No Letter Today, but Plenty Yesterday ...

Don’t you just love to get mail? I do. Especially do I enjoy mail from those who read my column. Most reader response is in the form of e-mail while some comes in as “snail-mail.”

Mail has come in from old South Park High School Greenies, Beaumont High Purples, French High Buffaloes, St. Anthony’s High Bulldogs, members of the Pipkin Street gang, other old friends as well as strangers. I lost the first 135 letters to a computer crash. Wish I had those. Since then, I back up the emails along with the columns.

Ronnie Berwick and others wrote to inform me that Collier’s Ferry did not have an outboard motor as I reported but rather had an inboard old Ford engine. I suspect that they are correct. All I really remember is the thrill of riding across the Neches River on that old boat.

Then there was the lady that didn’t like it because I told about having a pet raccoon in 1948. My family rescued the infant animal when its mother was run over by a car in Louisiana. My sister fed the raccoon milk and tonic with a doll baby bottle. We kept the little creature until it grew up. Then we had to give it to the Beaumont Zoo because it persisted in terrorizing the neighborhood dogs. The lady wrote, “You must think you’re pretty mancho”. Since there is no such word as “mancho” I had to guess she meant “macho.” Oh well …

Tommy Leicht wrote about when he and some buddies climbed around on the underside of the Rainbow Bridge. He stated that it got pretty scary up there.

Retired Lamar Professor David G. Taylor sends me lots of mail. After I wrote a column sharing some original jokes, Taylor stated, “Please don’t give up your day job for a career in humor.” I got a big kick out of that, but you know it’s probably the best advice I’ve ever received.

It was a nice surprise to hear from Sammy Havens. He was the little boy who lived on Edwin Street behind our Pipkin Street house. Sam wrote that I should share about the night in the 1940s when gasoline storage tanks exploded at Magnolia Refinery. The fires were so tall and bright that the night turned to a flickering daylight. And today, Sam is Professor Sam Havens of St. Thomas University in Houston.

David Bean, who designed and maintains an outstanding web site on South Park High School, always sends me interesting tidbits of information. David and I hid some Monopoly Money on the back campus of Giles Elementary School. We had treasure maps but lost them. The money never again will see the light of day.

Of course I’ve heard from Jimmy Cassady. I call Jim a, “… pal of my misspent youth.” We came close to burning down the woods out at Twin Lakes. When we fished at the canal off of Avenue A, those sun perch never had a chance. And that night we nearly wrecked his dad’s Hudson Hornet still haunts me. We learned that night never again to race the Tinlin brothers down Highland Avenue.

When I wrote a column about First Security National Bank, I called Jack Darling for information. Guinn Busbee, also from my banking days, still sends information from time to time.

Church acquaintances and fellow employees of the Jefferson Theater have written to say, “hello.” Oh yes, almost forgot about the fellow that was upset because I professed a belief in God. So, you see, there’s a little bit of it all.

I have several columns coming up that will reply to my mail. Stay tuned and if you get a chance, drop me a line.

Winston Hamby
The Beaumont Enterprise
WinHamby@gmail.com