[TikiOwl]

I'm looking for photos,I know about the three that are part of the digitized Bob Bailey Collection at UT, but was wondering if any others exist. Would also like to hear from anyone who skated at the Polar Wave.

[Heights2Bastrop]

My mom used to skate there back in the late '30s. One of her good friends there was Josephine Cottle. Mom dated her brother for a time.

Josephine was “discovered” by Jesse Laskey in a talent search in Houston. She went to Hollywood and eventually changed her name to Gail Storm of “My Little Margie” and “Oh, Susannah” TV fame.

[plumber2]

Heights2Bastrop, on Monday, February 5th, 2007 @ 11:01am, said:

My mom used to skate there back in the late '30s. One of her good friends there was Josephine Cottle. Mom dated her brother for a time.

Josephine was “discovered” by Jesse Laskey in a talent search in Houston. She went to Hollywood and eventually changed her name to Gail Storm of “My Little Margie” and “Oh, Susannah” TV fame.

Heah Height2Bastrop, my mom skated there also in the 30's. She still has her skates hanging in the garage (the spiders lov'em). She lived on Southmore in the early 30's and then on Allston St. in the heights (across from Milroy park) later on. What part of the Heights you from?

[Heights2Bastrop]

My mom went to Hamilton, then to Reagan. They moved to Midland for a while, then back to Houston where she graduated in ’38 from Reagan. They lived on Shepherd just off 11th when she graduated. Her last name was Dykes.

I grew up on 14th near Beall.

[plumber2]

Heights2Bastrop, on Monday, February 5th, 2007 @ 5:09pm, said:

My mom went to Hamilton, then to Reagan. They moved to Midland for a while, then back to Houston where she graduated in ’38 from Reagan. They lived on Shepherd just off 11th when she graduated. Her last name was Dykes.

I grew up on 14th near Beall.

That's cool. My father graduated from Reagan in '38 also. His last name was Gillis. They lived on Ashland near 13th. That's within a few blocks from each other. He attended All Saints School and then St. Thomas High School downtown for a couple of years until his parents got short of money. He passed away in '02.

My mother is four years older. She attended schools all over the south, Pensacola, Mobile, San Antonio, and Houston (St. Agnes). She landed in Houston (for good) in 1935. She is now in a nursing home and has Alzheimers. The funny thing is, she remembers stuff from that era but not much of anything else. She has pictures of herself skating at Polar Wave. I'll try to scan them and get my 18 year old to show me how to post them.

I grew up just off the Southwest Freeway (Chimney Rock exit) but we moved to Galveston county in '71. (I'm still there)

[57Tbird]

Heights2Bastrop, on Monday, February 5th, 2007 @ 9:01am, said:

My mom used to skate there back in the late '30s. One of her good friends there was Josephine Cottle. Mom dated her brother for a time.

Josephine Cottle was a 1940 grad of San Jacinto High. Did your mom meet her brother through her friendship with Josephine or vice versa. Did her brother also go to San Jac? I used to tag along with my sisters, who went to San Jac, when they went to Polar Wave in the early 40's. Main thing I remember is that it was really cold in there. I think San Jac even had a hockey team that practiced and played there.

[Heights2Bastrop]

TBird, my mom came to Bastrop yesterday, and that was the first time I have had to really talk with her. She told me that she met Josephine at Polar Wave, and met her brother, Jimmy, there, too. Mom did skate there, but she worked there as well, and that’s how she got to know so many folks there.

Actually, Jimmy was Josephine’s step brother. Her mom remarried after they relocated to Houston after her father died. I thought she was Mom’s age because of some misinformation. IMDB shows Gale Storm’s birthday as April 5, 1921, and that was the day before Mom was born. They also say she was born in McDade, between Giddings and Elgin. Josephine was born in Bloomington, according to her web site.

Reagan also had a hockey tem in the 30s. There is a fairly recent book that came out on The Heights that has many photos of the past, and in it is a photo of one of the teams. A neighbor and father of a good friend of mine was on that team. Since Polar wave was the only rink in town, Reagan would have had to play there as well.

[sabasushi]

Hiya, folks...I know I'm coming into this thread really late, but does anyone know where the ice rink used to be? All I could find out was that it was on Hutchins Street but no street number. And I presume the building is no longer there? When did it close down? Thanks...

[57Tbird]

sabasushi, on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 @ 4:14pm, said:

Hiya, folks...I know I'm coming into this thread really late, but does anyone know where the ice rink used to be? All I could find out was that it was on Hutchins Street but no street number. And I presume the building is no longer there? When did it close down? Thanks...

Don't have an address, but it was at Hutchins and McGowen.

[NenaE]

Interesting thread, my mom has always told stories of ice skating at that place, she actually had the ice skates in our attic. She grew up in the 1940's.
Always thought it was such an exotic idea, ice skating in this hot city.

[sabasushi]

57Tbird, on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 @ 4:41pm, said:

Don't have an address, but it was at Hutchins and McGowen.

Thanks! For grins, I looked at a satelite map of that area, but don't see anything that would have housed an ice rink, so I guess it's already gone.

[Hanno]

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Gale_Storm

Gail Storm just recently passed away.. June 27, 2009

h