By Lloyd V. LaBombard

Some folks didn’t believe at the time that this was actually the “Original” lion drinking fountain at Dennis The Menace Park in Midland, TX.
Here are some of the pictures of its complete restoration from when I found it.



By Lloyd V. LaBombard
Some folks didn’t believe at the time that this was actually the “Original” lion drinking fountain at Dennis The Menace Park in Midland, TX.
Here are some of the pictures of its complete restoration from when I found it.
Submitted by Mary Teeple
Click the link below to take a stroll back in time. Enjoy.
Submitted by Gus Jones
John Nobles, Gus Jones, Harry Miller and OB Jackson
Written by: Harry Miller
Harry Miller had a “Hide Behind”
A hide behind is a creature that no one has ever seen an lived to talk about. Sometimes called a “Worser”, cause nothing is worser than it. It’s a good thing to tell the young kids about to get them in at dark. They’re everywhere. When you walk through the woods and hear something snap a stick or make a noise behind you, and you turn around quickly but see nothing… that’s a “Hide Behind”! You can tell if one is around when you hear an owl hoot. They are warning you. When it got dark out at my ranch in Mills County TX my kids loved exploring, but as it got dark would be back in camp without me having to holler out or go look for them thanks to the owls.
Semour…the real story…
A close buddy of mine wanted to mess around with some friends. He borrowed the “Hide Behind” put ice in a 150 quart ice chest then stuck four severed legs from a deer he killed along with the hide behind head in the ice so that it looked like a whole complete animal was under the ice except the legs and head poking out… And then splashed deer blood over the top of the ice to be more convincing. He goes into the local bar and proceeds to tell people at the bar that he had been out hunting that day. As he’s telling the story, friends are buying him beers. He explains that while out hunting, several doe came up and look at the feeder. They seem anxious and jittery so the hunter thinks there must be a Buck close behind. He waits patiently and suddenly this “THING” jumps out. He asks all the locals in the bar if there is a nuclear plant anywhere nearby? Everyone denies a nuclear plant, and are more and more intrigued about the story the hunter in telling. They continue to buy him more beers. The hunter says, “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was a big monkey kangaroo looking thing. Are you sure there is no nuclear plant?” All the locals in the bar are asking to see this “creature.” So, the hunter proceeds to take them out to the car to take a look. As more and more people start gathering around, he opens the cooler. They scream, “DIABLO”- you shot the devil and some run frantically and call the Game Warden.
The local paper wrote a disturbing article about hunters that had discovered a very bizarre and dangerous animal. Adults and children alike were warned to not walk alone, stay indoors after dark, and to take extreme precaution as this animal appeared dangerous. In addition, it was suspected that there may be more than one! While we do not have the original article, here is the follow up article once the town figured out they had been snookered.
If you want to smile, take a look at this picture. You can’t look at it without smiling!
Continue readingGreat time wish we could do it again!
This is the trip that Bill Sallee spiked Joe Hurley‘s drink. Joe immediately or shortly there after disappeared.
WG and John McElligott were ordered to catch crabs and make crab cakes. There were no crabs to catch, so they went and bought some at the store. They told everyone that they were out fishing all day and caught the crabs. They have never told the gang that the crab cakes were made with store-bought crabs. All of the fishing team raved about the crab cakes and Billy Godwin and John McElligott just sat back and laughed and of course drank more tequila.
John Franklin was there and for the first time ever we noticed that he was losing his mobility and hearing. Harry Miller was asked to check him out but Harry was deaf and febrile, too, so it didn’t work out.
Anyway everyone at the fishing extravaganza can now fill in the blanks of what turned out to be a very low level catch if the memory is correct. But, a lot of fun.
Submitted by Gere Gaige
The Gang celebrating the wedding of the daughter of J. Jones.
Submitted by Scott Rogers
Cool video.
Do you remember the Ventures and Babbitt the drummer who played “Walk Don’t Run”? Do any of you remember the USAF Four Star General George Babbitt from Tacoma, WA? Anyone who thought the military is all spit and polish and discipline? Pretty interesting. General Babbitt was a drummer at one time for the Ventures. This is cool. Watch it. You will love it if you like rock n’ roll. Some of you probably don’t remember the Ventures. Those that do, enjoy the clip. It should bring a smile to your face.
Submitted by Pete Creasey
Thanks, Pete, for sharing the best of times!
Today, they range in ages from 75 to 90. Are you or do you know someone “still here”?
Interesting Facts for you.
You are the smallest group of children, born since the early 1900s.
You are the last generation, climbing out of the depression, who can remember the winds of war and the impact of a world at war which rattled the structure of our daily lives for years.
You are the last to remember ration books for everything from gas to sugar to shoes to stoves.
You saved tin foil and poured fat into tin cans.
You saw cars up on blocks because tires weren’t available.
You can remember milk being delivered to your house early in the morning and placed in the “milk box” on the porch.
You are the last to see the gold stars in the front windows of grieving neighbors whose sons died in the War.
You saw the ‘boys’ home from the war, build their little houses.
You are the last generation who spent childhood without television; instead, you imagined what you heard on the radio.
With no TV until the 50’s, you spent your childhood “playing outside”.
There was no little league. There was no city playground for kids.
The lack of television in your early years meant, that you had little real understanding of what the world was like.
On Saturday afternoons, the movies gave you newsreels sandwiched in between westerns and cartoons.
Telephones were one to a house, often shared (party lines) and hung on the wall in the kitchen (no one cares about privacy).
Typewriters were driven by pounding fingers, throwing the carriage and changing the ribbon.
INTERNET’ and ‘GOOGLE’ were words that did not exist.
Newspapers and magazines were written for adults and the news was broadcast on your radio in the evening. As you grew up, the country was exploding with growth.
The Government gave returning Veterans the means to get an education and spurred colleges to grow. Loans fanned a housing boom.
Pent up demand coupled with new installment payment plans opened many factories for work.
New highways would bring jobs and mobility.
The Veterans joined civic clubs and became active in politics.
The radio network expanded from 3 stations to thousands.
Your parents were suddenly free from the confines of the depression and the war, and they threw themselves into exploring opportunities they had never imagined.
You weren’t neglected, but you weren’t today’s all-consuming family focus. They were glad you played by yourselves until the street lights came on. They were busy discovering the post war world.
You entered a world of overflowing plenty and opportunity; a world where you were welcomed, enjoyed yourselves and felt secure in your future though depression poverty was deeply remembered.
Polio was still a crippler.
You came of age in the 50s and 60s. You are the last generation to experience an interlude when there were no threats to our homeland. The second world war was over and the cold war, terrorism, global warming, and perpetual economic insecurity had yet to haunt life with unease.
Only your generation can remember both a time of great war, and a time when our world was secure and full of bright promise and plenty. You grew up at the best possible time, a time when the world was getting better…
You are “The Last Ones.”
More than 99 % of you are either retired or deceased, and you feel privileged to have “lived in the best of times!”
Submitted by Bob Ittner