HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Year's Day, 2008. Wow! When I was a kid, I remember thinking that if I lived to see the year 2000, I would be really, really old. Hmmmm. 2008 and I don't feel so old eight years later!

I have another drama that unfolded in my family the last two days of 2007. I'm awaiting photos to accompany that story. It's another one of my "good stuff happens" stories. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of these photos.

Ahhh.. The City Park hill. This is the one that I had to drive down, pretend to turn my wheels into a nonexistent curb to park, and kill the engine... then start the car again and drive off without slipping and hitting "the car parked in front of me." Sounds easy now, but to a 14-year-old, 93-pound female, just managing a clutch was a big deal! Come to think of it, the hill seemed a lot steeper then, too. Poor Coach Gosney. I'll bet we scared him more than once.

Try to imagine it with snow and ice.

This last picture I call "Charlie's Hangout". Charlie is a little panhandler. He's a squirrel who lives behind what is now Ballinger Florist. When we were in high school, this was the clothing store "George's". My mother loved to shop in this store. Recently, while talking to the current owner Carol Stokes, I discovered that back around the turn of the 20th century these stairs led to what was called "gentlemen's rooms". It seems they were for rent when the farmers and ranchers came to town on weekends. These gentlemen's rooms were occupied by women that were sometimes termed "common prostitutes", and they were often picked up by the local sheriff's office and fined. Usually the fine was $1.00. I found this information in an old ledger when I worked at the Sheriff's Office here last year.

The following is from Jimmy Cowlishaw in reference to the old stone structures in City Park:

"The old building was the water plant for Ballinger. Boy Scout Troop 29, was west of the park on the river bank. J.B.Dankworth was the scout leader. (Many packs of Lucky Strikes were disposed of along that creek.) Some scouts, weren't we? Also, just south of that building, was a place that held an alligator. I don't recall what happened to it. Maybe it got out of the cage, or?

Some may recall the soap box races that were held on the Paint Rock hill. The road would be closed to traffic and the start gate was at the top of hill. Cars were crates with wheels and required a brake and ropes to the front for steering. Speed required the start area to be moved down the hill, as some cars would roll to the bridge, and it was feared that the river would catch some (of the racers).

Ballinger had a semi-pro baseball team. It was named "Longhorns" and the star player was Stew Williams. They could not play on Sunday until after 8 p.m., when church services were over.

Enough of this, back to 2008."

Thanks for the memory,

Jim