Buckshots

         Beginning around 1960, I became aware of the propaganda being pushed onto elementary school children regarding the communist threat.   Every shop, church, funeral parlor and school in Sherman, Texas, had brochures detailing the treacherous methods communists utilized to undercut our American lives.      These pamphlets often used “comic book-like” stories to make the point, “communists were everywhere!”  They worked their way into our society, they could be your next door neighbor, teachers or in our government.  People you do not suspect…friends, your other-wise funny uncle…Perhaps, YOUR OWN PARENTS could potentially be under the spell of these Atheist, Communist villains from Russia or China.  How did it happen?…we do not know, but be vigilant.  IT IS ALL UP TO YOU to keep communism out of Sherman.      This all scared me to death…supplemented with TV shows and monologues from our e...

      Every year since forever, the International Council of Shopping Centers holds a May convention in Las Vegas.   This event hosts 35-40,000 participants and now fills up the convention center with massive booths, displaying new and existing shopping center projects.        In the late 70’s, the developer’s booths were in the hotel suites along the Las Vegas strip.  Back to back, rapid fire meetings were held for retailers looking for shop space, landlords looking to lease space and vendors selling their wares.  I was working for developer, Melvin Simon and Associates, and for a couple of years was responsible for our leasing suite at the original MGM Hotel.         I scheduled the food, drink, rooms and everything associated with almost 3 days of deal making, involving over a thousand people in our suite alone.   We also had Ed McMahon present for several hours a day, serving as our corporate sp...

      In 1973, Melvin Simon and Associates transferred me from a small mall in Indiana to Irving Mall in Irving, Texas.   Though no longer an entry level role, it still paid “slave wages.”   In order to buy food, I needed to find something in radio or TV on the weekends.   I was hired for Saturday and Sunday evenings at WRR-AM, 1310 on the dial.   This was a grand old radio station with a long colorful history, located in Fair Park on the site of the Texas State Fair.       I talked and played music from 6 PM until midnight on Saturday.   On Sunday, Brad Sham (early in his career and destined to become the broadcasting “Voice of the Cowboys”) had a talk show with sport celebrities at 8 PM.   I handled the callers, played the commercials and interacted with Brad, when he wanted to banter.   It was easy and fun…Brad was a nice guy and I met some interesting people.        A couple of tim...

      My 50th high school reunion is coming up in October in Sherman, Texas and I (as always) have mixed emotions.   It is nice to see old friends, but bushels of them have died or fallen off the face of the earth and disappeared.   This causes me to pause over the enormity of life’s relationships, eternity and what we can actually accomplish in our allotted time here on earth.   One minute you are a pre-teen knuckle-head kid in elementary school, attempting to figure out life, making friends and establishing relationships.   The next moment, you are an almost 70-year-old knucklehead grandparent, your friends seem to be vanishing and you are still hoping to figure out life.   What is going on?   It is all too fast!   I want to nurture the good memories to savor as I age and to lessen the impact of those unpleasant events still lodged in my psyche.      Scheduled events for the weekend include tours of our old hi...

      My friend and fellow ’68 graduate of Sherman High School, Bobby Ward, and I are the only people I know who have shot themselves in the foot.   It is extremely painful to shoot yourself in the foot and equally embarrassing.          There is simply little pity associated with this type of accident.  Folks assume you were playing around, perhaps doing a “fast draw”, when you blast off a round into your foot.  You then hop around, curse and look rather comical…even though it hurts like blazes.  It is not unlike getting smacked below the belt and dropping to your knees.  The “Funniest Home Videos’ are always showing footage of someone getting hit in the crotch, folding up in pain, while the audience howls with laughter.      I was playing in Sherman’s church softball league one summer and a ball was hit, rocketing off the bat at about 3 feet above the ground, until it connected with my “huevos ...

     I began 9th grade at Piner Jr. High in the fall of ’64, at the old location on King Street.   I had already put in two years at the school and felt I knew the lay of the land.   I got through science in the 8th grade with Mrs. Tocquigny.   I thought she was very nice, even though she did administer her paddle to my precious hiny on numerous occasions.   She always gave me fair warning, didn’t seem to enjoy it and pled with me to keep my yap shut during class as she attempted to mold young minds.      Science in the 9th grade was a totally different experience.  We had a coach as our science instructor.  He brooked no nonsense, nothing normal was funny, he mocked students on a regular basis, had a sadistic streak and did not particularly enjoy teaching or teens.  It appeared he was required to do something in addition to coaching and all the Driver’s Ed. spots were taken.  I felt we had better give...