well, Garden City was never that great to begin with....
seems to be fewer and fewer people now....

Hey now, Big Spring is not a hellhole. It is not as big as it used to be in the Base years, but there are a lot of people working hard to revitalize it.

It is interesting to read the lamentations from most of you regarding the withering of home towns in West Texas. For most, the observation is in terms of the past 15-20 years. For a better perspective on the true measure of this decline,invite your grandparents to take you on a nostalgic tour of those towns in their golden years ... the late 40s and early 50s. Home town folks had just weathered the Dustbowl days, the Depression, and WWII. Veterans were back in town after the war, large families were in tact and a moderate degree of prosperity was being enjoyed by all. Community VFWs, American Legions, Volunteer Fire Departments and JayCees were revitalizing every town. The populations of most counties and town in West Texas were about 4-5 times what they are today.

Without televisions and other outside distractions school activities and sports became the center of all attention. High school football and basketball were the local pride and the performance of all teams in West Texas became the center of our attention. All cities had only one high school to root for, and particularly in the 40s, open recruiting of star players became commonplace for large towns with rich boosters willing to give a daddy a good job to move. The Permian Basin was booming so every town from Kermit, Monahans, Wink, McCamey, to the biggies of Odessa, Midland, Big Spring, San Angelo and Abilene had a host of big tough kids to pick from. Even us from the small schools kept track of the biggies because the winners of their dogfights would represent West Texas in bi-district play against the Amarillo Sandies or the Wichita Falls Coyotes. (My home town team rarely got past our district because of Merkel Badger's single wing offense or the Roscoe Plowboys. But high school football was for starters, where smaller towns swarmed to softball league games a couple of nights a week, larger towns had Class D professional baseball teams (yep, Sweetwater, Midland, etc.) and out west were semi-pro baseball league teams sponsored by major oil companies and other companies (Kermit, Monahans, etc.) And when some schools did not have the manpower to compete in football those schools just concentrated on girls and boys basketball 12 months of the year (Hawley, great example.)

And for those not inclined to sports, County Fairs brought communities together along with Sheriff Posse riding clubs, weekly calf ropings and FFA/4H livestock show competitions that had large followings.

Although churches were bedrock in all communities, local schools were the pride and joy. It was not unusual for teachers to minister to two or three generations of a family. Interscholastic League contests for plays, poetry recitation and public speaking could fill the auditorium. (It wasn't Carnegie Hall but it was "our kids." Football attracted the biggest crowds and it was not unusual that three of us on the team also played instruments in the band at halftime. (Tough duty when you have a busted lip --- no facemasks in those days.)

And the best part in those days was that since no cars were built from '42-'45, new cars were available! No more going on a date in that '37 Chevrolet sedan that had pulled a hundred cotton trailers to the gin and as many cattle trailers to auction during the war years.

And new things coming to West Texas at that time were Drive-in movies, Drive-in "Restaurants", automatic washing machines and dryers, and for many country people electricity in the homes for the first time which meant running water in the house and indoor bathrooms!

Good wages in those days was 75 cents and hour and $300 a month ... and that included college grads.

Yep, things have sure changed in the West Texas home town. and every generation has witnessed another another stage of the change. I miss those days in my home town ...I wish all of you could have been in West Texas at the time.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 7/26/2005 4:47p).]

fossil_ag

Where are you from originally. We have some land near Rough Creek, I pretty much grew up out there. I have heard lots of stories about the old days in West Texas, too, especially the recruiting, and star players getting out of jail to go to games. A gentleman told me one time that Rotan was a great place to live, cause no body just died, they were killed, so if you minded your own business you could live forever!

FossilAg,

While I wasn't born in San Angelo, I agree with what you are talking about. I moved there in '67 and while we all lament the changes in our hometowns, I would still be there if not for a job offer I could not refuse. And that change didn't happen until this year.

But I will always consider SJT home and when this temporary displacement is over and I can retire, it will be home base again. I may travel alot and be in College Station in the fall for football but my address will be 76901 till they plant me.

The folks east of I-35 can have the big city. I don't mind going to visit, but I don't want to live there 24/7.

FishrCoAg ....... I grew up in Fisher County near Cottonwood Creek and the Clear Fork. Rotan was not nearly as rambunctious as you state, as long as one behaved himself. But as with all of West Texas, if a person were looking for trouble he could find a mess of it in a minute. (And less time than that at the Roby VFW dancehall on Saturday night.)

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 7/26/2005 10:36p).]

Permian Basin: Let's just say academics are my strength. However, if I hark back to the days of constant athletic clashes with the Rangers, I remember our girls teams having serious hate for some girl they nicknamed "Barbie." Something to do with fake hair, nails, boobs(?). As far as perception of you Greenwood cats, I think it is pretty fair to say you weren't our faves. Cranes were pretty good in everything so it was purely competition rivalry with them, but there was a perception that you guys were some prissy well to do's from Midland. AS you know, that image doesn't play well out in West Texas grunt oil communities. Of course, that perception was probably untrue, you know how high school kids are.

"Nothing could be sillier than we got good people here. We got the same cross-section of a**holes as anywhere." - Friday Night Lights

BQ93, are you still in Andrews? Do you have family there?

I live in Huntsville now.


I do have some family left in Andrews.

BQ93,

Does your family own Buddy's?

[This message has been edited by Patriarch (edited 7/28/2005 9:42p).]

PermianBasinAggie

quote:

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At least you're not a Crane.

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Crane Golden Crane '02

*****off rlowery. hahaha jk

"Nothing could be sillier than we got good people here. We got the same cross-section of a**holes as anywhere." - Friday Night Lights

The highlight of my senior year was making the playoffs in football and basketball, while keeping Crane out of the playoffs in all three major sports.

I know the girl you're talking about. She was actually pretty nice, but you know how girls are. As for the prissy image, that's funny. Everybody in Midland thought we were cowboys who drove tractors and horses to school. It's funny how different perceptions can be so different.

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Interesting thing, my senior year we booted Greenwood out of the playoffs in the only sport that matters in west Texas.

I never thought it was a logical label to place on you guys. It was based purely on having MIDLAND affixed to your school name. I can't really brag about football, bc we sucked huge donkey b@lls while I was in high school 95-99. I think it was pretty evident we should have been moved down to 2A.

"Nothing could be sillier than we got good people here. We got the same cross-section of a**holes as anywhere." - Friday Night Lights

That's the thing. Midland wasn't part of our school name. I guess other schools and the UIL call us Midland Greenwood, but nobody in the history of GHS ever used the words Midland Greenwood. That always really bugged me. Greenwood is its own community and school district. I suspect that Abilene Wylie and Lubbock Cooper are the same way.

Sorry. Everytime our schedule came out it would say Midland Greenwood. Hey man, I rode the bus past the water/sewer filtration system at the fork in the road many times. I know you guys are out in the sticks(kind of) as opposed to in city.

Greenwood is its own community and schools, but it falls under the authority of the Midland Central Appraisal District which is the taxing authority that determines property tax rates for Midland County and the schools located therein. So when you see Greenwood with the "Midland" in front of it's because it falls under the same taxing authority that every other Midland schools do.

[This message has been edited by WestTexasAggie98 (edited 8/1/2005 12:39a).]

[This message has been edited by WestTexasAggie98 (edited 8/1/2005 12:40a).]

mine blows now since i left town, i was the only good thing that ever happend to that place... harper.

WestTexasAg, I was born and reared in Big Lake. Graduated from RCHS in 1976. Still live in west Texas.

Grew up in Monahans, played against just about every team listed.

Andrews and Greenwood BY FAR had the frickin' hottest chicks...