The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 30, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 10, 2013 Page: 4 of 24
twenty four pages : ill. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
The Baytown Sun
Viewpoints
Sunday
February 10, 2013
JIM
FINLEY
Happy Valentine to
the love of my life
With Valentine’s Day just a “heartbeat” away (awww,
that’s sweet), I thought I’d tell you about a true love
story I heard recently, one I can’t shake from my mind.
This involves one the dearest, sweetest men I’ve ever
known. In my narrative, I won’t use his
name because what he did was person-
al.
But it touched my heart. Bet it does
yours, too.
First, though, I must reveal that
Valentine’s Day has always been kinda
special to me. Not only because I’m a
hopeless romantic, but also because it
was a day or so after Valentine’s Day
_ 1958 that I had my first date with Pros-
■ , pect Margie.
We all know how that turned out. Lucky girl!
Prospect Margie became Girlfriend Margie, then
Fiancee Margie, and finally Wife Margie. What a great
life it’s been.
Sure, there have been bumps in the road, but like New
York Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig said in his famous
farewell speech, “I consider myself the luckiest man in
the world .. .world .. .world.” (Just don’t tell Wife Mar-
gie I said that.)
She’s put up with a lot these past 55 years. But I’m
betting she’d tell you it’s all been worthwhile. At least I
hope so.
I first spotted Teen Margie when she pulled into
Eddie’s Gulf filling station in Bay City. She was driving
one of the ugliest cars I’d ever seen, a ’56 Chevy painted
in colors resembling those of strained peas and squash
baby foods.
I was instantly struck with ECHO (Early Critical Hor-
monal Oppression).
I didn’t talk to her that night, but using the Teenage
Intelligence Love System, I tracked her down fairly
quickly. It was pretty easy. All I had to do was ask for
the babe driving the ugliest car in Matagorda County.
Being the irresistible dude I was back then, all turned
out well, and two-plus years later we were married. “Do
you take Fiancee Margie to be your lawfully wedded
Wife Margie?” Heck, yes, I do.
So Happy Valentine’s Day, Wife Margie. Get ready for
a swell night out at, say, Whataburger.
I did promise you another stirring love story, however,
and here it is.
Let’s just call the man I’m writing about John. Sadly
(or maybe not), John, 92, passed away recently. I figure
he was more than ready.
His wife died a few years earlier and he missed her
terribly.
Believe me when I tell you John was a gentle, loving
soul. Everyone loved being around him. I can’t image a
bad word coming from his mouth.
As far as I know, he was never elected to city council
or the school board back in the old homeplace. He never
sought attention.
John was simply one of God’s great children and made
people happy to be in his presence. (I first met him when
I was about 10.)
Here’s what will tug at your heartstrings.
Before his death, he would go to an eatery in Sweeny
and take the food to the cemetery to spend time with his
wife. After his meal - and this causes my heart to break
- he would lay in the grass beside his wife’s grave for a
while.
There was no place else John wanted to be. Just being
with his bride of 65 years was enough.
I got this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach when
I was told this touching love story. Still get that feeling
when I think about it.
Is that a great Valentine’s story, or what?
I can picture Wife Margie doing that for me. I just
hope if it’s football season and the Razorbacks are play-
ing, she brings a radio.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone.
Jim Finley is a retired managing editor of The Sun. He
can be reached at viewpoints@baytownsun.com, Atten-
tion: Jim Finley.
n
TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is the 41st day of
2013 and the 52nd day of
winter.
TODAY’S HISTORY: In
1840, Britain’s Queen Victo-
ria married Prince Albert.
In 1967, the 25th Amend-
ment to the Constitution,
clarifying presidential suc-
cession, was ratified.
In 1996, the IBM super-
computer Deep Blue defeat-
ed reigning world champion
Garry Kasparov for the first
time in a game of chess.
In 2005, North Korea
publicly acknowledged
that it had acquired nuclear
weapons.
TODAY’S BIRTH-
DAYS: Charles Lamb
writer; Jimmy Durante
(1893-1980), comedian;
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956),
playwright; Robert Wagner
(1930-), actor; Mark Spitz
(1950- ), swimmer; John
Calipari (1959- ), basket-
ball coach; George Steph-
anopoulos (1961- ), jour-
nalist; Laura Dem (1967-),
actress; Emma Roberts
(1991-), actress.
TODAY’S FACT: Play-
wright Arthur Miller died
exactly 56 years after his
“Death of a Salesman”
opened in New York on this
date in 1949.
TODAY’S SPORTS: In
1968, Peggy Fleming won
the women’s figiue skating
gold for the United States
at the Winter Olympics in
Grenoble, France.
TODAY’S QUOTE:
“The greatest pleasure I
know is to do a good action
(1775-1834), writer; Bo- by stealth and have it found
ris Pasternak (1890-1960), out by accident.” - Charles
Lamb
TODAY’S NUMBER:
9 - children Queen Victo-
ria and Prince Albert had
together. All married into
royal houses in Europe.
Tncfl
UaKETOttOKEPQLW®lM&
WAll SIX PAYS AVNEEKl
WHOA!
WALK?
vk
Twp-
/ u
OUR VIEW
Continue developing workforce
Goose Creek CISD, Bar-
bers Hill ISD and Lee Col-
lege have shown a sincere
commitment to developing
an educated, trained work-
force for the growing needs
of industry and The Sun sa-
lutes them for their efforts.
GCCISD’s second annu-
al Career Night, held Jan.
29, BHISD’s career fair,
set Saturday, and the cre-
ation by Lee College of the
Center for Workforce and
Community Development
are clear examples of our
public learning institutions
realizing a need and taking
action to meet it.
The Sun salutes their ef-
forts and urges all involved
to continue working to-
ward the goal of develop-
ing locally the men and
women that will be need-
ed to fill the workforce re-
quirements of the expand-
ing industry in our region.
- Sun Editorial Board
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Small business
owner wants
to be included
Dear editor,
I own a small business
in downtown and I read
Mr. [Chris] Buckner’s
column in the newspa-
per Wednesday where
Councilman [Scott] She-
ley “hosted a meeting at
City Hall, the purpose
was to renew efforts to
reinvigorate downtown
Baytown...”
From what I under-
stand, it was a private
meeting by invitation
only.
It seems that denying
many business owners
the chance to attend this
meeting is odd.
It certainly seems like
this “meeting” was just a
publicity stunt devised by
Councilman Sheley to get
attention in an election
year.
Even after Councilman
Sheley promised every-
body this would be his
last term.
As a councilman he
should put personal feel-
ings aside and treat all
of his constituents/small
business owners the same
way, by allowing them to
listen to any and all such
improvement plans for
the downtown area that
may be taking place.
As a small business
owner I do not have a
vote as to who can be
elected to represent the
area where I have my
business, so at least we
could be kept informed of
what may be happening
in District 2.
Maria Zoes,
owner of Trattoria
Italia in Baytown
‘Water’ way to celebrate Valentine’s Day
As the water rushed in from sea
and sky - tides and rain - and the
power-packed winds pounded trees
and rooftops, 300 suddenly home-
less families in the Brownwood
subdivision kept asking: “What just
happened?”
The calendar said Friday, Feb.
14,1969.
We don’t have hurricanes in
February. Some insisted, however,
that’s what it was, given the tidal
surge and force of the wind, plus
the heavy rainfall.
Whatever it was, no one saw it
coming. ( ;•
The freak storm arrived on
Thursday, Feb. 13, a couple of
hours before midnight, and con-
tinued to attack Brownwood and
other vulnerable venues in and near
Baytown into the next day.
Oh, happy Valentine’s Day.
After the evacuated Brownwood
residents were told it was safe to
return home on the morning of Feb.
14, guess what.
The storm started up again. The
tides that had receded came back
with a vengeance - rising 8 inches
in 15 minutes - and strong winds
and heavy rains kicked in for an
encore. -
The Valentine’s Day storm of ’69
wasn’t done yet.
The first time around, the city or-
dered an evacuation of Brownwood
at about 10 p.m. Feb. 13.
The residents got the message
via loud-speakers on police cars
patrolling the streets. The Red
Cross set up a shelter for storm
refugees at Burnet Elementary
School on Bayway Drive, while
rescue workers and city personnel
WANDA
ORTON
gathered at the Wooster Fire Station
up the road.
Communication was hampered
by the fact that
the fire station had
just one phone )
available, and, of
course, there were
no cells or laptops
back then.
Also, there was
a problem with an
ambulance trans-
porting invalid
- residents from
Brownwood. The ambulance got
snick and had to be towed.
And many of the tidal markers
couldn’t be read because they were
flooded out.
Nothing seemed to be going right
until about 3:30 a.m. when - good
news at last - it appeared the flood
waters were receding. Residents
were told they could go back home.
In the meantime, Leon Legler,
principal at Burnet school, and Mae
Jones, a registered nurse, had been
directing the Red Cross shelter,
looking after numerous families.
After receiving the all-clear
signal at 3:30 a.m., Legler removed
the Red Cross flag outside the
school and closed the shelter, not
realizing he would have to reopen it
in two and half hours.
Nurse Jones had returned to her
home in Brownwood to find her
garage flooded, but soon thereaf-
ter was called back to work to the
reopened shelter.
As the Red Cross nurse drove to
the school, she was escorted by an
amphibious vehicle and before she
got out of Brownwood, water began
seeping into her car from the doors.
I remember going to Junior
Crosby’s doughnut shop and bakery
on Park Street that Friday morning,
watching him and his wife decorate
little Valentine cakes with red and
white frosting as they described
what it was like back home.
“I nearly fainted,” Crosby’s
wife said, recalling how she had
to wade through knee-deep water
when checking on their home that
morning.
When the evacuation order came
the night before, the bakery owners
left straight for their workplace.
Kitchen duty called; Valentine’s
Day always was a busy day for
making sweet treats.
After the encouraging weather
report at 3:30 a.m. the Crosbys, like
most of their neighbors, thought
everything was OK.
It wasn’t.
Johnella Boynton, assistant
managing editor at The Sun, wrote
in the Feb. 14,1969, issue that the
scenes in Brownwood “were remi-
niscent of the disastrous Hurricane
Carla.”
Civil Defense Director Fletcher
Hickerson estimated tides peaked
at 9 feet in Brownwood, and water
entered at least 80 percent of the
homes.
Fourteen years later, in the
aftermath of Hurricane Alicia, the
subsiding subdivision was aban-
doned, and today we know it as the
Baytown Nature Center.
Wanda Orton is a retired manag-
ing editor of The Sun. She can be
reached at viewpoints@baytownsun.
com, Attention: Wanda Orton.
Thll3aytown Sun
Main office:
281-422-8302
Fax: 281-427-1880
1301 Memorial Drive in Baytown
Look for ui online:
www.baytownsun.com
facebook.com/baytownsun
twitter, com/baytownsun
MANAGEMEN
Publisher
Janie Gray
Managing Editor
Adam Yanelli
Advertising Director
Sandy Denson
Circulation Manager
Mike Gunning
Business Manager
Connie Fitzhenry
BILLING QUESTIONS
Honrs: 8am- 5pm
Accounting.............4......281*42!
Circulation.
NEWSPAPER DELIVERY'
Call 281-425-8066
Wet or missing paper:
For same-day replacement
service, call by 10am
Hours: 8am-5pm M-F
9am- lpm on Sunday
Circulation Manager
Mike Gunning........281-425-8066
Home delivery:
By 6am daily & 8am Sunday
ADVERTISING
Classified: 281-425-8008
Display: 281-425-8036
Hours: 8am-5pm M-F
Advertising Director:
Sandy Denson........281-425-8009
Advertising Assistant:
Ruth Fawvor ..........281-425-8036
Obituaries and Legali:
Gayle Herrera.........281-425-8015
THE NEWS STAFF
Call 281-425-8026
Managing Editor
Adam Yanelli.........281-425-8016
Assist. Managing Editor/Sports
Todd Hveem..........281-425-8020
Photographer
Albert Villegas.......281-425-8017
Newsroom
Emily Macrander ...281-425-8026
Reporters
Mark Fleming.........281-425-8023
Eleska Aubespin 281 -425-8022
Editorial Board
Jim Finley
Jay Eshbach
M. A. Bengtson
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Yanelli, Adam. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 30, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 10, 2013, newspaper, February 10, 2013; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1066115/m1/4/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.