El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 63, Ed. 1 Saturday, October 25, 1986 Page: 4 of 26
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Wharton County Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Wharton County Library.
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'Page 4-A El Umpo Lemder Seu* Saturday, Oct. 25,1966
Viewpoint
Letters To The Editor
eturn To TAHAS
5Editor, the Leader-News:
Whatever happened to TAHAS? I recall a number of years
ago, the El Campo Chamber of Commerce was stressing a
“Trade At Home And Save” campaign — TAHAS for short.
I also remember the time when we had several blocks of
downtown and hometown businesses, owned and operated by
i El Campo hometown people. These owners made their living
:• in our community, had families to care for in this community,
< invested their time, effort, and income in this community.
£Now, a good portion of the money spent each day, locally,
:;doesn’t even spend the night in El Campo! Every week we see
•^another “hometown” operation close, while the recent “move
:*in” businesses prosper and thrive.
£ How about a return to the the old days of TAHAS? Shop your
^home town, home owned merchants and give your dollars an
^opportunity to circulate and remain in our community. Our
£ “community” is really West Wharton County. We are bounded
i»pn the east by the Colorado River, the west by the Jackson
!?County line, the north by Garwood, and the south by
Danevang. Certainly enough population to support the “com-
munity.” Why buy shirts in Victoria, suits in Houston and
bank in Edna? Shirts can be obtained in El Campo, suits in El
Campo and four banks in West Wharton County.
El Campo has been my favorite address since 1943, and I’m
distressed to see our local, home-owned and home-operated,
businesses closing and leaving vacant buildings, vacant
houses and a general at feeling of depression and defeat.
We are a complete community. We have local doctors, a
local hospital, local dentists, grocers, attorneys, children’s
wear stores, women’s wear establishments, men’s wear, ap-
pliance sales and service, shoe stores, plumbers, electricians,
druggists, new and used auto sales, photographers, office sup-
ply, banks, and even insurance agencies! Are you using them?
Regards,
G.V. Cole
; Right On! But don’t forget about advertising mediums.
r Spending money on specialty advertising (match books, pens,
.place mats, calendars, coupons, road maps, over-the-counter
TV information, etc.) with out-of-town folks doesn’t help,
either. We're constantly amazed to hear a local business say,
“I’m sorry, but I’ve spent my ad budget." Often, it was spent
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‘Maybelline’, 2 Chuck Berry’s
And Houston’s ‘Right Stuff’
out-of-town.
The Editor
'Walk: ‘Marvelous Job’
Editor, the'Leaciefi,u<um iMI“ " 1 ”
‘ What a beautiful fcpecihl section (Walk Through Wharton
County). You guys did a marvelous job.
Best wishes,
Rena Pederson
*' Editorial Page Editor
The Dallas Morning News
No Respect For Sweeney
i
Editor, the Leader-News:
It grieves and sickens me that the so-called “Ethics" Com-
mittee of the U S. House has chosen to ignore the fact that
David McCan Sweeney has been outrageously untruthful and
unethical in his dealings both with them and with the voters of
his district. Although the Committee staff found that improper
. activities (i.e., campaign work) did go on in the congressional
' district office, Sweeney got off the hook by claiming that he
‘ didn’t personally “direct" or “condone" those illicit activities.
Mr. Sweeney is not telling the truth when he pretends he had
no knowledge of the happenings in his district office. This is a
man who has had hundreds of campaign functions since his
election, yet until a few short weeks ago, never even had a
campaign office. Are you telling me that he didn’t know he
^didn't have a campaign office? Or did he convince the Ethics
{Committee it was not his congressional staff that organized
{his campaign functions, but little elves who came out at night?
And did he further convince them that his party invitations
!and guest lists were not transferred across the official teledex.
|but rather were sent by carrier pigeon?
Mr. Sweeney’s use of official resources for campaign work
Ihas robbed everyone in this district who ever paid a cent in
I taxes
The decision to exonerate Mr. Sweeney (apparently made
unilaterally by Congressman Dixon and Spence) makes a
mockery of their own Committee and demonstrates that they
have no more understanding of ethics than Mr. Sweeney.
Their own rub's are apparently not worth the paper they are
printed on. It is my fervent hope the voters will see that justice
§ is served where Mr Sweeney's congressional associates have
S failed.
Mr. Sweeney has stated to the press that in order for our
^ government to reduce the deficit, whole organizations must be
^ dismantled. I agree, and the Ethics Committee should be the
£ first to go
* With Lost Respect,
t Nancy Lee Livengood
* Telferner
i Disgruntled Taxpayer and
Former Staff Assistant to the Dishonorable Mac Sweeney
J Editor's Note: Livengood is one of three former members of
|Sweeney’s Victoria office staff who claimed in July that the
£ Texas congressional office in Victoria was serving as a
political headquarters, which is against House rules and
federal law. Uvengood quit Sweeney's office, she said, after
^ being forced to spend two working days addressing and stuff-
ing Invitations to a May 3 political fund-raising event for the
Scongressman. Ijist week the Texas Employment Commission
granted her unemployment compensation, even though she
£ quit, because of the circumstances surrounding her resigna-
5) tion.
From the day Alan B.
Sheppard Jr. rode the
Freedom Seven into orbit,
Houston has been home base
to the folks with the “right
stuff.”
But if a white kid from
Louisiana named Chuck
Berry had not gone out for
cheerleader at Rice Institute
in 1959, today, Boston, rather
than Houston, might wear the
“Space City USA" label
In the fall of 1959 Berry
asked his new friend and
fellow Freshman Reed Mdf-fin
to manage his campaign to
become the first-ever fresh-
man cheerleader at Rice.
Martin, a native Houstonian
whose father and brother had
attended Rice, readily agreed
to help Berry challenge the
tradition.
The first order of business
was to get Berry known
around the campus. “Luckily
I noticed in the Houston Post
that black rock ’n roll
superstar Chuck Berry was
appearing in town. His song
“Maybelline” had just been
released and it was a mon-
strous hit on the top 40 radio
stations,” remembered
Martin.
It was a natural. “We
would get Berry to come
and do a benefit concert on
campus for our Chuck,”
recalled Martin.
In that first flush of in-
spiration Martin and Berry
set off to find the rock ’n roll
legend. The trip shook their
naive faith. "Berry was
appearing in a reconstructed
bowling alley in a part of
Houston I didn't know
existed," said Martin.
Shaken, but still deter-
mined. the two white boys
ventured into the bowling
alley. "The first guy we saw
was the bouncer, but instead
of throwing us out he was so
surprised he took us on to the
manager who was about to
throw us out when in walked
Chuck Berry himself." said
Martin
After introductions and an
explanation of what the two
college kids wanted. Martin
recalled that the singer
reached out and grabbed his
namesake and said. “It's my
long lost cousin, we wondered
what had happened to you ”
“Our Chuck turned about
three shades whiter.“
laughed Martin
To the screaming surprise
of his manager, the singer
agreed to make the ap-
pearance “I don't know why,
although I suspect Berry
figured this was a way to get
his music to a white audience
other than by radio." said
Jerr)’ ifN
Aulds
Martin.
Martin set off to make
arrangements for the concert
and ran into something called
“The will.”
-p The administration told
Martin that the founder’s will
forbid negroes from ap-
pearing on campus. “I
pointed out that we already
had black graduate students
on campus," said Martin.
“That was different; those
students were Africans,"
responded the ad-
ministration. Martin tried
another line of attack. The
answer was the same.
“Chuck Berry could not
appear!”
But Chuck Berry would
appear. “In those days Rice
had plenty of electrical
engineers so we got one of
them to wire the new
belltower for sound and I
went to get Berry,” Martin
recalled.
The condition of Berry’s
hotel shocked Martin. “It was
a filthy fleabag, but when I
asked Berry why he was
staying there he just laughed
and said, ‘They lost my
reservation at the
Shamrock,’” recalled
Martin.
On the way to the campus
Martin got a quick intense
education on what it was like
to be black in America, even
if you were famous.
The education was
profound and lasting and the
appearance was startling.
“When Chuck hit the chord
and lit out on Maybelline you
could hear it for six miles.
People came running from all
over campus. And when it
was over everybody knew our
Chuck Berry was running for
cheerleader.”
Louisiana Chuck Berry
wasn't elected but he did
finish fifth in a field of 25
candidates, the best a fresh-
man had ever done
Reed Martin did win an
election In the spring of '61
he was elected president of
the Rice student body and
with the memory of '59 fresh
in his mind he pushed a
college-wide debate on a
referendum which said that
students should be able to
compete in Southwest Con
fere nee athletics regardless
of race
The referendum drew
intense media coverage. It
also took place while Rice
was finishing up a 15-month
search for a new president.
The leading candidate was
Kenneth Pitzer, the former
head of the Atomic Energy
Commission.
Pitzer visited the campus
at the height of the
referendum debate and the
first question that hit him
was, “Do you intend to
become the president of a
segregated imiveristy?”
Pitzer. unaware of Rice’s
racial policies, was em-
barrassed and appalled. “I
was told he stormed into the
board room and told them
they could integrate or start a
new search for a president,”
said Martin.
While that fire simmered,
another conflict was taking
place in the new Kennedy
Administration. A fledgling
new space agency was in the
works. It would have about $5
billion to spend and the
question was where would it
be located?
John Kennedy was from
Massachusetts, as was then
Speaker of the House John
McCormick. They leaned
toward the Boston-
Cambridge area which had
several first-class univer-
sities.
On the other side were Vice
President Lyndon Johnson
and Houston congressman
Albert Thomas who were
backing Houston, which also
had a world-class university
in Rice.
But wait, down in Texas a
group of Rice students were
protesting Rice's segregation
policy and didn’t federal law
prohibit public monies going
to racially segregated in-
stitutions?
“We heard that’s when
Lyndon got in the act,” said
Martin. “He got on the horn
to George Brown, then
chairman of the boards for
Rice and Brown and Root
Construction Company. He
supposedly told Brown,
’George, you're about to kiss
off $5 billion,’” Martin
speculated.
Rice integrated. The Rice
will did not stand in the way
of 5 billion big ones
Martin is an Austin at-
torney We were not able to
locate the Louisiana Chuck
Berry, but Chuck Berry the
rock 'n roller just turned 60
and still sings “Maybelline.
why can’t you be true'* You
done started back doin’ the
things you used to do ’’
So Long, Bo
It’s Been
Good To
Know Ya...
Good morning, ladies how
are you this fine and lovely
day? That’s how Bob (Bo)
Olson begins every morning
as he comes to work.
Regardless of how dreary the
day is, he’s always right there
with a disgusting smile, a
happy face and red eyes.
I’m going to miss you Bo.
And I’m going to miss that
sneaky little smile you flash
when you know you’ve pulled
one over on someone — that
gleam in your eyes always
gives you away.
I call him “Bo" because he
always signs his copy BO — it
seems to fit him better than
Robert or Bob — it’s a bit
more lovable, kinda like a
Cabbage Patch doll.
I’m going to miss your
brash tactics and bluntness.
There may be a little egg on
your face, but no brown on
your nose. You can’t help it if
you don’t like trees.
I’m going to miss our
arguments over where our
“lunch bunch” should eat,
you always have to have the
right “atmosphere.” Lunch
will never be the same with
you gone.
I’m even going to miss your
routine announcements of
private functions. I’ve still
not gotten used to that, but
that’s the way you are. Your
diaper rash escapade was a
real clincher.
I’ll also miss your quarter
bets. I found that you would
bet on anything and
everything. From scores to
spellings, you never let a
debate go by without at least
a quarter bet.
I’m going to miss your all-
night poker parties and our
rather noisy lunches and nag-
ging you about your smoking.
Maybe someday you’ll get by
without that crutch to lean on.
I’ll miss your wonderful
mate, Sue and sweet little
Bonnie. Although I think I can
live without “Punkin.” That
dog has got less couth than
you.
I’ll miss your telephone in-
terviews. They are a real riot.
How you can put on such an
act and keep a straight face is
beyond me.
And you can take a chewing
out better than anyone I’ve
ever met. Guess you’ve had a
lot of practice. You’ve pro-
bably lost a good 6 inches off
your behind since you’ve been
here.
And regardless of how
much I nag you about it, I’ll
even miss seeing you walk
through the building while
brushing your chops.
I think Bo, most of all, I’ll
miss just plain you. “Good
morning” will be dull when
compared to your "Hello, you
groovy chicks." Being friends
with you hasn’t always been
easy — but it’s sure been
worth the effort.
Good bye, Bo, I love you.
(U»l IMS]
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Barbee, Chris. El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 63, Ed. 1 Saturday, October 25, 1986, newspaper, October 25, 1986; El Campo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1017441/m1/4/?q=Negroes+held: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Wharton County Library.