 ray l bellande ray l bellande ray thu 7262012 1444  ray l bellande ray l bellande b 1943 is a biloxi mississippi native he is the great grandson of antoine v bellande 18291918 born at marseille france and marie harvey 18401894 of back bay now d iberville bellande attended biloxi parochial and public schools he matriculated at new mexico tech in 1961 and graduated with a bs degree is petroleum geology from mississippi state university in 1965 bellande was employed by humble oil exxon tenneco and others before becoming an independent geologist and oil operator at lafayette louisiana in 1980 his hydrocarbon exploration and development endeavors has brought him to many petroleum provinces bellande has resided or worked in louisiana california alaska texas indonesia malaysia singapore mississippi and alabama ray l bellande resides at ocean springs mississippi home of his ancestors where he has written since may 1993 a weekly historical column sous les chenes for  the ocean springs record  in addition he has published several books  the bellande cemetery a history and register 1990 from marseille to mississippi a bellande family history 1991  and  ocean springs hotels and tourist homes 1994   bellande also wrote the text for  ocean springs the way we were 19001950   in 1996 ray l bellande was the first commandant of the fort maurepas society he is currently vicepresident of the jackson county historical society and the mississippi coast historical and genealogical society he is a member of the following mississippi historical society life member ocean springs genealogical society life member pioneer america society friends of the mary c o keefe cultural center fort maurepas society jackson county historical society jackson county genealogical society jackson county tricentennial commission ocean springs chamber of commerce american association of petroleum geologist and gulf hills tennis club ray l bellande is an active participant in community preservation and cultural affairs he serves on the ocean springs historical commission and museum board his hobbies include tennis hiking windsurfing and gardening  memories of back bay 19471961  may 21 2020 born in the new biloxi hospital on front beach during ww ii while my father served in the uscg at the algiers naval station nola the alton l bellande family would settle at 1051 lameuse street in 1947 we had a short stay in the harrison court a 175unit apartmentlike complex for nco families it was situated on back bay between benachi avenue and keegan s bayou and opened for occupancy in february 1942 the daily herald february 25 1942 p 4 arbitrarily i would place the boundaries of the back bay community as follows north by back bay east by lee street south by division street and west by keegan s bayou at this time back bay was a bluecollar neighborhood composed primarily of fishermen and seafood factory laborers ancillary industries like boat building machine and repair shops and hardware stores were common along the waterfront other commercial activities were the neighborhood grocery stores barrooms barbershops and movie houses  grocery stores on lameuse street one could walk south towards biloxi s primary commercial district on howard avenue and would encounter fourfive grocery stores in only three blocks there was the nelson higginbotham and anna earl boney trochesset stores on the northwest and northeast corners of elder street wick s grocery was next to the st john s convent just north of bradford street josephine pisarich malpass had a small store on the southwest corner of lameuse and bradford and bob s robert mcdaniels grocery was located on the northeast corner of lameuse and division street other notable grocery vendors were menard s on back bay leo todaro s on main and division bill byrd and haven foretich on fayard street and vick s on division street it was not uncommon to see mother s playing nickel slot machines in some food venues  barrooms although my family was in the beer business i was to young to legally imbibe alcohol i can remember being 15 or 16 years of age and walking into barrooms and get a cold one make mine falstaff jack and he did biloxi was a special placeno doubt and one with a proliferation of saloons bars taverns barrooms lounges poolrooms etc no one went thirsty for a jax dixie goebel s miller high life schlitz or bud no lite beers for these macho men if you loved coor s beer you were s out of luck as it was strictly a western beer at this time in september 1961 i had my first taste of coor s in an arroyo in socorro county new mexico my sober self and the remainder of our underage freshmen class had smuggled a keg into this dry desert creek bed to celebrate our first week in school my response was where s the beer this must be ice water falstaff will do that to you very hoppy makes very happy we certainly had more bars than churches on back bay it s hot in the mississippi sound and louisiana marshes during the shrimp season when the luggers returned with a hole full of wild gulf shrimp and the captain and crew had sold their catch and settled their finances it was time to relax and have drinks with family and fellow shrimpers on bay view avenue one could gather at what was the neighborhood s iconic barroom the fisherman s hangout of nellie creel a rather appropriate name you say further east was the dixie cafe aka mama lou s her place was special and i ll say no more further west and at the northern end of caillavet street was perry s cafe hear or here they had the best red beans and rice on monday on division street we had the shady oaks of babe rodolfich and sie simon s night club sie befriended two of america s future musical greats hank williams and elvis presley say no more at this time dizzy dean former st louis ace thrower was televised on saturday afternoon announcing the national baseball game of the week in his arkansas southern drawl our best selling brew falstaff sponsored the game watched by millions of diamond fans dizzy would marry a stone county lass and spend his retirement in the wiggins area it wasn t unusual for him to pro bono a few cases of falstaff from our warehouse on bohn street for a fishing trip in the gulf  barbershops our neighborhood had at least three barbershops ike champagne and bruce s which i believe was a moniker for broussard were on back bay and eddie vuyovich was on reynoir street mr allen on church street now astronaut haise street was a backyard barber with the best pricelike 50 cents  memories of back bay 19471961 part ii may 28 2020  the social life of a youth growing up on back bay was rather meager there was school a city park sports church scouting clubs and an occasional birthday party or dance very few teens had automobiles but the fortunate were charitable and drove the less fortunate to weekends wasted at the many clubs driveinns and other hangouts between rodenburg avenue and pat harrison now veterans boulevard  a catholic education the back bay section of biloxi had five schools two were public and three parochial gorenflo and mf nichols a colored institution were public while st john s notre dame and our mother of sorrows also colored were catholic educational facilities my academic career commenced in september 1949 with a memorable fall down the front steps of our small bungalow on lameuse street this was a time when most schools began the day after labor day which is in september and the first monday as i recall schools in the rural areas of harrison county ended their school year in the spring a few weeks prior to their urban counterparts this allowed students in these agricultural areas to assist in the spring planting and other agrochores my first grade teacher was sister nathaniel at st john s catholic school the building was old wooden and virtually not insulated our misery didn t last long as the following year the new st john s elementary school was built in 19501951 bishop ro gerow dedicated the sixclass room brick structure on 6 may 1951 this parochial school was situated north of the parish rectory on bradford street between lameuse street and main street it no longer exists st john s parish is now called blessed francis xavier seelos the daily herald may 6 1951 p 10 biloxi s initial st john s catholic school was dedicated on september 3 1926 on the nw c of bay view avenue and main street in a former public school called the back bay ward school there were four grades with sister mary joseph and sister elalia in charge  the daily herald september 4 1926   the  back bay ward school  was donated to the city of biloxi on september 6 1898 the land for this educational facility was provided by william f gorenflo 18441932 the building was erected with funds provided by william k m dukate 18521916 a school in this section of biloxi was desperately needed and sincerely appreciated by the back bay residents   the biloxi daily herald september 7 1898 p 4 at st john s we were taught by the sisters of mercy interesting name for educators this holy order had come to biloxi before 1888 as they were operating the convent school on reynoir street it was the predecessor of the sacred heart academy notre dame high school began in september 1943 in the dantzler house on west beach near porter avenue and the biloxi lighthouse the new notre dame high school near keegan s bayou opened in september 1953 in a new 220000 building with a 40000 residence for its male teachers brother rex csc was principal the daily herald  august 21 1943 p 6 september 2 1943 p 7 and  september 1 1953 p 1 today saint patrick s although no longer in biloxi but a satellite of the tradition a 4800acre real estate development in north central harrison county functions as a coeducational catholic academy with similar goals as it predecessors sacred heart notre dame and mercy cross these are small classes high academic and moral standards a familial cohesiveness and school pride coincidentally st patrick s opened in 2007 on land donated by joseph canizaro a 1954 graduate of notre dame high school and successful nola banker and realtor mr canizaro has also been proactive in the development of william carey universitytradition campus and the mgccc bryant center a nursing educational facility which will vastly increase its current programs  games we played i would attend st john s for six years although not consecutively my best memories are on the playground the acme of recess was to gather on the lawn of the rectory on bradford street and play king of the hill this area of biloxi lies in the drainage basin of bayou auguste and is relatively lowso what in biloxi isn t topographically low you ask well there is a low ridge that runs in front of the rectory that is about threefeet higher than the street this was our hill sides or classes were chosen to defend and others to attack it got pretty rough at times getting pushed or shoved off the hillbut fun for school kid it was also common to have several marble games in progress before classes during recess lunch and after school marbles was a big deal one could play boxese or ringese ringese was more difficult as the marbles were placed in the center of a circle drawn in the dirt shooters had to fire at a marble and hit it with enough force to propel it from the ring if you weren t happy you could always pick up your marbles and go home dodge ball was fun the girls played hopscotch and jumped rope the playground was relatively small and it wasn t unusual to break a window in the old wooden school which then served as an auditorium and meeting hall  the football team circa 1954 it was decided that st john s field at football team it was coached by two former exceptional biloxi athletes james jimmy h cook and jack pickich most of the players were enrolled in the elementary school but as i recall we may have had a few ringers or older skilled players to add depth since we were an independent nonleague team it was difficult to schedule opponents as i recall we did play the d iberville bteam in their cow pasture across de la baye the team was disbanded after the second season but was a good introduction to organized sports  st john catholic school football ca 1954back bay park  lr bottow rowdonnie lacoste jimmy cook uk patrick h roberts 19442009 tony corso mickey j bellande uk uk uk steve bowen 19432005 jimmy manduffie ed conway middle row  ray l bellande   jules galle ronnie roberts jack acevedo uk uk larry gilbert parker joe joe arceneaux wallace tiblier joseph hungerford roland roberts uk top rowjack pickich 19211974 father peter killen uk pete alley and james h cook 19201997  memories of back bay 19471961 part iii june 4 2020   st john s elementary revisited i reminisce again about st john s because here in the second grade i chose my future career when i entered college in the fall of 1961 i learned to my dismay that many of my cohorts were here with no clue as to what their life s work would entail i queried them you mean you don t know if you re gonna be an engineer teacher or hippie reply yup this early revelation resulted from sitting in the back corner of the classroom i was a shy child and didn t want the teacher to ask me to recite or to be questioned this was also the location of our class library in this niche i began to read the library books to escape the boredom of education there was a cache of children s books on mineral resources iron coal gold etc i became fascinated with gold and the great discoveries of it made in a california the yukon territory and alaska this was my ahah hour i wanted to become a geologist study rocks and minerals and learn where to discover them in the earth s strata in 1953 at the saenger theatre i saw thunder bay an adventure movie with james stewart and gilbert roland thunder bay was not historically accurate but a creative story about the first exploratory well drilled off the coast of louisiana and the resulting chaos and protest generated by the local shrimpers led by gilbert roland teche bossier environmentalists don t fret there was no oil spill or blowout and the fishermen and drillers found common ground and the ending was cool regardless this film reinforced my interest in earth science another event in the path to becoming a geologist was della simms mccaughan b 1928 our 10th grade biology instructor at biloxi high school della was entertaining and inspirational as a teacher i ate my first caviar sans champagne in her class she was always motivating but especially in annual science fair preparations my project in the spring of 1959 was a model of an offshore drilling platform anchored to the sea bottom with its derrick and machinery drilling into strata the objectives of the borehole were the oil and gas bearing reservoirs that trap oil on the top and flanks of a salt dome research and data provided by petroleum geologists in jackson added to the educational value of the display joyfully it won first place in earth science iv category at the state fair in jackson the daily herald april 29 1959 p 10 well i did become a geologist but never found any gold although we did discover black gold a moniker for oil my career journey in the oilfield was peripatetic allowing me the opportunity to live in texas california louisiana and mississippi the reward of being employed by an international company exxon led to assignments in indonesia singapore and malaysia with short stays in alaska and canada and a consulting job with saga petroleum norwegian based oil company exploring in south mississippi and alabama we dug two ultra deep holes over 18000 feet near lumberton mississippi and north of grand bay alabama it was a fulfilling career and i often dream of finding that really giant oilfieldin back bay no less  two final thought on st john s some of us became altar boys our responsibility was to serve with the priest in celebrating the mass although as an altar boy we didn t learn latin but we had to read it from a card in response to the priest s dialog i was fortunate to have studied latin for twoyears at biloxi high school it was an enlightening experience and i finally understood english syntax after nine years of schooling in our native tongue no sentence diagrams in latin and we were fortunate to have had two very excellent language gurus catherine foxworth clower 18971981 and frances hooker horner 19162013 i was the class clown and spent many afternoons of penance writing on mrs horner s blackboard for my silly antics additionally i would ask educators today to reinstate latin into the high school curriculum a latin word no less it s value in understanding english etymology and grammar are priceless my final comment is to share my knowledge with you of a very special lady louise j mallard 19001975 our 2nd grade teacher she may have been biloxi s first female lay instructor as nuns were becoming a rare item miss mallard was a remarkably talented and eccentric woman in addition to being an educator she possessed skills as an artist socialite thespian folk dancer and civic leader her grandfather prudent mallard 18091879 a native of france settled at nola and became a furniture maker par excellence caption april 1959 science fairunder the tutelage of della simms mccaughan several of her biology sophomore students at biloxi high school were winners at the annual mississippi state science fair in the capitol city depicted is ray l bellande first place in earth science iv with a working model of an offshore drilling rig boring into strata in search of oil and gas bearing reservoirs trapped above and on the flanks of a salt dome a common oil trapping structure in mississippi louisiana and texas other mccaughan students winning at this state science fair were colonel michael n zalocusky 19432015 and edward sparky sbardella who became a medical doctor  memories of back bay 19471961 part iv june 11 2020   remembering gorenflo school after five years at st john s my mother had a disagreement with st john s management and decided that we should attend public school since the bellande family lived less than two blocks from the gorenflo school that was a relatively easy decision and transition no more catechism except we were expected to attend after school classes once a week at st john s to continue our catholic education i was fortunate to attend the 6th grade class of miss priscilla ritch 18931972 she and her older sister mary alma ritch 18901964 called miss alma were both spinster teachers who had started their careers in public education at the back bay ward school and transferred to gorenflo when it opened in the fall of 1924 alton l bellande 19121970 my father had also been a student of these remarkably enduring educators at the former back bay school on main street and bay view avenue miss priscilla ritch was an excellent teacher i had moved to the front row in her class probably as a result of the alphabet b as in bellande and had my share of recitations we had never been taught music reading at st john s but after a few months of listening and following the notes do re mi etc i generally understood how the solmization scale worked one of miss ritch s teaching tools was a mathematical challenge to the entire class she would randomly chose a number then add to it or multiply it by another integer and then divide that result and continue the process at her digression the pupil that could follow her tortuous numerical path to its conclusion would declare the answer and be rewarded with an atta boy or an ever an atta girl all of these numerical calculations were made mentally and i still retain the capacity to solve simple math problems in my brain as a result of these daily exercises these were times of no pcs hand calculators and an apple was something to bribe the teacher or keep the doctor away do you want to hear about discipline well principal alma ritch had the big paddle and sister priscilla had the sewing machine or needle i was introduced to the needle one afternoon at this time we had another teacher who taught us social studies in her classroom we would have to change rooms which i believe was training for the regime of junior high school our next level in the educational process regardless while returning to miss ritch s classroom from the other brilliant mind moi decided to show off and balance his text book on his empty cranium well miss ritch was appalled by this sight and although a small woman in stature her arm was long enough to place her hand with index finger poised vertically to deliver short jabbing rhythmical blows to that area of my shoulder near the collar bone ouch that hurts pain equals gain if you learn from your mistakes ah that gorenflo schoolyard and the memories of the thousands of playtime hours are forever indelibly forged into my balding ram all of our activities were unorganized and unsupervised we had game rules and set up field boundaries for each sporting event surprise no one had ever heard of soccer or futbol in the spring and summer there was baseball or softball on the grass as no formal field or diamond existed for any sport here in 1955 i was playing catcher once and one of the babuchna boys johnny as i recall was at bat he took a round house swing that missed the ball but connected with my forehead i m sure that i had a mild concussion but this was a time when one rarely sought medical attention was there even an er i went home with my head severely aching for several days during recovery the fall and winter were our football seasons which were invariably the touch variety children from near and nearer would gather after school and on weekends to play the playground leaders chose teams and the game winner was based on a score mutually agreed before kickoff as first team to score 42 points or seven touchdowns wins there were no extra points are goal posts and boundaries were marked with sticks coats and invariably one side of the field was the sidewalk on lameuse street dennis malpass was our yard star he went on to play college football at kansas and later baseball at tulane the rest of us were fair to mediocre junior and high school jocks the southern end of the gorenflo schoolyard slowly graded into a shallow branch or streamlet before it gently rose to meet bradford street this area was the headwaters of bayou auguste which drained this area of back bay mrs yusko lived to the west and there was a small cache of cypress trees and other arboreal characters in her rear yard infrequently someone would brave her wrath and attempt to collect a cypress knee to make a lamp base we would catch minnows in the ditchstream and occaisionally enter the large culvert under lameuse street for no good reason then there was the sundial this object was placed in the south side gorenflo schoolyard in the spring of 1932 by the  american legion auxilliary in memory of the late william f gorenflo  18421932 nina lee gorenflo and pat and lonnie o neal great grandchildren of the benefactor unveiled the monument the school orchestra under the supervision of professor carnovale played the star spangled banner the daily herald may 25 1932 p 2  william frederick gorenflo  18421932 was native of bay st louis mississippi and a biloxi seafood pioneer civic leader public servant and philanthropist the gorenflo public school was designed by biloxi architect carl e matthes 18961972 and was erected by the collins brothers george collins and william collins contractors its area of educational responsibility included all north of the l n railroad from caillavet to lee street including the east side of caillavet and the west side of lee north of division bounded by caillavet and seal avenue land for the gorenflo school consisted of about 65 acres conveyed by john c bradford from his large lameuse street tract to the trustees of the biloxi city schools wf gorenflo 18421932 wj grant 18751932 elbert l dukate 18811943 susan snell tonsmeire 18791953 and lille bourdon devitt 18841951 for 10000 harco ms land deed bk 138 pp 466467 in the fall of 1924 three new biloxi public schools were dedicated between november 18th and 20th in this order dukate school on east howard avenue gorenflo school on lameuse street and the lopez school beween benachi avenue and porter avenue the latter was being completed by ac samford contractor gulfport and montgomery the daily herald november 14 1924 p 1 and 2 here in 19231924 gorenflo a public school building designed by architect carl e matthes 18961972 was erected by the collins brothers its area of educational responsibility included all north of the l n railroad from caillavet to lee street including the east side of caillavet and the west side of lee north of division bounded by caillavet and seal avenue  memories of back bay 19471961 part v june 18 2020   back bay play time in the 1950s children especially boys had many opportunities to enjoy themselves playing outdoors with the exception of radio and incipient television reception of poor quality this was a decade that had virtually none of the high technology gadgetry that now exits anyone ever hear of a slide rule the bellande family didn t possess a television until 1955 and it had very poor reception from wdsu which came on air in december 1948 out of nola these were the times of black and white screens with lots of snow and manual station changes from the easy chair no rad surfing dudes the radio was king and there were many good afternoon adventure programs that sparked the imagination such as sky king and sgt preston of the yukon mush you huskies preston commanded his sled dogs as he kept law and order traversing the klondike gold mining camps near dawson city and other areas throughout the yukon territory including white horse these were times that the neighborhood schoolyard and public parks were venues for touch football pickup softball and baseball and half court basketball less wellknown games for example hounds and deer a nocturnal sophisticated adaptation of hide and seek and the belt line where the stronger older belt or rolled newspaper wielders would form parallel lines and strike the weaker or younger boys that were commanded to run the gauntlet fun you decide the back bay neighborhood like most of biloxi had a public park or playground it s origin can be linked to john comstock bradford who began began acquiring land at biloxi mississippi as early as august 1847 when he bought a large tract on the back bay of biloxi from louis a caillavet 17901860 and spouse margaret fayard caillavet 17871863 the parcel was described as having 180feet on back bay and 20 arpents 3840 feet deep augustine fayard was to the west the lands of adele delauney to the south and james w elder to the east the consideration was 200 for this approximate 16 acre tract harrison co mississippi land deed bk 3 p 420 the northern portion of the large bradford tract ie that area of biloxi north of division street east of reynoir street south of the back back of biloxi and west of lameuse street became the loci of the following late 19th and 20th century developments bradford street elder street bradford elder sawmill back bay fire company back bay community center and park gorenflo public school leckich fayard seafood harrison county health center bayview theatrebayview lanes a bowling alley and bay view drugs  biloxi recreation department the biloxi city recreation department was lead by james d hadaway b 1928 who had been appointed recreation superintendent in early october 1952 was a tour de force by the summer of 1953 biloxi had supervision and programs established at ten city locations which were either parks or playgrounds back bay parkcharles floppy boone and george chop chop vuyovich west endcoach wd wiles and kay baltar lopez school playgroundjames garner bay terracecharles moniot miramar playgroundrobert wold st michael sleroy picard and gay nell knight moore community houserobert bellman elmer streetameral hunter sarah young and james daniels main street community housevernon bradford nichols playgroundwillie joe pearson in addition crafts were taught by madelyn curtis a gorenflo elementary teacher and hugh lancaster operated the movie projector sunday band concerts were held on the lawn at the biloxi community house on east beach featuring local high school bands and the keesler afb band the daily herald october 11 1952 p 1 june 11 1953 p 12 and june 2 1954 p 15 the recreation department for biloxi s youth also arranged tennis and square dance lessons and created summer baseball and softball programs little league american legion selective biloxi park and playground teams in baseball and the slow pitch softball hot stove and stove pipe leagues for adults these adult league softball games were held at the back bay and stmichael s diamondsthe daily herald june 18 1953 p 10 and april 27 1954 p 15  1953 little league baseball you know you are a trilobite if you played little league baseball at biloxi when it commenced in the spring of 1953 well this fossil did and i ll relate my fading memory of this historic event the biloxi recreation under the supervision of james d hadaway held tryouts at the lee street diamond which was the venue for the biloxi high school baseball and american legion teams to compete here youngsters were observed as to their batting and fielding skills by managers and coaches and player selections were made the bats were made of real wood and the uniform consisted of a cap and tshirt the team name was in felt letters that had to be ironed on by your momma in the 1954 season real baseball uniforms were issued to biloxi s little leaguers the daily herald april 7 1953 p 13 the initial season was introduced with eight teams in two leagues the shrimp and oyster on may 8 1953 biloxi s first little league games were played at lee street the shrimp league teams were shorty s shell sumrall service wadlington s appliance and the exchange club the oyster teams were mavar packing company dejean packing company cruso canning company and southern shell the daily herald may 9 1953 p 14 the 1953 little league season culminated  on 30 august  with two games at the va diamond in west biloxi biloxi s first championship team was shorty s shell as they bested oyster league champion mavar packing company 125 the daily herald august 28 1953 p 18 and august 31 1953 p 16 allstar teams for the respective leagues were selected at the season s climax the oyster league team was represented by ray ayers paul polly babuchna wendell wimpy cavalier dennis dartez larry fountain alfred hilton wilbert holland anthony mazarra dennis malpass robert morrison johnny ryan sherman shemo sanders george giggles sekul henry seymour julius scooter taranto and bobby walter members of the shrimp league allstars were as follows glenn allen roger demet wayne gehrmann teddy gibson max jordan vincent visco kuluz anthony mattina warren migues alton migues melvin raley terry tiger raley gerald richards otis tis st amant chris taranto jimmy wallace and billy walters the daily herald august 28 1953 p 18 our team dejean packing company was coached by leroy picard we won 14 games but finished second in the oyster league in a game  on 10 august  that was a must win to unseat league leader the mavar packers their hurler larry fountain had a 70 lead and had retired fifteen dejean batsmen until the last inning yes yours truly singled to right field with two outs in the final frame spoiling fountain s perfect game larry had a laudatory pitching performance striking out eleven the daily herald august 12 1953 p 16 1954 mavar packing companybiloxi commenced little league baseball in the spring of 1953 this vintage image was made in 1954 when the players were outfitted with baseball uniforms rather than a tshite with ironed on letters kneeling lr john hilton phillip phil dalgo 19431993 jeremiah jody j o keefe iv 19462007 uk john johnny n higginbotham 19442001 standing lr coach ernest cavalier 19161972 kenneth higginbotham ray l bellande robert seville gerald lamey uk rick stewart david l conway 19461996 and coach harold beans allen  memories of back bay 19471961 part vi june 25 2020   tennis there was a tennis court in the back bay park as early as 1928 in march of that year the biloxi tennis club held its midwinter tournament the contest was played on biloxi s four courts central community house on east beach biloxi high school court back bay court and the biloxi hotel court biloxi s top tennis players at this time were henry van waesberg wallace chapman albert e bessey lee janin ml michel jr norman moran alice lee latil and louise curet the daily herald march 8 1928 p 14 albert e bessey 18951996 was a most remarkable individual in his retirement from the usps he taught tennis privately and through the auspices of the biloxi recreation department my recollection of biloxi tennis in the 1950 s is somewhat vivid there was only one public court that was functionalbay terrace thanks to the usaf for allowing biloxi s netters to use the keesler afb just inside the forrest avenue gate we would generally walk from our back bay neighborhood to keesler to play in the 1950s the military police at the gate would see our wooden racquets and wave us passage through the open portal in the late 1950s the biloxi high school tennis team led by coach tj smith would practice and play interscholastic matches at the air base tennis center as i recollect thee were about 18 laykold courts times have changed in regards national security and biloxi now has several public tennis venues for its citizens the better local netmen that i remember were mr bessey and stanley bessey his son the duffey brothers joe and charles fred mannino toxey luckey and tony poulos under albert e bessey s tutelage younger players like mike trochesett ronnie kettering bo ahern mike felsher and chevis swetman developed their net skills while recalling outstanding biloxi athletes of this time several come to mind for their multisport skills george l sumrall anthony mozaro johnny ryan robert morrison harold breal joe gill ron peresich dennis malpass vincent kuluz clem dellenger and  bowling  there was time in america when bowling alleys were man caves akin to pool halls and bluecollar barrooms the game was generally found in large urban centers in the higher latitudes where winter was conducive for indoor activities like curling handball boxing and bowling st louis chicago detroit and new york city produced quality keglers during 1920s and 1930s there is a high degree of certitude that bowling came to biloxi because of keesler field this new army air corps base had brought many soldiers from northern climes who were schooled in the sport in june 1941 the  us army air corps activated station no 8 aviation mechanics school  at biloxi mississippi the first contingent of recruits about 2000 young americans arrived at biloxi in august 1941 and were bivouacked in tents with hand set pins an atmosphere of dense cigar and cigarette smoke and the odor of stale beer permeating the air one could only be in the brown bowling center on reynoir street opposite the saenger theatre my first recollection of brown s was in the late 1950s it was the last sunday in december 1958 that the baltimore colts and new york giants were playing for the nfl championship at yankee stadium and i watched the finale of what has been called by sports aficionados as the greatest football game ever played courtesy of mr brown on his small tv set in his cramped office the colts won in sudden death seventeen men on the field that day as a coach player or owner would eventually be enshrined in the nfl hall of fame at canton ohio players you might recall were unitas berry moore donovan and marchetti of the colts and huff gifford tunnell maynard brown and robustelli from the giants before j luther brown helen m brown and victor b pringle victor incorporated the brown bowling center in august 1948 biloxi s bowles were rolling at  vic s bowling alley  operated by victor joseph passera sr 18881948 of nola vic s was situated on the ground floor of the carpenter s union no 1667 building it had been erected in 19411942 at 419 reynoir street and opened in late may of 1942 with  mayor louis j braun  18901951 throwing a strike on his first ball at the eight lane facility the daily herald january 22 1942 p 2 march 18 1942 p 9 june 1 1942 p 3 and august 24 1948 p 6  keesler field keesler field built its first bowling alley in 1942 opposite the base chapel by early july the building had been completed and workers were awaiting bowling equipment shipped from st louis the facility was open day and night and cooled by fans a game or ten frames also called a line was to cost 15 the 12lane bowling alley opened for business on 16 september the facility was especially built for ncos but officers were permitted to bowl several hours each week pin boys were recruited from civilian and military civilian ranks interest was extremely high in the sport as several squadrons had already committed teams league play the daily herald july 8 1942 p 6 and september 16 1942 p2  bayview lanes the bayview lanes opened for keglers on january 19 1960 it represented a new platform in the sport which took bowling from backstreet to mainstreet at this time bowling centers were being built throughout america that catered to families and sporting women in an atmosphere that was more pleasant and appealing than the older man caves that had long earmarked the game the jax beer bowling team from nola made an appearance during the bayview lanes commencement celebration ernest v landaiche 18951966 proprietor already had plans to add eight additional lanes to building he was also planning a 24lane bowling center on west beach boulevard in front of his beach drivein theater  the daily herald  january 19  1960 p6 and  january 28  1960 p 27    the building was  formerly the 1946  bayview theatre  of douglas i smith 19011979 and  had been designed by  collins and cost over 60000 the theatre area was 50 feet by 100 feet with a seating capacity of almost seven hundred persons  the daily herald  november 28  1946 p 1   i was mere lad of seventeen when the bayview lanes opened for play in january 1960 by ernest v landaiche 18951966 a native of st john the baptist parish louisiana the original alley had eight lanes and was financially very successful and soon grew to twenty lanes here i honed my kegling skills with my peers kenny and johnny higginbotham bobby jackson weldon and eldon the babuchna twins and guy neff jr the bayview lanes became a magnet for families league bowlers and biloxi s top rollers among these locals pros were don viator percy higginbotham and george higginbotham dominic leperi alex kuljis hubert hubie barnes john babuchna and several military ringers from kafb guy neff sr leo perrault and andy anderson unfortunately the bayview lanes were destroyed in a horrific conflagration on 29 november 1962 the site later became a parking lot for the boom town casino during biloxi s gaming boom construction of the early 1990s the daily herald november 30 1962 p 1 biloxi soon had two additional bowling centers the beach bowl and the surf bowlarama which also opened in 1960 the beach bowl was on the biloxi strip near the sunnsand it had 24 lanes and survived camille in fact it was reopened as early as 28 august 1969 the surf bowlarama a luka kuljis family endeavor situated on point cadet was not as fortunate the kuljis enterprise opened 10 december1960 with 16 lanes alex kuljis 1959 mississippi state champion managed the camille gutted facility and it never reopened the daily herald august 12 1960 p 18 august 28 1969 p 2 and november 26 1960 p 17 and december 9 1960 p 29 bayview laneslocated at bayview avenue and lameuse street this 16lane bowling center which opened in january 1960 was destroyed in a horrific conflagration on 29 november 1962 the site later became a parking lot for the boom town casino during biloxi s gaming boom construction of the early 1990s the daily herald november 30 1962 p 1  memories of back bay 19471961 part vii july 2 2020   boy scouts the boy scouts of america at biloxi became established on 24 july 1918 by professor wilbeforce leach 18701949 at 1045 west howard avenue his home charles redding jr was assistant scoutmaster for troop i mr leach became principal of biloxi high school in late august 1918 succeeding wt harris troop i was very active in selling liberty bonds for the nations support during the great war the daily herald august 1 1918 p 3 august 28 1918 p 3 and october 17 1918 p 3 scouting at biloxi in the mid1950s was very well organized and participation by the youth of the queen city a 19th century moniker was exemplary in 19541955 my brother and i joined bsa troop 213 which was sponsored by the knights of columbus gulf coast council no 1244 it was founded in june 1907 the biloxi daily herald may 30 1907 p 1 bsa troop 213 was led by j kline coquet 19111969 scoutmaster albert d orville 19262018 assistant scoutmaster they were ably assisted by harold beans allen edward l porky blomberg jr 19362005 robbie ladner and glen d orville 19342001 we met in the knights of columbus hall when it was located on beach boulevard between lameuse street and main street the east wing of the riviera hotel was to the west and a vacant lot west of the k c hall served as a parade ground at this time our troop may have been the largest in biloxi with about 70100 scouts but troop 212 led by aj stanovich b 1929 and ernest c hart 19302010 was comparable in size and our strongest rival for scouting awards which were held at the court of honor a bimonthly event in the biloxi community house on east beach some of the young men of troop 213 that i recall are gerald h blessey and walter blessey peter hubbell george and pat collins george davis king walker tucei eugene peresich iii larry higginbotham dennis and joe landry guy and mike green william g collins jackie sherrill jb todaro gordon and barry gollott jimmy and david desporte ross bertucci robbie ladner mickey cannette gregory nolte eric lightner and sandy steckler  patrols within a boy scout troop there are patrols which are composed of six to ten scouts the patrol has a leader who is usually older and an experienced scout and assists the scoutmaster in planning and organizing troop functions patrols have names which are chosen by its members during my scouting tenure troop 213 had the following patrols bat bob white comanche dakota panther seminole sioux and woodpecker i often relate to people especially younger generations that scouting was one of the most influential and valuable experiences of my life albeit for only three years to quote unarguably biloxi s most enduring and influential scout leader aj stanovich once a scout always a scout the life lessons acquired from scouting especially through it system of advancing in rank from tenderfoot to eagle scout by completing requirements for merit badges include the following community volunteering knot tying first aid orientation which includes map reading compass use and the sun and stars especially polaris north star as a directional aids primitive camping and the survival skills to survive on berries seeds plants and to locate potable water swimming and lifeguard rescue techniques and cpr watercraft usage such as rowing canoeing sailing and kayaking and pioneering skills to erect simples structures by lashing logs to build bridges towers and shelter these life lessons can and do save lives and lead to an understanding of nature and the conservation of our disappearing green space and forest canopy  camp wilkes camp wilkes was situated in the naval reserve park on back bay and dedicated in early june 1938 and named for eugene p wilkes 18851980 publisher of the daily herald earlier the  city of biloxi had leased the ne 4 of naval reserve park to boy scouts camp inc eugene p wilkes president  the site included 11 buildings a pier built for scout purposes the tract was surrounded by a fence harrison co ms land deed bk 221 pp 566567 and city of biloxi minute bk 17 pp 399400 and the daily herald june 7 1938 p 1  1942 move with the development of keesler field commencing in 1941 camp wilkes was relocated north of back bay in the fall of 1942 to a 75acre tract which exists today surrounded by subdivisions in the 1950s it was isolated south of popps ferry road with virtually no habitation from north biloxi d iberville to the popps ferry bridge several pecan orchards and a few houses were all to seen at this time the daily herald december 9 1942 p 7  camporee a camporee in the mid1950s was a weekend in the spring and fall at camp wilkes where scouts in the biloxiocean springs district competed for awards in many scouting skills each patrol met at the camp wilkes gate on a friday afternoon and hiked into the woods with all the food shelter and bedding in their backpacks to select a campsite shelters surplus us army pup tents were pitched latrines dug and soon supper was on the fire being under 12 years of age culinary skills were very limited seems like we warmed up many cans of beans and vienna sausage over those smoky campfires we also learned that unopened cans left in a fire would soon explode my first night in a pup tent was very miserable i had never attempted to sleep on the ground prior to this coolchilly april night in 1953 although i had a blanket maybe two it was very cold and no one had suggested a sleeping bag remember that one had to hike several miles and transport everything but water to survive for two nights in the piney woods of camp wilkes dawn arrives seemly never someone had brought eggs and what was created in that frying pay was no breakfast at tiffany s or anywhere  memories of back bay 19471961 part viii july 9 2020   camporee  saturday morning of the camporee brought the judges to inspect our camp and grade the patrol for its campsite selection tent and bedding fire pit and latrine construction at this juncture i must selflaud meat preservation requires ice or refrigeration unless smoked or salted to solve this issue i selected a cylindrical metal can that would fit into a backpack and also be large enough to transport meat probably pork chops and bacon for the camporee dry ice was the medium for preservation while hiking into camp wilkes the first day it proved to be quite heavy and cold on my back regardless it was avantgarde and probably surprised the judges i don t believe it was ever attempted again the saturday afternoon was spent in various competitions on the parade ground the one that i best recall was the fire starting to boil a can of water the winning solution to this test is to use lighter pine also called heart pine that resinous saturated part of the tree that would ignite readily with intense heat patrols were timed from the commencement of efforts for ignition until the water boiled out of the containment vessel into the fire by sunday noon most of the camporee participants were totally exhausted ribbons were awarded to patrols that had earned them returning to lameuse street i strongly remember being ravenously hungry at the lunch table following a long hot bath i slept about twelve hours  summer camp during summer vacation local boy scouts also had the opportunity to enjoy freedom from their parents and siblings by attending a week session at camp wilkes we lived in rustic wooden cabins with few amenitiesno ac nor running water and iron bunk beds the swimming hole was the upper reaches of back bay served by a pier generally the water salinity rose at this time due to the paucity of summer rainfall which invited what we called sea nettles or more properly jellyfish to drift into the area from the gulf one will not forget the stinging red welps inflicted by the tentacles of these unwelcome invertebrates to share more of our local 1950s biloxi slang we learned from our elders and others that bass the fish were green trout sand burrs were rockachaws cobia were lemon fish a doggie from dog tag was an nco airman at kafb a whitney was a queer or homosexual your choice as gay or coming out of the closet were yet to come into popular or common use a yankee was anyone living north of hattiesburg well i just made this one up for a smile a true yankee is a new englander as we all should know by now i also had my first miracle or spiritual experience at camp wilkes in the late afternoon campers would engage in a contest resembling king of the mountain except the mountain was a large floating barrelsupported raft the objective was to get on the raft and remain there without being pushed back into the water on any late evening there might be ten boys on the raft and twenty in the water it was no water ballet as i attempted to rise from the turbulent bay water to the raft someone forcibly pushed my head below the surface and i came up under the raft woe is me i knew i going to drown and to this blessed day i do not remember how i recovered from this potential watery demise it suspect that have we all have experienced one of these angelic moments on one more than one occasion i have counted at least five seriously frightful experiences from a highspeed aquaplaning adventure on us interstate no 55 to flying into the still air turbulence of a commercial airliner in a turboprop plane and experiencing a violent 360 degree spin i now understand the meaning of nine lives how many do you have left entertainment at summer camp was limited there was a canteen in the afternoon were scouts could purchase soft drinks potato chips and candy health foods were yet to be discovered maybe in the evenings a movie was shown or a talk given in the cafeteria there was definitely a weekend before camp dismissal that the order of the arrow a select group of scouts performed before a large campfire for campers and their parents and guests they were dressed as native americans and performed purported native dances around the fire to everyone s amazement and enjoyment prior to summer camp prospective campers were asked to have their mother s make them a breechcloth to wear to the ceremony one of the mother s obviously did not google breechcloth as her son was absent an integral part of the garment that would be the ones covering the well you know him embareassed the youngster was escorted to his cabin on his way to the ceremony and properly fitted in 1957 i left the boy scouts without completing all of the requirements to become an eagle scout football and the social distractions that accompany one s first year in central junior high school resulted in my withdrawal from troop 213 it wasn t sex drugs and rock and roll but more like playboy aspirin and fats domino i will repeat an earlier statement that scouting is an incredibly educational experience and valuable lessons learned will be useful in one s life as an example in 1956 a biloxi teenager while riding his motor scooter collided with an automobile on a major back bay street he was thrown from the machine and his head struck and shattered the side window of the car the resulting glass shards severed his jugular vein it was rumored that the ambulance was slow in arriving to the scene of the accident and no one at the accident site knew first aid in the very prime of life a young biloxian perished in the local hospital had a boy scout with the knowledge of basic first aid been present to apply pressure to the wound and decrease the flow and loss of blood the precious life of this young man might have been saved a very sobering and sad ending today for me to say aurayvoir mes amis please return next week  memories of back bay 19471961 part ix july 16 2020 movies back bay folks were fortunate to have had two movie houses the bay view theatre and the myer within easy walking distance as were biloxi s other neighborhoods the point had the roxy and toy while the cbd was the venue for the saenger the avenue and the buck which were at this time actually less than an hours trek from bay terrace back bay the point or irish hill the black community had the harlem on main street and were provided balcony seating at several segregated biloxi movies i was about three years old when the bay view theater was erected on the nw c of lameuse street and bayview avenue it was less than a block from our twobedroom woodframed 1940s bungalow on the west side of lameuse street that house was built with roughcut lumber and had a tin roof which survived every hurricane from the 1947 september storm and katrina with water reaching the eaves little has changed in regards the physical layout of movie theaters in my seventy years of viewing except the trend has been from single theaters to multiscreen movies houses with stadium seating and naturally more technology the concessions have always been expensive  the bay view theatre the tract of land that the bay view theatre was erected was acquired by terrance smith 18551924 an irish immigrant stevedore and resident of nola from ec joullian and charles redding in february 1921 for 8000 the smith parcel consisted of about 45 acres and was described as two hundredeighty feet on back bay and running south eight hundred fifty feet on the west side of lameuse street harrison co mississippi land deed bk 130 p 348 in october 1881 terrance smith had married sallie o harris 18621885 they had at least one son william smith 18831900 at nola mr smith remarried to katherine douglas 18691937 in february 1895 from this marriage at least two children were born in the crescent city probably on soniat street joseph smith 18971968 and douglas i smith 19011979 when terrance smith conveyed this late to his spouse in june 1924 it was described as having 280 feet on back bay and running south on the west side of lameuse street for 730 feet harrison co mississippi land deed bk 141 p 614 and 1900 orleans parish federal census t623575 p 23b ed 128 shortly after the demise of terrance smith katherine douglas smith sold the land to douglas i smith her son in january 1925 harrison co mississippi land deed bk 152 p 350 and bk 160 p 231  douglas i smith there is a high degree of certitude that douglas ignatius smith 19011979 while visiting biloxi with his parents met vera moran 19011979 the daughter of francis moran 18531935 and elizabeth vanderpool 18691940 they married at biloxi in october 1920 by 1930 douglas i smith was managing a restaurant and had his growing family domiciled on lameuse street the smith children were douglas i smith jr b 1921 patrick smith b 1923 gerard smith b 1924 m dolores kneale theresa e smith b 1925 m leon l tootle 19191988 and terrence smith 192720011930 harrison county mississippi federal census r 1146 p 22a ed 6 the bay view theatre opened on november 30 1946 with caesar and cleopatra an english produced film starring vivian leigh 19131967 and claude rains 18891967 at the time this production was touted as the most expensive ever made costing over 6 million the theater building was designed by collins collins and its erection was supervised by sam starks and cost over 60000 the theatre area was 50 feet by 100 feet with a seating capacity of almost seven hundred persons the viewing screen was plastic and the sound system built by rca a brinkert movie projector was utilized the bayview theatre was cooled and heated with a 40ton air conditioning unit and a riznor heating system respectively  the daily herald november 28 1946 p 1   in addition the structure housed kay s flower shop bay apparel and bay drugs operated by alfred j claiborne 18951946 mr claiborne had been with katz besthoff drug stores in the crescent city gerard smith son of douglas i smith was the manager of the movie house   the daily herald november 28 1946 p 1   some of the first cinema viewings and movie stars that i remember at the bay view were stalag 171953 william holden twelve o clock high1949 gregory peck on the waterfront1954 marlon brando shane1953 alan ladd the wizard of oz1939 judy garland uncle tom s cabin 1927 the three stooges our gang esther williams the swimming queen of the silver screen donald o conner francis the talking mule roy rogers and dale evans hopalong cassidy lash larue george gabby hayes laurel and hardy abbott and costello and randolph scott  myer theatre the myer theatre was unusual as it had saturday morning serials and cartoons for children buck rogers 1939 is the one i best recall the theater management was also very creative in promoting adult attendance in its early years the meyer had dr zandu s midnight seance and ghost show which claimed that it could generate enough fright and horror to make frankenstein a sissy an advertisement in the daily herald of 28 may 1940 requested that any adult willing to spend all night in a local cemetery to experience any spirit forces and share them on stage with dr zandu would be paid 10 sounds like a paltry sum until you understand that admission to the movies at this time was 11 cents for children and 17 cents for adults the daily herald may 28 1940 p 9 another hook for grownups was to have a popular local band combine with a minstrel show to create a vaudeville atmosphere the daily herald august 10 1940 p 6 the meyers family had arrived in biloxi from erath louisiana about 1926 odeus meyers had married elvena viator at delcambre louisiana in october 1905 their children were calus c meyers 19091999 albert j meyers 19111958 henry meyers 19142004 m eula marie meyers ena meyers krause 19201983 and ella meyers fayard in february 1940 odeus meyers 18841968 and calus canute cc meyers 19091999 his son operators of meyers grocery at 447 east division street announced that they were going to build a 600seat movie theater on the southeast corner of lameuse and division streets jack fayard biloxi architect was hired to draw building plans for the 11000 meyers woodframed movie house it was to be 40 feet by 110 feet and fireproof approximately 400seats were for white patrons and 200seats for colored viewers the colored entrance and lobby was on division street and their seating area was the balcony the white clientele entered from lameuse street and were seated in the main auditorium  the daily herald february 10 1940 p 1   land for the new meyers theatre was acquired in june 1938 by odeus c meyers for 1000 from ruth elder collins 19031960 and hazel elder van court 19011971 the heirs of re lee elder 18641931 this 602 foot by 300 foot site had been in the elder family since 1914 harrison co mississippi land deed bk 220 p 598 and bk 108 p 108  opening night the meyers theatre opened on the evening of may 17 1940 with alias the deacon starring bob burns calus c meyers and ht fayard of picayune were the managers of the new movie house  sale  in january 1961 odeus meyers and calus c meyers conveyed the meyer theatre to b d theatres inc for 60000 b d theatres was chartered in october 1960 by claude s bourgeois 19291985 of biloxi and edgar g doerr 19111983 mr doerr was domiciled at new orleans harrison co mississippi land deed bk 220 p 598 and harrison co mississippi chattel deed bk 263 p 132  memories of back bay 19471961 part x july 23 2020 the final years   central junior high school on september 8 1943 the new biloxi central junior high school on east howard avenue commenced classes for 568 students in grades seven eight and nine cyril a carvin 19171978 was the principal the structure had 20 classrooms home economics area manual and vocational training departments library and cafeteria the daily herald september 1 1943 p 1 and september 9 1943 in september 1956 with entry into the eighth grade at central high junior high school from st john s elementary school an incipient step into adulthood commenced no longer did we spend all day with one teacher but started the day at the home room and went to our scheduled classes like english mathematics social studies science music home economics art geography health and shop shop was a manual training lab in basic woodworking here one was taught about woods measurements hand tools and building simple objects like cutting boards boat building would certainly have been more interesting and practical for young biloxians who could ever forget miss betty jones our ninth grade homeroom teacher as i recall she taught girls physical education and was miss usm in her day we had a classroom snowball fight one day which i initiated by going outside as it had snowed and delivered the first strike at miss jones this delta belle married an officer from kafb and took off into the wild blue yonder much to the chagrin of biloxi s eligible bachelors  eateries juvenile and teen obesity was rare at this time in america the franchise fast food industries were in their incipient stages and had yet to bring their high calorie fatty foods to the public for you trivia aficionados the first mcdonald s franchise on the mississippi gulf coast was situated just west of kafb gate 7 it opened for business on pass road on may 23 1962 the 40000 building permit was announced in early october 1961 original franchisees were albert gatti and joe nibeel 19112009 the daily herald october 2 1961 p 14 and may 23 1962 p 14 local restaurants of note at this time enjoyed by teens in biloxi were led by hugo s on the se c of division and porter avenue arguably biloxi s best pizza ever friday nights here were sardine packed beer flowing fetes and especially during football season a venue of highs or lows depending if the biloxi indians or notre dame rebels were victorious alcohol consumption generally ameliorated the losers pain a biloxi tradition was to add french dressing to ones pizza which i rejected as it overwhelmed the savory ingredients of the original dish mr hugo drove a white lincoln continental with red interior and was a generous tipper my younger brother bagged groceries at delchamps and related that the bagboys competed for his grocery cart as they knew a fin was coming five dollars was a very healthy reward in the early 1960s roy a bellande july 21 2020  remembering hugo s hugo j rungo 19091993 was born in new york and spent his formative years on staten island richmond county new york it appears that hugo s father died young leaving his mother hugo and john rungo 19111997 a brother hugo came to keesler field in 1944 and after his military discharge was finalized in 1946 decided to make his home on the coast mr rungo had observed that there were no italian restaurants in the area and commenced to save money to open a local eatery in 1951 hugo was ready to become a biloxi restaurateur his first diner was in an alley where the biloxi regional hospital now exists he later moved to west division street and porter avenue he tried to get backing but he was told pizza pie who ever heard of pizza pie he proved everybody wrong hugo j rungo jr 19322008 of biloxi said sunday during the 1960s and 1970s hugo s restaurant became the in spot teenagers and families after football games the place was wild rungo said about 100 to 150 kids would come piling in they all enjoyed themselves perry ransom jr 19292003 of ocean springs knew the senior rungo for 25 years and related that hugo had a heart as big as his body he would do anything for anybody at any time he d never hesitate he will be missed but he will also be remembered ransom was a regular customer at hugos and recalls the lines outside of the restaurant it s hard to describe how family people from pass christian and pascagoula would come to get one of hugo s pizzas they s stand in line for hours to get a table hugo j rungo jr credits the popularity of his father s restaurant to its ambience and affordability it was a nice clean family type place he said people knew they could come in with their kids and have an enjoyable meal we kept the price low my father always said make a little often don t try to make a whole bunch at once besides being the place to hangout in its heyday some say that the french dressingonpizza craze was original to hugo s french dressing was kept on the tables and when it was not customers started to ask for it rungo said i remember one airman came in and asked for some liquid cheese to go with his pizza he didn t realize that it was french dressing the daily herald january 28 1967 p 5 and the sun herald january 11 1993 p a2 back bay had a paucity of diners in fact i don t remember any of note when yo mama is one of the best cooks on the planet and has five children and a spouse to feed you don t eat out often or at all caillavet street had perry s cafe and cot s place mary s drive inn on lee and division certainly gets kudos as well as abbie s lil diner on benachi rosetti s a very popular neighborhood cafe on the point was owned by vincent vici rosetti 19081983 in 1947 late one night clifton m kip dees 19272011 and several amigos were completing an evening of partying and dancing at sie s place in biloxi they developed a healthy appetite the kind resulting from drinking beer and dancing the vancleavers stopped at rosetti s a legendary eatery best known for its roast beef poboy to satisfy hunger pangs before heading northeast to vancleave kip dees ordered a crabmeat poboy with cheese in subsequent visits to rosetti s kip who was facetiously called vancleave by vici rosetti again ordered the crabmeat poboy and requested cheese rosetti tasted kipp s concoction and was so delighted with the results that he placed the poboy sandwich on his menu calling it the van cleave special in honor of his friend van cleave dees at this time dees culinary creation costs a whopping 175 making it the most expensive sandwich in the house in recent times the van cleave special has been observed on restaurant menus as far east as miami florida kip dees january 6 1999 mcelroy s a w root beer place on west howard now judge sekul was a teen hangout as were the driveinns on the biloxi strip from rodenberg avenue west to the broadwater beach hotel of the philanthropic brown family joe w brown 18971959 and dorothy dorsett brown 18961989 both texans strip clubs dominated pat harrison avenue now veterans but the iconic hot stop was a favorite with biloxi s young folks hugo j rungohugo joseph rungo 19091993 a new yorker by birth came to biloxi as an airman in 1944 and left leaving a restaurateur s legacy that will live for several more generations his italian restaurant on west division and porter was the venue for many celebrations and especially those of the sporting crowd friday night lights could have been filmed here as high school players and fans ordered pizza and shared the evening in the glory of winning or the agony of defeat  memories of back bay 19471961 part xi august 2 2020   spartan biloxi since biloxi senior high school and central junior high school were juxtaposed we invariably were influenced by our elders next door it soon became apparent that the football players across the way were top dog so i became a jock again since the early 1950s the biloxi recreation department s coach donal m snyder 19222015 had provided back bay youths with organized athletics such pee wee football and basketball as afore mentioned i had been in biloxi s first little league program 1953 and played football for st john s elementary on back bay i m not attempting to denigrate my native biloxi or indicate that i was an intellectual snob or classical musician but as my 78year young memory recalls it seemed that biloxi was a cultural vacuumat least during my fist 18 years 19431961 bluecollar societies tend to be not overly educated nor inclined to symphony opera book clubs chess matches or other cerebral pursuits fortunately the biloxi public library amply provided literature for all ages who could forget miss florence freidhoff 19051972 who managed the old old biloxi library on lameuse street she ran a tight ship and would not tolerate and noise and that included speech one had to whisper to communicate and then it was a quite whisper i remember attempting to read dostoevsky s  brothers karamazov  when i was about twelve but soon went back to hammond inness adventure novels or twofisted tales the anthology war comic which was born about the time of the korean war anybody remember that one ocean springs recently lost peter a sparkes 19322020 who as a seventeenyear old joined the usmc and survived the battle of the chosin reservoir among other engagements against north korean and chinese combatants rip brother pete in the fall as a youngster and teen we would walk up or down biloxi s cbd on a saturday morning invariably there would be some biloxi high school football players wearing their b letter jackets standing in front of the union bar like sparta biloxi was a town driven by male dominance and machismo respect came from strength and winning athletes from any sports genre were local heroes especially those that excelled in football and boxing we seem to still be mired in this bog today anyone ever want to be seen with the valedictorian in front of the library or at a bookstore the local thugs badge of honor was to roll a doggie which meant to physically accost a kafb airman before stealing his wallet many biloxi teenagers were sent to the reform school at columbia mississippi for criminal behavior unbecoming of a juvenile on 28 november 1957 i attended the traditional biloxigulfport thanksgiving football game at milner stadium in gulfport and witnessed the on field brawl that occurred at the final whistle it is alleged that over zealous biloxi fans initiated the brawl biloxi won the hard fought contest on the turf 1910 joe balius 19392010 aj all the way with holloway jr 19392018 and glen williams moved the indian offense and a tough defense anchored by george bubba misko and harold ericksen stymied the commodores in the second half the postgame melee created a hiatus of about 20 years before this annual rivalry resumed the daily herald november 29 1957 p 21   the creoles cometh one of those strange experiences that you remember forever occurred in the 8th or 9th grade at central junior high as i agedly recall one of the teachers casually mentioned that some students were coming to class that were different we were puzzled as this was the only clue chronologically this was about ten years before public school integration in mississippi and et the movie wouldn t arrive a la steven spielberg until even later in 1982 so one day these three young people arrive on campusa girl and her younger brothers they seemed to be rather normal  homo   sapiens  maybe slightly darker than average but with caucasian feature the issue with these teens was that they were originally from vancleave and deemed creoles a local pejorative term for people of muskogean origin ie of the former choctaw nation well we weren t familiar with the cruel life that their ancestors had endured in the piney woods northeast of biloxi here the creoles were not allowed into either public school white or colored eventually with northern influence the live oak pond school was created by the jackson county board of education as an elementary educational facility to educate children of the creole race it was sponsored by the baptist missionary society wpa writers during the depression wrote that the creole school at vancleave was   attended by the children of indian spanish french and negro blood who are called by the misnomer creole it is said that in some of this group still flows the blood of the biloxi indians however the percentage of indian and negro is small   1699 to present wpa and the daily herald february 2 1932 p 2    the biloxi indians were not choctaw  in 1939 the superintendent of the jackson county public schools wrote miss mary c o keefe 18931980 superintendent of the ocean springs municipal school a letter concerning the live oak pond school it read as follows  the live oak pond school was created for creoles and people of mixed blood the vancleave white school and other white schools do not permit these people to attend their schools it is unfortunate for the children but of course you know that our race question is a social problem  at this time biloxi s school board and superintendent of education should have been lauded for their unconditional acceptance of these three students of american indian ancestry they were not only good students but the males were exceptional athletes and well remembered by those that were friends and teammates  football memories since i began today s sinuous life path with football i ll conclude with that subject coach hillman q breeland 19292005 native of columbia mississippi and delta state graduate led the 1957 central braves to training camp with about 30 players the starting eleven were joe gill qb gerald lamey fb claude trahan rhb michael skrnich lhb bill smith c frank pates lg ray bellande lt elton bienvenue le davis king rg charles yost rt and harold breal re additional squad members were maynard hacker steve bowen alan santa cruz robert ross and mickey bellande the daily herald september 25 1957 p 14 and october 3 1957 p 22 coach breeland was a good natured fellow but was serious about his brand of football on his practice field his pigskin students worked if our concentration strayed or we lost a game the circle was initiated this was a test of endurance and once a large circle of players was made with covid19 spacing players 68 feet apart the runner was given the football and proceeded counterclockwise and be tackled by the chap next to him then the runner got up and ran into the next tackler this maniacal journey continued until the runner quit from exhaustion physical pain or completed the hellish journey everyone eventually was the runner and most were mean or strong enough to survive the circle even me i don t remember much about the games we played but we did travel to far off places like long beach and moss point our equipment was substandard and usually hand me downs from the high school the protective pads shoulder and hip were hard plastic and probably caused more injuries than the actual physical contact we weren t fast or big enough to create much force so injuries were minimal this is very unbelievable but at practice one day a defensive player was knocked on his derriere which was quite common the next part is pretty rare but i m sure that it has occurred more than once as the offensive back ran through the hole in the line created by excellent double team blocking he stepped on the groin of the downed lineman and his cleats cut the unfortunate lad s glans penis ouch we had winning seasons with coach breeland and by the fall of 1959 he had been promoted to the bhs football staff of coach willie wiles most of us would see him again but the circle would be replaced with wind sprints another punitive measure to promote winning and discipline football ain t for sissies the 1943 biloxi central junior highsituated on howard avenue east of both bellman street and the 1912 biloxi senior high school this structure holds special memories for those who attended it until it became dukate elementary in the 1970s when the junior high students were transferred to nichols junior high the building was razed in the early years of the 21 st century and the site is now occupied by the biloxi civic center which opened in july 2011  memories of back bay 19471961 part xii august 9 2020   biloxi central jr high    segregation ww ii babies like myself and baby boomers in biloxi grew up in a segregated society as did most of our peers in the deep south i spent 16 years in classrooms from biloxi to socorro new mexico and finally at msu in starkville and only saw one person of color segregation was not by choice but a fact of life at this time while at state i experienced the september 1962 james meredith integration of ole miss and the babe mccarthy led bulldog sec championship basketball team of 19621963 babe and university leadership defied governor ross r barnett 18981987 and met loyola chicago an integrated squad in a big dance first round match in michigan state lost by 10 points to the eventual national champion loyola rambler five known as the game of change this contest was a seminal moment in the integration of american collegiate athletics a fact not well known about state football is that in november 1946 they were scheduled to play nevada in starkvegas mississippi state college officials discovered that the nevadans had two black players and the game was cancelled the forfeiture carried a penalty of 3000 the daily herald october 29 1946 p 2 the majority biloxi s black population in the 1950s was located in an area bounded by bayou auguste and bradford street lee street the l n rr and caillavet street as a result of litigation describes as gilbert r mason v the biloxi municipal school district a plan was submitted to federal authorities to desegregate the 1st grade in biloxi public schools for the 19641965 school year 15 biloxi schools were affected the pupil population in the 19631964 school year was 8169 students with 1255 students being africanamerican biloxi high school was peacefully integrated 2 september 1965 when seven black students were admitted to classes the daily herald july 15 1964 p 1 and september 2 1965 p 1  the baseball game it must have been about 1957 and someone on back bay had the idea of playing some black teens in a baseball game the south end of fayard street near division street was an integrated neighborhood and there the young folks of both races played local games and sports together well we didn t advertise the game in order to prevent any interference from the adult community and chose a venue not in a very public place it wasn t much of a contest as we got our white asses whupped pretty good we were embarrassed to ask for a rematch nor did anyone suggest we play them in a basketball contest  1960 beach riot where were you on 24 april 1960 several of us back bay teens were gathered in the gorenflo school yard on lameuse street planning our summer vacation time a pick up truck stopped and the driver yelled the niggers are on the beach by the lighthouse y all wanna go see naturally as bored teens we jumped in the back of the truck and unwittingly sped towards an ensuing crisis ah the ignorance of youth when we got there the situation had gotten out of control white folks were pursuing black people with various weapons to drive them from the sandy shoreline the bpd was making arrests amidst the chaos after about five minutes of this disgusting and sickening event we left the violence against black people continued into the evening as we witnessed an innocent negro man pushed into a plate glass store window on howard avenue this was one of the most violent days in biloxi s long history and hopefully there will never be any reason for any reoccurrence for any reason the daily herald april 25 1960 p 1 the sun herald april 17 2017 james p smith beaches blood and ballotsuniversity press of mississippi2000  biloxi senior high school this week fiftyfive years ago i graduated from mississippi state university and relocated to new orleans to begin a career as a petroleum geologist with a major oil company this would began a twentyfour year adventure that was defined by a circuitous path that led to living in shreveport los angeles djakarta indonesia kuala lumpur malaysia singapore kingsville texas and finally lafayette louisiana from los angeles i traveled to alaska and canada several times while assigned to map the oil and gas reservoirs and calculate hydrocarbon reserves for the giant prudhoe bay field on the north slope of alaska there i experienced an actual temperature of 60f and wind chills factors as low as 120f pretty chilly for a biloxi boy the company once asked me to test a survival suit at these low temperatures and i had to report when the suit got very stiff i decided to abandon the test and seek shelter in our verywell insulated trailer read gulag archipelago someday some of you may not remember biloxi s senior high school on howard avenue and bellman street when i started classes there in september 1958 it was already fortyfive years old having been erected in 19121913 this was the replacement school for the howard memorial main school the 1888 gift of frank t howard 18551911 and harry t howard 18561930 this edifice was situated on main street and railroad street and was designed and erected by john r harkness son for 10000 the daily picayune march 22 1889 p 8 early biloxi public school buildings were the gifts of its early seafood magnates william k m dukate 18531916 william f gorenflo 18421932 and lazaro lopez 18501903 and the sons of louisiana lottery owner charles turner howard 18321885 frank t howard 18551911 and harry t howard 18561930 the 1913 biloxi public school was the first to be financed with public funds a 50000 bond issue to finance the new construction was passed by biloxi s leaders in march 1912 and called ordinance no 448 the daily herald march 14 1912 p 8 our bhs class of 1961 had the good fortune to be the last class in the noncooled 1913 structure and the first class to graduate in may 1961 from the new high school on father ryan which is now the biloxi junior high school with this education i finished four years of college and some graduate work and night classes at the following schools tennessee new mexico tech msu tulane centenary ucla and ul lafayette in the early 1980s at ul lafayette i was an adjunct professor in the petroleum engineering department this was not only personally challenging but an introduction to many students of international origin we had young petroleum engineering majors from saudi arabia yemen kuwait nigeria and lebanon prior to the 1979 overthrow of the shah of iran m reza pahlavi 19191980 ull was a favored school for iranian students primarily because the dean of petroleum engineering and his assistant was iranian i taught a laboratory course in analyzing electronic data induction well logs obtained from the subsurface strata to determine the presence of hydrocarbons and to determine the volume and recoverable oil in place today the opportunity to learn is vastly superior to what we had sixty years ago the internet has made education a daily process that can be enjoyed in a safe relaxing environment free from the constraints of a classroom and the other interferences to learning with the digitization of books magazines and other printed educational materials it appears libraries will soon cease to exist the chinese virus pandemic has created a situation where students of all levels have been acclimatized to home studies and testing will colleges and public schools cease to exist 1954 aerial public school imagerythis photograph depicts from left to right the 1913 biloxi central school which was designed by wt nolan and p torre jr nola architects the threestory structure built with st louis pressed brick was erected by se dupree contractor in september 1913 301 students walked from the 1889 howard memorial school on main street to the their new school building of these pupils about 100 were in the high school class this school closed in march 1961 when the 2 million dollar new biloxi senior high school opened on father ryan avenue to the right of the 1913 school is the 1943 biloxi central junior high school the 1929 biloxi high school gym is north of the 1913 school on what was then washington street now peyton drive today the biloxi public library and civic center occupy the site formerly that of the two public schools  1961   to socorro and first semester of college   the sunset limited pulledout of the union station at new orleans in late august or early september 1961 it was late on a sunday evening probably about 10 pm i began to get anxious as the reality of leaving home family and friends for the first time began to set in i rode in a passenger car and slept very little until i got to el paso about 2 am on tuesday i slept on a bench in the train station until dawn and then boarded the northbound santa fe for new mexico institute of mining and technology at socorro new mexico i can still feel and smell the cold smoky airconditioned atmosphere of the train compartment the mustard taste of ham sandwiches remains but some of the characters i met on the southern pacific passenger train like the russian student from california the gi going to ft bliss and the southern belle from georgia will always be a part of the insomnia journey from the crescent city coincidentally i met bob hossack who was also headed for new mexico tech on the santa fe portion of the journey hossack was from la mesa california he was very intelligent an excellent student and a damn good tennis player bob is the only guy that i ever saw wear out the toe of a tennis shoe he did this by dragging his foot while serving the tennis ball we arrived at socorro on a beautiful cool clear september day i met my roommate hunter smith a cowboy from pinon new mexico the first several weeks at college were very miserable i really missed something was it the security of my former environment school was difficult my objective here was to get a degree in geology i had a poor high school foundation in mathematics and the physical sciences which would haunt me all through my scholastic years i did do well in english art and physical education but only fair in chemistry failure was not met in physics or algebra but i was near the bottom of the class in these subjects the art of art of studying had not yet been learned by this mississippi lad it was much easier to get absorbed in sports as my dormitory room was only about 100 yards from the gym soon i became a gym rat spending hours shooting baskets and playing round ball it was a great escape from studying the school had a basketball team called the ratheskeller named for the sponsor a local lounge we played in the city league against the locals who were chiefly chicanos i once scored twentyfive points in a game this experience also gave me the opportunity to officiate which was very difficult we also played softball and flag football as part of the intramural program i thoroughly enjoyed the keen competition with the graduate students and staff i will always remember james mcgettigan our pe teacher as a great competitor probably my biggest thrill at new mexico tech was the trip to the kellygraphic mining district near magdalena new mexico it was here that we went underground to search for the rare mineral smithsonite a zinc carbonate ore which is present here in a boitroidal form in late november 1961 on a cool clear sunday afternoon eight of us left the socorro campus for magdalena i had never been below ground and was quite anxious about the experience little did i know that later that afternoon i would experience some of the greatest anxiety of my life the entrance to the mine at magdalena was 45 feet high and required one to walk in a stooped position we wore hard hats with acetylene lamps carried geologic hammers and an occasional person might have had water and a flashlight sporadically we stopped to collect from the walls of the mine barite calcite and other common minerals the turkey ore or smithsonite was much deeper i remember coming to a juncture in the mine tunnel were it was necessary to descend on ladders to another level i had no idea of our depth or direction thus far all was preceding well the group reached an area of the mine where the portal was about three feet wide i wasn t eager to begin crawling through this small tunnel but there was little choice someone said that we were crawling through the fault zone i never did learn the geology of the area the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel was a welcome sight there was another surprise before we reached the stope or winze were the smithsonite lie it was in the guise of crystallized sticks of dynamite we collected some fair quality mineral specimens of which a few i still possess the return trip out of the kellygraphic mine was hairy we reached a location in the mine where one had to swing across a vertical shaft to reach the continuation of the tunnel i was with the point man and naturally we were leading the party suddenly behind us a muted shout or scream was heard my partner who had the light source felt that someone might have fallen into the shaft immediately he returned to determine the seriousness of the situation i was abandoned in total darkness it was blacker than black i wouldn t move for fear of falling into a shaft it was deathly silent and the fact that i knew nothing of the potential disaster behind me only added to a growing sense of anxiety my heart began to pound violently in my chest cavity i was scared lord deliver me from this tomb i prayed i started a litany don t let me die alone i ll never miss mass again i had no concept of time or space it seemed like an hour before my partner returned i m sure it was no more than ten minutes fortunately all was well and my companions and i returned safely to the surface when we got back to the campus i didn t realize how hungry or dirty that i had become i remember picking dust dirt etc out of my nose for twenty minutes while waiting for some hamburgers and a milk shake at the grill that evening a deep fatigued had also set in as the semester at new mexico tech progressed i realized that i couldn t survive four years at socorro i probably could have struggled through with a c average on the academic side but the isolation and boredom that i felt as well as the expenses were difficult obstacles to overcome i went to the library to locate a college catalog for a school closer to biloxi mississippi state university was the only school in the state that i could find any information about i applied and was accepted for the spring semester when i left socorro in january 1962 i wept it was my first experience away from home i had made some great relationships it was a small school almost non coed we were all survivors i left the ship but i know these guys all survived as well  19621965 mississippi state university what a difference a college makes at mississippi state i found all the courses fairly easy and made the dean s list admittedly i did study much more enthusiastically i got away from sports and became caught up in a competitive group of guys who wanted to excel academically here i continued my pursuit of a geology degree dr dunn had just retired and a new professor dr troy j laswell had just taken over the geology department don keady was on his way to texas a m to work on his doctorate degree my three and onehalf years at mississippi state were fairly routine i made good grades in fact i was on the dean s list six out of the seven semesters that i attended that institution and finished with a 312 qpa with the exception of a c in structural geology my record in geology courses was all a s i never did understand how to use that strain ellipsoid of my geology classmates at state i would later come across owen scott lafayette john b mcgee sidney australia jesse ellard tuscaloosa and james christian new orleans on the oil patch after departing mississippi state and starkville in may 1965 i only returned twice i believe it was 1972 that i went for a home coming football contest with usm and then later in 1984 when i went to tuscaloosa to show some oil deals to michigan oil and an english based company at starkville only a few memorable events remain with me the most ecstatic being the may day that i departed the area another event that occurred there that left a mark in my memory happened on the athletic field in 1964 we lost to memphis state at scott field this was the first time that they had beaten a sec team following the contest their fans stormed the field and attempted to tear down our goal posts needless to say the rednecks and their cowbells held the day i observed some very nasty head wounds in tiger fans on their way to the infirmary another athletic event which is memorable was a stateole miss football game in november 1963 it was so cold i froze my ass off it took about two hours before my body quit shivering and i felt normal i m sure that i was hypothermic the great state basketball teams led by babe mccarthy are another fond memory i was fortunate to watch red stroud joe dan gold and leland mitchell during the 19621964 seasons even though state reached the final four in 1996 these teams with those of bailey howell a few years earlier may have been the acme of state basketball history  1964 summer employmentjackson  interview with george burchfield of gulf oil went to work for gulf in their jackson mississippi office in may 1964 as a geological technician worked with photogeologist harry i met  joseph joe cyril franklin  19322020 in june 1964 at jackson mississippi when he was a geologist with the gulf oil refining company as a summer employee i was assigned to assist the geological staff as a goffor it was an amazing education for a third year geology major and joe franklin was very supportive during my three month summer job we would meet again in lafayette louisiana and work together as consulting geologist in coastal mississippi wellsitting deep smackover exploration wells for saga petroleum a norwegian company ainterviews with texaco gulf and humble oil refining company hired by fred sollars of humble oil  1965 in the spring of 1965 i had i nterviews at state college mississippi with representatives of texaco and humble oil refining company as i had a record with gulf i was flown to houston texas and was interviewed by henry f fowler in the houston petroleum club i was offered a position with gulf and was to report to the saratoga building in new orleans after completing my geology summer field camp hired by fred sollars of humble oil  dayton tennessee   1965 new orleans on august 5 1965 i reported to carl patterson at the jeff davis parkway office of humble oil refining company  1967 shreveport louisiana   oil field groceries  written february 1992 its a cool damp wintry day in south mississippi and i have the en vie to create a great gumbo after preparing a shopping list for the multitudinous ingredients i decide to make some chilli instead thank you mr mcilhenny these culinary thoughts surface memories of an oil patch experi ence of yore allow me to relate it to you as i best recall it was about june 1967 and humble exxon transferred me to the shreveport production district to learn the real oil field my first venture into the patch was down the mississippi river levee in concordia parish to a wilcox oilfield called fairview since i was a real weevil i was placed in the tutor ship of a senior geologist we spent the night at vidalia with the theory that a good nights sleep would sharpen the mind and allow for a more lucid evaluation after a savory breakfast of eggs bacon grits butter soaked biscuits and copious amounts of coffee we headed south the twenty odd miles to the rig at fairview our timing was superb as big blue had an induction log waiting for us after a quick inspection of the log smiles radiated from us both there were at least five pay sands called sharp artman minter and other anglo names like that i began to get excited since we were going to see some real oil well the cores kept coming industry s modus operandi was to shoot beaucoup sidewallscores since many wilcox reser voirs exhibit low resistivity characteristics due to the laminar bedding planes about 1 pm i began to feel the pangs of hunger in a weak tone i suggested hey jim lets go to natchez for some groceries i hear they have some great food up there his reply was huh we re working kid no food until the evaluation is complete but man i don t think well without food i said irritably we should be done by 4 pm my wife made me a sandwich yesterday its in the trunk of the car you re welcome to it he replied amicably with the thought of ptomaine or some other stomach disorder in my head i gracefully declined his offer for nourishment instead i suggested that it might be a good idea for me to go into the swamp to look for some natural organic health food like blackberries heart of palmetto pine seeds etc i knew someday my boy scout training would come to play was this the day when i opened the door of the doghouse my oil and chlorothane saturated nostrils could barely sense it yes yes an aroma of edible goodies in the atmosphere the schlumberger operators were feasting out of a large ice chest near the logging truck bologna lunch meat ham pickles tomatoes bread yeah and lots of mayonnaise in addition there was lots of sugar and caffeine in the colas to revive my weakened body and sluggish mind sheepishly i asked if i might participate in their victual ritual sure they replied gregariously this is the community lunch wagon this was to be my first oil field perk but i didn t realize it then as we ate a thick steak that evening in monroe cele brating that rare event a successful wilcox well i began to formulate an idea yes i ll stock my car with food the next time i venture into the backwaters of the oilfield to do wellsite work i did and have never regretted it  1969 los angeles california  i departed lax for anchorage alaska in march 1969 we stopped at seattle and then flew nonstop to alaska dean morgridge the district geologist for alaska was also aboard the continental jet we arrived at anchorage about 8 pm the air temperature was a cool 14 degrees f leaving balmy southern california i wasn t totally prepared for the subarctic cold dean morgridge invited me to have dinner with him we went to a restaurant that specialized in beef our order took nearly two hours and consisted of a small roast weighing about 20 ounces needless to say that after the wait we were literally hungry enough to eat a cow there was a strong blizzard on the north slope and no aircraft were going in this allowed me to remain in the anchorage area two additional days i took advantage of this time to do some shopping and sight seeing i rented a car and drove down the turn again arm of the cook inlet to the ski resort at and to see the portage glacier i believe it was st patrick s day when we boarded the king air for the prudhoe bay camp i joined the company of three arco tool pushers they were pretty crusty charactersstereotypes of the oil field where do they manufacture these men there must be a mill in oklahoma or texas that stamps them out complete with cowboy boots diamond ring and assorted gold jewelry nugget watch bands and jewelry were popular in alaska at this time it was a three and onehalf hour flight to the north slope from anchorage the weather was good and visibility at the altitude that we flew was great the yukon river was still frozen and the rugose nature of the brooks range still remains strong in my memory i soon realized that we would be extremely difficult to find down there the north slope was equally impressive it is a great arctic desert which dips gently to the arctic ocean from the mountains to the south this vast treeless tundra terrain is about 100 miles wide and 400 miles in length it is transected by a few large north flowing rivers such as the colville and sagavanirktov when the king air set down at the dead horse airstrip it was cloudy and blowing snow with the temperature at  degrees f i was assigned to the arcohumble oil no 1 toolikfederal an exploratory hole about 12 miles south of the prudhoe bay field at this time the arcohumble combine had three rigs running on the north slope evaluating acreage for the upcoming september alaska state lease sale the arcohumble no 1 deltastate was drilling in the sadelerochit truncation zone southeast of the field discovery well the no 1 prudhoe baystate it had been completed in 1967 and was located in the gas cap of the large permotriassic reservoir arcohumble no 1 lakestate was digging south of the field s confirmation test no 1 sag riverstate lakestate no 1 was attempting to locate the oilwater contact for the large oil accumulation discovered by sag riverno 1 toolikfederal no 1 was a weak seismic prospect and probably should not have been drilled we had company in the immediate area as socal was drilling their first well no 1 dead horsestate between our no 1 lake and no 1 tooliktoolik federal immediately upon disembarkation from the aircraft and checking in at the base camp we were transported in a pickup truck to the rig the trucks on the north slope ran continuously for fear that they would freeze up if shut down the drive from the arco base camp to the toolik rig took about 45 minutes in good weather the road was paved with gravel which had been mined from the flood plain and bed of the sag river a large braided stream with many anamostizing channels it is interesting to note that this huge oil and gas field which is about 10 miles wide and forty miles long and reservoirs about 12 billion barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of natural gas might not have commercial to develop if it there had not been extensive gravel deposits in the immediate area the gravel insulates the tundra and provides a solid foundation for drilling pads buildings and an extensive network of roads as previously mentioned to reduce the large number of drill sites necessary to develop the field production wells were directionally drilled from pads similar to the development of an offshore field development this practice was also environmentally sound as it reduced the number of surface structures  1971 jakarta indonesia and sumatra   1972 kuala lumpur malaysia and sabah   1973 kingsville texas  i left los angeles california in march of 1973 for kingsville texas it was to be my last assignment with humble oil refining company as the name of the company would soon change to exxon i drove my chevrolet vega through the high california desert for the last time my first night out of la was spent in arizona on the south rim of the grand canyon the first view of that magnificent hole in the earth was remarkable i remember mumbling something like oh shit with my first glimpse of it no doubt that the grand canyon is one of the great natural wonders of the world snow was still present on the high kaibab pleateau the next day i drove continuously stopping very briefly at socorro new mexico to visit my alma mater new mexico tech the campus had improved since my stay there in the fall of 1961 i arrived in el paso texas before dusk and spent the night there visited jim petrezelka a class mate at new mexico tech i arose early and continued east passing through the rugged canyon country of pecos and crockett counties in west texas it is very beautiful i reached san antonio in an exhausted state the next day i made the two hour drive south to kingville arriving there about 1000 am i went to the humble office and met rod boane who was the district geologist ed sabatka would be my immediate supervisor and bob dubose in corpus christi was our division geologist there were some real characters in our kingsville office some were old veterans like wally jack charlie fred steuer and hollis marshall there were a few newcomers like rolly oberg mitch neilson ed o quinn paul mayes and carl musgrove i was replacing dennis barclay who had gone to work for esso norway in stavenger i had met dennis barclay in the 1966 electric well logging school at esso production research company in houston i ll never forget the saturday morning that he and i went to galveston we got into a very intense rain storm on the galveston bridge traffic stopped because the visibility was zero there was a total whiteout of rain water barclay had gone to stanvac at jakarta indonesia on a temporary overseas assignment in 1969 and i followed in his tracks over there in 1971 i had hoped to repeat and follow him to norway life is cruel at times in 1974 dennis developed a melanoma or black mole and died in norway within a few months while with esso norge he was very fair skinned with red hair blue eyes and freckles dennis barclay was a good geologist and friend i will always remember him although our acquaintance was chiefly by telephone at kingsville i settled in at the santa gertrudis apartments a most appropriate name since the principal bovine on the king ranch was the cow with the same name i believe the santa gertrudis hybrid was developed from the brahma and hereford breeds and the resulting animal is well suited for the climate of south texas humble s kingsville district consisted primarily of the oil an gas fields which had been discovered on the large king ranch the king ranch is approximately 1 million acres in size someone toid me that it was leased by humble oil during the great depression the lease money helped pay the taxes and kept the kleberg empire intact subsequent exploration and development by humble demonstrated that the king ranch contained some major oil and gas fields at one time the king ranch gas plant was one of the largest in the world i was in development geology and assigned to work the abnormal pressured vicksburg gas trend in the tijernacanalesblucher and seeligson areas the oligocene vicksburg age clastic reservoirs occur at relatively shallow depths in this area ie 900010000 feet if you find a good reservoir wells with capacities in the 2030 mmcfg d can be made an interesting geological phenomena occurred at the king ranch shortly before i arrive there in the 1950s humble had drilled an 8000foot frio flank well at tcb there was oil production up dip in the same apparent stratigraphic interval the up dip wells wateredout but the down dip well continued to produce liquid hydrocarbons at a good rate and had accumulated a high production total one very commendable facet of the reservoir engineering group in the kingsville district is that they ran bhp bottom hole pressure tests on a regular basis they discovered the anomalous production condition on the east flank of tcb and recommended that a well be drilled up dip of the production anomaly and the down dip of the abandoned wells a geologist correlating the frio wells of interest on the east flank of tcb would probably conclude that they were the same sand body an exploratory test was dug between the producing well and the up dip wateredout producers it came in flowing between 200 and 300 barrels of oil per day rolly oberg handled the mapping of this project and eventually six successful development wells were drilled on strike this was a great lesson in stratigraphy and production anomalies i would remember this and apply it successfully later at the iota field in acadia parish louisiana although i remained in the kingsville district for only nine months it was an interesting assignment and i met some good people one of these individuals was young bill london from oklahoma city we called bill the kid he had grown up in the oil patch of new mexico and oklahoma as his father owned a production company london graduated from princeton university and came to kingsville in may of 1973 directly from new jersey i have never met anyone who was as knowledgeable about the oil business at such a young age bill london was about 24 years of age he developed a prospect within three weeks of his arrival and it was drilled immediately it was a stratigraphic play that didn t work but nevertheless was a good idea bill london rolly oberg and myself were the only batchelors in the office bill and i sailed some at rivera beach and played tennis he called me at lafayette after i had left and invited me to be in his wedding at oklahoma city i hope he and coe have done well with their life together work wise i got two wells drilled during my short stay in kingville both were in the canelo field one was a marginal producer and the other probably made humble lots of money i worked with an australian engineer dave on these projects he was good chap and very bright my days with humble were numbered after i made several gaffs with the local management living in california had set me free in some ways and added to my eccentricities my primary troubles started in the summer of 1973 it was very warm and humid in south texas and i decided to set a new dress code for working in the texas tropics my choice of apparel was british walking shorts with white knee stockings this was not pleasing to district geologist boane in addition i was habitually late for work office hours were from 700 am until 430 pm historically i am not an early morning person my hours were more like 715 to 500 pm boane would write company memos and send them out reminding everyone of the work schedule i would have appreciated it more if he had come to me personally and told me to be there at 700 am the final act that led to my leaving humble oil also occurred in the heat of 1973 i had come into the office from a logging run on a very hot day the district engineer harry longwell wanted to see the log unfortunately i was wearing a tank top shirt longwell later complained to boane that i didn t appreciate his bellande s hairy arm pit in my face during my trips from kingsville to biloxi i usually stopped at lafayette to visit john borger my old mate from the offshore distrci at new orleans and from alaskan well sitting days john had left humble while in los angeles and joined tenneco at lafayette tenneco at this time was very active in the gulf of mexico they were actively hiring experienced development geologist for their lafayette office i met several management people dan foder and chuck schultz and liked them immediately my employment with humble oil had exceeded eight years in august of 1973 until the incidents with rod boane at kingsville my career had gone smoothly chuck schultz began calling me at home in kingsville offering employment with tenneco as things began to deteriorate for me in texas i accepted an offer to meet schultz in houston to seriously consider leaving humble we met in the airport and he offered me 1200 per month which i accepted the thought of leaving humble was not pleasant as it was the only real job that i had ever had john henderson had replace rod boane as district geologist i liked and respected henderson he was smart and a leader strangely to me john henderson wouldn t accept my resignation  19731974 lafayette louisiana   joseph c franklin  i met joseph joe cyril franklin  19322020 in june 1964 at jackson mississippi when he was a geologist with the gulf oil refining company as a summer employee i was assigned to assist the geological staff as a goffor it was an amazing education for a third year geology major and joe franklin was very supportive during my three month summer job never expecting see joe again i was pleasantly surprised to discover that we were both working in lafayette louisiana it was the summer of 1973 and i had joined tenneco and joe was with a suburban propane we rekindled our acquaintance in the fall of 1974 joe called me at tenneco and offered me a job that i accepted he had landed a consulting job through a lafayette drilling contractor to provide wellsite services for saga petroleum a norwegian oil explorer with a large acreage position in coastal mississippi and alabama the job required relocating to gulfport mississippi when the saga work ended in 1975 we moved back to lafayette and went our respective ways after i became an independent geologist in 1980 i sold joe several drilling deals which were quasisuccessful he had established himself as source petroleum and continued as such until our last contact in 1992  19741975 gulfport mississippi   time line images new orleans1944   mississippi state science fair 1st place earth science class iv  april 24 1959jackson mississippi  1960 biloxi high school tennis team  lr glenn saucier mike rester ronnie kettering ray l bellande  arcohumble toolikfederal no 1north slope alaskamarch 1969   2002 painter and potter    glad potter  ocean springs mississippiaugust 2013   first art exhibitbiloxi public librarynovember 2013   2017  1184 views  