By Dickie Dixon

Belated Birthdays:  August 18^th:  Patsy (Mann) Sutton 20^th:  Skeet Anglin, James Stevens, Gerrie (Currie) Paulette

For Posterity’s Eyes August birthdays:  17^th: Sue (Rolf) Gorden, Brian McClain 18^th:  Kermit Kennedy 19^th:  Francisco (Pancho) Lopez  20^th:  Mary Willmon, Tami Hebert, Charity Ryan 21^st:  Rose Taylor Lee 22^nd:  Gary Seamans 23^rd:  Tyler Tippit, Tresten Gray 24^th:  Marion (Vines) Brown, Eric Giles,  Yana (Pounders) Ogletree, Deborah Kay (Hollis) Brooks 25^th:  Sarah Willingham, Joyce Guidry, Cristina Faz, Jerry Huffman 26^th:  Matthew Ryan McGaughey, Danny Martin, Ruth (Trevathan) Delvige

There’s Nothing Worse Than a Sore Winner!  While Lufkin and the East Texas area is focused on our Little League Boys of Summer 2017 who played their first game in the Little League World Series on Thursday, August 17^th at 6:00 P.M. in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, I wanted to remind our readers about another great Lufkin team:  the 1963 Lufkin High School baseball team.  (Please see photo on this page).  They had a great year that year under the leadership of Dick Gardemal and ended up playing Bellaire for the state title.  I can still remember listening to that game on the radio.  (Now, if this had been a home game in Lufkin, I would have heard the voice of Minnie Register yelling for the team in the background.)

My sister, a 1964 alumna, was a junior this year when the game was played, and she was all in for Lufkin to win.  Now what intensified the competition was this:  the catcher for Bellaire was  named Bonneau, and his father sold Continental Silverline bedding products to us.  We had a great relationship with his father Jesse Bonneau, a likeable salesman with whom you would have to look really hard to have a reason to dislike.  Jesse was a huge guy, probably six foot three or four, but he was very rotund. Jesse was so close to the family that he stayed overnight with my brother Ardie to save on his lodging costs.  When I graduated from high school, my father and mother asked him to pick up a Seiko watch for my graduation present from high school while he was in Japan, which he did. And, although my brother kidded him hard, you just weren’t going to ruffle Jesse’s feathers for very long; he was pretty much of a steady Teddy, cool-headed man–a great formula for a salesman.

I don’t recall that much of the game, how close it was or what the score was, I just remember my sister’s intensity:  she was bleeding purple and gold out her pores that day because these guys for whom the state title was on the line were her classmates whom she saw every day.  Well, as you from Lufkin know, we won the game and the state title that year, and while my sister was in that competitive mode after the game, she sent the catcher Bonneau a sympathy card.  And as you know, probably from experience, there’s nothing worse than a sore winner.

Save the Date! Angelina County History Harvest Don’t let our history fade away.  You can preserve Angelina County and East Texas history!  Let us digitize your old photographs, documents, letters, diaries, and videos.  Bring your local history discoveries to the Museum of East Texas on 503 N. 2^nd St. in Lufkin, Texas on Saturday, September 16^th, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

For more information please contact (936) 639-4434

Happy 135^th Birthday Lufkin! Celebration  The Angelina County Genealogical Society is sponsoring the Happy 135^th Birthday Lufkin! Celebration from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 12, 2018  in the city council chambers in Lufkin City Hall on 300 West Shepherd Avenue in downtown Lufkin, Texas.  For more information, call president Dickie Dixon at (936) 240-8378, or e-mail him atdickie.dixon@hotmail.com

For book notices or reviews please send a complimentary copy to Kissin’ Kuzzins Weekly P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin TX 75915-1001

Send your queries to dickie.dixon@hotmail.com by mail to Kissin’ Kuzzins P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin TX 75915-1001 or by phone to (936) 240-8378