By Dickie Dixon

Belated birthdays 11^th:  Angelia (Boykin) Pippin 13^th:  Angie Luna  14^th:  Vicki (Wallace) Gann, Joan Hopson, Lillian Granado

For Posterity’s Eyes August birthdays:  16^th:  Tim Alvey 17^th:  Brian McClain, Sue (Rolf) Gorden, Lois (Sheffield) Downing 18^th:  Kermit Kennedy 19^th:  Francisco (Pancho) Lopez 20^th:  Mary Willmon, Tami Hebert, Charity Ryan  21^st: Rose Taylor Lee 22^nd:  Mary Herndon 23^rd:  Golda Marze, Tyler Tippit 24^th:  Marion (Vines) Brown, Eric Giles 27^th:  Stanley Fletcher

Milestones  Fred and Billie (Pate) Grunden were married on this date in 1964.

Save the Date! (1) John Johnson will speak on “Researching World War Two Veterans and War Dead,” when he speaks to the Angelina County Genealogical Society at 4 p.m. on Monday, August 20, 2018 in the Railroad Depot Meeting Room of Kurth Memorial Library on 702 South Raguet Street in Lufkin, Texas (75904).  Coffee and cookies begin at 3:30 p.m. For more information, please contact Dickie Dixon at (936) 240-8378, or e-mail him atdickie.dixon@hotmail.com (2) The Angelina County Genealogical Society will honor AM radio station KRBA for being on the air continuously for eighty years since May 3, 1938 at 6 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Keltys United Methodist Church on 1867 Old Mill Road in Lufkin, Texas (75904).  In that year Darrell Yates and some business partners organized Redlands Broadcasting Corporation and set to work by acquiring land for a transmitter station from the Singleton family on Spence Street on February 23, 1938. For more information contact Dickie Dixon at (936) 240-8378, or e-mail him at dickie.dixon@hotmail.com

A Summer Introduction to Football Manager 101  Because two friends, Gus Boesch and David Anderson, had signed up to be eighth grade football managers, I signed on, too.  So, when I approached Coach Joe Groves to inquire about becoming manager, he said yes, and the next thing I knew we were wiping down the shoulder pads on the side walk right beside the storage room on the side of Shands Gymnasium where they had been stored after the season was over.

The preparatory work was more than one might be aware of; there were many types of equipment to get out: shoes, thigh pads, hip pads, football pants, jerseys, helmets. and  chin straps.  Cleats had to be tightened. Footballs had to be polished.  Salt tablets had to be ready in abundance.  The bottom line:  we worked a couple of weeks getting things ready before the players ever came for pre-school practices.

The experience of serving as a football manager was the most thankless job I have ever had, save one. It was the first time I had served in a capacity in which I was giving more that I was getting.   Most all of the players I already knew, and, if I didn’t know them already, I got to know them.  All of them were nice enough; none of them belittled me for being a manager. One did, however, all of them wanted what they wanted when they wanted it. They weren’t over-the-top demanding; they just expected us to deliver whatever it was they needed—and we did.

The experience was generally pleasant.  I don’t recall one conversation where we got in to why a player was not playing, and someone else was.  We got to know some of them better as we performed our everyday tasks, and as we rode on the bus on road trips or ate our allotted chicken fried steak dinner in one of the restaurants on the way home.

Only once did we not fulfill our responsibilities;  however, it ended up okay.  Both the eighth grade and ninth grade teams had played Jasper on a Thursday night.  We played first, so we came on home.  Some time after, the ninth grade team arrived—with the army green duffle bag of game footballs we had neglected to collect and bring home with us.  The coaches were gracious enough, but we understood clearly:  Don’t let this happen again.  Even in 1964 a bag of those footballs would have set us back a pretty penny.

Thanks, readers, for indulging me in relating to you a summer introduction to Football Manager 101.

dickie.dixon@hotmail.com

For book reviews/notices please send 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 15-1001 Lufkin TX 75915-1001 or by phone to (936) 240-8378