By Dickie Dixon

For Posterity’s Eyes  October birthdays:  26^th:  Elaine Chrenee 27^th:  Joe Treadwell, Melissa Bivin, Brittany Hale 29th:  Ava Hermes, Mason Litton, Bob Brown, Tiffany Elliott  November birthdays:  1^st:  Retired Colonel David Patten 3^rd:  Mary K. Tucker, Burnice Blackstock  4^th:  Charlotte Wagstaff, Beth Fleniken, Emily Fleniken, Paula Campbell, Becky Walker 6^th: Midge Lee

Some East Texas Out of Towners I was still driving our family car, a 1960 white Plymouth Fury my parents bought from Gibbs Motor Company, when Philip Alexander and I decided to go to the Groveton street dance to discover the nuances of Trinity County girls.   Now there were some maintenance issues that were not quite right with my car when we decided to go that night, but we didn’t let that stop us.  The trunk was hard to open with the key, and the heater wasn’t working very well, but that was no hill for two steppers like us.

We arrived in Groveton, only about thirty-five miles from Lufkin, only to find out that the street dance had been cancelled. Not to let that put a damper on our adventure, we decided to go to a movie there.  Now the movies there were a few months behind what was being shown in larger cities, but off we went.  Philip was fortunate enough to link up with a young lady, but I was not.  And, off course I  hung around until the movie was over for us to go home.

About ten-ish we made our way home.  Along the way, a few miles west of Apple Springs, we had a flat, and, by the time I could stop, the tire was ruined.  I went to unlock the trunk, but I couldn’t get it open.  We then decided to take the back seat out so we could use a screwdriver to get the trunk open.  While we were doing that, a constable thought we were doing something illegal, so he searched our car.  Finally, we managed to get the trunk open, and once, we got the jack out and tried to jack up the car, we initially could not get it to work.  Finally, with some effort, we managed to get the jack to work and jacked the car up.  Much to our dismay, when we went to get the spare out, it was flat.

Our only resource now, obviously long before cell phones, was to hitch a ride to the nearest pay phone in Apple Springs; this we did with the first log truck that came along.  He dropped us off at a pay phone booth on the left side of the highway, and I put my dime in to call Philip’s Dad.  But the phone didn’t accept the coin; however, on the second try, it did work.  We called him, and he came and got us and the spare so we could get it fixed and come back to get my car the next day—a Sunday.  We got the tire fixed that day, where I don’t remember, and Mr. Alexander took us back to mount it on the car.  Once we changed the tire, home we drove.

Now the moral to this story is:  check out and fix necessary things before you leave on a trip.

But before I go, let me leave you with one more thought.  Later I saw the movie with Jack Lemmon called the Out of Towners, when everything that could go wrong did to him and his wife when they visited New York City. Everything they touched, like us, turned to mush. And now you, my reading public have it, about the time on a fall October night, that Philip Alexander and I were our own brand of some East Texas out of towners.

For book notices or reviews please send me a complimentary copy to Kissin’ Kuzzins  P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin TX 75915-1001

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