The Message Forum is an ongoing dialogue among classmates. The goal is to encourage friendly interaction, including interaction among classmates who really didn't know each other. Experience on the site has revealed that certain topics tend to cause friction and hard feelings, especially politics and religion. 

Although politics and religion are not completely off-limits, classmates are asked to be positive in their posts and not to be too repetitive or allow a dialog to degenerate into an argument. 

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Response" button to add your entry to the forum.

Russ Stovall

Holly how I loved your Mom and Dad.   Especially your dad.  I will never forget when your dad converted to the Christian faith, at Community Christian Church.  He had a private baptism which my family was privileged to attend.  Your dad had an unbelievable since of humor.  Jim Canton was in the baptistery, turned to instruct your Dad to come down the steps and when  he turned Canton almost lost it.  Your Dad had goggles and flippers on.    Then there was the time he got on the go cart at the lake and burned the hide of the back of his calf's.  He hired me to drive him to his clients while he healed.  He would say it would have been cheaper to have hired me by the hour that to have paid me in food.  He was someone I could talk to when I would get cross ways with my parents.  Your mother was has sweet as the come.  Everytime I would go over there she was wanting to feed me.

Karen Melton (McLean)

I'm buying a Powerball Ticket.

Karen Melton (McLean)

Maybe 2.

Karen Melton (McLean)

May put one of 'em in the offering plate.

Lowell Tuttle

That's how you win the lottery...with Grace thru faith.  No wondering, no questions..., oh, I mean eternal life.

Don Fussell

Tommy:  Your argument about an afterlife has inspired me to realize my full potential.  I now understand that because there is a vanishingly small probability that I exist in this one little tiny spot in all the vast universe, it actually must the the case that I AM EVERYWHERE.  Now, KNEEL BEFORE ZOD, er, Don, ...huh, okay Mommy I'm coming, ow, don't pull my ear...

Daryl Summers

Holly, in your Dad's later years I was workng for Proctor and Gamble. I had to write a weekly market report by visting grocery stores in Dallas. My Tom Thumb stop was the store closest to my house, the Thumb in Araphoe Village.

Every stop there were the "Bagle Brothers" your Dad and Irving Marks drinking coffee in the store's deli. They would always summon me over to remind me of stories of my misspent youth. I cherrish those visits.

David Cordell

About bigotry and the perception of bigotry.

In the summer of 1977 I took a summer away from grad school to do a project for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Martha and I stayed with my parents. One day Martha went home and found my mother sitting on the back porch step. She was sobbing, looking at the little patio fence around that workers had installed earlier in the day. "They didn't build it the way I told them to," Mother cried. "They just thought they could get away with it because I'm Italian."

Steve Keene

I do not believe you can be a Christian unless you love Israel, Judah and the Jewish People. Some of us got the message early.   In high school, I recall Jan Schollenberger was easy to admire.

Marsha Brown (Johnson)

Good morning Steve, Our Christ is a Jew!!! We DO need to love the Jews especially now!!  Have a blessed day.

Sandra Spieker (Ringo)

To Holly,

We had more in common than I realized Holly, my grandmother was Jewish, her maiden name was Levi (or Levy) which means 'joining' in Hebrew.  This was on my father's side of the family.  I don't know how much of her Jewish roots and upbringing she brought to her marriage with my grandfather, who was not Jewish, I did not know her very well, and my grandfather died shortly after I was born.  She lived in New Jersey when I was a child and we only visited her once, when I was about 13, on our way to Holland to visit my half-sister (a long story).  My father was a bit estranged from his family, he was always considered "the loner".  I got to know his 9 brothers and sisters much later in life, when they all were older, retired and wanted to connect with one another again.  Anyway, my dad had a great love of Jewish food.  Surely this love of ethnic food came from Grandmother Anna.  He would seek out the best bagels, lox and cream cheese and bring them home, for a special lunch on Saturday afternoons.  I remember sharing this treat with him many times as a teenager and I grew to love it as well.  Einstein Brothers Bakery was on Spring Valley as I recall, that was a great place!  I went there with Dad many times.  Dad once showed me a picture of his family, that was taken a few years after they all immgrated to America (Dad and his mother and brothers came in 1928).  This photo that he showed me was of his Uncle and Aunt, and all of his brothers and sisters, and mother and father.  Dad was naming them one by one and came to the Leslie family.  "Leslie?", I said, "Who are they?",  "Oh, my Uncle changed his name after they immigrated to 'fit in'."  How sad.  To loose your whole family idenity like that.  Times were tough back then and perhaps that was the only way to insure work and survival.  But it is still very sad that they decided they had to do that.  I also remember a neighbor we had who was Jewish.  We moved from Newberry Drive to the corner of Waterview and Greenway when I was 13.  They lived across the street from us.  I wish I could remember their name, they were such a nice family.  She also made the most wonderful stuffed cabbage I have ever had, to this day! 

Last, my tribute to one of the great minds of the last century and beyond, my portrait of Einstein.

Jerry May

Agreed Steve. And one can not be Christian unless they love everyone~ (IMHO)

Steve Baxter

David (and the class of '69),

Thank you so much for allowing me (on behalf of Scotty) to be a part of the '69 class website.. I am enjoying so much riding along memory lane with so many of you as you discuss your years in high school and currently . Such a wonderful and diverse group. I am so fortunate to also be involved with a fairly large group of guys from my class of '70 like Jerry Swords, Scott Hammer, "Bobby" Fitzpatrick '69,  being among the mix, but with mostly guys from '71, and some others from various years in a group called the Huddle which has been meeting on the first Thursday of every month for the last 10 years. Rick Fambro and Steve Lemmond '71 started it. There is nothing like being with connected with classmates from high school. Even my brother "Bobby" '67 comes. I have so many fun memories and stories to tell. I am just now finding time to start recalling and trading stories with a group of us on facebook from 1970, and just wanted to jump in here as I am reading some of the latest emails. When I have more time, I will go into detail of some of the "episodes" that I got to be in with so many of your classmates because of Scotty and the gang. Wayne Reneau was just mentioned, and it brought back to some memories of our "war wagon" and the fire extinguisher! I will tell the story later. I knew that I never had to fear anyone, because Scotty, who I worshipped (bless his heart and may he rest in peace), and especially Wayne, were my "bodyguards".  Jackie, the two Rusty's, Elby, Mundy, Gil Ohlin, Glenn, Fink, Coleman, Phil,Seidler, Messmer, etc., were always guys around our house. I was always little Stevie to them, and I felt a whole lot of love that I will never forget. I have some great stories to share when I have time to write. I was an Optomist Colt and also played with Marty against Talley and the most feared Rinky Dink Lions with Mark Rooker and cast. I intercepted a pass in the end zone thrown by Rook, and only made it to the 50 yard line before David Darr caught me. When I saw him, I he scared the bejeebies out of me so I just ran out of bounds!

At this time when most of you are holding your grandchilden, I have had the most fortunate opportunity to be blessed with my only two children, now 16 and 17, Brennan and Andrew. Andrew is a sophmore and Brennan is a junior at J.J. Pearce. Even though I landed back at my roots living in Northwood Hills and in the RHS boundary, my attorney Bo Brown ('71") who handled my unsuspected "blindsided" divorce in 2009, convinced me to go the Park Hill Jr. High--Pearce route with my boys. I could have no greater blessing. Yes, they are short and white like me, and are playing basketball for J.J. Pearce, very involved in Young Life and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and are wonderful sons. They actually work on keeping me in line, which no one has ever really been able to do!

I noticed the discussion about prejudice and those of the Jewish faith. I just wanted to mention a book I just finished reading--"Bonhoeffer". A must read book about one of the Ministers of the Confessionist Christian churches that defied the Nazis and Hitler in Germany. They subtlety resisted the Gestapo and Hitler and helped to save many Jews, Catholics, and non-conformist "non-master race Germans" by hiding them and helping them escape the horrible atrocities and murders of millions of people. It was about saving a fellow human, not about race or religion. The majority of "Christian" churches unfortunately went the ostrich route and hid their heads in the sand and acknowleged Hitler as the "Saviour" of Germany, ignoring the signs of an evil regime. Bonhoeffer came from a wealthy aristocratic long term German family. His father was the Chairman of the Psychiatric Department at the University of Berlin, and his brother was a distingushed professor of Physics who worked with Einstein on the possibilites of an atom bomb. His family was somewhat non-Christian, and not pleased that he chose Seminary and theology as his passion. He and his family were among the group that planned an assasination of Hitler that went awry, and several of them were executed. There were several of Hitler's closest Generals that knew he was crazy and were major players in the plot to kill him. There was a respect for human life here that went beyond any belief system. I am not being critical here of anyone, just passing on the information about an eye opening book that gives an insider look at the culture of Germany and how Hitler came to power and the subsequent heroic efforts and abysmal failures of the nations and groups surrounding this incredible holocaust of human history.

Interestingly enough, I purchased a home in Northwood Hills whose family were founders of the Ward's Drugstore from the days past. It was sold by two of the daughters when their parents finally died. Their name was Weinberger. I asked them how come their parents and family named the store Ward's? Interestingly enough, they said at that time in the 40's, it was not advantageous to have a Jewish name as part of your business.

I was also fortunate to be Class President in 1970 at RHS, the first year of integration. Hamilton Park was closed and the students were divided between Lake Highlands and RHS. I always like to conjecture with folks about how we would have been "All World" in every sport if the dividing line was just 25 more feet on our side. The 25 feet would have brought the All American in three sports, Andre Tillman, to RHS, and there would have been no stopping the "Mighty Warbirds" in anything except maybe home economics. Having been raised in a family with several maids from Hamilton Park and spending the night with them sometimes for a fun outing, playing with the kids in that neighborhood, I was fortunately colorblind. When the students came to RHS, I made it a point to involve them in all the class activities and welcome them into our school. I used to take Eris Washington from basketball practice to his home in Hamilton Park, and we became close friends, often spending the night at each other's house. There is a common connection of love and acceptance as humans that we all have the possibility of experiencing and achieving, which I am still wrestling with in my young age. We are still youngsters at heart, aren't we? I guess having teenagers at this time in life for me makes it mandatory that I never give up on keeping a mischevious approach to life, and I am really enjoying causing my teenagers grief by threatening to come to their school cafeteria and "break dance" in front of all their friends if they ever "get out of line"!

To all of my associates and heroes from the greatest class in '69, and especially with thankfulness to those who were always concerned about Scotty and his struggles, much admiration and love from me,

Little Stevie Baxter

Daryl Summers

Having gone to " The Jr. High" and then to "The High School" I grew up with The Baxter Bros. Great bunch of people. Their Dad, Bob had such a gentle way of telling me each spring that I would not be playing baseball for Rio Grande again this year.

Having graduated in 1969 from "The High School" I completed 12 years of public school and never sat in a class room with  a colored student, except for an occasional brown student. Not until my freshman year of college did that happen. My Dad had a resteraunt with black folks working and my Mom had black "help" in our house. We treated them like family.We even gave them our hand- me- down clothes. I found out in college there was a difference in being the boss's son and being a fellow student. My folks were good Yaroboro Democrates and I like to listen to James Brown and Sam and Dave.Even with all of this my education was lacking. Hand-me-downs were considered somthing different on the other end. Stay overs ment we both were going back to a different lives when the night tuned to morning. It was not until I was made an equal with a public university education in Tennessee that I learned what the boss's kid ment. My fellow students  of color gave me the racial clue sheet.

My wife and I were not going  to have this happen to our son. We sent him to Hamilton Park in the first grade. After 6 years we would let him chose were he wanted to go to junior high. We live in the Bowie/Parkhill/Pearce area. He chose Richardson West Jr. High magnet  and The High School's magnet programs.He said he liked the magnet education and besides we live in neighborhood with too much white bread and I'm a whole wheat kind of guy.Isn't whole wheat better for you?

The biggest reason was Coach Winston Duke. And that's another post by it's self.

David Cordell

For Steve Keene: Not sure what you meant by,  "I do not believe you can be a Christian unless you love Israel, Judah and the Jewish People. Some of us got the message early.   In high school, I recall Jan Schollenberger was easy to admire." Jan attended a Christian church. Nonetheless, I, too, found her easy to admire. Still do. She lives in Oregon now.

For Tommy Thomas: Glenn Messmer still sports a ZZ Top beard. Gil Ohlen has a ponytail and has a relationship with Cynthia Woodward. Not sure what any of that means.

For Steve Baxter: On several levels, I am pleased that you feel comfortable participating with our class.

Lowell Tuttle

There were a couple of blacks going to RHS in 69.  One of them, a girl, sat behind me in history class, I think it was Mrs. Leach's class.  She was nice.  Later, she and her grandmother came to my Dad and my Insurance office in the Cowboy's building and purchased auto insurance.  I am trying to remember her name...It will come to me...I know there was one other, but I can't remember if a girl of a boy.

There was White flight in South Oak Cliff, (Singing Hills.)  At First Presbyterian, they asked two families to go to Singing Hills Presbyterian Church (with their pledges) for two years.  We commuted there as a family.  It think the Robb Stewart family was the other family...not sure.  It was 40 minute drive each week.  The Synod of the Presbyterian Church sent the best young liberated ministers there on a week or by weekly basis...The purpose of which was to get the blacks and remaining residents of Singing Hills to keep the facilitiy going as White Flight was taking its toll on the membership.  It was quite a different experience from Richardson.  Looking back, though I would rather stay home and watch Rocky and Bullwinkle on Sunday mornings, I like to think it improved my already rather politically radical outlook on things.

First Presbyterian had (until hepassed) Karl Earnst and Dick Miller.  Two big influences.  My first real golf experience was watching Karl Earnst hit it 250-280 down the middle.  Those preachers could play...

'

Steve Baxter

Thank you guys for the personal histories. Ironically, the 4 most influential people in Brennan and Andrew's lives right now are four black men. The first is Shingai, from Zimbawe, who I basically adopted when he was 11 years old, with the loving appreciation from his mother (divorced), who is very much grateful to me because of the political situation with the cruel dictator Mugabe in Zimbawe for the last 30 years. He would be on the opposite human rights position from Nelson Mandella. Mugabe murders his oppostion, and Shingai, from a well to do private school student, most likely would have been eliminated. My boys consider him a brother, and I often have parents in the stands say to me, " I didn't know you have three boys!" I put Shingai through college, now 27 years old, the chairman of "Democrats for Immigration Reform" in Hawaii, eats lunch once a month with the Governor and staff at the Mansion, calls home every couple of days to the boys to enforce the rules on them doing their chores (makes it easy for me), and is to them and him their older brother. I am blessed beyond imagination. He changed their diapers and they know it, and as all parents of teenagers know, they will not listen to their parents, but will adhere the to guidance of some other mentor they respect, even though we say the same thing. I know from my 30 years of teenager youth ministry experience, my boys will come back to me when they are 20 or so, and in bewilderment wonder how I learned so much in 5 years!

The other three men who I met playing basketball at 24 hour fitness at Montfort and Belt Line,( when all the ex college and D League players come to compete with as much intensity to win as ever), are now the private coaches and mentors to my boys in basketball. Steven is a 5'7" ex pro player, Keith is a 5'9" ex arena football player, and Mo is an ex starting quarterback and basketball player at Kansas in 2002 following. These guys love my boys, have basically "adopted them, come to all their games, and train them and play with them when all the players show up to play at 24 hr. This is where my boys are really learning basketball. It is almost funny to see about 25 black guys in the gym, waiting to be the next five to play, when the winning team that stays on the court are Steven, Keith, Mo, and two little white guys, who hold the court for 2 hours against some really good ex college and pro players. Ron Harper shows up some times, but he is really out of shape.

Most of you probably remember Scotty as I do, never criticizing anyone (as opposed to me), and always just being part of the gang. He really had a tender heart.

Thank you guys for telling me some stories I have never heard about Scotty,

You guys have always been my heroes,

Stevie

Marty Fulton

Re: Post #149 - Jimi Hendrix played at the State Fair Music Hall in 1968.  I remember because I had to pick up my sister (Kathy) after it was over.  I thought for sure I would get lost.  Well I got there around 9 or 10pm, very strange that there was a parking spot right out front of the entrance....  It got better.  I walked inside, no usher stopped me, the house was packed, and I sat down in the aisle.  One thing I did notice, most of the audience were 'older people', y'know in their 30's.  45 minutes later, Jimi finished.  Needless to say, that was my best concert - and free to boot.   Also saw Cream and the Doors in Dallas - not nearly as good a seat....

Then our family moved to the west coast - Los Angeles.  Saw another 'free' concert in the Kingdome (Seattle),when I stumbled across a ticket stub while downtown, nearby.  It was the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt.  Unfortunately, the acoustics were horrible - (that may have been the first concert held there).  There was a 'standing wave' of audio in the background - constantly - which basically ruined the concert.  Oh well.  I think that was 1978.  A year later, they apparently figured out what the problem was, and the Moody Blues was much better.  Best Place was the Seattle Center Concert Hall for music - Grateful Dead!  I think they tore down the building, and the Gates Foundation is there now.

Moved back to Los Angeles briefly 1983 to 1988 before I recovered my senses and returned to Texas.  I managed to see a few more concerts - Rolling Stones at Anaheim CC, Van Morrison - Long Beach Arena, Michael Jackson - Dodger Stadium (on the infield!).  Nice Memories.... 

Steve Keene

For David

Sometimes I am clueless, as you well know.  I guess if I had spent more time in church in those days, I might have seen her there.  I was probably at the lake. 

Sharon Stuteville (Smith)

Lowell

I also went to First Presbyterian in Richardson.  My father was an Elder,  my mother worked in the Women's group, and I was in the youth group.  I spent a number of summers on the Trinity campus with that group.  Randy Curtiss was also there.  Karl Earnst was a huge influence on my family. 

And speaking of integration:  RJS was lily white when I was there, and when I went to college in east Texas, there were only a few African-American students.  I guess since I had never gone to school in an integrated setting, I had no prejudices.  I was floored to see that some of my college classmates were so prejudiced!

In 1979, my ex-husband and I moved to Corsicana where he coached and I taught high school English.  I remember that I was concerned that I had never taught Black students and wondered if it would be any different.  I learned quickly that kids are kids, and they all respond well to being treated fairly and with respect.

It has been fun to read this forum and remember Richardson.  My parents moved from there in 1976, so I have not been back since then.

Phil Fielder

Little Stevie Baxter:

I thought you stopped tagging along with us many years ago. Easy to forget hard to get rid of. As you know I spent more time at the Baxter house than any where else. I think of Scotty when I see a fast classic car. Our days at Richardson Jr High were the best and our summers playing baseball can not be described. Hope things are well with you. Come by and see me at RHS.

David Cordell

I thought there were four black students during our years and that they were all girls. I seem to remember one being named Judy in one of my classes in ninth or tenth grade, but I don't remember any in our senior year. You may recall that we organized a "welcome" function for Hamilton Park students at the end of our senior year since half of them were going to transfer to RHS in the fall of 1969. On page 5 of our senior annual is a photo of Jan Pierce escorting several black girls down the hallways.

Bob Davidson

There was a black girl in at least one of my classes.  I can see her face, but can't remember her name.  She was funny and always nice to me.  She told me she lived on McShann, off Preston Road, and her father was a doctor.  

Ken Briegel

Hendrix played SMU's Moody Coliseum in August of 1968.

On yet another musical note (albiet a sad one), RHS has another role in rock history.  Here's a short excerpt from Wikipedia's take on RHS...

On January 8, 1991, Jeremy Delle, a 15-year-old sophomore who had recently transferred to the school, killed himself with a .357 Magnum revolver in front of his second-period English class. He was described by schoolmates as "acting sad". After coming into class late that morning, he was told to get an attendance slip from the school office. He left and returned with a revolver. He walked to the front of the class and announced, "Miss, I got what I really went for." Delle then put the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. The incident inspired the Pearl Jam song "Jeremy". The band's lead singer, Eddie Vedder, read a newspaper account of the incident and was moved to write the song almost immediately.^[10]

Bob Davidson

David, you were probably in the class -- the back of your head is what I remember seeing the most of in high school.