I'll bet you're amazed to receive another TLC so
soon. This one contains old but probably welcome information and chuckles. Hope
you enjoyed the issue on the bridge dedication. There were so many "old"
faces in town over the weekend it was like a big reunion.
In addition to Ike's class of 1949 and others of
that era, the class of 1956 made a good showing. Out-of-towners included Jerry
Mischon from Houston, Sally Brasher Lowther now living in Kansas, Dee Park
& Charles LeMonnier from Lake Lotawana, Mary Kay Skelton Smith and husband David from Denver, youngsters Charlotte Skelton Guiberson of Dallas
and fiancé Max Dallman of Lee's Summit, and Molly Benson Homan and her husband.
I fear I'm leaving out someone, but I'll make amends when the name wanders into
my brain.
We have a multitude of photos for this
issue. Some have large graphics (to make it easier to see, my dear) so you'll
have to be patient loading. Webmaster Ball does the best he can with the
hopeless newbie writing the newsletter.
I do have some sad news to pass along. The class
of 1955 lost one of its own - Mike Fenner. I believe he had been ill for some
time.
You know the policy on death reports - if someone
asks me to publish that news, I do. Generally the word gets around to those who
care, but I'm glad to accommodate any requests.
With apologies for the news being dated (my
fault), let's get right to the mail.
Lucia Cope '59 Hulston, notably absent Saturday, wrote:
I believe the fire of '57 started early on
New Year's Eve in 1957, and for some reason we were in school that day. At
lunch hour we were permitted to walk downtown to watch the action. The medical clinic above Ford and Rush was severely damaged, but even the fire did
not cancel my parents' annual New Year's Eve open house.
I vividly remember that Daddy and Dr. Brasher seemed much jollier that evening than I thought they had reason to be! Neither of them must have
been on call that night!
P.S. I heard on the grapevine
that Entine's Red Goose sign was sold on eBay. Fact or
rumor?
I may have addressed this before, but the Red Goose Shoes sign is indeed gone. It has been sold, presumably to a collector,
but it's a shame that it left Lexington after all these years.
I hope I'm not spilling beans prematurely
(unintentional pun), but one of our most constant hang-outs has been sold. In
various incarnations it was Tastee Lunch (the Slop Shop), the Dragon's Den, and
Dave's Cafe. (Did I forget any?) When Dave & Flo Frerking retired the
cafe sat empty, but next TLC I may be able to announce a new owner and new
menu.
Don '43 Stephenson also wrote about
the fire:
Sorry to hear about the fire at
Entine's. It certainly is nostalgic to remember Entine's as I worked there
on Saturdays in the men's clothing department during my high school days at dear
old LHS. I remember Helen and Ike Entine, as well as their mother and father. The old man used to tell me to make sure I sold a customer
something before he left the store. I also remember that they had a code
on each garment that told how much the item cost the store so that I could
figure out how low a price I could offer a customer and still enable the store
to make a profit. I even remember the code. It was based on the word
Mayflower with each letter standing for a number starting with M standing for 1,
a standing for 2, etc.
I also had occasion to visit
Helen Entine's husband, Sidney Wexler, in Calcutta, India while we both served
in the Army there during World War II. He served as a dentist and did dental work on the troops that maintained an oil pipeline that ran from Calcutta
to the location of the start of the Burma Road where the oil was pumped into tanker trucks that were then driven over the Burma Road to Kunming, China.
Each month he would travel along the oil pipeline doing dental work and then end
up back in Calcutta where he stayed at an officer's billet. He was a
captain. He found out where I was located, which was at a B-29 base about
100 miles from Calcutta and invited me to visit him if I could. So, I got
a few days of leave and caught a flight to Calcutta in an Army Air Force Air Transport Command plane and visited with him at his quarters for a few
days. I also saw him in Lexington after the
war.
Lexington people do have a
strong need to re-connect (witness the number of people who subscribe to
TLC).
This came in from Mike
McDonald:
I often tell my kids and grandchildren about
many of the things that happened while we were growing up. I believe that
most of us did not merely survive but we thrived and became more mature and independent. The last two generations have way too many fears, too much
money, too much TV and other entertainment. I would not exchange my
childhood in Lexington for any I have seen in the past 50 years!
Don Simmons called me yesterday and said that Bobby Warner told him that he had heard that Larry Marcks had died
recently. I went to the Amarillo Globe site on the internet and found his
obit. His obit. said that Larry had graduated from Wentworth and had
attended U. of Mo. I talked with Larry at the 50th reunion in Sept.
2001. His obit also said that he was born at Linwood Lawn. I knew
that he lived at Linwood Lawn when in high school but did not know he was born
there. One of the Four Roses has
left us.
Jack Gueguen explains
further:
Mike mentions "the four roses." This
was a boys quartet our LHS typing teacher got going (Mary ?) when we were
juniors. We stayed together through college and often sang in Lex.
Maybe you remember. The other member (besides Larry, Mike, and I) was Kent
Hicklin. We've lost track of him.
And that began the Incredible Hunt for Kent
Hicklin!
Somehow Mike McDonald found
him:
Kent is in Las Vegas and has an e-mail
address: pogo506@aol.com This should allow us roses that are left to keep
in better touch.
P.S. The "roses" refers to our boys
quartet, of which Larry Marcks was 2nd bass.
And then news came in from the younger set,
mostly class of 1959. Charlotte Skelton Guiberson wrote (before the
Dedication this past Saturday):
I can't tell you how much fun it has been to
read your TLC letters. It has been so much fun to learn about other people's experiences in Lexington. I know you have had your hands full doing the letters.
Thanks is such a little thing to say when we all have enjoyed it so
much. I think Molly Benson Homan and Lucia
are also coming down. It will be fun to see so many people again.
My fiance, Max Dallman will be there
Saturday. He is originally from Warrensburg. I met him when I was in school
there and I introduced him to his late wife Dorothy.
I hope you're all following Harry
Dunford's Lexitown blog! You go to www.blogger.com. The ID is Lexitown, and the
password is Minutemen. You should be able to remember that!!!
When you are ready, go to the TLC web
page and play Guess Who Lived in Lexington Then. Click
on:
Send your identifications, your news,
and your comments. Your friends want to hear from you all.
Your dedicated scribe,
Susan
TLC #75: May 20, 2005