westhu

The drive-in grocery on w. 34th by the Chuc Wagon was Brannons - known for their meat market.

I If I remember correctly, sometime in the early to mid '60s, the son of a Chancellor at A&M was found murdered there.

I saw my childhood idol at the Coliseum also. I don't know how many times Roy Rogers and Dale Evans did the Rodeo, but it seems like they were there forever in the early to mid 50's. After the show, Roy and Trigger would ride around the entire arena and shake hands with all the little kids and likely a few adults. (Actually, it was just Roy who shook hands, all of Trigger's hands were busy.) The greatest thrill of my young life was I got to go "backstage". My friend's father was a reserve Deputy Sheriff and he took us back to Roy's trailer. There was a small pen attached to the trailer and Trigger and Dale's horse, Buttermilk were in the pen. I got to pet both horses and that would have been enough to make my year right there. Then, Roy came out of the trailer with some guy and asked if we were going to the Rodeo. Then he said he'd watch for us. What ever the 7 year old boy equivalent of swoon is, that's what I did. I read a long time ago that there were two events that everybody who was in Houston at the time said they attended. One was the U of H vs. UCLA GAME OF THE CENTURY basketball game in the Astrodome in 1968. The other event that everybody either witnessed or their uncle/cousin/brother/sister witnessed occurred in the Sam Houston Coliseum. There are several versions of the story but it seems Gene Autrey was so drunk while performing at the rodeo that he fell off his horse Champion and knocked himself out. I don't think there has ever been a confirmed report of this. I am fortunate enough to have a friend who saw both events. He told me so after about 6 beers.

In the early to mid 50's my parents went to a relative's anniversary dinner at Ye Olde College Inn. There were 4 couples for dinner. The next day I heard her talking to a friend and she astoundingly reported that she saw the bill and it "was over $100.00". We can do that at Luby's when the grandkids are in town.

I would have sworn that there had not been a Lincoln anything built south of the Mason Dixon Line since 1865. Lincoln HS, Houston is listed on Classmates.com and had graduates from the late 60s thru the early 80's. There is one reference on the message board from 2004 that alludes to it being torn down soon. There were only a couple of hundred alum listed on classmates so it must have been a fairly small school.

There was a Chuck Wagon on W. 34th st. next door to Waltrip High School, about the 1300 block. I know that it was in operation from the mid 50's until around 1968, likely longer than that. Wheel Burgers were $.35, Hub Brurgrs were $.25 and Spokes were $.25. They had the best tater tots ever made. When you called to place an order, they answered the phone Chuck Wagon #9. The location is now an abandoned auto repair. The only better hamburger I ever had as a kid was at Linder Lake. Now that goes back a long, long time. There is still an old building on Broadway that has the wagon top. I'll see if I can get a pic.

I was in Scouts from 1954 to 1962, ages 6-14. I don't remember my Cub Scout pack number but it was in Lindale Park and the Den Mother was Mrs. Ruth Derrick. We met once a week after school at her house. Mrs. Derrick hauled us 6 or 7 little brats all over town in her 1951 Chevy on field trips. We went to the zoo, the Houston Post, the Police Station, and Mrs. Bairds Bread that I can remember. We did a lot of craft type stuff that her husband, Monroe Derrick, did all of the work on. I still have a bread basket and a cutting board that I made in Cubs. Mrs. Derrick was a true saint. In fifth grade, I joined the Boy Scouts, Troop 239 that met at Oaks Christian Church in Oak Forest. We went camping about once a month and it was a blast. We'd often go to Stubblefield Lake and to a county park on Clear Lake. We did a lot of events at Camp Hudson. I spent my 12 year old and 13 year old summers getting Merit Badges. The first Merit Badge I earned was for Bookbinding, the counselor was Hilda Holiday, who was a librarian at Heights Library. I made Eagle at age 14. By that time most of my friends had already dropped out of Scouts and I just sort of faded out by ninth grade. Over the years I've done a lot of stuff, a lot of it VERY UNSCOUT like, but some of my very best memories are from the BSA. The Houston Public Library has a large collection of Houston Boy Scout records. I've never looked at it but it is on my things to do on a cold winter Sunday afternoon list. Any old Eagles out there may be interested in this. You are, after all, an Eagle for life. http://www.nesa.org/

Everybody is correct on the '58 Chevy. The actual, though never used, name for the Impala was Bel Air Impala. It was a trim option in 1958 for the Bel Air. It became a seperate model in 1959.