The Best Of Times? Really?

By Chris Campbell

I’ve reached the age where I can walk from one room to another, and in the span of that five second walk completely forget why I was making the journey Calling for one of my children sounds like roll call in school as I desperately search for the correct name I forget where I laid my keys; I forget where I put my wallet; I forget where I parked my car at Wal-Mart The uncanniness of my forgetfulness is mind boggling ALMOST as mind boggling as the things that I remember…AND why I remember them

Case in point: I was dropping my youngest off at football practice this past week. As I was doing so I overheard two moms talking about a vacation they had taken that summer to which one of them remarked, “Those were the best of times.”

I was instantly transported back in time to 1981….Fort Worth, TX Altamesa Blvd Rollerland couple skate

…and Jill Cobb.

I was only eleven years old, but I knew a pretty girl when I saw one. Jill was fourteen years old and way, way, WAY out of my league for more reasons than just the fact that she was a teenager She had pretty green eyes with thick, flowing brown hair and a “Coppertone” tan I, on the other hand, was pale, dumpy and buck-toothed with a chili-bowl haircut that would make Moe Howard jealous. She was definitely the prettiest girl in the joint as well as being a mighty fine skater (she could even skate backwards!)

Every Saturday she was there making that trip around the rink, with seemingly the eyes of every guy following her as she went. As she would skate by I would turn to my friends and declare, “One day Jill Cox will ‘couple skate’ with me!” They were hardly encouraging, falling all over themselves laughing at me, as they knew I didn’t have the guts to even talk to her. I was offered multiple games of pinball as a wager for completing the daunting task, but not even that could help me muster the courage

In 1981, the rock band Styx released an album called “Paradise Theater.” It was played non-stop at Rollerland When the DJ at the rink would announce it was time for “Couple Skate” one of the songs he inevitably would play was a song from the album called “The Best Of Times ”

It was a cool Saturday in early spring when that exact scenario played out. The DJ announced, “This is couple skate – couple skate only ” and then the familiar piano chord played, and Dennis DeYoung’s tenor voice bellowed, “Tonight’s the night we’ll make history ”

And I was filled with a resolve that would not be swayed

My buddies all had fear in their eyes as I skated towards where Jill Cox was standing with three friends I rehearsed my simple request in my mind repeatedly as I drew closer to my destiny. She turned from her friends and towards me as I skated to within a few feet of them…

…and that’s when my skates flew out from under me and I landed flat on my back

Her friends laughed hysterically She giggled then asked if I was okay The breath had been totally knocked out of me, so I uttered no more than a groan. I then rolled onto my stomach and armycrawled back to Dork Land and the friendly confines of my amused friends with the words of Dennis DeYoung singing “ all memories of yesterday will last a lifetime ” Now where did I put those keys…?

In Kind Donors

Wal-Mart, 20 briskets

Bill Smith, Howe Mini Storage, $300

Metal Masters, $1,000

Great Days of Service, labor and supplies

Keep Howe Beautiful, labor and supplies

The Siding Man, Inc., $2,800

AAA Guardian Foundation Repair, $2,500

Brice Harvey, bbq cook

Dick Smithwick, bbq cook

Don Anderson, auctioneer

Howe Enterprise, advertising

Van Alstyne Leader, advertising

Herald Democrat, advertising

Loretta Anderson, Texas Farm Bureau, 125 cups

Darren Foster, Texas Farm Bureau, 125 cups

Donna Wormsbaker, beans for BBQ dinner

Bev Martin, bread for BBQ dinner

Mary Jo Wrenn, bread for BBQ dinner

Georgia Caraway, tea and coffee for BBQ dinner

Jean Norman, coleslaw for BBQ dinner

Mama Suzy’s Sweets and Eats, 8 doz sugar cookies for BBQ dinner

Mary Stonebarger, 8 doz chocolate chip cookies for dinner

Sherry Folks, potato salad for BBQ dinner

Sunny Delight, 200 drinks

Grayson County Blood Bank, radio ads

Howe Fire Station, use of building for BBQ dinner

Ronnie Morris, labor on benches

FINANCIAL DONORS:

Collins Memorial, $24,350

Howe Historical Society, $14,500

Georgia Caraway, $2,880

Oscar Blankemeyer, $1,420

Nortex Field Services, $1,000

Jerry and Patsy Kelsoe, $600

Advantage Business Machines, $200

Anonymous, $200

Waldo Funeral Home, $100

Scoggins Funeral Home, $100

M E Curtis, $100

Monty Ulmer, $100

Carolyn Monroe, $40

Children and citizens of Howe, $205

Ray Selby, $20

Perhaps no figure is more a part of Texas History and American folklore than Davy Crockett. In his life on the frontier and his death, he has been a hero to millions of Americans for generations.

David Crockett was born in the mountains of eastern Tennessee in 1786 He was the fifth of nine children in a farming family By the age of twelve, he was part of cattle drives from Tennessee into Virginia He had little formal education and taught himself to read, write, and add He became known for his quick wit and storytelling

By 1816, Crockett and his new family settled in Lawrence County, Tennessee, where Crockett farmed, hunted, and ran two mills and a distillery. He was soon elected as county commissioner and became a lieutenant colonel in the local militia unit He was elected to the state legislature by 1821 and to Congress by 1827

He had a bitter falling out with President Andrew Jackson over