Palo Duro HS Class of 70: Whittier Elementary

Here I am in that production. It was quite a show. I've circled those I think I remember, sorry for any errors. Our 3rd grade teacher Miss Lawson had put that show on at Whittier for a number of years, so she had it down pat. We danced, sang and paraded on the school auditorium stage; it was a big deal. An even bigger deal was that our mothers made all the costumes. I remember my mother putting out a huge effort making my shirt (all the boys bought their own white pants), but can you imagine the effort expended making the girls dresses! All by hand! Quite a deal. I think before school started that year in September, the parents were informed of the show and the mothers immediately started on the girls dresses for a December production.

These were my buds in Elementary school, are you on this list? Let me describe a little bit about each.

David Anderson and wife Phyllis (PD Clayton) were at our last reunion. They reside in Washington state, he is/was a bridge builder. They told me how/why they moved to Washington, I think she had family there. David was in the show above standing by me. Sherri Avon was a joyous girl, always happy, always had a smile. Her mom taught at Whittier. I don't think Sherri went to Travis. In the 3rd grade I boxed Johnny Cameron at his house one day. He was in golden gloves. Trey Dabney and David McCalister were inseparable, the 3 of us would hang out occasionally. David probably became Governor of some state. He was always direct, knew what he wanted, born leader. Trey became famous for marring PD Cheryl Burk... ha. Karleen Davis married one of my best buds Danny Reynolds. They lived across the street from one another. Danny's not on my list above; I don't think he went to Whittier. I think I first met him at Travis. Karleen was in the show above. Donna Dempsey and brother Bo lived near Karleen.

Randy Denny l believe lived on Marrs street, about a block from me on Nix street. Randy was an athlete in baseball and basketball. His mother would haul us to baseball games in her new Mercury Marque, quite a ride for an old Chevy boy like me. Bobby Dudley and I were good acquaintances, can't think of any one thing particularly memorable.

Lee Anne Lewis and Georgetta Emmerson were the two girls that got me through 4th and 5th grade. They were both smart as whips. I always sat right behind them and I'll just leave it at that. This site went up in 2010. This pic of them has been somewhere on this site since day one. That's how much I thought of each of them. I last talked to Georgetta around 1971 while she was visiting Amarillo. She had moved to Bethany Oklahoma before attending hi school. Me and the class have lost track of Lee Anne. She was our '70 PD Valedictorian. I'll always remember Ellen Errington from a 3rd grade Halloween carnival cake walk. Our mothers were actively talking about getting us together for our first date. Carol Erwin was a tall, smart attractive girl with a quick smile. Mike Fain was the consummate salesman. He always had a lunch time deal. He'd trade his banana for my peanut butter sandwich and I didn't even like bananas. Mike Felty was cool at Whittier. He had long hair and played the bass guitar. I remember later at Travis when he, Bobby Tarr and their band played Louey Louey (or was it Gloria) on the Travis auditorium stage. That song stuck in my head for months. Mike Fenton and I were good acquaintances, can't think of any one thing particularly memorable. Beth Ann Jordan and Ricky Rewalt would walk by my house on Nix street as they were going to school each day and we'd wave hi. Sue Karlin and Kay Miller... enough said. Just the mention of those two's names brings giggles. They both were fun loving and pleasant to be around. Forty years after Whittier, my wife Teena and Kay worked together at Dillards in Tulsa OK, small world. I'm going to throw Marty Keeler, Johnny Parker and Carol Smithson in a group right here. My fondest elementary school memories originate with these people. These three have stories elsewhere on this site so I'll just recommend you look them up. I'm going to throw in David Wilson in this group too. I've got stories about him that I'll publish soon. In fact, I'll put links to all their stories at the end of this article.

<-- I've circled the 3rd grade people I've included in this story. Kenny Larkin and I were neighbors. We played Kids Inc softball together. If you haven't read "Reunion Solves 50 year old Theft Case" on this web site, you should, it's a great kids story about our lives together. James Lathum lived maybe 2 blocks NW of me. I remember one day a house burning down very close to his. James and I just stood there watching it burn with firemen all around... quite a spectacle. Me, Roy Macintire and Dennis Miller were all in scouts together. Dennis's father was a scout master. I've got my story about Sharron Middleton elsewhere on this site, see 'Ode to our 40th Reunion", anyway Sharon was the prettiest girl in 3rd grade. Her mother would dress her up like Barbie every day. Sharon was in the show above. Kathy Nichols and I both played saxophone starting in the 4th grade. She was always better than me. In the 6th grade we all tried out for the City Orchestra. I remember us auditioning. We were lined up ready to try out before our head music teacher, I think his name was Rhodes. Kathy very nervously walked in the tryout room, shut the door and played her part... terribly! I decided that no matter how I played, I was not going to be rattled like she was, so I strolled in, smiled at Mr Rhodes, cranked out a reasonable melody and to my amazement... I beat her out! To this day I think it was all about our composures. I'm pretty sure Kathy was in the 3rd grade show above. JoAnn Kono was a fun girl. I remember Charlie Bebout, I always thought he had a cool name but I can't remember anything else notable.

Well there you have it. Recollections of all my elementary school friends, You can see a elementary school photo composite here.

PS - most of these people attended Travis Jr Hi as I did and a lot went on to hi school at PD. Below are a few names of new friends I made while at Travis.

(still working on it)