Category: The Jollyville Years

Amazing Things, Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, The Jollyville YearsLeave a comment

Rattlers Were Ever-Present

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The Lewis Brother’s holding up a couple of large rattlesnakes back in the spring of 1960. We lived “Down on the Creek” as referred to it. That was just above Bull Creek out of Jollyville. The hilliest, rockiest piece of ground you ever tried to walk across. We were riding horses, our enterprise back then was breaking and training shetlands, when we rode up across the hill looking down toward our house. These two snakes were rearing up and wrapping themselves around each other. I’m sure we thought they were fighting, but mostly likely they were romancing. Kenny tore on … Continue reading Rattlers Were Ever-Present

Amazing Things, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and Musings8 Comments

Pond Springs School In Jollyville

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I attended a three room school in Jollyville for my first 7 years. First – Third in one room. Forth – Sixth in another. Seventh & Eighth in the other. By the time I got to the 7th grade there were only 2 grades per room with the 8th grade being eliminated (sent on to Round Rock) and the 7th grade was moved into the Principal’s office. It was a big Principal’s office, but it doubled as the mimeograph room, the ice cream store and storage too. (Picture included below) More on the ice cream store at a later date. … Continue reading Pond Springs School In Jollyville

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Another Strange Happening

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When we were kids going to school in Jollyville, there were the Reeves boy’s that were the same age as Kenny and me. Donny was Kenny’s age, while Danny and I were in the same grade. We often visited each other’s house and played together. Then the Reeves’s cousin Elvin Horner came to live with them. He was Kenny and Donny’s age. The Reeves family moved and we lost touch with them. That was about 1963. By the mid 80s I was awarded a contract to construct a development project in Round Rock. When we got started building it, I … Continue reading Another Strange Happening

The Early Days, The Jollyville YearsLeave a comment

Texas State Hog Farm at Cedar Park, Texas

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When I was growing up in Jollyville, during the 1950s and 1960s there was a large hog farm that was operated by the state right out along US 183 between Jollyville and Cedar Park. The farm started along where the Lakeline Mall Home Depot is and continued along the north side of the highway to about where Avery Ranch Blvd or maybe even farther west. It probably continued north to approximately where Parmer Lane currently runs. I have read that the state owned portion of this farm was 308 acres with an additional 1,140 leased acres. I remember there were … Continue reading Texas State Hog Farm at Cedar Park, Texas

Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

My Harvey Penick Story

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This really isn’t about Harvey Penick per se, instead involves his daughter. I used his name because it will grab ahold of just about anyone that has ever played the game of golf or has connection to The University of Texas. Mr. Penick owed a ranch down the road from us when Kenny and I were growing up down on the creek out of Jollyville. It was his weekend get away, but at the time of this happening (1963/1964) his daughter was living there. She had a German Sheppard Dog and a Collie. Us being goat people, we had to … Continue reading My Harvey Penick Story

Amazing Things, The Early Days, The Jollyville Years10 Comments

Swimming Holes on Bull Creek

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This is swimming weather. A hot and sunny afternoon like we have today transports me back in time. Before we moved back to Marble Falls, we spent almost a decade living near Jollyville in two locations. From 1958 until 1965 we lived down Spicewood Springs Road, where I’ve written about breaking Shetlands, raising Angora goats, playing with copperheads and rattlesnakes and had every kind of adventure young boys could have ever wished for. The beautiful Bull Creek meandered up through a nice peaceful valley from Lake Austin just below the Loop 360 – Pennybacker Bridge to the head of it … Continue reading Swimming Holes on Bull Creek

Crazy Times, My Friends, The Early Days, The Jollyville YearsLeave a comment

Beer Company Sponsorships

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Back in the 50s and on into to 60s the various beer companies would hire bands to promote their product. A local Austin band, Jesse James and All The Boys was one that Pearl Beer sponsored. Pearl also had another band, Adolph Hofner and the Pearl Wranglers that was more widely recognized than the James band. I used to hear radio promotions for Adolph Hofner, mostly playing in San Antonio, on up into the 70s. I mention Jesse (William Howard “Jesse”) James because he used to come to our house “On The Creek” just out of Jollyville. He was a … Continue reading Beer Company Sponsorships

Amazing Things, The Early Days, The Jollyville YearsLeave a comment

The Treehouse Of My Youth

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I was running a little ahead of time for a doctor appointment a while back in Austin. I decided to drive by the place we called home from 1958 until 1965. What was back then a small wooden structure built on uneven ground, up a canyon that was 65 acres comprised of mostly shin oak scrub brush and rocky soil with a scattering of live oaks that has now given way to yet another suburban neighborhood. The street leading off of a then unpaved country lane is now Talleyrand Dr. The rocky little trail up to our house is now … Continue reading The Treehouse Of My Youth

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, My Friends, The Early Days, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Making Of A Short Documentary

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This is a Post that I made on this date February 7, 2018. We are six years and a million miles from here now. Several years ago my grandson Nathan came to me and ask for help with a school project. Nathan graduated last year and this happened when he was about 9 or 10 so yes, it’s been awhile. He needed to do a report about something historic. Since we owned the old Bertram Drug Store at that time and I’d researched the history of that building, I suggested that be the topic. A short time before that I … Continue reading The Making Of A Short Documentary

Amazing Things, Another Daily Happening, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Sideboards

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When I ran across the post below about the Bois D’arc tree, it conjured up a memory from more than 60 years ago. We were living down on the creek out of Jollyville. Cec, our dad bought a 3/4 Chevrolet Pickup. It had been a Texas Highway Department truck in its first life. So it was yellow with the huge logo sanded off the doors. Later on he even painted it green. Not a green anyone else on earth would have chosen for a pickup truck. It was something of a mint green, but not a true mint green. It … Continue reading The Sideboards