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The Juniors Are Having a Reunion, and We're Invited
Members of the class of 1968 will hold their fortieth reunion Saturday, September 13 at 7 p.m., and they have invited their elders--us--to join them.
The reunion will be at the Petroleum Club, 777 Main #3900, in downtown Fort Worth. The cost will be $60 per person. That amount (check or money order to "Poly '68 Reunion") should be mailed in advance as soon as possible to 1700 Barron Lane, Fort Worth, TX 76112.
Dress will be business casual. Club rules prohibit shorts. Cocktails will be at 7 p.m., buffet at 8 p.m. The cash bar will not accept credit cards. The club will be open until 1 a.m. The garage will close at 1:30 a.m.
For those who prefer to stay overnight downtown, a block of ten rooms has been put on hold at the Embassy Hotel, 600 Commerce. Phone 817 332-6900 to reserve a suite at $199 a night. This cost includes a bar and appetizers in the evening and "made-to-order" breakfast the next morning. The rooms are also available for Friday night.
The other hotel option is the Park Central, which is southwest of the Petroleum Club at 1010 Houston. There is a block of rooms there at $89 a night. The phone number is 817 336-2011. If you reserve a room at either hotel, tell the clerk that you are with the Poly reunion to get these rates, then let Dana Gresham know so that more rooms can be requested if needed. Her phone number is 817 451-1040, and the e-mail address is PolyClass1968@aol.com.
A golf tournament will be held on Friday, September 12. Those wishing to participate should contact Paul Duffy at 903 768-2278.
Greet 'n' Eat Summer Dinner Held July 19
This year's summer dinner for the class of 1967 was held on July 19 at Cousin’s Bar-B-Q in Crowley. It looked sorta like this (thanks to Gloria Townsend Ayars for the photos):

Anette Williams Burris and Steve Burris, Jerry Martin. At rear table, Claudia and James Hosfelt

Bill Sims

Chuck O'Toole, Sonny Tull, Brad Bates, Bill Ayars

James Hosfelt, Allen Koenig


Johnny Morrow, Mike Nash

Rosalee and Jon Jenkins

June Gipson Bates and Brad Bates, Chuck O'Toole

Lisa and Larry Barksdale, Jane Ann Smith Cassidy and Bill Cassidy


Martha Chrietzberg and guest

Mike Nichols and Marcia Melton Caple


Larry Weathersby and Patsy Cannon Weathersby

Robert Beasley, David and Missy Tarrant

Sonny and Kathy Berry Tull, Marilyn Smith Spurlock and Billy Spurlock


Terry Lipscomb

Suzanne Penneston Hardin and Judy Weeks Kirby

A Little Poly History in the Key of "Gee!"
Sherry Newman Mallory reports a claim heard down Joshua way: Kenneth Pitts, who was a 1930 graduate of Poly High (when the high school was still housed in the building that later housed Poly Elementary School) and who in "our day" was band director at William James Junior High, once played fiddle for Bob Wills in the Light Crust Doughboys.
Sure enough, Professor Charles Townsend in his history of the Light Crust Doughboys writes:
"The years between 1935 and World War II were among the most successful in the long history of the Doughboys. By 1937, some of the best musicians in the history of western swing joined the band. Kenneth Pitts and Clifford Gross played fiddles. . . . from the first "The Light Crust Doughboys are on the air" in 1931 and continuing through their silver age renaissance in the 1990s and beyond, the Light Crust Doughboys and their illustrious alumni like Bob Wills, Milton Brown, Herman Arnspiger, Tommy Duncan, Johnnie Lee Wills, W. Lee O'Daniel, Leon McAuliffe, Marvin Montgomery, Cecil Brower, Knocky Parker, Kenneth Pitts, Muryel Campbell, Leon Huff, Dick Reinhart, Hank Thompson, Slim Whitman, Jim Boyd, Johnny Strawn, Ronnie Dawson, Carroll Hubbard, Jerry Elliott, Bill Simmons, John Walden, Art Greenhaw and others wrote a large and important chapter in the history of both Texas and American music."
Our Mr. Pitts also was a member of the WBAP radio studio orchestra.
But wait! There's more. Our Mr. Pitts and a Fort Worth woman, Diane Johnston, co-wrote "Can't Shake the Sands of Texas from My Shoes," which was recorded by another north Texan, Gene Autry, in the 1940s. Give a listen.

Fiddlin' Kenneth Pitts, 1930 Yearbook

Pages from the Past: PTA and Student Directories
From the Sherry Newman Mallory archives we have pages from PTA directories and student directories from D. McRae Elementary School, William James Junior High, and Poly High. These directories were saved by Sherry's mother.

In this 1952 D. McRae PTA directory listing the faculty, notice the six-digit phone numbers and the long-ago exchanges:

In this 1956 D. McRae PTA directory listing the faculty, notice that the phone numbers are now seven digits:

And this 1961 D. McRae PTA directory shows the school faculty:

Here are pages from the 1961 William James student directory:

And here are pages from the 1962 William James PTA directory listing the faculty:

Finally, here are pages from the 1966 Poly High student directory:

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