are some things that happen in our lives that leave us wondering about mankind. This story left me feeling less trustful and saddened. I had become very good friends with an old gentleman that was my neighbor, Udo Haufler. Upon his retiring after a long and successful career as an excavation contractor in Austin, I bought his office and yard along with several pieces of his equipment. I didn’t buy his business per se, and I’ve alway questioned why I didn’t. He had almost cornered the market on doing big excavation projects around Austin. The Haufler name in the … Continue reading The Double Cross

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early DaysLeave a comment

MQ and the Hog Buyer

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I had only limited contact with MQ when I was a kid. I went to school with his son Winfield, but I was like many other Burnet County people, that just didn’t go around him. The first time I remember seeing MQ was during a hog buying episode when he bought a pen full of hogs from Brown Parker. Brown was my dads best friend and kept hogs at our place, down at the old place where my grandparents had once lived. MQ was a major hog raiser back in the 60s and 70s. While trying to load out the … Continue reading MQ and the Hog Buyer