Texas School for the Deaf - Towers Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY? By FINICE TAYLOR September 7: We seniors were glad to return to school to get more education. September 8: We boys and girls were excited over seeing our new superintendent who appeared on the stage and spoke a few words to us. September through N ovember: The spectators were thrilled at watch- ing a number of good football games. We seniors were proud of our class- mates, Tom Withrow and Jack Autry, who played in every game. October 16: On that particular Saturday morning we were greatly excited over going to watch the game between Texas and S. M. U., in the afternoon. Many of us were sorry that S.M.U. beat, but I think we en- joyed watching that game very much because we saw the great Doak Walker as well as other star players. October 22: There was a thrilling game between our team and the Kirwin High team of Galveston at House Park, but we were very much disappointed over losing the game against them. The Silents had defeated this team four successive years before this. October 29: We had a Hallowe'en party in our gymnasium which was lots of fun, however, no one in the senior class won any of the prizes, al- though their costumes were good. November 25: None of the seniors went home on Thanksgiving Day, but the parents of Bobby Hallmark, H. C. Collins, and Finice Taylor came to see them. A nice Thanksgiving party was given us in our gymnasium that night, and we all had a very good time. December 3: We senior boys together with other members of the Longhorn Club had a balloon party that evening in our gymnasium. We hope everyone enjoyed that party as much as we did. December 15: We congratulated one member of our senior class, James Watson, who had his picture in the Lone Star with the other mem- bers of the Junior Red Cross Council. December 15: We had much pleasure watching the Christmas pro- gram in the auditorium that night. Classmates had drawn names, so everyone received a gift from under the big Christmas tree as well as fruit and candy. December 17: We felt excited over going home for the Christmas holidays and were very happy because we were to have a long holiday. January through February: An exciting basketball season with many good games was enjoyed by all. January 22: It was amusing to watch the game between the Flat- foots and the Superbrawns in which the seniors took part. This game was a benefit for the seniors to raise money for part of their graduation ex- penses. I think the boys and girls and other spectators had their money's worth laughing at the antics of the seniors. January 25 : We seniors were very proud of Tom Withrow, who is a senior, for getting on the All-American football team of the deaf schools and congratulate him for getting this honor. February 18: We enjoyed having a Valentine and Washington's Birthday party all in one, that night in our gymnasium. The students played games and danced. The Paul Jones Extra was lots of fun. February 26: Several seniors, Tom Withrow, Gordon Gibbons, Jack Autry, and Finice Taylor began to practice playing tennis at Stacy's Park. We played several times a week during the spring.

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Later when I was walking along the sidewalk for exercise, a man al- most killed me. His car ran over the curb into the sidewalk, and I was scared to death. I looked at the occupant and was about to give him a piece of my mind, when I noticed it was Finice Taylor. He was laughing, very hard at me. I was surprised to see that he had a 1957 Cadillac car. He asked, Would you like to take a ride with me? I replied that I would. He was a good driver and an expert at working on the different parts of an automobile when he was in school, but I was very much surprised that he was owner of the Cadillac Co. at Waco, Texas. Before he dropped me at my-hotel, he invited me to come visit him and his wife in their new home in Waco. On arriving in Austin, I first realized that the old school was changed when I noticed the gate which had a neon sign above it. I opened my eyes wide in astonishment. It could not be possible. I looked and looked at the buildings which were all new and modern. When I visited the' Main Building, I was surprised that it had a large elevator. A porter who worked at the elevator wore a blue and white striped suit. The porter asked, What do you want? I didn't answer, because my mind was a blank. A woman with a monocle was walking along the hall, and she really had a good figure. I wondered who she was and asked the porter about the woman. 'He said she was a teacher of English and her name was Joyce Eastham Mojo. She didn't know me at first because I was stouter than in the past and was wearing glasses. I remembered herg she was the smartest student in the class of '49. I found out that she was married to a teacher from the Japanese School for the Deaf. She told me that her husband coached the boys and girls in the Physical Education Department: Entering the printing shop, I just looked around the place where I had worked in the past. I felt rather nosey. I noticed a man working on one of the linotypes who worked very fast on the machine. Since I did not see Mr. Bracewell around, I meant to ask where he was, and so I shook his shoulder and his head turned toward me. I tried to speak to him, but he talked with his hands and asked, What do you want? He said Mr. Bracewell had gone and the young man had taken his place. When his mouth opened, I noticed his teeth and then recognized him. It was Jack Autry. He told me that he was a bachelor and felt sorry for him- self. He had lost his girl friend who had broken up with him and married L. V. Thornton. Reaching the union building, I meant to look at the trophies won when I played in the past. When I walked into the hall a man ran against me so hard that my hat fell off. The man tried to pick it up, and so did I. We bumped our heads together. He was a runt of a fellow and I asked him, Where did you come from? He had just arrived from Victoria, Texas, to visit our school, he said. Then I remembered him very well and exclaimed, Arnold Vogt ! He told me that he was' married to his Mexi- can sweetheart of the Texas School for the Deaf and had six children. I congratulated him. Remembering that all the boys and girls used to meet in the Sanders Drug Store every Sunday morning, I stopped there to get some aspirin, as I had a bad headache. I noticed the neon sign which read, Watson Drug Store. At once I recognized my old classmate, James Watson. When he saw me, he hugged me so hard I could' hardly breathe. He seemed very glad to see me and told me that he was the owner of the drug store. He had married a girl from the New Mexico School for the Deaf. I wanted to see Lake Austin and decided to go out there. As all the people were looking at a man who had caught a big fish in the lake, I looked, too. I realized the man must live near Lake Austin because he had a big boat. When the boat was driven to the shore near where I stood, he started to point to a can of minnows when suddenly I shouted, Gordon Gibbons! He looked startled and then began to smile as he recognized me. He told me that he had a big house near the lake and had married his boyhood sweetheart. His wife was now the owner of the Goodfellow Shop. Gordon invited me to spend a few days with him at his home on the lake and I jumped at the chance. I spent several pleasant days talking to Gordon, seeing old friends, and recalling old times and was reallv sorry when the time arrived for me to catch a plane to Chicago.

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February 28 through March 12: Bobby Barlow, a senior, was one of twenty-five young professional baseball aspirants in the Austin Pioneers' first annual training school and tryout camp, but he failed to place. Any- way, we felt proud of him for trying his best at the tryout camp. March 4: The two seniors who had their birthdays on that day were Finice Taylor and Joyce Eastham. Joyce's mother sent her a big three- tiered cake, and we seniors had a small 'party in our classroom. We en- joyed it very much. March 15 : We seniors have been eager to get our rings since Janu- ary, but on this date we really got our beautiful rings. I know we shall enjoy wearing them. March 18: We boys and girls had Ye Ole Time Frolic Party that evening in our gymnasium. Everybody had loads of fun at the party. Many enjoyed square dancing while others played games. April 8: The senior class with our sponsor, Mrs. Mitchell, had a senior dinner party at the Hitchin' Post at 6:00 Friday evening, April 8th. We invited our girl friends to go there with us, and we enjoyed the evening very much. April 23: The Longhorn Club members and their dates will have an outing at Bastrop State Park. Picnicing, swimming, and hiking will be enjoyed, I hope. May 15: The annual C.E.S. picnic, a long looked-forward-to spring affair. May 20: We shall be honored by the juniors at the Junior-Senior banquet. Afterwards there will be a dance in the gymnasium. We do appreciate the J unior's arranging this nice social function for us. May 27: On this evening, there will be a program in honor of the Field-Day Queen. may 28: This will be a big day for all the ex-students, friends, and parents, as there will be some track events, a softball game for girls, and a baseball game for boys. We shall have a delicious barbecue dinner for all. That night, we shall have a Field Day dance in our gymnasium. I expect everyone to heve much 'pleasure at this big dance. May 29: Our hearts will beat hard when the time for the Bacca- laureate service arrives, as we will be on the stage, but we shall do our best to make the audience interested in our program that night. May 30: This will be the final school day for us as we shall get our doplomas that evening, however, we will do our best to be a credit to our Alma Mater when we go out to begin new tasks. We want to express our thanks to Mr. Stelle, Mr. Mclntire, Mr. Weyerman, the teachers, the supervisors, and our old friends who have been helping us to prepare for our life's work. Best wishes to alll