Sue Scott Gough has written her account of the recent trip she and her sister Judy Scott Jeans made to Shreveport to attend our 45th year reunion. Sue’s account of the trip was originally emailed to family members and few friends. But I asked, and Sue agreed, to let me post the part of the message dealing with the reunion related events. Hope you enjoy it.
If other classmates wish to provide similar recollections of attending the reunion please email them to me and I’ll be happy to post them.
Bill
If other classmates wish to provide similar recollections of attending the reunion please email them to me and I’ll be happy to post them.
Bill
___________________________________
Dear Family & Friends:
First off let me tell you that Judy & I (Sue) met our "so called cousin" Bill Scott from White Settlement, TX who lives close to David our brother!
He has created a web site for the Class of 1961 from Fair Park High School! This has been a great "tool" for all of our classmates! We are kept informed about what is going on with our classmates and the reunion that we all just attended. There were around 150 classmates from our class of almost 500!
We all enjoyed being together and seeing each other after 45 years!
Bonny - My twin sister's daughter picked me up here in Houston on Thursday, August 3rd to go to Judy's house in Basile, La. on Thursday night! We had an enjoyable visit in the car and then when we got to Judy's house.
My husband did not want to go to the reunion (a home body) and Judy's husband had an accident - fell off a ladder - broke his collar bone and fractured 3 upper ribs - so he could not go with us. Bonny stayed there to take care of him so we could go on our trip.
Judy & I left on Friday morning around 10:00 a.m. and arrived in Shreveport around 12:30 in the afternoon. We tried to check in at the Holiday Inn in Shreveport but could not until 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. So, we left and found a Mexican Restaurant called "Nicky's Mexican Restaurant" close to where we were staying! So, we ate there!
We ran some errands and got back to the Holiday Inn around 2:30 p.m. We tried to check in at that time - while standing there we ran into Billy Rittenhouse - he also was trying to check in too! We also ran into Marvin Jones, too! We all checked in and went to our rooms. Our room was on the first floor - Room 114 - we settled in and later went out to eat.
We went into the hallway and lobby and it was so hot - the A/C was not working from Friday - until Sunday in the hallway & lobby - but our room was fine and the room we had the reunion in was ok too!
On Friday evening before it got dark we drove to the high school, our old home, our church, our elementary school, and our junior high school. I took pictures of each! The old neighborhood in now in the high crime area, down Hollywood, and also on Lakeshore Drive (going out to Cross Lake). We did not make it to Cross Lake!
Everything has changed -the high school looks the same, our home does not look the same, our church is now an all black church, our elementary school looks the same, and our junior high school is now a chemical plant.
We drove back out Greenwood Road and found a place called Catfish Village. We ate supper there Friday evening.
Back at the Holiday Inn we found some of our friends sitting around a table visiting. It was around 8:30 p.m. by then. They decided to eat at the restaurant there so we joined them at their table and visited with them while they ate.
The next morning we headed out to eat breakfast at the Cracker Barrel - it was really good. We went to Wal-Mart to pick up some bottled water and a few items - then headed back to the Holiday Inn.
We had not planned to make the tour of the high school due to the heat - it was still hot in the hallways & lobby of the Holiday Inn. But, we changed our minds after visiting with some more classmates. We drove on over to the school before 2:00 p.m. and glad we did. They had a large turn out of the classmates for the tour - so got to see more classmates there at the HS. We met in the auditorium first - met the principal - he was being born in 1961 as we graduated in 1961! He is really nice.
The high school is mostly black students that come from low income families. The Honor Legion disbanded after we left our high school in 1961. The town has completely changed from what it used to be when we were growing up.
After the tour we went back to the Holiday Inn and got our showers and started getting ready for the evening.
The dinner was to start around 7:00 p.m. we got there a little after 7:00 p.m. They had our name tags with our high school picture on it so we would know who we were talking to. They had a very good turn out - over 150 showed up out of almost 500 students. We visited with our classmates first. They had the Welcome, Blessing/& Instructions first. Coach Clem Henderson talked to us before the buffet dinner.
After eating dinner we had our "group" photo made out in the lobby of the Holiday Inn. It was a "tight" squeeze but hopefully everyone was in the picture. We paid in advance to get the photo mailed to us.
After the group picture we went back into the room and they had a program for us. They showed a DVD of what was going on in the world at the time we graduated. There were pictures and music on the DVD - music that was popular back in the 60's, food, etc. They also had still pictures of the town back then and the town now showing how things have changed or no longer there.
They had a Memorial Board fixed up with pictures of classmates that are no longer with us. They tracked down one classmate in Guam that everyone thought was dead but is alive, married with children and doing fine. We were given his e-mail address to contact him too! This was quite a surprise to his fellow classmates and friends.
Then they had the awarding of "The Parkers" - little Oscars presented to different ones for various things - like who has been married the longest, shortest, most kids, most grandkids, etc. Judy and I didn't win anything. But, it was fun.
The last thing they did was award door prizes - again we didn't win anything there either. They had center pieces filled with candy and some of the classmates thought it was there for them to eat - so some of the center pieces didn't have much candy left in the container.
I went around and made digital pictures for Jerry Cook - he is going to add my pictures along with everyone else's to be added to the DVD they were showing us earlier. We paid $20.00 to have the completed DVD mailed to us after all pictures are added.
Bill Scott is the one that has the "free" web site for the Class of 1961 so, we sent him a copy of all the pictures I took too - to be posted on the web site!
We had a great time seeing everyone, visiting, catching up on 45 years being apart, and just being together!
Our Houston classmates are thinking about having a mini-reunion here in Houston in October of this year. We have had 2 during the past few years. Judy & I went to the first one in Nov. 01, 2003 out towards Tomball, TX, then they had another one in Feb. 14th - 2004 - I didn't get to go to that one. It was in League City, TX out the Gulf Freeway. Judy & Johney went to the one in Feb. of 2004.
We have a classmate - Becky Odom who sings and plays the guitar - I have bought her only 2 CD'S. She is really good! Judy took her guitar to the one in November and they both sang and played the guitar - they sounded good together.
One of the ladies that sings in Becky's group has checked up with cancer so she is going through treatment at this time. There are 3 ladies including Becky - they have made 2 CD's - the last one is Gospel music - really good!
We were back in our room by 11:20 p.m. Sat. night looking at the year book trying to remember who all we saw that evening. I hope they publish a list of all who attended the dinner.
Sunday morning we checked out after breakfast at the Holiday Inn - and headed on to Mary & Bill's in Keithville, Louisiana. We visited with them from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Enjoyed seeing them again and visiting. They had done a lot of work around their place trying to make improvements so they can sell it and move up to Tenn. close to their only daughter - Jennifer.
We left Mary & Bill's after 4:00 p.m. and headed to Betty & Winter's for supper and to spend the night there. They live in Stonewall, Louisiana out in the country down Red Bluff Road - down a red dirt, rocky road. They have a really nice place in the country. That was my first time to visit them - they moved there 3 years ago. We enjoyed watching the numerous humming birds fighting over the 4 feeders that they have up. They also have several bird feeders up and around to attract the various birds. We enjoyed our visit with them too!
Monday morning - we headed out to go back to Basile, Louisiana! We did stop over in Alexandria, Louisiana for lunch along the way. She took a different route back to Basile than the one we took going to Shreveport. We went by the Coushatta Indian Reservation & Casino. I got out of the car to take a few pictures since I had never been there - just read about it.
We went on down the road to Oakdale, Louisiana - and she drove in to the prison grounds to show me where she & Johney go on Thursday nights to minister to the prisoners there. We did not stop because you can not have anything in your car to help a prisoner escape - we had things in the trunk of the car and things in the back seat too from our trip. It is the Federal Correctional Complex at Oakdale, La.
We saw a lot of greenhouses and nurseries along the way while traveling down the highway - that area is famous for their plants they raise and sell.
When we got to Basile, La. she took me on a tour of the little town. I got to see the prison in Basile where they go and minister to the prisoners there too! So, now I know where they go and when during the week days/nights!
When we got to Judy's house - all was well - Johney was much better than when we left him on Friday - Bonny took care of doctoring Johney's sores on his back - Judy's two granddaughters were icing a birthday cake for Judy & I for that night.
Pam, Charlotte, Wanda, Hannah, & Gunnar came in from Lake Charles (1 hr. from Judy's) around 5:00 p.m. with our supper and two more cakes that Hannah had made for us. So, we celebrated our birthday along with Pam's birthday (which is Sat. August 12th)! We had a great time Monday night! They all left around 9:00 p.m. to go back to Lake Charles.
I went to bed early Monday night and we got up the next morning and Bonny took Judy, me, & Johney out to eat at Shoney's for our "Birthday" breakfast! I had a great time while gone.
Bonny and I left around 9:00 a.m. from Basile and we got into Houston around 11:30 a.m. but to my house by noon.
It was good to be back home but I thoroughly enjoyed my visits with everyone too!
Love,
Sue S. Gough /Mother /Grammie Sue /Aunt Sue
First off let me tell you that Judy & I (Sue) met our "so called cousin" Bill Scott from White Settlement, TX who lives close to David our brother!
He has created a web site for the Class of 1961 from Fair Park High School! This has been a great "tool" for all of our classmates! We are kept informed about what is going on with our classmates and the reunion that we all just attended. There were around 150 classmates from our class of almost 500!
We all enjoyed being together and seeing each other after 45 years!
Bonny - My twin sister's daughter picked me up here in Houston on Thursday, August 3rd to go to Judy's house in Basile, La. on Thursday night! We had an enjoyable visit in the car and then when we got to Judy's house.
My husband did not want to go to the reunion (a home body) and Judy's husband had an accident - fell off a ladder - broke his collar bone and fractured 3 upper ribs - so he could not go with us. Bonny stayed there to take care of him so we could go on our trip.
Judy & I left on Friday morning around 10:00 a.m. and arrived in Shreveport around 12:30 in the afternoon. We tried to check in at the Holiday Inn in Shreveport but could not until 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. So, we left and found a Mexican Restaurant called "Nicky's Mexican Restaurant" close to where we were staying! So, we ate there!
We ran some errands and got back to the Holiday Inn around 2:30 p.m. We tried to check in at that time - while standing there we ran into Billy Rittenhouse - he also was trying to check in too! We also ran into Marvin Jones, too! We all checked in and went to our rooms. Our room was on the first floor - Room 114 - we settled in and later went out to eat.
We went into the hallway and lobby and it was so hot - the A/C was not working from Friday - until Sunday in the hallway & lobby - but our room was fine and the room we had the reunion in was ok too!
On Friday evening before it got dark we drove to the high school, our old home, our church, our elementary school, and our junior high school. I took pictures of each! The old neighborhood in now in the high crime area, down Hollywood, and also on Lakeshore Drive (going out to Cross Lake). We did not make it to Cross Lake!
Everything has changed -the high school looks the same, our home does not look the same, our church is now an all black church, our elementary school looks the same, and our junior high school is now a chemical plant.
We drove back out Greenwood Road and found a place called Catfish Village. We ate supper there Friday evening.
Back at the Holiday Inn we found some of our friends sitting around a table visiting. It was around 8:30 p.m. by then. They decided to eat at the restaurant there so we joined them at their table and visited with them while they ate.
The next morning we headed out to eat breakfast at the Cracker Barrel - it was really good. We went to Wal-Mart to pick up some bottled water and a few items - then headed back to the Holiday Inn.
We had not planned to make the tour of the high school due to the heat - it was still hot in the hallways & lobby of the Holiday Inn. But, we changed our minds after visiting with some more classmates. We drove on over to the school before 2:00 p.m. and glad we did. They had a large turn out of the classmates for the tour - so got to see more classmates there at the HS. We met in the auditorium first - met the principal - he was being born in 1961 as we graduated in 1961! He is really nice.
The high school is mostly black students that come from low income families. The Honor Legion disbanded after we left our high school in 1961. The town has completely changed from what it used to be when we were growing up.
After the tour we went back to the Holiday Inn and got our showers and started getting ready for the evening.
The dinner was to start around 7:00 p.m. we got there a little after 7:00 p.m. They had our name tags with our high school picture on it so we would know who we were talking to. They had a very good turn out - over 150 showed up out of almost 500 students. We visited with our classmates first. They had the Welcome, Blessing/& Instructions first. Coach Clem Henderson talked to us before the buffet dinner.
After eating dinner we had our "group" photo made out in the lobby of the Holiday Inn. It was a "tight" squeeze but hopefully everyone was in the picture. We paid in advance to get the photo mailed to us.
After the group picture we went back into the room and they had a program for us. They showed a DVD of what was going on in the world at the time we graduated. There were pictures and music on the DVD - music that was popular back in the 60's, food, etc. They also had still pictures of the town back then and the town now showing how things have changed or no longer there.
They had a Memorial Board fixed up with pictures of classmates that are no longer with us. They tracked down one classmate in Guam that everyone thought was dead but is alive, married with children and doing fine. We were given his e-mail address to contact him too! This was quite a surprise to his fellow classmates and friends.
Then they had the awarding of "The Parkers" - little Oscars presented to different ones for various things - like who has been married the longest, shortest, most kids, most grandkids, etc. Judy and I didn't win anything. But, it was fun.
The last thing they did was award door prizes - again we didn't win anything there either. They had center pieces filled with candy and some of the classmates thought it was there for them to eat - so some of the center pieces didn't have much candy left in the container.
I went around and made digital pictures for Jerry Cook - he is going to add my pictures along with everyone else's to be added to the DVD they were showing us earlier. We paid $20.00 to have the completed DVD mailed to us after all pictures are added.
Bill Scott is the one that has the "free" web site for the Class of 1961 so, we sent him a copy of all the pictures I took too - to be posted on the web site!
We had a great time seeing everyone, visiting, catching up on 45 years being apart, and just being together!
Our Houston classmates are thinking about having a mini-reunion here in Houston in October of this year. We have had 2 during the past few years. Judy & I went to the first one in Nov. 01, 2003 out towards Tomball, TX, then they had another one in Feb. 14th - 2004 - I didn't get to go to that one. It was in League City, TX out the Gulf Freeway. Judy & Johney went to the one in Feb. of 2004.
We have a classmate - Becky Odom who sings and plays the guitar - I have bought her only 2 CD'S. She is really good! Judy took her guitar to the one in November and they both sang and played the guitar - they sounded good together.
One of the ladies that sings in Becky's group has checked up with cancer so she is going through treatment at this time. There are 3 ladies including Becky - they have made 2 CD's - the last one is Gospel music - really good!
We were back in our room by 11:20 p.m. Sat. night looking at the year book trying to remember who all we saw that evening. I hope they publish a list of all who attended the dinner.
Sunday morning we checked out after breakfast at the Holiday Inn - and headed on to Mary & Bill's in Keithville, Louisiana. We visited with them from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Enjoyed seeing them again and visiting. They had done a lot of work around their place trying to make improvements so they can sell it and move up to Tenn. close to their only daughter - Jennifer.
We left Mary & Bill's after 4:00 p.m. and headed to Betty & Winter's for supper and to spend the night there. They live in Stonewall, Louisiana out in the country down Red Bluff Road - down a red dirt, rocky road. They have a really nice place in the country. That was my first time to visit them - they moved there 3 years ago. We enjoyed watching the numerous humming birds fighting over the 4 feeders that they have up. They also have several bird feeders up and around to attract the various birds. We enjoyed our visit with them too!
Monday morning - we headed out to go back to Basile, Louisiana! We did stop over in Alexandria, Louisiana for lunch along the way. She took a different route back to Basile than the one we took going to Shreveport. We went by the Coushatta Indian Reservation & Casino. I got out of the car to take a few pictures since I had never been there - just read about it.
We went on down the road to Oakdale, Louisiana - and she drove in to the prison grounds to show me where she & Johney go on Thursday nights to minister to the prisoners there. We did not stop because you can not have anything in your car to help a prisoner escape - we had things in the trunk of the car and things in the back seat too from our trip. It is the Federal Correctional Complex at Oakdale, La.
We saw a lot of greenhouses and nurseries along the way while traveling down the highway - that area is famous for their plants they raise and sell.
When we got to Basile, La. she took me on a tour of the little town. I got to see the prison in Basile where they go and minister to the prisoners there too! So, now I know where they go and when during the week days/nights!
When we got to Judy's house - all was well - Johney was much better than when we left him on Friday - Bonny took care of doctoring Johney's sores on his back - Judy's two granddaughters were icing a birthday cake for Judy & I for that night.
Pam, Charlotte, Wanda, Hannah, & Gunnar came in from Lake Charles (1 hr. from Judy's) around 5:00 p.m. with our supper and two more cakes that Hannah had made for us. So, we celebrated our birthday along with Pam's birthday (which is Sat. August 12th)! We had a great time Monday night! They all left around 9:00 p.m. to go back to Lake Charles.
I went to bed early Monday night and we got up the next morning and Bonny took Judy, me, & Johney out to eat at Shoney's for our "Birthday" breakfast! I had a great time while gone.
Bonny and I left around 9:00 a.m. from Basile and we got into Houston around 11:30 a.m. but to my house by noon.
It was good to be back home but I thoroughly enjoyed my visits with everyone too!
Love,
Sue S. Gough /Mother /Grammie Sue /Aunt Sue
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