My secrets out!  Shazam!  I'm a member of the Green Peace party in Texas and yes, we're doing a bang-up job.  You haven't read about any Japanese harpooning whales in Texas have you.

 

Speaking of whales, I;m really disappointed at Moby Dick.  Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick and Moby never wrote him back.  Herman is so sad....

 

Remember the old Gravel Pit across from the old and original high school?  When they closed it, do you remember the sidewalks filled with OUHS students headed down to Herby's Hot Dog Stand at noon?  Those with cars drove to Tasty's Hamburger drive-in at 5th and Gonzales Road for a $.19 cent hamburger.

 

Starched levis and "T" shirts were the accepted dress.  Field boots were in "in" thing for footwear.

 

I pretty much lost track of all the OUHS students, with the exception of Joe Kirshaw, Bob (Allen) Kelley, and Richard Stanland.  I worked with those guys on the OXPD.  Kershaw left the department some years ago

and became an investigator for the District Attorney's office, Stanland made it up to Deputy Chief and Kelley made Lieutenant.

 

Kelley is a survivor of prostate cancer, Stanland has had major heart problems with his heart being about one-quarter of its normal size, and as you know, Joe Kershaw has passed on.  Stanland moved to Grey, Tennessee and Kelley still lives in Oxnard and has a mobile home in Havasu, Arizona. I had a heart attack a couple of years ago and survive on a number of pills daily.

 

Many people are moving to Texas, many from California, including many retired OPD cops.  While Texas has no state income tax, they make it up through property tax.  I think we pay around $6000 per year in property tax.  However, our $200,000 house would be worth about $800,000 or more in California.  The new Texas residents are slowly pushing the old red neck old guard into the twilight zone; many are now elected officials and the old Texas ways are going by the roadside.  The realtors tell me, some being from California, that our part of Texas, which is 35 miles north of Dallas, is the "Orange County" of Texas, being the Orange County of the 1950s, in terms of growth and potential and of course, residential investments.

 

When we first moved here a little over three years ago, the city had 48,000 people.  Now we have over 110,000 and growing, with the city being given the title of the fastest growing city in America.  I don't like such growth and the only advantage is the fact that upon reaching 65 years of age, the county will freeze one's property tax. Aside from that, the cost of living is lower here and the 93 octane gas I purchase is $2.03 per gallon.

 

While we did like Moorpark, the growth factor ran us out.  The small city and the valley it sets has grown and now is beginning to crawl up the mountain sides.  The smog factor is out of control with the air having no place to go.  We did keep our place there just in case but moving back to Moorpark appears out of the question.

 

I enjoyed going to the Ventura Marina for years.  That is until traffic became so congested that the normal 20-30 minute drive is now over an hour and getting worse.  Of course, the same is true of all Southern California.  I usually make it to LA about once a month but try to keep the time there at a minimum, sometimes having a meeting at the airport over lunch and flying back the same day if possible.

 

Fortunately, our airport, DFW, is the third busiest airport in the world and many domestic and international flights make the area very convenient for travel, which provides a very attractive environment for businesses to relocate to this area.

 

The Golden State California is losing its attractiveness for a great number of people.  Aside from the fires, earthquakes, ever changing weather, rains and the resulting flooding, and especially the fact that Bill Helf still lives there, many from the state are relocating to Texas.  We certainly have a large number of such people moving here. 

 

However, if one isn't fully supportive of the Dallas Cowboys, one is as good as dead and is an immediate outcast.

 

I heard from Sam, who seems very happy and quite secure at his "old Kentucky home."  Jim Frisk, however, seems to be running scared that this mystery guy is going to cause him some hurt over this rigged contest thing.  And of course he's right!  Poor Sam thinks he's safe and secure at his mountain, country estate.  He doesn't know how good I am at getting even!  Realistically, the three of you must accept the fact that truth and justice always prevails over evil deeds and y'all are certainly going to get yours.  Remember in Texas, the harder you squeeze the trigger, the further the bullet goes. It's even worse for participants of illegal contests as the words "get a rope" can be heard throughout the state.  Such lynching remains the choice for family entertainment.

 

Y'all have a great day and watch your backs as "that day will come."

 

Cheers,

 

John

 

Have you guessed who this fellow is?  It's none other than "serious" John Henry McCurley, Class of 1956, OUHS.

If you have an overwhelming compulsion to contact John, try: JohnandJerrilyn@aol.com   Caution: A simple question may bring you page after page of incessant blather.    Welcome to our little thing, John.

This is an interesting city.  When we moved here a little over three years ago, there was less than 50,000 people.  Now there's about 110,000.

 

Like many Southern cities, the old and new section is divided by a major highway, here it's the 75, which runs North/South.  The old section is very old, the new section is very new.

 

This is the city where Jesse and Frank James's cousin lived and where the boys would hide out.  Of course they really didn't "hide" as they were considered heroes.  A couple of miles north is where Quantrail and his raiders camped a lot between raids, especially during the time Frank & Jesse rode with him.

 

In the old historic part of town, the old prison remain intact, cells and all.  Frank James spent some time in that prison.  It has been a restaurant, a tea shop, a gift store, and is now vacant awaiting a new business venture.  Folks say it's haunted.

 

One of the largest cotton gin operations in the country operated here for years, supplying cotton material all over the world.  They provided 90% of the cotton for the military uniforms during WW 11.  After the war and with the introduction of polyester, things slowed down and eventually closed.  However, the building and some of the machinery remains intact.

 

Legend has it that this is really the town in which Bonnie lived and where Clyde picked her up here and the started their reign of terror.  One old man told me that the banker that they shot, which was in the movie, was his Grandfather and that killing/robbery took place in McKinney, not Dallas.

 

The hero of Collin county is of course, Audie Murphy.  Farmersville and Greenville, both small towns about ten minutes from McKinney, claim Audie lived in their respective cities.  Both have museums and statues and streets named after him.  Another old man told me that it was his grandfather who hired Audie to work on his farm and helped get him into the army by personally driving him to the recruiting station in Dallas.

 

We have several old cemeteries with both Confederate and Yankee soldiers buried, including two former Senators and two former Governors buried here as well.  One Confederate General lived here and his house has been turned into a bed & breakfast hotel.

 

A small town, Melissa, is about ten minutes north of here and claims the birthplace of Dwight Eisenhower with several statues here and there, including the small house in which he was born.  Further west about twenty minutes is Denton, where Eisenhower lived as a teenager.

 

The first train robbery recorded took place about five minutes south of here between the cities of Richardson and Allen.  Supposedly, the Texas Rangers had an office here and had many shootouts with the bad guys and according to legend, John Wesley Hardin hung around here for a few years prior to moving to El Paso.  Supposedly, he shot and killed two men here within two days, prompting his move to El Paso.

 

Our historic court house, now being turned into a cultural arts center, is supposed to be the oldest in North Texas and some claim it's haunted, with over two hundred reports over the years of seeing a ghost on the fourth floor.  While going through the old basement, they found a rest room with "For Coloreds" faded sign painted over the door.

 

I understand the KKK was very strong here but died out after WWll.

 

Interesting history....

 

John