Last week’s column apparently brought back some memories and also raised a few questions, so I will try to answer some remaining queries.
In the “supporting advertisers” section, you might notice that Margaret Mitchell Furniture was still in business and going strong. When Paul and Marian Themer (1950) moved into their “R. D. Davis built house” on the new Maple Street a block down from Forney High School, their first major furniture purchase was from Mrs. Mitchell. I can still see and feel the “green chair and divan,” as we called them. And, if you wanted something older, you could later shop at Clement’s Antiques of Texas out on the highway.
Billy Roland owned and ran the TEXACO STATION and the restaurant (Teddy Bear’s) right next to the overpass. Billy’s local nickname was “Teddddy Bear,” and he was known by football fans from other towns as “Teddy Bear from FORNIGH-AYE.”
Next to the Texaco was the Forney Dairy Queen, and they made the best steak fingers and chicken fingers baskets in the region, especially since Sue Nichols and Judy Shipley, for a long time, gave me two extra “meat fingers” when they took the orders!
And we can’t forget that DARDEN’S was there on the corner where now Murrey and Associates Accounting is serving Forney. As Kyle Power “used to” say, “Dad, why go anywhere else to eat, when Darden’s makes the best sandwiches in the world?” And John Darden always kept my car in good shape as far as lubrication and tires were concerned! That had been J. H. Ford’s place before it was Darden’s.
And when I didn’t get “it” at Darden’s, I always spread my business between Marvin Feagin’s Exxon and Dick Farmer’s Phillips “66” stations, right next to each other across from today’s post office and next to the cotton gin. Not only did they like to talk, but they provided “full service” with a smile and sometimes a soda “to boot.”
Of course, I can’t forget El Toro Truck Terminal Café, which stayed open late enough to get a meal sometimes after “games.” I usually got their chicken fried steak, salad, and fries with “all-you-can-drink” iced tea. (not ice tea, which would be frozen solid—Am I right, students?)
I bought my insurance from Mrs. O. W. “Florence” Reagin, whom I first got to know at Forney State Bank, one of my Grandpa’s favorite places to visit when he came to Forney. Mr. and especially Mrs. Reagin would always “cash a check” for him even though he was from out of town, and then they would take him aside and visit. Sometimes, as a little boy, I wished they weren’t so friendly, because I was impatient to move on to a place that had “pop.”
About the time the brochure was published, Cary and Judy were “changing up” their recently purchased Forney Messenger, and I had begun writing sports articles for them about teams I coached.
I bought the few groceries that I needed each week from FORNEY SUPERMARKET (Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham) and then also Steve Martin and Jerry Terrell—and I “loved” going in to their store and taking “breaks” with their employees, who were all my friends, especially the “oh, so interesting and wonderful, Barbara Smith,” whose children (at least four of them) I taught in my English Classes.
At night, I always bought my gas from Sonny Miller at “Miller’s” out on the Interstate, and I later became a customer of Farmer’s National Bank when Mrs. Senter knocked on the window at me one Saturday when they were closed and told me that if I would bring my money to her bank, she would “open up” for me even if they were closed, as long as she was in the building (even on Saturdays), because she knew how busy coaches/teachers are during the daylight hours and even after! Plus, Mrs. Tune and Mrs. Kasper were always there to manage my accounts and to be sure that I saved enough money to have my basketball goal repaired at “Stevenson Welding.”
I ate at City Café, as did many people who drove to Forney from Dallas to do so, and they were famous for their “substantial” lunches and tamales/enchiladas on Thursdays, I think!
I picked up my prescriptions at Adams Drug Store, even though Mr. Walter Adams had been gone for quite some time, and I picked up bolts and screws and nails at Forney Hardware and Lumber, at that time on Main Street.
I quite often had my beloved blue and white 1969 “V-8, 302” Fairlane fixed at Criswell garage, and so remember the time my clutch “went out” almost completely. I finally got the car into the only gear I could, which was 2nd on the column, and “nursed” it on over to “Buck’s.” He said to leave it and come back the next day after I finished teaching/ coaching. I got a ride with a student and walked into his work area, where he was sitting and thinking. I asked if he had been able to fix the car, and he said he had done the best he could! That did not sound too good to me. He explained how he had done it, and it sounded expensive with all the labor he mentioned. Finally, he said it would be “two-seventyfive,” and I gulped and said, “O. K.” (I made less than $7,000 that year for coaching and teaching!) I asked if I could pay it out over three months, and he looked at me “funny” and said I could if I needed to—”but,” he said, ”I would think you could get two dollars and seventy-five cents together if you really tried.” I was embarrassed and relieved and felt rather foolish. That clutch never again gave me a “lick” of trouble, and I sold that car with about 200,000 miles on it! He had replaced a bushing that he salvaged off another car he had on the lot and had taken apart and lubricated/renewed the whole clutch assembly!
We had a “Tom’s Peanuts” delivery man in Forney, and I think one of the company’s cabinets is still in Roland Tyler’s Barber Shop—but don’t try to talk him out of it; I have “first right of refusal.”
Wayne Black was plumbing Forney when it was too large a job for Fowler Hatley; Red Whaley was helping Forney to be the Antique Capital of Texas, and Mr. J. E. Hamblen had Forney on the map with his cattle ranch.
When I needed parts for my car or my Dad’s, I purchased them from Bill’s Auto Supply or James Luttrell’s Auto Parts, both Main Street men of two opposite personalities—both of them Good!
And, I cannot forget Western Auto, my “home away from home” so often since I knew the sons of the Penny family—Duane, who was and still is much older than I am; Dale, who was a little older and who was on several sports teams when I also played, and Darrell, a little younger and a classmate of my sister, Ann. I loved “hanging out” in their store, even when I got older and did not “play outside” with the boys any more! Mr. and Mrs. Penny were opposites and so entertaining!
One place that I went into to pay respects but am glad I did not have to use for my own service was the Anderson-Clayton Brothers Funeral Home, the one that had been in Forney for as long as I could remember. Mr. Clint Chapman was the “embalmer” here in Forney, and he was also my boss when I worked for the City of Forney in 1968. He was City Manager.
And, we had a little shop called Nook ‘n Cranny—Doris Nix and Anna McElveen—where folks could buy small gifts and cards and little “nick-nacks.” Oh, yeah, I bought my pecan logs at Stuckey’s near the river bottoms, and “Copy Cat Crafts” caught the attention of the ladies in town!
On holidays, I bought “incidentals” at D & M Grocery, and some of my good friends had butane delivered by Consumers Butane. (probably propane now!)
Last, but not least, was the Charlie McKissick “Simmental Ranch.” He was an FHS football coach and was fairly famous for awhile when his ranch produced a set of TWIN SIMMENTAL calves that at first were worth thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, as I remember things, Charlie did not sell early on, and then “vets” found a “congenital” abnormality which brought their worth down to “normal.” Charlie was a good coach and a fun man to be around, even when this happened! And now to close with a few RECORDS contained in the “brochure,” compiled by Coach Joe Jones, Jr. Most points one game—45 by Dennis Yeager vs. Kaufman, 1971-1972. Most points one year—846 by Dennis Yeager, 1971-1972. Most points junior year—447 by Ray Perkerson, 1969-1970. Most rebounds one game, 27 by John Runnels vs. Edgewood, 1972-1973. Most rebounds one season, 453 by John Runnels, 1972-1973.
“350 Points Club” (in single season): Tom Chaney–380–(1965-1966); Don Morrison–360–(1966-1967); Ernest Baptist–401– (1967-1968); Don Themer–443–(1967-1968); Don Themer–683–(1968-1969); Ray Perkerson–447–(1969-1970); Freddie Moss–411– (1970-1971); Dennis Yeager–846–(1971-1972); John Runnels–543–(1972-1973); Robert Runnels–350–(1972-1973).
“35 Points Club” (in single game): Ernest Baptist–40– (1967-1968); Dennis Yeager–45–(1971-1972); Terry Skinner–36–(1971-1972); John Runnels–36–(1972-1973).
“ALL-STATE”–Dennis Yeager–Guard–(1971-1972).
“Texas High School Coaches All-Star Game” selection–Dennis Yeager– Guard–(1971-1972).
Joe Jones was “one-of-a-kind”–a tireless worker and a GOOD ONE!
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