Looking Back with Freddie Mac

HOWDY
Well January is over and now here we are in the last of Feb.
January was a big month for me in birthdays. My mom’s birthday was the second of January. She passed away in April of 1981. My brother Gerald aka Boogie’s birthday was on the 15th. He passed away in 2004. My son John turned 46 years old on the 21st, he has been in the New Braunfels police department for twenty-two years he is now a captain he also has a real estate company in New Braunfels. My son Michael birthday was on the 28th. He passed away in 2017 at the age of thirty-two years old.
It was and still is a big change in my life. You are not supposed to bury your children but you have to deal with it and go on. I still struggle with it almost every day.
I hope that on Valentine’s day you received a big box of candy maybe some flowers, a dinner maybe a movie. If so give thanks to God that you have someone in your life. Being alone is very hard to cope with.
LOOKING back when I was in the old Garfield school. Or even back to where I started school in 1948 49 school year at the old North Heights
school on Main St that has since been torn down. I can recall buying Valentines for each one of your class mates. Some people would bring candy but my family did not have any money so I was just barely able to buy valentines cards.
At that time, we lived at 304 E. Fourth St. and I would walk to school everyday.
In 1955 we moved to the San Jose housing project. We lived at 25-6 then I went to Garfield school on Las Vacas St. right next to Marcy Martin football field. That was where the Del Rio wild cats played ball.
When I think about the wildcats I remember names like Bubba Hayes, Kimble Mitchell. Later on, when the opened memorial school on main St. across from the fairgrounds I remember Coach Bowers, Coach Bradley the principal Mr. Brown, Mrs. Stanley, Mrs. McIntyre. Miss Russell who got me in to music. She told me I should going in to singing as a career.
I recall on Saturday morning I would get up early go and pick up soda water bottles wash them up and sell them to Rudy’s grocery on West Martin St.
Sometimes I would go and cut some one’s yard there in the project with a push mower. The reason I did all of that was to get money to go to the princess theater to see a double feature western movie.
Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry, Gabby Hayes, Rex Allen. Wild Bill Elliot and many more. Sometimes I would stay and see them twice. With less than a dollar you could go to the movie and eat all of the popcorn you could stand all of the soda you wanted.
Before we would go to the movie I would go to Kelly’s news stand on
the corner of Griner and Garfield and get a bag of kettle corn /then once you were in the movies you would mix it with the popcorn you
would buy at the theater. If I didn’t stay to see the movie twice I would
walk up Main St. and at that time on Saturday it was so crowded you
could barely walk. How I wish we could see that kind of crowd today.
Walk in to Morrison’s store and just look around at what they had for
sale or Mr. Ripley’s and for sure go to Kress but as I say there was always a big crowd of people. I used to go in the Guarantee store just to look at the clothes. I was never able to buy anything there but they had some beautiful clothes there.
Then I would go to Hoution’s music store and check out the guitars on display there. years later I was able to buy a g 70 Gibson from there
I would then go to Seeger’s bakery and get some glazed donuts or cream puffs and then go next door to the Texas theater to see a Mexican movie. It seems there was always some one there who did not want me there. I was told you’re a gringo you don’t belong here go back to the princess or the Rita. Looking back now there was some good times.
I loved to see the crowds on Main St. Listen to the people talking and just hanging, sometimes alone sometimes with Robert Diaz, Salvador Tobie Torres, Jimmy Flores, and Danny Meza.
In closing let me say that although the crowds are not there any more take a walk down Main St and listen and learn starting at the Club Cafe at the railroad track all the way to the end of South Main where at that time was Caesar’s Steakhouse. There is a lot of history here in my home town Del Rio Texas go out and check it out I have been to a lot of cities but there is no place like my home town take care god bless. A Thank you to the Val Verde County Library and Victor Cirilo.

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