Tumbleweed Smith

I went cruising the other day with some of my friends, about 6,200 of them to be more specific.  In addition there were some 2,500 crew members to make our trip enjoyable.  We were on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, nearly four football fields long.

Forrest Green is a former state legislator who lives on a ranch near the small community of Emhouse not far from Corsicana.  Although he grew up in the city of Arlington, he preferred country life.  He moved with his family from the small town of Kirvin to Arlington when he was five months old.  During summer months he returned to Kirvin to visit his grandparents.

We stayed in El Campo when I spoke at the Louise-Hillje Chamber of Commerce banquet a couple of months ago.  I always carry my file of potential interviews when I travel and I had a few things in El Campo I wanted to check on, since I don’t get to that part of the state too often.  One of them was Grady Allen.  The information I had indicated he took pictures of mountain lions.  I had carried around his name for decades.

Deborah Burkett lives in a log house in the woods north of Jacksonville.  She owns Aunt Lillie’s Antiques and Gifts, a combination tearoom and antique store located in an old family home in Troup, Texas.  Her store is open only on weekends and serves tea and scones, cappuccino and homemade desserts.  For eleven years she has had a quilt show on July 4th and 5th.

When Ken DeFoor was with the helicopter division of the Houston Police Department in late December of 1980, there was a report of a UFO near the city of Dayton.

San Angelo is home to the Aermotor Windmill Company.

“They’re built right here and we ship them all over the world,” says Bob Bracher, president and part owner of Aermotor.   “We ship to about 25 different countries and every state in the union.”

“All I wanted was for someone to notice me, you know.  I’m tying to do something that makes me look like a man.  I’m running under coffee tables.”

Paul Williams is an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe recipient and a Music Hall of Fame songwriter.    His songs include We’ve Only Just Begun, Rainy Days And Mondays, You And Me Against The World, An Old Fashioned Love Song, Evergreen, The Rainbow Connection and the theme for Love Boat.  And that’s just a few.

I drove into George Hargrove’s place on the edge of Crockett the other day to ask directions.  While he was telling me how to get to a neighbor’s house, I noticed the well-kept trees, lawn and garden on his place.  He seemed so friendly and full of life I asked him if I could interview him.  He said sure.  I’m always looking for people with a good sense of humor and a gleam in their eye who like to talk.  George fits the bill to a T.

Larry Gill is a historian and is active in the Merkel museum, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year.  The museum has had an active five years.  It started out in a building that once was a western wear store.  It filled up quickly because residents of Merkel anxiously donated articles of historic interest.  Two building expansions have increased the museum to more than three times its original size.  The displays of vehicles, photographs, uniforms and other items are so well done the museum looks like it has been there for decades.

Tom Browning has spent most of his life in Athens. His daddy had the first dairy there.

“We milked 30 cows twice a day,” says Tom, “and sold the milk for ten cents a quart, delivered.  He went out of business in 1942.  When you milk 30 cows twice a day, it’s quite a job.  We had a Delco light plant back in those days.  We had a big boiler to wash the bottles.  We did every bit of it: bottled it, delivered it and sold it for ten cents a quart.”

The delivery wagon was a popular sight around Athens.