By Dickie Dixon

Belated birthdays:  July birthdays:  29^th:  Sabrina Kay Upton 31^st:  Judy Somers August birthdays:  1^st:  Wayne Waddleton 2^nd:  Bob McMeans, Leslie Sue (Haak) McGaughey

For Posterity’s Eyes:  August birthdays:  3^rd:  Celicia Seale  4^th:  Mary Sue (Stewart) Tebbs, Jennifer Ragsdale, Cecilia (Cowart) Thornton 5^th:  Cindy (Rice) Blake 6^th:  Judy (Flournoy) Toups, Pam (Myers) Wright 7^th:  Erika (Smith) O’Quinn, Mona Hill, Madison McLin 8^th:  Jacob Holmberg, Braylee Foyil, David Stallings, Jan Tracy 9^th: Ken Smith, Randy Johnson, Dena Dixon 11^th:  Jonathan Chambers, Angela (Boykin) Pippin 12^th:  Sherry (Holley) Alexander 13^th:  Angie Luna  Braylee Foyil will celebrate her 2^nd birthday on August 8, and Jacob Holmberg will celebrate his 8^th birthday.

Welcome to earth!  Sara (Dixon) Patten gave birth to Christopher Willard Patten at 12:45 A.M.on Saturday, July 29^th in Durham, North Carolina.  Aaron Christopher Patten is the proud father.

In Praise of Reunions!  Growing up, one of the highlights of each summer was the annual Dixon reunion in July, held at the rock house in Chambers Park on Pershing in Lufkin, Texas.  I got to see all my cousins:  Jackie (Dixon) Lowery, Jimmy, her brother, and her sister Vicky, Paula Young, Candy Lawrence, Ray Stanfield, Kim, Brenda, and Carolyn Terral, Ronnie and Donnie Dixon, Steve and Truitt Dixon, Judy, Beamon and Charles Dixon, Richard and Poo Dixon, and Ann, Jimmy, and Bonnie Evans.  Of course, my sister Laura was there and usually my brothers Don and Ardie.   I also got the chance to see some of them from Alvin:  J. W. and Leona Methvin and their son Don. Joy (Dixon) Parker and her sisters Faye, Lizzie Roy, Juanita, Mack Wise’s mother and her brothers Jack and Truban were there with their Mom and Dad, Dora and Jim Dixon.  Uncle Wanny had them all gathered around the piano to sing hymns, and it seems Marguerite (Candy’s and Arlie Sue’s mother) played the piano.

Uncle Poskey acquired the concession trailer from Lufkin Coca-Cola, and we felt compelled to man it(it was womaned, too!)  We felt very big and responsible to get to serve our relatives that delicious blend from which Poskey derived his livelihood.  (Poskey, or as we called him Poke, knew everyone in the three counties where they distributed what they bottled in Lufkin, because he had probably sold someone in their family a Coke box.  When, my father went in business, when we finally got our own, you can guess who helped us obtain it.  It was one of those with the skinny door on the left side, from which you pulled the bottle out of the hole after you opened it.   By the way, I have one of those.)

The usual prank we pulled on Poke was to but a Dr. Pepper bottle in his truck some time during the reunion, because, in those days the bottling works weren’t quite as consolidated as they are today.  Poke rarely ever acknowledged, but we could imagine he was scratching his head about where it came from (or maybe he wasn’t!).

We ate sumptuously, and hobnobbed with all the relatives near and far.  There were many of   them, since my grandfather, Napoleon Bonaparte Dixon, was one of fourteen.  My mother later confessed she dreaded the reunions, since some of the Dixons were a little bit blunt.  She told me some of them would say:  “Well, Kathleen, it looks like you’ve picked up a little bit since the last reunion.”  Obviously, no woman wants to be reminded she’s gained weight.

The death knell to the annual Dixon Reunion I overheard.  Mother told my Dad, the treasurer, she wasn’t going to send out the cards any more.  And, for some reason, they didn’t ask for volunteers, and it died.  I guess it will be up to me to revive it.

For book reviews or notices mail a complimentary copy to Kissin’ Kuzzins P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin Texas 75915-1001.

Send your queries to dickie.dixon@hotmail.com by mail to Kissin’ Kuzzins P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin Texas 75915-1001 or by phone to (936) 240-8378