By Linda Mills Wofford
1945 Price List
Author: What's in the Water
Pagoda Pool-1944
Written by Arvol Brown
Here is a picture taken IN the Pagoda pool…
Pictured, my Dad, Arvol Brown, SR., holding my Sister , Lynn(black swim suit), about 1944 just before I was born… Those “old Brownie cameras”… notice a little double exposure… !!
Lost in the Fifties!
Our Good friend and classmate, Pete Creasey, shared this wonderful video of memories of the 50’s. How many things do you recognize?
Click here to Read moreReflections from Tim Doreen MHS ’61
Written by Tim Doreen
We had HOGAN PARK golf course—ball field where we played summer ball.
Of course who can forget the Midland Club out by the circle–later home for the famed “pussy cat a-go-go” which was in its hay day while we were in college. They even had a back room to gamble-just ask Yippy Rankin!
How about S&Q CLOTHIERS close to Cissy Clark’s family owned KING BURGER? A couple doors down was CROWLEY ‘S REXALL DRUG- my first job in Midland in ninth grade working in the soda counter.
I shopped at GENERAL CLOTHING on the south side. They were open seven days a week and also SUNDAYS-owned by our own CAROL LEVITT family.
Seems like we followed HART’S Quick Shop wherever they were as that is where the DESERT RATS could purchase that ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPRING WATER- AT 16/17 years old.
We also ventured to THE COBRA CLUB down across the tracks (in the flats) to hear FATS DOMINO–BO DIDLEY-others usually on Sunday nights.
Marshall King was the owner of a few businesses and I played summer baseball with Marshall King, Jr. What fun!!
Road trips included LAKE J.B. THOMAS–not far from Snyder, Texas. Rolling in the sand out at Monahan’s State Park ~~~more to follow! ~~~~ Tim Doreen
A.W. Hammock- Memories of Midland
Recently, during a phone conversation between Jerry Callaway and A.W. “Peanut” Hammock, the two shared fond memories of their times growing up in Terminal and Midland, Texas, as well as, recalling memories of their high school track days.
How we got to Midland
A.W. Hammock:
“My father was a Highway Patrolman in North Texas. He did really well and he loved being a Highway Patrolman. He said it was the most exciting thing he ever did in his life. When we lived in Dalhart, his sister’s husband was working in the oil field business. We went down to visit with them every once in a while, and we went to my uncle’s, Uncle Cord, several times. He lived outside of Dalhart. My father found out that working for the Highway Patrol wasn’t making a whole lot of money for the family. So, he quit and went to work for Mobil Oil. We went first to West Texas and lived there a year or two. I cannot remember the name of the town. Then we moved to Kermit for a year until we finally moved to Terminal, Texas. We moved to Terminal because it was much less expensive to live there than to live in Midland. We lived in the old Army barracks for 7-8 years while Dad was working in various places south of Midland. He worked mostly in the oil fields just south of Terminal and that meant he could go to work every day. He had to go check on oil drilling wells. I would get to go with him every once in a while. He couldn’t take us very often. It was flabbergasting to me because we had no idea what he did but he would check on the levels in the big tanks. Now that doesn’t sound that dangerous, but at the time, they were blowing off excess fuel off the tanks with big torches. It was really interesting. One day he came up with an easier way to reach the top of those tanks to burn off the excess oil. He shot burning arrows up to the top of the tanks to light the excess fuel needing to be burned off. What he went through to keep it going was dangerous!”
CLICK TO Read moreMidland Community Theatre
Written by Dianne Neuman Whittington
Art Cole created the Midland Community Theatre in 1946. I became involved with the Children’s Theatre sometime in grade school but am not sure the exact grade. My mother was very interested in the arts and wanted her children to be exposed at an early age. The children’s classes were directed by Josephine Moran. We met once a week to learn about the theatre, act out small plays, learn about scenery, projecting our voices, writing plays, and where to stand on a stage.
click here to read moreMemories by Eric Moore- Part 1
Notes by Prissy Pense-Moore:
I have been asking Eric Moore (John’s brother) for his take on the Moore boys’ childhood stories for several months and, as you can see in the attachment, he and Beth finally got the time to sit down and give Beth the chance to put his memories to paper. It is beautifully written and I’m sitting here with tears in my eyes and I’m laughing out loud while I’m reading. Eric was always so good at telling the stories of some of their adventures. I’m sure everyone else will enjoy them too – and probably be able to relate to many of the adventures.Although I didn’t know John’s family while we were children, I heard these stories many times during John and my 22-year “courtship.” I didn’t have brothers but did grow up around male cousins so I could still relate to some of the shenanigans myself. I will use Eric’s stories as a launchpad to tell some of the stories of our family and growing up in Midland. The crazy, funny stories is what made growing up in West Texas so unique and character building.Eric’s document is pretty long so I will break it into several postings. It seems to have several natural breaking points.Enjoy the reading.
Written by: Eric Moore with the aid of Beth Moore
Introduction:Charles Hall asked Eric a while back if he would submit a blog about what it was like to grow up in Texas, especially Midland and play little league baseball. We had every intention of submitting something right away, but Eric’s not been in a good place the last couple of years health-wise. Prissy Pense-Moore, wife of Eric’s brother John, recently sent us an email encouraging us to participate in this wonderful endeavor and she attached the chapters on Little League Baseball (“Boys of Summer”), written by Charles Hall. It was like stepping back in time and being a nine-year-old boy in Midland again – at a Little League game! His story (which is absolutely writing at its best!!) was just the inspiration needed to get started because our thought was how can we NOT participate and share Eric’s story?
Charles suggested Eric also write about experiences and memories related to his family, how his parents met, what his dad did, where all the Moore boys were born and how they ended up in Midland, what life was like being an older brother to John and playing sports together plus both of them being coached by their dad in little league baseball, Eric’s experiences playing numerous sports (both in junior high and high school) and the influence some of his coaches (beginning with Little League and ending with his football days at Midland High School and Texas Tech) had on his life. Charles suggested Eric talk about some of the teachers and friends that impacted his life, his career path, and where he is right now in his life.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READINGFirst Grade-St Ann’s Catholic School
By John McElligott
I did not know how to read, write, or even how to count. I was 5 years old and scared to death. I sat down as straight as I could and interlocked my fingers on top of the desk. I looked to my right. Skipper Goulet was down below me and Joe O’Neill, Harry Miller and Cathy Colligan were at the end of the row. They all were staring straight ahead at a black board with letters from top to bottom. I later found out the writing on the board was all capital letters. A very pleasant Nun introduced herself as Sister Jean Marie, and she called upon me to point out the letter “A”. I stood up and saw the first letter in the upper left corner and the last letter in the lower right corner. Not knowing anything, including my ABC’s, I picked the first letter at the top left. I was so proud of myself for picking the correct letter. I had become a student!
I looked around and saw a beautiful girl with long blond hair. Her name was Margery Chase, and to her side,a boy named John De Julio. I decided I needed to meet them. There were some big boys in the class, as well, who soon became my playmates. My only saving grace was that I could out run them all.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READINGEarly Years: Eric Moore
Written by Eric Moore with the aid of Beth Moore
Eric’s fondest memories of his childhood always center around his love for his family, especially his dad, Charles Hurtte (Red) Moore, and sports. He spent a lot of one-on-one time with his dad fishing, hunting, and playing baseball, his favorite sport. Red was born and raised in Houston, and as a young college student he was a catcher on the varsity team at Rice University, progressing to playing on semi-pro teams that traveled all over Texas.
Eric’s mom, Eugenia (Jean) Franek Moore, was an accomplished swimmer and her biggest claim to fame was she swam against, and BEAT, Babe Didrikson as a teenager. Babe went on to swim in the Olympics. With World War Il on the verge of breaking out, Jean’s family decided to send her to the U.S. (alone and on a cruise ship) when she was 16. She moved in with an older single woman near Rice University, who became her tutor and mentor. Because of her limited English, Jean enrolled in a public school, advancing from the first grade ail the way through high school in approximately 11 months. Jean was always timid about letting anyone know she was from an Austrian/German heritage. Her goal was to be as “American” as she could, but she never quite lost her European accent.
Red and Jean met while swimming in Galveston (Jean always bragged to her sons that she had a good figure and was a knock-out and that was what caught Red’s eye on the beach in Galveston!). They were married shortly after during the height of World War and with the high demand for oil & gas, Red was able to avoid military duty after he left Rice University to pursue a career as a geologist with Standard Oil. He took information from geographic teams and plotted possible drill sites for oil. This launched a career as party chief on a seismic crew, which began with Standard Oil, later known as Humble Oil, Exxon Oil, and finally Exxon-Mobil: the only company Red worked for. Their married life began in Houston and his career as a “Doodlebugger” took them all over Texas and New Mexico. They had 3 sons: Charles was born in San Angelo, Eric was born in Houston, and John was born in Kerrville all 22 months apart.
Little League Days: Eric Moore
Written by Eric Moore with the aid of Beth Moore
Of the three Moore boys, Eric and John were the two most interested in sports. John was always in the shadow of Eric and wanted to be wherever Eric was, and doing what Eric was doing, John was a good athlete because his heart made him a super player, whereas Eric was more athletic and his abilities far exceeded his age group – even as a young boy. His first memory of playing a sport was in Little league baseball as a shortstop and pitcher while living in San Angelo at 9 years old, with his dad coaching the team. Eric and John both learned some amazing coaching skills from their dad and took those skills into their adult years. What Eric remembers most is that Red was very gentle, and he never screamed or yelled at anyone. He was very hands-on in teaching young boys how to play baseball and many of them turned out to be super players.
It was around this time (1953) that the family finally settled in Midland, toward the end of Eric’s 6th grade. Eric started first grade in New Mexico at 5 years old, always putting him in a position to be the youngest, so in order to catch up the family held him back to repeat the 6th grade when they moved to Midland. It turned out to be a great decision. Eric matured very quickly, and by 12 years old he had reached a height of 5′ 9″ and towered over everyone. The only other kid as big as he was was Billy Owens, but his athletic skills had not developed fully.
John and his friend, Charles Hall, decided at 10 that it was time for them to play little league baseball and wanted to be on Red’s team. Tryouts weren’t going well for Charles and he felt since he was sent to the far outer field his chances of playing with John were slipping away. However, after a while a kid by the name of Charles Moore came up to him and told him he had been told to come pick some players to try out for his dad’s team and he needed to report to the other field. Seems there was a rule that each team had to have a designated number of younger 9 and 10 year olds on each team to balance it out, and John and Charles both realized their dream of making Red’s team and playing with John’s bigger brother, Eric, just might come true after all.
Since Eric’s brother John was always his shadow, Eric taught the younger guys everything he knew about baseball – batting, pitching, catching, fielding balls, and playing shortstop, John improved quickly and was soon assigned to second base playing next to Eric, who played shortstop (when he wasn’t pitching). The two of them turned a lot of double plays together, especially since Billy Owens was on first base and John McElligott was catching. Eric remembers the first time John McElligott played catcher behind home plate in all his catcher’s gear and he pitched to him. He was so little that when he squatted down with pads, a baseball glove, and mask on, all you could see were the whites of his eyes and the ball as it was headed toward him! He managed to connect with numerous pitches from Eric, though, but the balls were thrown so fast and hard that when caught they generally knocked him on his behind. He was determined to be a good player and according to Eric he did become a great catcher.