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Reader's
mail from Maine Not
Remembering the Monahans Sandhill Rangerettes
Monahans,
Texas Rex
Parsons |
| "This
is my brother (seated) and me. Murray's Hardware can be seen across the street.
Its probably Main Street in Monahans. The date on the pic is 1954. Obviously a
hot west Texas afternoon." |
| I
lived in Monahans from 1952-1963. I do not recall any
Sandhills Rangerettes while I was there. I have some pix in/around Monahans if
you might be interested. The photo looks to me like a shoot for a "cheesecake"
calendar which were popular back then. I'm not saying there weren't any Sandhills
Rangerettes. I'm saying I just don't remember them. |
| Monahans
Sandhill Rangerettes c. 1958
Raoul, our Editor-in-waiting, swears that this
was a Monahans Drill Team in the 50s, but we're not sure.
TE Archives
|
I haven't lived in Texas since 1965 but I am still full-blood TEXAN. I can still
talk about Texas all day - and will, if given the chance.
We used to
"hike" out to the Million Barrel.
Back then it was quite the adventure. We'd pack our canteens and head out to slide
down the inside slopes where we ruined many a pair of jeans. There were some dried
seed pods that we picked up along the way. Or they picked us up. They were monstrous,
very sharp, three pronged things that when dried would draw blood from you ankle
if you walked into and got caught by one. And they were a bitch to get off.
The
old (only) newspaper / magazine stand on Main Street would sell "dressed up" pods.
We, not so affectionately, called them Devil's Claws. Nobody here believes me.
Wish I had a couple to show them.
The old Texan theatre on Main closed
while I was there. There were two drive-in movies. The old "Dingo" drive in restaurant.
Doubt that's still there. We kids would cruise around it all evening. Sometimes
we'd go inside to jitterbug awhile. When we tired of driving around in circles
we'd just sit in our cars and order "windmill floats" from the carhops. We didn't
have much money so it was usually windmill floats and french fries. Why didn't
our parents understand the importance of being seen "dragging the Dingo". When
the Youth Center opened we finally had a place to go to hangout. |
| "This
is our dog, Pal who always enjoyed visiting Bud and Merle Moore. That's their
house on west side of the Grandfalls Hwy. In the background you can barely see
Parsons Lease Works. A company my father owned. circa 1955.
When we kids
were giving old Pal a bath in the yard Bud would see us and whistle and Pal would
go running to him. Soap aflying." |
During
the late evening hours in September we would sneak down to the new car dealerships.
Back then the official unveiling of the new models was a closely guarded secret.
The windows would be covered with paper so nobody could see until the next day.
It was so exciting back then to get that sneak peek. Of course, we'd have to avoid
any "police" entanglements. We did get caught a couple of time and returned to
our parents. But, we knew something they didn't. We knew what the 1956 new cars
would look like.
- Rex Parsons, Maine, 1-31-06
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