开云体育

Kansas City Mo

Ed (16), larry (19)
mom, grandma, dan (13) dad

Once the Thanksgiving turkey is eaten, the year is about over, except for Christmas. Getting ready for that crowds everything else out, so for newsletter purposes, the year can be reported before the calendar says it's time to do so.

As usual, Les got in quite a bit of travel. It started in January. The '52 Chrysler was drinking gas at 6 mpg, so it was traded in on a new Hillman- Minx 4 door sedan, bright red with gray trim. Les took delivery at Houston, Texas, then swung over to New Orleans for a few days of balmy sunshine as a short winter vacation. Coming back to work refreshed, he dug into the boron fuel fire research program, where after a long series of frustrations, a breakthrough finally came. The job was successfully completed in May, and an Air Force Technical report appeared in November. The little car was a big success, even though a collision put it in the repair shop awhile. The police report blamed the other driver, whose insurance company paid all
costs.

The travel highlight of the year was a trip to Eastport, Maine. The event was a symposium on foam, and Les described the work done for the Air Force. Meetings were held on Campobello Island; the hospitality was outstanding. The Roosevelt cottage, now owned by a well known New York art dealer, was next door, and Les lived there for several days. The house is to become a memorial soon. In 1958, his book, "Engineered Hydraulics in Fire Protection" was
looking for a publisher. It still is. John Wiley and Sons came close to accepting it, but couldn't be sure of enough sales. Now it's being completely expanded and rewritten to include considerable new material, so in 1960 the search for a publisher will resume. Les is finishing the
year by driving his little red "tomato can" to Detroit for a few weeks of school fire safety surveys. The tragic fire in Chicago really woke up a lot of people. There were a number of interesting fire and explosion investigations during the year. That sort of job is like a "whodunit' except that it's "whatdunnit" as well, and there's no obliging author to supply answers on the last few pages.

The house didn't get as much attention as in previous years. In June, the back yard was roto-tilled and planted with Zoysia to get a good tough lawn. It didn't take too well. We hope that next summer it will. Walls were chopped open to install a laundry chute. Upstairs a closet was coaxed into yielding enough previously useless space for a built-in chest of drawers and linen cabinet. The mess was horrible, but eventually cleanup, plaster, and paint restored the status quo ante, and Polly's good nature with it. Bit by bit, the hi fi was changed. First came a stereo tuner kit. Then a stereo preamplifier and control kit appeared on the scene. Later on, a second amplifier was added. The next step was to be a record player with stereo arm, but the old TV quit working, and a new set took priority in the budget. The old set will eventually be patched with chewing gum and hairpins as a second TV for use when the family disagrees on what program to watch. Larry was hoping for a tape recorder, but got tired of waiting and bought his own.

Year after year, Polly seems to spend more time at the piano. Last year she played for the boys' choir at St. Andrews. This year she added the girls' choir. At Southwest HS in the spring she played for rehearsals and performance of Carousel. This fall, she did the same for the Revels, a variety show. In between she played for many students in various competitions. At the start of the school year, she played full time for a few weeks at one school to help out. Now she has several days every week at a private school plus paying for special occasions. As relaxation, she sings in the St. Andrews' adult choir, and is Secretary and Librarian for the Cantata Singers, a carefully selected group with high musical standards directed by Dr. William Lemonds. When she can find time, she studies organ with Dr. Lemonds. In the spring, just to keep things interesting, she had Pixie bred, so that 4 puppies were underfoot awhile. For a little while, the piano took second place.

Larry ran into scholastic trouble at Gettysburg. Late in '58 he began to get all keyed up with nervous tension, and at midyear he had to drop out so he could get back on his feet again. He was a wreck for months, then began to work as Dr. Lemonds' secretary in exchange for organ lessons. That helped a lot. When summer came, he went to work on the Swope Park golf course as a cashier. That helped some more. Now he is working at the Public Library downtown, taking bassoon lessons. It begins to look as if by next September he should be back in school again. In the meantime, books are his dally companions.

Edward spent much of the summer as a YMCA staff member teaching swimming 5 mornings a week at three nearby pools in Kansas. His coat of tan was a marvel to behold. The only way to get there was by car, so Polly did a lot of chauffeur duty. By August, he was 16 and got a driver's license, but the program was over by then. Ed was in ROTC last year, but Southwest dropped it this fall, and when Ed went back as a junior he felt lost without lt. Music is filling the gap somewhat. He's first trumpet in the school band. He was also persuaded to take Orchestra. Trumpet lessons were resumed after a long layoff. He toots a mean horn these days. At home he acts as the handyman, doing a lot of repair jobs Les hasn't time for. He gets better at it all the time. He and Larry are mixed up with gadgetry these day. Strange wires criss-cross their rooms. Only they know what is involved, and sometimes they aren't sure either.

Daniel turned 13, so now we have three teenagers at the same time. The chances are that we will live through this harrowing experience. He's in 8th grade now and attends Southwest HS too in a junior high arrangement. This year, 8th graders are being started in a language. Dan takes Spanish, so Les and Larry who also have studied it, find themselves shuddering at his strange sounds. Espa?ol a la Daniel is like his early efforts on the French horn. During the summer he took a typing course, swimming lessons, played in a YMCA summer baseball league, and also kept his French horn busy in a summer school orchestra. He's still a choirboy at St. Andrews. Whenever he could which was frequently, he went to see the Athletics play. Even during their losing streaks, Dan was a loyal rooter for the home team.

Mother came down for a visit on Columbus day, just as in '58, and stayed on until early December. The she headed back to Buffalo to get ready for Christmas with the rest of the family. Les put her on the plane just before he started for Detroit. It was nice to have her with us. Her skill as a cook seems to improve over the years. Waistline control is difficult during her visits. Having been with us for 3 years in a row every fall, Kansas City is like a second home to her now. Airplanes sure make it easy to get places in a hurry with little effort.

We still have Buffy, Pixie, and Peter the cat. All manage to rule the house in their own quiet (?) way. The dogs support of the doorbell is an ear-splittlng classic.

1960 ln Small Doses

Christmas comes only once each year butt with all its blessings arises the problem of what to do. about a card. This year things were complicated by the fact that Les was in Detroit and Larry in Columbia at picture-taking time. Wonder when phones will be wired for TV.

Last December, Les was just: starting some fire safety work in the Detroit schools. It turned out to be his major effort for 1960. In mid-February a field headquarters was set up in Detroit and from then on he got only occasional weeks at home. Those weeks were strenuous, preceded and concluded by an 800 mile trip with the little red "tomato can." All the work, though didn't concern school fire safety. One interesting assignment was to conduct a one day session at Oklahoma State University. Another was to investigate an accident which damaged a reactor vessel en route to an atomic power plant near Omaha. Other jobs involved exotic fuel applications. That '59 Hillman was driven hard. It figured in a minor traffic scrape at Paxton. Illinois in April and was convincingly run into in Detroit in June. Maybe it was too small for some drivers to see. As it approached 40,000 miles Les decided it could be honorably retired, so he got a blue Valiant in September. Surely that would be big enough for anyone to see! A month later, somebody clipped the front fender. Guess the only place for a car is home in the garage. The book "Engineered Hydraulics in Fire Protection" was at an almost complete standstill during 1960. Most of the major rewriting and expansion started in 1959 was complete early in 1960 but the Detroit work took so much time and energy that something had to be neglected, so the critical editing and the putting on of finishing touches had to
wait.

At home the house was pretty much neglected except for the most urgent repairs. Even those were done with a lick and a promise. The Hi Fi took less effort and was upgraded to a new high quality turntable, stereo amplifier, stereo tone arm and multiplex adapter. All these were built from kits While that takes work, it has the same sort of fascination found in putting together a jigsaw puzzle. With Les away Edward had a heavy load of maintenance chores much of the year. He has gotten to be a good electronics trouble shooter and with many radios around he has had plenty of chances to keep in practice.

If anyone had to predict what Polly might be doing in any given year, he'd be safe in saying she plays the piano. In this, 1960 was no exception. She continued playing for the boys and the girls choirs at St. Andrew's and substituted at Gregory Methodist in the summer for two weeks. She played all year at Notre Dame de Sion, at Southwest and began to play some at Barstow School this fall. To this was added some ballet playing at the Y as well as playing the eight o'clock Communion service once a month. In the spare hours, she continued with Cantata Singers and covered the state contest with Southwest High School as well as hearing many concerts.

Larry spent most of the year working at the Main Library. Gradually the nervous knots of 1959 began to ease up and he started back into the scholastic routine at KC Junior College. By summer he was feeling like himself again and he registered at the University of Missouri as a history major. During the summer, Larry substituted as organist at Oak Park Christian Church. When he got to Columbia, he found a need for an assistant organist and choir master and with all this, he still manages to spend enough time with his books to get good grades at MU. He became one of the marching band on clarinet and his tooting took him to many football games including some out of town trips. Having watched the big team do well, he is about to fly to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

Edward is enjoying his Senior year at Southwest and is getting mostly good marks. Sometimes he meets trouble in numbers, but he fights back. His trumpet does a good job now in band and orchestra and this year the school band did well in their marching. Maybe Ed's previous ROTC experience helped... In the summer he worked as junior counselor at the municipal camps at Swope Park where many campers and staff lived for a period with short breaks home. It was lots of fun, more work and fine experience which he hopes to continue next: summer. Now Ed is beginning to look around at colleges trying to make up his mind what comes next.

Dan finished up his eighth grade at Southwest and enjoyed his time there. He was ready to continue at Southwest when he received a scholarship at Pembroke-Country Day School, so there he is, doing well and making a good record. So three boys go to three schools. Last summer, Dan attended a week's music camp at Warrensburg with his French horn. It was a good week and deserves an encore.

Mother did not get here this fall for she and Doris have bought a house of their own near Georgianna - the little sister. After 27 years in the flat, and a wait for the move, the snow and Les got to Buffalo at the same time to help after the movers left - and how much remains to be
done after a move. Dan went to Oklahoma with Aunt Lois to visit with Aunt Edna Wall and Franklin Oler. He had a wonderful time there and learned a lot about a farm. At the same time, Polly and the two big boys took off on a quick camping trip with one dog and a tent. They headed to Colorado Springs where they spent several days and saw a lot of country and wonderful mountains. Next came a few days outside of Denver in the mountains there with it swing through a little of Wyoming on the way home. They covered many miles up and down.

Nephew Jim Wiegley brought his bride here on the way to Japan. They spent several days with us and now they are waiting for a new addition over in the Orient .

We added a new member to the family this fall. Since Larry was to be at MU, we persuaded Nancy Allen Outten to let her eldest, John, come over for the school term. John is a year younger than Dan, and since he has a yen for tools and experiments, he had plenty to try here. He and Dan scrapped like the proverbial Kilkenny cats, but they now live in comparative peace.

The two dogs and one cat are a bit older - Buffy seems to be quite deaf but takes kindly to sign language. Show her a can of food, and she acts very lively.

in KC Mo
Ed (19) Dan (16) Mom Larry (22)

A word for you on '62

About the time turkeys begin to wonder how soon the ax will fall, the Xmas card recap becomes order of the day, it always seems that you never realize how much has gone on in the past 12 months until you start to knit the loose ends together.

Some years Les seems to travel more than others, this was one such year. Early in January he started with a trip to Chicago, a final conference on the book about library fire protection which he co-authored. Its publication by the American Library Association has been delayed several times, but there's still a good chance the 'Protecting Library Resources" may be rolling off the presses before the year closes.

In May, a two-week assignment took him back to Regina, Saskatchewan, with a swing over to Winnipeg on the way home. The stay was long enough to justify taking the car, so the little Valiant had its first taste of Canada. Consulting firms have their ups and downs. Like all other businesses and in July this unfortunate economic fact caught up with Les. Some contracts didn't materialize as hoped, so job hunting had to substitute for engineering as an essential activity. As the result of many letters back and forth, plus two trips to the West Coast (via military aircraft, naturally!), it looked for a while as if California might have another settler, but that land of smog and taxation wound up in second place. In September, Les accepted a position as Senior Research Engineer in the Fire technology Section of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

It wasn't easy to Leave Kansas City. It's a wonderful place to live. The decision came after school arrangements for the year had been set up, so the family is staying in Kansas City to finish school. Les set up a Texas bachelor apartment for the interim period. So far, he has resisted the urge to go native and buy him a ten-gallon hat and cowboy boots! In San Antonio the research projects proved to be most engrossing. One concerned the supersonic commercial transport to fly in 1970-75, the other covered a study of conflagrations by using small scale models. There are high hopes that a useful invention may result from the model project. The idea looks good if it can successfully be demonstrated as feasible. The trips continued - Washington and New York in October; New York, Boston and Washington in November; San Francisco, Seattle and Portland in December. They make a good way to get back to Kansas City for unexpected weekends there. Two weeks of active duty in March in Kansas City were followed by a two-weeks electronics refresher at Keesler AFB, BiLoxi, Mississippi, On July 1, that long-awaited silver leaf arrived! It's nice to be a Lt. Col. Once again, in August, the uniform was donned for a two-week unit encampment of the 8581st Recovery Group. So Uncle Sam's Air Force got its share of attention in 1962 - a full six weeks in uniform. As communications officer, there was an implied obligation to acquire practical knowledge in the field. After many hours of code practice, Les got up to 13 words per minute, passed an Amateur General License and received the call signal WA0BRC. This was in March. A kit type transmitter was purchased but many obstacles slowed down progress, so not until September in San Antonio did WA0BRC get on the air. Les operates single sideband phone, mostly 40 meters when he can find time. Contacts have been made all over the country. The rig really gets
out.

Larry had a frustrating year, and probably wishes 1962 could be erased from the calendar. The nervous trouble that plagued him at Gettysburg in 1958 and forced his withdrawal, put him on the skids at Missouri so that in February, history repeated itself. Again he had to abandon the
student way of Life. Larry knows his way around an organ, though, and was offered a lump sum contract to remove an organ in sad repair from one building, recondition it and install it in a Columbia church. It should have been a quick job. It wasn't. delay after delay dragged it out until in May a phone call from his roommate at Columbia said Larry was mighty sick. Mononucleosis was the diagnosis and it was quite a while before he was strong enough to go back to finish up the organ job. By then it was late in the year. Decisions had to be made as to the future. In these days, military service is something you can't disregard in your planning. It's an obligation. Draft Boards don't argue if you happen to be selected. So, taking the bull by the horns, Larry enlisted in the Army, going to Ft. Leonard Wood on November 8. After 2 months of basic, it is expected that he will move to Ft. Sam Houston (San Antonio) for medical Technician Training. It seems there is to be a "pill roller" in the family! Anybody need shots?

Ed never does anything spectacular. He just plugs along, tackles jobs as they come, and handles them in a competent manner. When Pappy got his ham license, Ed squeezed a little time from his studies at Missouri Valley, learned enough code to pass a test at 5 words per minute and received his Novice License, with call WN0CXH. He's had lots of distractions. So far as is known, he isn't on the air yet. We are sure he will be though. Ed gets things done! In the spring he got impatient with the smalltown atmosphere of Missouri Valley College, and began to look around a bit. Eventually he made up his mind on Drury College at Springfield, Missouri, and since his grades were good, the transfer with full credit was no problem. Compared with Marshall, Springfield is a big city! That's where Ed is now. Originally, he'd planned on engineering at Missouri School of Mines, but already he's investigating the Texas universities. They'll be closer to his new home next year. During the summer, Ed wasn't home very much. He operated the Commissary Warehouse for the Kansas City Recreation Department camps in Swope Park, Living on the job. Working Long hours, dashing here and there in a green panel truck, Ed moved groceries by the ton, keeping the cooks supplied. As you might guess, he ate well! The cooks knew who was their friend.

Dan carried on his studies at Pem Day school, hitting his books regularly, and the work he did showed up in his grades. In the school musical groups, he warbled most energetically, and got in some rewarding contacts and trips, He was in a winning octet in the Statewide competitions. Also he was made Glee Club Historian. Sports? Football manager, naturally. That's a fancy title for those who do all the necessary unglamorous chores needed to field and support a team. This year his football team had a good season. Dan, for his hard work was awarded a minor letter. Dan is having his headaches. As the only man Left at home, Dan no longer can avoid some of the maintenance chores that his brothers did for so long. Learning to be Mr. Fix-it is part of growing up. Incidentally, he took Driver's Education in June, and soon afterward, got his driver's license. That piece of paper seems to be a status symbol in this day and age! With the men folk dashing hither and yon, somebody had to keep home base occupied.

Polly took many short musical jaunts here and there playing the piano. In the fall, she and the boys took a camping vacation trip out to New Mexico and Colorado, In her spare time, she attended an evening course at Rockhurst College on Estate Management. Her household cares increased greatly when the move to San Antonio was decided upon. Even though it was not planned for the immediate future, the process of weeding out the junk possessions that we all accumulate had to be started. All of us are "pack rats" to some extent. Throwing out stuff can be hard to do. In November, the roof fell in! Not literally, but almost. Coming back after a trip to school to pick up Dan, Polly found the heating system had gone berserk. boiling water all over the second floor, dripping everywhere down through the ceiling, furniture soaked, the basement like a Turkish bath, the house was a thorough mess! fortunately the damage, which was considerable, was covered by insurance. We all hope that the repairs can be completed and livable conditions restored by Christmas.

Pixie is as black as ever and Peter is fat and friendly after having been stand-offish for her 7 years. Cats are difficult to understand. All in all, 1962 has been an eventful year. Had we gazed into a crystal ball last year and foreseen the future, we wouldn't have believed it. But the unexpected always seems to happen, so now with 1963 ahead, we wonder. Will we have as many wild yarns for the past 12 months as in the past? For an answer, tune in again on this soap opera scenario Late in 1963!

The Egglestons

now in San Antonio TX

me in my Jefferson H S band uniform.



ed (20) dan (17) dad, mom

Newsletter - 1963

Just about the time the last agonized turkey gobble is heard, another kind of cooking-up begins. It's the Xmas card project, and invariably there's some storm and strife getting everybody together for a picture. This year we did better, using an August photograph. But you can't write about events before they occur, so the newsletter is a last minute production that takes a lot of memory racking. Eventually a design is clipped, patched and pasted together. As always, the printer seems to work a miracle from the crude copy we hand him!

The year started off badly. Mother Eggleston died early In January after what was thought to be only a slight illness and Les rushed up to Buffalo for the funeral, getting there just ahead of rapidly deteriorating weather. Afterward, a howling blizzard set in, accompanied by subzero weather. When the skies finally cleared, he moved on to shiver in -19 F weather in Chicago. In March business took him to Atlantic City and Washington. After his return that month, Polly came down from Kansas City and spent ten long days house hunting. Finally, the right place turned up and a signature placed on the proverbial dotted line.

April is Fiesta time in San Antonio and the activities are hectic. They include a river parade, a big day parade, and a torchlight parade. Along in May, Les moved his bachelor quarters to the new house, using a few sticks of borrowed furniture. He tried to grow corn in the garden
but soon found he was no farmer. The crop was a flop! As usual, there was travel - a quick trip to Chicago. June war moving month. The Kansas City house was rented rather than sold. Les drove up to expedite things dragging a trailer behind him, which came back to San Antonio well laden. What a night. Everything happened in July. Early in the month ALA (American Library Association) published the book on library fire protection that Les had done so much work on during 1961. Then Creole Petroleum asked him to come to Venezuela on a consulting contract; as soon as details were fixed up, a mad race began to get unpacking and settling done before the August departure date.

Venezuela was an interesting experience. Much had changed since the last visit in 1956. The contract was split into two phases, the first of which was completed just before Thanksgiving. After three months in an atmosphere of political terrorism, it was good to return to the States even though the arrival was clouded by President Kennedy's assassination. En route, two days were spent in another old stamping ground, the windswept island of Aruba north of Venezuela, one of the Netherlands Antilles. Ham radio war a big help during the year. Les used his Station WA0BRQ to keep in touch with Kansas City, and the hams there obliged by running phone patches. After the new house gave him a permanent address, he was assigned WASGOQ as his call. It didn't get much service from August to November, but down in Venezuela. Les was regularly talking to the States on YV1CM.

Larry put on Uncle Sam's uniform last November. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, he came to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio where they turned him into a Medic (better known as a pill roller). That was January to March and Polly got to see him once during her house hunting excursion. From Fort Sam he was lucky enough to get his preferred area of assignment and is now a PFC with Serial #RA 17 646 388. He is sweating out promotion to Corporal and can be addressed at 4th Field Hospital, Fort Dix, New Jersey, Zip 08640. Here his principal job is as a clerk. Perhaps they needed help in counting those pills.

Ed was in Drury College up in Missouri as the term began last fall and had just discovered to his evident astonishment that going to college is a serious business requiring both study and hard work. So he belatedly dug into his books and just missed getting respectable grades but, when he applied to Texas A & M, it was most strongly and pointedly suggested that he go to summer school to get 2 good grades, thus offsetting 2 not-so-good ones. A word to the wise was sufficient and he did excellent work at Trinity University (in S A). So, when he reported to College Station in September, be had made up his deficiencies. This fall at A & M has been tough on Ed and his grades still aren't so hot, but the lad says he can and will do better.

Dan, so far, has been much better scholastically than either of his brothers. At Pem Day in Kansas City his grades were fine, he was football and baseball manager, an officer in the glee club, he took part in several dramatic productions - some musical, some drama - he wrote for the school paper and generally was a credit to himself as an all-round student. Now at Thomas Jefferson High School he's, one of over 800 seniors, he's plugging away at his books when he is not in a red and blue band uniform playing alto or tooting away in the orchestra on his French horn. This is a city of excellent bands and fine football games. Dan has managed to grow into the tallest one of the family and is still going up. What do they put in those vitamin pills these days? They have a Jack-in-the-beanstalk efficiency.

Polly had a strenuous year. She is a pack rat, both by nature and years of practice. During the years in Kansas City an amazing amount of both junk and goodies had accumulated. Since the new house was smaller, weeding out was essential and after the trip to San Antonio, it had to go into high gear. It almost killed her to look at those jammed waste baskets. Packing is no fun, and after a visit to cousins in Oklahoma and antique shops in Arkansas, three travelers en route from Missouri stopped at "Six Flags Over Texas" - a Dallas version of Disneyland. Just now, Polly is making new friends, and hearing the Symphony, the chamber music concerts, seeing some plays, belonging to three parents clubs and the branch of her sorority here. She had a short vacation (?) in Santa Rosa Medical Center and that was a good rest. The occasion was nothing serious, but the doctor wasn't taking any chances.

Pixie the pup is as black as ever. She trails after Polly all day and still hopes to catch a fly some day. So far, we think, she has not succeeded. The flies are smarter than she is! Peter likes Texas and his big back yard, but cries for the attic he loved in Kansas City. There is a crawl space over the house here and when Ed worked up there last summer on home repairs, Peter was his
constant companion. She looks for a way to get there every day. As this is written, Peter is getting over a severe bout of pneumonia and tonsillitis. Just like humans, cats have trouble Peter is on the mend, but it's a slow process. Cats have to get back on 4 feet instead of 2. On October 18th, a wet, scared and miserable small piece of white fur came to the front door. After a bath and some attention he became a lovely kitten who, for some strange reason, was christened Ezekiel, "Zeke" for short. He spends his days up in the pecan tree and his nights as close as he can get to someone. When Les got back home he was enchanted by this playful little rascal and so he gave him the name of "Blanco" (Spanish for white). The kit promised to become a large and handsome cat when he grows up and is most affectionate and responsive. Eventually he may be as well versed as our Jon, whom we had for 14 1/2 years. Next year you will see his picture, provided he stays still long enough for the camera to catch him and he hasn't turned into a squirrel by then.


And so - we all join in best wishes to all of you, our friends, and pray that your year may be full of joy and health and all good things.


THE EGGLESTONS
230 Montpelier Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78228

December 1963

san antonio
back yard
dad, ed (21) mom dan (in pem day glee club blazer from KC - 18)

WE LOOK ONCE MORE AT SIXTY-FOUR

It happened again! In spite of all good resolutions to the contrary, the annual newsletter didn't get written until well into December. Even though the year is pretty well along by December 1, the spirit of procrastination dies hard... It's so darned easy to put things off a few days at a time. Ideally, any annual effort should be written as of December 31st, and dreamed up some six weeks in advance by liberal use of a crystal ball. Then the printer and the mailman would have plenty of time to do their respective parts well before Xmas. But crystal balls seem to be of plastic these days, and give confusing results. So the literary dilemma of covering a year a bit early is still with us.

What was the year like for us? Well, as you might guess, Les got in a lot of travel, covering quite an assortment of geography. It started in February, with a return to Venezuela, where he spent a month. En route, he stopped over in Mexico City, and was greatly impressed by that bustling metropolis. Venezuela was quiet compared with 1963. The political terrorism abated after the December elections, and so he was able to get in some interesting side trips on weekends. One was to Mérida, high in the Andes, where he rode the highest teleférico in the world, reaching up to over 15,000 feet. It was a scenic marvel. On another trip he got deep into the Motilone Indian country on the west side of Lake Maracaibo.

The next trip was by car in April. Sis came down from Buffalo for Fiesta Week so, to start things off, we three drove down into Mexico, swinging around through Saltillo and Monterrey. Sis came back loaded with souvenirs! Fiesta is always a big occasion in San Antonio. Then followed another trip out to Stanford, attending a technical meeting. It was a busy, interesting week. For several months there were only a few trips around Texas, but late in July business took Les to Pittsburgh, Pa., and Niagara Falls, N. Y., so he was lucky enough to see all the improvements at the Falls and visit the folks in Buffalo. The honeymooners who never got to see Niagara Falls back in the days when it was a Mecca for newlyweds, would certainly be surprised today.

Back in 1959, Les attended a Foam Symposium up on Campobello Island, where he was a guest at the Roosevelt cottage. August took him there again, but this time the cottage bad been turned into a national monument. Those at the meeting all commuted from the Maine shore, using a new International bridge. This particular trip was highlighted by hours of tired, aching feet - the result of weekends en route spent at the World's Fair. The Fair is a tremendous spectacle, and well worth while, but it sure is a physical challenge. There's so much to see, and usually so little time to do it in.

About this time, our Kansas City tenants decided to move to a larger house. The place was quickly re-rented, but it was obvious that some long-deferred maintenance should be done at moving time. So, just before Labor Day, Ed and Les drove up with a car full of tools, plus 3 kittens to deliver in KC. That was a week of nightmare. It involved carpentry, electrical work, masonry - even putting in a new steam boiler. The two labored from early morning until late at night, fell into bed exhausted, only to repeat the pattern the next day. When they got back to San Antone, it was all like a bad dream. But just the same, they'd worked miracles in fixing up the house.

There was another quick trip up to Pittsburgh in October. Quick means on short notice, for often these days air travel is anything but quick. You spend hour after hour in air terminals waiting in frustration for a relatively few minutes aboard a plane en route. Ham radio has kept Les pleasantly distracted during the times when he wasn't off on a trip. A big vertical antenna sprouted in the back yard and a beam was stuck on the roof peak. It didn't stay where it was meant to. One morning when Les was in Venezuela a guy wire parted and the beam collapsed with a mighty thud that shook the house giving the banana plants a new kind of fruit. Now it's leaning at the side of the house, secure, but not as high. The short wave rig was rebuilt into an impressive console during the year and WA5GOQ extended its coverage down to 6 meters. The next move. to 2 meters, is in progress now. Les is usually tinkering with equipment and it keeps him too busy to spend much time rag chewing.

The scholastic life seems to be agreeing with Ed, and make no mistake about it. he has been on the educational treadmill pretty steadily for some time. The grind at Texas A&M is not for weaklings and Ed, recognizing this, went to summer school again. Ed has changed a lot since his freshman year at Missouri Valley and his sophomore year at Drury. He has grown taller and put on weight and muscle, his grades are quite respectable, and he's working hard to make himself into an engineer. His mechanical skills really helped on the Kansas City trip in August, and the technical training now in progress shows up in his electronic tinkering. Every so often he blows in for a week end from College Station, dividing his home time between extra sleep and long telephone conversations. The remaining hours he's out on dates.

Dan is a busy beaver. He played all year in the Jeff Band that won high honors in all areas and marched in the Fiesta Parade. He got an award for perfect attendance all year. He took a course in Computer Language and Programming at St. Mary's and one in Radio and TV
announcing at WOAI. Like all boys, Dan likes to drive. He won a local contest in skillful driving, then went to Dallas as SA representative in the Road-eo. He had a course at San Antonio Little Theater, and subsequently the part of Mr. Darling in "Peter Pan. " Dan did a lot of backstage work too, just to round out his experience . Dan's College Board scores were fine and got him a small scholarship at Texas A&I where he is a math major, with banking in mind for his future. He worked hard in politics down in Kingsville, and also pledged Alpha
Phi Omega. For graduation he had a trip back to KC to see his class at Pem Day and visit his friends. He gets taller all the time and as you see, the rest of us look like midgets of some kind.

Our absent member, Larry, is now Sp/4 and is doing a fine job as clerk in the medical warehouse, 4th Field Hospital, Fort Dix. He has a lot of responsibility and from all we hear is well regarded. He reports he has grown taller too - and promises a visit to San Antone some time this spring. Larry gets out next November and will return to Missouri to work on his degree. He still hopes to go on with his long time dream - go to Seminary, then wind up as an Air Force Chaplain. Larry writes often, and so we keep well posted on his activities.

Polly leads a new life with no boys to fuss over and she is finding it hard to get used to. She misses her Kansas City activities. Here she has a little teaching, some accompanying, and trips to the airport to carry and fetch Les. This leaves time on her hands, so she has resumed her membership in AAUW, and has group meetings in several fields. She has done some work back stage at San Antonio Little Theater and hopes to enter the Remedial Reading field,

As for the four-legged department, Peter is no more. Pneumonia and old age brought her down. For months Zeke was the lone cat. His tree climbing now has changed to roof explorations, followed by demands for a ladder to come down. In midsummer, a pellet gun put what looked like a battered rivet almost through him. He pulled through but minus many of his nine lives. Now he lets himself go around comparatively dirty and bedraggled. Zeke loves to ride around the house on Les' shoulder. He doesn't ask - just hops up. When a neighbor left for Turkey, we inherited a white cat with five very young kittens. After getting them on their wobbly feet, and Ed. Mamma, who answers to "Kit" stayed on as our star boarder. She bosses Zeke, smacks Pixie, attacks ankles, demands food at all hours, and has learned that humans are to be loved. She and Zeke are still jealous of one another, but it is lessening. Kit is a talkative feline, round and fat, and getting to be a beautiful animal. She's the one Dan is holding.

One other miscellaneous item. The Egglestons now have an official egghead, having qualified one of the five as a member of MENSA, that high IQ society. Now the other four are wondering which of them can also qualify. MENSA is like Mount Everest. There's no real point in joining the one or climbing the other. But it's there. And maybe it helps us prove a point to ourselves.

Our best wishes to all of you from San Antonio

THE EGGLESTONS

san antonio
ed (22) dad, mom, dad (19)

230 Montpelier Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78228
The '65 Gossip Column

Theoretically it's easy to write a news letter. All you have to do is summarize what everybody has been doing for the past twelve months, then wrap this up with corroborative details contrived to lend literary verisimilitude to what could easily be a bald and uninteresting narrative. But it isn't quite that simple. We all live a day at a time, and casting back for a year means cudgeling the memory a bit. This has rewards, though, for once the chore is done, you can realize how much has happened. Writing isn't the only problem. The camera hasn't been invented yet that can come up with a group photo with the principals widely separated. With Larry in New Jersey and Dan and Ed away in school, you do the best you can at Thanksgiving, hope for the best, and process film in a hurry just in case you have to repeat the process. The animals don't help either. Last year we had to borrow a neighbor's white cat in a hurry to complete the ensemble! Zeke had wandered off while the camera was being set up.

As you'd expect, Les was the first of the family to travel, starting in January a trip to Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh on business. Polly wasn't far behind though. She had enjoyed her trip to Monterrey, Mexico so much in 1964 that when a chance came up in April to fly down with an old friend from Iowa, she didn't hesitate for a minute. It was quite a flight, for San Antonio was fogged in when her plane returned. She had an extra ride to Nuevo Laredo and a bus trip back to San Antonio.

Just about then, Les was asked to go to Columbia and Peru, the same sort of mission in bolstering fire defenses against terrorist activities that took him to Venezuela in '63 and '64. This involved two months of intensive travel and hard work, but fortunately a few days here and there could be spent in tourism. For instance, there was a week at Cartagena, the famous walled city of the old Spanish Main. This was the principal target of pirates and buccaneers back in the days when galleons were carrying the treasures of Peru to Spain, and Fort San
Felipe, a massive stone citadel testifies as to what defenses it needed.

There was a quick trip to Barranquilla, and way up the famed Magdalena river valley. Another trip took Les up to Neiva, where bandits have menaced the countryside for many years. They still are a constant threat. The next part of the indoctrination travel was an airplane hop over to Lima, Peru, followed almost immediately by a move to the Talara oil fields in the extreme north. Years ago, Francisco Pizarro marched over this same barren coastal desert before striking up into the Andes in his conquest of Peru. After a concentrated tour of the area, the next jump was to Mollendo, the southernmost seaport. traveling by plane to Arequipa, thence by car. Arequipa was a fascinating old colonial Spanish city, and had almost recovered from the disastrous earthquake of a few years ago. Then came a chance to take a breather and use some vacation time. Immediately Les headed for Cuzco, the old Inca capital and Macchu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas that Hiram Bingham rediscovered in 1911. Enroute to Cuzco. you fly at 20,000 ft. in an unpressurized plane with the aid of oxygen tubes. The snowcapped Andes are a magnificent sight!

So far every step in Peru had been an education in history. More was to come. A final swing up north by plane to Chiclaya. returning by car gave a chance to see the Chimu ruins of Chan Chan, near Trujillo. This was an adobe city covering about 9 square miles, with an estimated population of around 100,000 people. Farther south. a quick stop was made at the old Inca coastal fortress of Paramonga. This was a tightly scheduled trip. The car went right to the airport, and Les took off for the return to Bogota, where report writing plus local sightseeing for three weeks left him limp and exhausted. The plan was to return via Los Angeles and loaf a few days before taking up the routine again. Les got there all right, but fatigue plus some "walking flu" got him down. So he dragged himself back to San Antonio to rest up.

In the meantime, Dan had been busy in his freshman year at Texas A&I. January saw him on the Dean's list for scholarship, and the next month, being in an academic frame of mind, he went to work in the college library as serials clerk. This didn't seem to chain down his wandering feet. though. February he went to the George Washington Day parade in Laredo with the Band, and in March they toured the Rio Grande Valley, including a trip to Houston. All this travel put ideas in his mind. So he and Polly decided upon a trip to Mexico City. As soon as school was out. the two of them joined a tour group from A&I, driving over to Laredo to ride the train. That was an eventful week for both of them. Polly discovered Mexico City to be a fascinating place where Spanish is useful, but not absolutely necessary. They visited some pyramids, went to opening night at the opera, and learned some geography first hand. Dan, as his mother's interpreter, found his Spanish mighty handy and something that added a lot to the trip. They've promised themselves another trip when it can be worked out. After all, there's a limit to what you can cover in a single trip! Only a few days after returning from Mexico, Dan was off again, this time by chartered bus to Los Angeles with the A&I Band. They played at the Lions Convention there, and managed to take top honors of the 35 bands in their class.

Aside from a few weekend home trips from College Station, Ed didn't get much travel until school closed. Then he went up to Garland, Texas (north of Dallas) as a construction laborer. It paid well, and put him in wonderful condition, but about all it could teach him was that living away from home costs a lot of money. So in midsummer, he came back to San Antone as an electronics technician at Southwest Research Institute. Not only did he learn a lot, but he was available for chores around the house, helping his father. One such project was to complete a 2 meter rig that Les had had under construction for some time. Another was to repair and rehabilitate an electronic counter. This represented a real challenge, but Ed was successful in making it work. He also raided the junk boxes and crammed all sorts of parts, sardine wise, into a very small box winding up with a good transistorized stereo amplifier. The cost was negligible. Ham radio got a lot of attention during the year. Early in the spring, Les got a single sideband receiver kit (SB-300) and liked it so well that by summer he was ready to order a matching transmitter kit (SB-400), so the two could operate tied together as a transceiver. At first the transmitter wouldn't work, hut eventually Les and Ed, mostly Ed, got the bugs out. Now it's a pleasure to operate. Sometimes Les is on 3 MARS traffic nets at the same time, which is a bit strenuous. Up in Kansas City, Ed had a Novice amateur license, but it expired. In September he and Dan for license conscience so now Ed has a Technician ticket and is WA5NZO. Dan is a Novice, WN5NZP. He hasn't any equipment yet, but hopes to arrange something at school. Ed will use the big transmitter that Les replaced, operating on MARS frequencies. That will help a lot in maintaining contacts between College Station and San Antonio.

After the hectic first half of the year, things slowed down awhile. We all baked in the blazing San Antonio sunshine, retreating when necessary into air conditioned comfort. Les concentrated on the research projects that had been set aside for the trip to South America. Then the tenant of our Kansas City house wrote he'd been transferred and would have to move. Les and Ed were well tied down so Polly and Dan drove up to Kansas City to start arrangements for selling the house. We found a lot of rehabilitation and painting was needed, but luckily we had a very capable and trustworthy neighbor who did a marvelous reconditioning job. It cost a lot, but when Les saw it in November, it looked marvelous. Now all we need is somebody to buy it. That chance to see the Kansas City house, incidentally, was incidental to a trip to the West Coast to observe a 40 acre test fire up in the Sierras, near Mono Lake, California. It promised to be an interesting mass fire experiment, but the weather man wouldn't cooperate. California was hit with a record heavy rainfall, the mountains were covered with snow and cold wet slush, and the test had to be called off indefinitely. So for all practical purposes, Les had traveled thousands of miles to accomplish little or nothing. But you can't win all the time.

Speaking of travel, Les got a new Dodge Dart in September. Air conditioned. of course for here in San Antonio, summer driving can resemble a session in a fiery furnace. Naturally. Polly took over the '60 Valiant, and for a while we thought of trading in her old 53 Plymouth. Finally we passed it on to Ed. . . as a Senior at A & M, we figured he'd have sense enough to use the car intelligently. We've been pleasantly surprised. He's continued to keep his nose on the academic grindstone, so the car is used relatively little.

Back in Kansas City. Polly played her cello quite a bit. After coming to San Antonio, it stood in the corner unused until by chance she began to play with the Trinity University Orchestra. She's getting back into her piano work too, playing 3 days a week as accompanist for a vocal studio. And 2 days a week, she plays the organ and piano at St. David's nursery school. The net result of all this is that Polly keeps happy and Les often has to cook his own supper.

Up at Fort Dix, Larry is far enough away so that he's not easy to keep track of. His basic activities as an Army "pill roller" apparently have been centered on supply and administrative chores, and since you can't run an army without lots of paperwork this resulted in a promotion to Specialist 5th Class about Thanksgiving time. He draws the same pay as a Sergeant, but isn't classed as an NCO. The original plan was to return to civilian life in November. but the war clouds changed all that. His enlistment was extended until next May, and who can guess what will happen then? After 33 months with the Fourth Field Hospital, he's more of a fixture than the electric lights! But, with luck, he'll be out next fall and return to Missouri as a junior. Dan will be a junior too, so the time may come when we have to go to two graduations at the same time but 1000 miles apart! We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. but he sets a high standard indeed.

When Les gets home and sits down to read the paper, Zeke hops up. stretches out on Les' chest and rubs his furry head against the whiskery chin close by. He just loves to nuzzle. So far, Kit is a wee bit standoffish, but always manages to stay close where the can see everybody. So the house. . . at least until such time as they tire and curl up for a nap.

Last year the Egglestons got one member into MENSA. this ivory dome high IQ society. The count is up to three members now. So far. we still haven't figured out any really good reason for joining, except to prove that it's possible to qualify. Still, there are some fine people in the San Antonio group and the meetings are most interesting.


Well. that's about it for 1965. It's been an interesting, sometimes a hectic year. More is in store for 1966, and come next year, the newsletter will tell you all about it.
Happy New Year

san antonio
dan (20) dad mom ed (23)

SIXTY-SIX WAS AN EVENTFUL YEAR

It would be easy to summarize 1966 for us in just a few words. Everybody
traveled but Ed, and even Ed didn't stay put. Late in 1965, alter several years of renting, we decided to sell the Kansas City house. It had been a wonderful house to live in, and we hated to see it go, but a property over 800 miles away can be a real financial headache to rent, maintain and manage. So a small army of workmen descended upon the place, put it in apple-pie order, and shortly after the beginning of the year a buyer turned up.

As a rule we all take minor sickness more or less in stride. One kept Les at home a few weeks in February, and then, just when he was about to return to work, excruciating pain landed him in the hospital. It was a kidney stone attack, and added to fly left him in low gear for a while. Fortunately, recovery was prompt enough to permit a trip to South America in April. This was a two-week assignment in Lima, Peru as instructor at a Security and Fire Protection Seminar. It was strenuous at times, but thoroughly enjoyable, and a real opportunity to get acquainted with Francisco Pizarro's ancient City of the Kings. Afterwards came a sightseeing trip to Iquitos, up across the Andes and over into the Amazon Jungle area. The high (?) spot was falling into the Nanay River and banging up the camera a bit. That Nikon F needs shock absorbers! Last year, it was dropped on the ground at Cuzco. Some primitive Yagua Indians were seen, still hunting with blowguns and curare tipped darts, but no shrunken heads in evidence. Perhaps all the head shrinkers went to the USA to practice psychology!

On the way home, a short stopover was made in Bogota, both for business and pleasure. Colombia is a nice place to be. Then back to the states, well laden with Xmas gift purchases. Les had so much baggage that it was worthwhile to go via Los Angeles to avoid an overnight stopover in Mexico City and the extra Customs involved. Early in the year, the big radio project was erection of a 50 foot antenna tower and beam antenna system. Ed and Les have a lot of monkey blood, so the actual erection went smoothly. Late in May, disaster struck. A freak wind storm hit San Antonio, the guy wires were snapped like so much string, and as Les looked out the back door in horror, the tower folded over in less than a minute, a lot of expensive junk filled the yard. Not until late November was the bulk of the damage repaired. The beam is still in pieces! May was a bad month. Les invited a chunk of money from the sale of the house in blue chip stocks. The bear market this summer left them black and blue chips! Like lots of others, we got hurt!

All this time, Ed was racing down the home stretch at Texas A&M, enjoying the fringe benefits of being a senior, including interviews for a job after graduation. Polly and Dan, were planning for a bit of travel. Hopefully, Larry would drive down for Ed's graduation, then all three would go gallivanting. Dan finished school at Texas A&I the 26th. On May 28th, everybody went over to College Station. Polly and Dan continued north. Larry didn't get his leave in time. What a trip! They were away three months, covered 31 states, three Canadian provinces, and put I5,000 miles on the speedometer doing so. First they ambled leisurely up to Fort Dix, New Jersey where Larry, stationed at the Field hospital, managed to get a furlough. He made Sgt. in March, and had just re-enlisted. The bonus helped him get a new red Plymouth Fury. From there, all three continued generally north, way up to Nova Scotia. The next target area was Kansas City, via Buffalo, traveling in zig zags to visit as many people as possible. Larry wants to make Kansas City his permanent home, so there were lots of things for him to do there. Eventually his leave time grew short, so the Fury dashed back to New Jersey. The long trek continued, back in the Valiant. It was anything but a race with time. The dauntless duo meandered over the northeast, visiting and camping as they went, recrossing their trail four times. They got as far north as Minneapolis, then turned generally south via Kansas City. When they finally straggled into San Antonio, plans were already in the making for the summer of 1967, this time to cover the Western states. Since Dan will graduate in 1968, and the HemisFair will be in San Antonio, they reasoned this would be their last good chance to go gadding.

In early June, Ed packed most of his things and moved to the Dallas area to start a new job with Ling-Temco-Vought. He works at the Grand Prairie plant, which is building the Navy A-7 fighter bomber. Our new electrical engineer is assigned to Ground Support instrumentation. Home for him is a shared apartment a few miles away in Irving. After bullying Polly's old Plymouth into operation the last year at A&M, he wanted better wheels. Now he's driving a brand new second handed Comet. Ed enjoys grown up life with his own home, his own car, a steady professional assignment and the knowledge that he's at last on his own feet. But back in San Antonio, Les feels the pinch, now that his highly skilled "slave labor" is no longer around.

Polly and Dan weren't the only travelers. For several years Les had planned to attend his 35th Class Reunion at Cornell. Originally, it was to be a leisurely vacation trip but it didn't work that way. There was a lot of business to be taken care of, so the scheduling was a bit on the rugged side. Early in June, after a flying trip to Norfolk to attend a meeting, he jumped in the car and begun to drive, but not in easy stages. There were many miles to cover, stops to make, and not much time. By midweek though, he was with his classmates, knee-deep in nostalgia for a few days. It was hard to figure why he felt just like a recent graduate when most of the class showed so much wear and tear! Reunion over, the Dart was headed toward the New York-Philadelphia
metropolitan area where he concentrated on business. Then came a long haul out to northern Wisconsin, across Iowa, down to Kansas City, and finally south to San Antonio, arriving on the 4th of July. It was a rugged three weeks and 5,900 miles! There were high spots though, that made it all worthwhile. For the first time, Les traveled with two meter FM radio in the car. Mobile ham radio is a real thrill and a help too.

Down at Texas A&I, Dan is getting to be a practical politician. He was elected Secretary of Alpha Phi Omega, and is going to Minneapolis during this Xmas vacation for their National Convention. He's VP of the Young Republicans in this area and swears that the recent resurgence of the GOP is all his work. These college juniors really get to be big wheels around the campus. Dan continues to play in the A&I band and got to lot of football games that way. They hope to go to the New Orleans Mardi Gras next Spring. That would really be a grand occasion for the band.

Polly continues at the piano. Until May she played every day at a nursery school, but gave it up because it was such a long drive across town. Now she's concentrating on her accompanying work, a small group of piano pupils, and playing the cello in the Trinity orchestra. A few weeks ago, Larry reported he had been upped to Staff Sgt. An overseas tour is in prospect, and he hopes for Okinawa.

The animals? Still all with us. Pixie is getting deal and shows signs of age, but the cats have more than enough pep for all.


230 Montpelier Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78228
1 December 1966

SIXTY-SIX WAS AN EVENTFUL YEAR

It would be easy to summarize 1966 for us in just a few words. Everybody
traveled but Ed, and even Ed didn't stay put. Late in 1965, alter several years of renting, we decided to sell the Kansas City house. It had been a wonderful house to live in, and we hated to see it go, but a property over 800 miles away can be a real financial headache to rent, maintain and manage. So a small army of workmen descended upon the place, put it in apple-pie order, and shortly after the beginning of the year a buyer turned up.

As a rule we all take minor sickness more or less in stride. One kept Les at home a few weeks in February, and then, just when he was about to return to work, excruciating pain landed him in the hospital. It was a kidney stone attack, and added to fly left him in low gear for a while. Fortunately, recovery was prompt enough to permit a trip to South America in April. This was a two-week assignment in Lima, Peru as instructor at a Security and Fire Protection Seminar. It was strenuous at times, but thoroughly enjoyable, and a real opportunity to get acquainted with Francisco Pizarro's ancient City of the Kings. Afterwards came a sightseeing trip to Iquitos, up across the Andes and over into the Amazon Jungle area. The high (?) spot was falling into the Nanay River and banging up the camera a bit. That Nikon F needs shock absorbers! Last year, it was dropped on the ground at Cuzco. Some primitive Yagua Indians were seen, still hunting with blowguns and curare tipped darts, but no shrunken heads in evidence. Perhaps all the head shrinkers went to the USA to practice psychology!

On the way home, a short stopover was made in Bogota, both for business and pleasure. Colombia is a nice place to be. Then back to the states, well laden with Xmas gift purchases. Les had so much baggage that it was worthwhile to go via Los Angeles to avoid an overnight stopover in Mexico City and the extra Customs involved. Early in the year, the big radio project was erection of a 50 foot antenna tower and beam antenna system. Ed and Les have a lot of monkey blood, so the actual erection went smoothly. Late in May, disaster struck. A freak wind storm hit San Antonio, the guy wires were snapped like so much string, and as Les looked out the back door in horror, the tower folded over in less than a minute, a lot of expensive junk filled the yard. Not until late November was the bulk of the damage repaired. The beam is still in pieces! May was a bad month. Les invited a chunk of money from the sale of the house in blue chip stocks. The bear market this summer left them black and blue chips! Like lots of others, we got hurt!

All this time, Ed was racing down the home stretch at Texas A&M, enjoying the fringe benefits of being a senior, including interviews for a job after graduation. Polly and Dan, were planning for a bit of travel. Hopefully, Larry would drive down for Ed's graduation, then all three would go gallivanting. Dan finished school at Texas A&I the 26th. On May 28th, everybody went over to College Station. Polly and Dan continued north. Larry didn't get his leave in time. What a trip! They were away three months, covered 31 states, three Canadian provinces, and put I5,000 miles on the speedometer doing so. First they ambled leisurely up to Fort Dix, New Jersey where Larry, stationed at the Field hospital, managed to get a furlough. He made Sgt. in March, and had just re-enlisted. The bonus helped him get a new red Plymouth Fury. From there, all three continued generally north, way up to Nova Scotia. The next target area was Kansas City, via Buffalo, traveling in zig zags to visit as many people as possible. Larry wants to make Kansas City his permanent home, so there were lots of things for him to do there. Eventually his leave time grew short, so the Fury dashed back to New Jersey. The long trek continued, back in the Valiant. It was anything but a race with time. The dauntless duo meandered over the northeast, visiting and camping as they went, recrossing their trail four times. They got as far north as Minneapolis, then turned generally south via Kansas City. When they finally straggled into San Antonio, plans were already in the making for the summer of 1967, this time to cover the Western states. Since Dan will graduate in 1968, and the HemisFair will be in San Antonio, they reasoned this would be their last good chance to go gadding.

In early June, Ed packed most of his things and moved to the Dallas area to start a new job with Ling-Temco-Vought. He works at the Grand Prairie plant, which is building the Navy A-7 fighter bomber. Our new electrical engineer is assigned to Ground Support instrumentation. Home for him is a shared apartment a few miles away in Irving. After bullying Polly's old Plymouth into operation the last year at A&M, he wanted better wheels. Now he's driving a brand new second handed Comet. Ed enjoys grown up life with his own home, his own car, a steady professional assignment and the knowledge that he's at last on his own feet. But back in San Antonio, Les feels the pinch, now that his highly skilled "slave labor" is no longer around.

Polly and Dan weren't the only travelers. For several years Les had planned to attend his 35th Class Reunion at Cornell. Originally, it was to be a leisurely vacation trip but it didn't work that way. There was a lot of business to be taken care of, so the scheduling was a bit on the rugged side. Early in June, after a flying trip to Norfolk to attend a meeting, he jumped in the car and begun to drive, but not in easy stages. There were many miles to cover, stops to make, and not much time. By midweek though, he was with his classmates, knee-deep in nostalgia for a few days. It was hard to figure why he felt just like a recent graduate when most of the class showed so much wear and tear! Reunion over, the Dart was headed toward the New York-Philadelphia
metropolitan area where he concentrated on business. Then came a long haul out to northern Wisconsin, across Iowa, down to Kansas City, and finally south to San Antonio, arriving on the 4th of July. It was a rugged three weeks and 5,900 miles! There were high spots though, that made it all worthwhile. For the first time, Les traveled with two meter FM radio in the car. Mobile ham radio is a real thrill and a help too.

Down at Texas A&I, Dan is getting to be a practical politician. He was elected Secretary of Alpha Phi Omega, and is going to Minneapolis during this Xmas vacation for their National Convention. He's VP of the Young Republicans in this area and swears that the recent resurgence of the GOP is all his work. These college juniors really get to be big wheels around the campus. Dan continues to play in the A&I band and got to lot of football games that way. They hope to go to the New Orleans Mardi Gras next Spring. That would really be a grand occasion for the band.

Polly continues at the piano. Until May she played every day at a nursery school, but gave it up because it was such a long drive across town. Now she's concentrating on her accompanying work, a small group of piano pupils, and playing the cello in the Trinity orchestra. A few weeks ago, Larry reported he had been upped to Staff Sgt. An overseas tour is in prospect, and he hopes for Okinawa.

The animals? Still all with us. Pixie is getting deal and shows signs of age, but the cats have more than enough pep for all.


230 Montpelier Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78228
1 December 1966

dan (21) ed (24) dad, mom

san antonio

1967 Newsletter

It's been twenty-seven years since Les produced the first in this long series of Christmas cards. Probably 20 out of the 27 have carried newsletters. A few years we used photographic cards, and printing a long letter on them just wasn't practical. During that period, the family grew, grew up, and now the boys are beginning to strike out for themselves in homes of their own. There were two wars, or was one of them just a "police action"? Maybe we should say three wars, to include this current conflict. But anyhow, it meant that each year about Thanksgiving time, the old man had to rack his brain for a card design, try to remember what had been going on for 12 months, then concoct a plausible story.

When you live in south Texas snow is a rarity. You forget that winters offer problems when Mother Nature gives you an overdose of that thick white stuff. Les went to a technical meeting in Washington in February. A blizzard hit the city, traffic came to a screeching halt, and most of the time was spent in a struggle to get back and forth. Later in the month, delivering a paper at an AIChE meeting in Houston, the weather was a little nicer. Starting in 1966, Les had been working on a system to detect and suppress explosions in the manufacture of aluminum powder. Just after the Apollo fire at Cape Kennedy, two airman were lost in a similar fire at Brooks AFB. Les participated in the investigation, and later when systems had to be evaluated for protecting men working in 100% oxygen atmospheres, his background in explosion work proved
extremely useful.

There's always home improvement going on someplace. Back in 1963 while Les was out of the country awhile, Polly had a contractor enclose the back porch with jalousie windows. This year, that space was remodeled. The outdoor shingles were stripped off, sheetrock installed, and new
doors put in. Now it's another room inside the house. It should have been enough work for the year, but the do-it-yourself bug had scored another bite. Les began to plot ahead for central air conditioning. Knowing that Polly and Dan planned to be away all summer, no overt action was taken until they left. That eliminated the sideline bosses. Then the fun began, or perhaps hard work would describe it better. Single-handed for the most part, a concrete slab was poured outside, the compressor unit set. Inside, the furnace had to be removed, the sheet metal ducting modified to take the chiller, lines run, controls wired, etc. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The neighbors helped with the heavy work as needed, and Ed came down one weekend to join in moving the furnace around. The whole job only took about two weeks, but there were many, many strenuous hours working in a sweltering cramped crawl space above the house. Once it was done, though, the trials and tribulations could be forgotten. Here in Texas where the summer sun gets over enthusiastic on occasion, central air is a real comfort.

While Les was laboring, Polly and Dan were headed north. This year, they drove a better car. The old '60 Valiant, after 97,000 faithful miles was definitely tired out. A long trip would have been risky. So the travelers fell heir to the '65 Dart, while Les got himself a brand new second handed '66 Dart. As in 1966, Canada was to be the target, this year at EXPO 67 in Montreal. The general idea was to rendezvous with Larry at Fort Dix, then all would go to EXPO. Unfortunately, he couldn't get leave at the right time. For three months and 16,000 miles the gad-abouts swung in a big loop up northeast across Tennessee to Virginia where they visited old Williamsburg, into New Jersey where they visited around a week or so, on up across New York at a snail's pace, and finally to EXPO 67. They said it was a marvelous fair. In case you hadn't heard, we should do pretty well ourselves in San Antonio next summer with HEMISFAIR 68. It's shaping up fast right now. After some post EXPO touring in Canada, the travelers angled down toward Buffalo, generally heading west across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to Iowa where they relaxed awhile. Dan had to be back at Texas A&I for preseason band practice, so in a few days they went down through Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and finally back to Texas.

Just about the time the travelers returned, Les had to take off on a 2 1/2 week business trip to the East coast. Shortly afterward, with just enough time to clear up the desk of interim accumulated work, he set off again for the West coast. This time the trip took 3 1/2 weeks. All this was good practice in how to live out of a suitcase and wait around airline terminals, but it sure took a lot of nervous energy and Les badly needed a rest afterward.

Larry is still at Fort Dix in Medical Supply, and has gotten up to Staff Sgt. His leave came through in late summer, so he went up to EXPO 67, returning across Canada via Buffalo to visit the family there. We can't figure out how he stays in the States. At various times he's been expecting to go to Okinawa or Viet Nam, but nothing has happened, and we've come to believe this is the normal confused state of the military life. If sent overseas, he promised to travel via San Antonio. Wonder if HEMISFAIR 68 will get him here? He has his headaches with car accidents, fortunately none serious. Such things are part of life in a metropolitan area. But there are compensations too. The army gave him a $275 award in October for a suggestion that saved them thousands of dollars in supplies every year.

Ed, working for Ling-Temco-Vougbt just outside Dallas, gets home on occasions such as when his father gets desperate at the piled up work. LTV builds the A-7 airplane for Air Force and Navy. Changes are always being made, and Ed is involved in instrumenting the necessary test work. There's been a lot of overtime, and Ed has also gone through training in various sections, so his time since he left Texas A&M in 1966 has been quite productive. In November, he finally managed to get away for a vacation, flying down to Acapulco, Mexico. Ed enjoys life these days. He's earning enough to be comfortable, and as a carefree bachelor can look over lots of sweet young things, appreciating their charms with a discerning eye. No entanglements are anticipated. He's strictly playing the field.

In San Antonio, Polly has pretty much a set routine of musical activities. Most of her time is spent playing accompaniments at a vocal studio though she has a few piano pupils at home. She still plays the cello in the Trinity U Community Orchestra, and does promotional talks in the schools for the children's concerts given by the local symphony. If and when any time is left over, she, like the postman walking on his day off, often goes to a concert.

Dan is now a Senior at Texas A&I at Kingsville. Playing in the band, he closely followed the fortunes of their football team, and when they wound up on top of the NAIA scramble, was proud as Punch. We know he attends classes, for we see his grades, which are excellent. We wonder, though, when he has time for them for he seems to be working hard to be a BMOC (Big Man on the Campus). He is in many student organizations, holds office in several, and when they pick delegates to go to conventions, seems to get the bid. One such trip last winter was to Minneapolis. Hurricane Beulah was headed straight at Kingsville this fall, and we had our misgivings as to Dan's safety. It swung a little to one side, and though the campus got thoroughly soaked, the damage was nominal.

As you can see in the picture, Zeke and Kit, the two white longhaired cats are still around. Usually they are docile for the annual picture, but this year they were anything but tractable. Maybe jealousy of Ming caused this. She turned up in October as a sick, miserable, homeless waif. It took a lot of care to get her back to health. Ming is a bluepoint Siamese, half way between kitten and little cat. Maybe little monkey would describe her better. She's almost five pounds of deviltry and affection, racing around the house at breakneck speed. How any one animal can get into so much mischief is a mystery. At first the other cats resented her, now they accept her as something to tolerate. Pixie still trails Polly around as a feeble black shadow nearly 13 years old.

230 Montpelier Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78228

dan (22) ed (25) dad, mom
san antonio

The 1968 Story

In the 28 years that have elapsed since this series of do-it-yourself cards began, many things have happened. Wars have come and gone. We have moved around the country, living in 5 different states: New Jersey, Florida, California, Missouri and Texas. All three boys have grown up. So far, there's been a new picture every year. It seems that we look about the same every time now except for the animals, but the photograph actually is slightly different. Time leaves its marks. This year it was truly a do-it-yourself nightmare. With no neighbor handy to press the shutter, it had to be done by remote push-button. Ed had a raging toothache from an emerging wisdom tooth. Zeke, one of the white cats, couldn't be found till the picture was taken. Les and Ed had to take care of mechanical details. There were all sorts of distractions. All in all, this year's picture couldn't be considered a prize in photojournalism.

Les had a lot of travel this year, starting off early in January with work to do in New Orleans and Miami, enroute to Venezuela via Aruba. A lot of territory was covered there, including a strictly tourist side trip to the little-known Gran Sabana in the southeast. Trips like this
are an education in geography. It was early March before he came back to the States via Colombia and Panama. During late January, he snapped a delightful picture of a little girl
washing her clothes beside a small river in eastern Venezuela. It was so nice that a long-time family friend in New Jersey painted a big 24" x 36" copy in oils from the color print. Now the painting hangs beside Les' desk, a prized decoration for his office, and the envy of all who see it.

The perpetual report writing chores were hardly finished before April brought a series of technical meetings on the West Coast, and just about this time more foreign travel was scheduled. It was May before the arrangements could be completed, and then Les headed for Buenos Aires, stopping over in Lima, Peru. As he found out, that is a long, long airplane ride, but the scenery flying over the Andes was magnificent. On the return, he took pictures from the flight deck most of the way. In Argentina the meat is excellent and cheap, a regular paradise for a steak lover. Returning, Les had a short assignment in Jamaica, but it wasn't the island in the sun he hoped for. Just about then a long drought ended with plenty of rainfall. For Jamaica, you'd like less work to do, more time to do it, and beautiful weather. It didn't work out that way!

Back in San Antonio, HemisFair '68 kept all of us busy. Dan and Polly got to the opening celebration in April, and in June the radio amateurs held a national convention here which kept Les on the run as a member of the host club. The hams operated a radio station at the Fair ... WSSC... and every weekend Les was there helping out. Except on the MARS military circuits, his own call WASGOQ didn't get used much, except at some sports car races where the hams provided communications.

Ed came down for one of the races to help as a track official. Les covered the country by plane, bouncing back and forth, here and there during the last half of the year, on various projects. One interesting study was related to Navy's underseas program and concerned fire protection inside chambers operating at up to 700# pressure. The problem is peculiar, to put it mildly.

As a senior at Texas A&l, Dan had himself a year of glory. He got into local party politics, was President of the Math Club, member Student Council, selected to the Honorary History fraternity, member of the band and of the Music fraternities. They used to call this being a BMOC (Big Man On Campus). Maybe it is described differently now, but the idea is the same. For recreation, he and Polly took a camping trip to Big Bend Park at Easter. That's a really beautiful spot. In May, sheepskin in hand and a 3.2 scholastic record to be happy about, he began work on a second BA degree, teaching History during the summer as a Graduate Assistant taking courses as he could. It kept him plenty busy, but still he managed to participate in campus productions of "Oklahoma" and "My Fair Lady. " As the summer waned, he was approached by Brackenridge HS, of San Antonio, to teach Math, his major subject. He agreed, and after sweating out a deferment from his Draft Board, reported at the start of school. Suddenly the picture changed, so he found himself teaching 3rd year English. They say the world is full of surprises, and this illustrates it. It pays to be literate! Naturally Dan needed wheels to get back and forth, so he bought himself a tomato-can red Renault 10. It looks like an automobile, is almost as big, and is said to go miles on just the smell of gasoline. It squeezes into pint-sized parking spaces, and we still can't figure how Dan can get his long legs inside, yet have room left to squeeze more passengers. It reminds us of getting a dozen or so college students inside a phone booth.

As you might guess, Polly wasn't able to indulge her wanderlust and go on a long motor trip this summer. There were just too many of our friends and relatives planning to visit here during HemisFair, and so instead of leading a gypsy life during the summer, she stayed home. More accurately, she didn't get far from San Antonio, and many, many of her days were spent at the Fair touring the exhibits with our visitors. All those admissions were no problem, for we stocked up on tickets beforehand in the advance sales. Besides, Les had a gate pass because of his work at W5SC. It was a relief though when the Fair closed in October. Then Polly returned to her normal routine of piano pupils, playing accompaniments in a vocal studio, cello in the Trinity orchestra on Monday nights, and working with the children's' Symphony programs, being a part of the advance effort in the schools and garden club.

Larry started the year up at Ft. Dix where he's been stationed for a number of years. He got himself promoted from Specialist, 4th Class to Staff Sergeant, and now he's a real honest to goodness noncom in rank as well as pay. Larry has been working in Medical Supply, and recently began to look around for possible overseas assignments to round out his military experiences. Pretty much out of a clear sky, he found himself ordered to three months temporary duty in Okinawa to help clear up a supply problem. That was good news. Once before, he'd hoped to be ordered there. It is one of the better overseas stations. So off he went, and upon arrival bought a small motorcycle to explore the island. Just before October 31st, when he was due to return, in fact almost on the airplane, the tour was extended two more months. So right now, Larry is way way out in the Pacific, with return to be an end of the year proposition. Hopefully, he will visit San Antonio for the first time since 1962.

All through the year, Ed has been plugging away at Ling-Temco-Vought near Dallas in test work to make their A-7 fighter plane a better bird. It is already in service in southeast Asia. He has had his share of adventure in a foot loose, fancy free bachelor life. For example, a little old lady got him in trouble. She was 86 years old, as wide as she was high, and she came driving down the opposite side of a dual highway. Then she decided to make a left turn, and Ed just couldn't manage to get his Comet out of the way quickly enough. There is a limit to how fast
you can dodge! Thanks to a seat belt, he wasn't hurt, but the car had to be towed away, and now he's driving a sporty new Ford Torino. As any young man can tell you, women can be a real hazard, though you don't expect them to wreck your car for you. Along in the Fall, both Ed and Dan had to sweat out Draft Board actions. Dan managed to get a deferment, but since Ed has had occupational deferments since his graduation from Texas A&M in 1966, and also, since he is approaching 26, the end of his draft liability, his local board bas him worrying a bit, awaiting word on what they propose to do, one way or the other, As a highly skilled engineer, he is important to LTV. As a warm body, he is draft material. There is always the possibility that next spring or summer Ed might wind up in the military service, but right now the picture is still pretty vague. Who can guess the future? In the meantime, Ed does his job, carries on, and enjoys the fact that over half of the U. S. population is female. You are only young once.

Well, that's about it. It was a good year, all 52 weeks or 12 months of it, as you please, lived one day at a time. You get up in the morning and go to bed at night. You do what has to be done on the job, and then at the end of the year you discover when you look back that while many days were just routine, enough of them weren't routine so that the highlights read pretty well.

230 Montpelier Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78228

ed (26) dan (23) mom larry (26) dad

san antonio

last picture with all 5 members present

1969 Annual Report


Every year, I find myself in a fresh state of amazement that this serial has lasted so long. It could almost be classed with the TV soap operas, at least in endurance. The end of thirty years of cards is now just around the corner, and rumor has it that a few people still have many of them. Some can even read the small print without a magnifying glass! But continuing the tradition isn't as easy as it once was. The first card showed Larry sharing a bushel basket with our cocker spaniel of the time. He seems to have outgrown that basket, and it's one picture I couldn't re-make! Also, so much goes on with the five parties concerned that packing the news into the space available now requires pre-conditioning courses in a sardine factory. Perhaps we live at an increasingly hectic pace.

Once children grow up and scatter, the taking of complete family pictures becomes a real challenge. For the past few years, we were too widely separated. This year, it was a struggle, but we made it, just before Thanksgiving. The next day, Dan went to Houston, and Ed went to Dallas. The pictures, though, were on exposed film, and the only real problem was to select the best shot. No single picture ever flatters all five of us!

As usual, Les had a lot of travel, but for a change, all of it was inside the country. Much of his time was concentrated on the fire protection of hyperbaric chambers, an activity that began early in 1967. Atmospheres such as found in diving chambers and underseas habitats present a real problem with fire, for you can't escape readily, and most fire equipment is unsuited for use under such conditions. Learning how to provide fire safety is necessary if man is to successfully conquer 'inner space' ... the vast unknown of the deep oceans.

He had numerous other projects too, among them some systems analysis work for the Office of Civil Defense. A technical conference in June was held near Monterey, California. It is beautiful country, but cloudy weather spoiled some planned photography. As a result, he was horn-swoggled and bulldozed into trying to paint one of the scenes. To everybody's surprise, including his own, the result wasn't bad at all. Primitive, yes, and certainly the sort of thing that made Grandma Moses a byword among painters. After that, Les had no choice to continue, so he enrolled in an evening drawing and painting class at San Antonio College, and already has started to put his stuff on the walls. A second trial of his grandma Moses initial effort turned out pretty well. It will be quite a while, though, before he reaches the smock and beret stage. Right now, it's hard work, but it's also a lot of fun.

As usual, ham radio claims its share of time. Activity on the military MARS circuits keeps Les busy several nights a week. There was one interesting weekend providing communications for some sports car races, and finally the local radio club put him to work as an officer. Since his travel schedules preclude any regular attendance at meetings, they came up with a bright idea, making him Sgt. at Arms, with practically no duties at all. The local Cornell Club too managed to catch up with him, making him President for 1969. As with the radio club, the duties were light, most of the time.

In April, Les started to draw retired pay from the Air Force, with all privileges, including medical care. This is coming in handy. Just before Thanksgiving, he got to feeling quite inferior in the interior. The specialists are working on it now, and it sure is nice to be so adequately taken care of.

Polly started off the year, busy, busy, busy, with her piano pupils and the vocal studio. In April, Doris came from Buffalo, and the two went off for a week in Mexico City, followed by San Antonio's Fiesta week. But all this activity began to catch up with her, and by summer the doctor was feeding her sedative pills, to make her slow down for her own health. Since Larry was due for release from the Army in late summer, she waited until the separation date was finally set, then took off for New Jersey on a vacation trip plus visits that lasted a total of 7 weeks, to bring him back to San Antonio. Of this time, some 3 weeks were spent along the New Jersey shore, using Ed's house as a temporary home base. The travelers returned just before Thanksgiving. Now she's gradually getting into the swing of things, but at a more leisurely pace. Music continues as her major interest.

Larry started off the year with an airplane ride, homeward bound from TDY in Okinawa. Coming into San Francisco, he detoured d through San Antonio on the way back to Fort Dix. It was really his first trip home as such, for when Larry was here at Fort Sam Houston in 1962, Les was camped in an apartment. The rest of the family were still in Kansas City finishing out the 62-63 school year. Larry was due for release in May, but fate had some unkind surprises for him. First of all, his car was stolen. Without wheels, it's not easy to get around. Then his ears began to give trouble. Before he knew it, he was put on 'medical hold' status so his hearing could be corrected before discharge. Week after week went by with not much accomplished, and not until October was he processed for discharge. They never did get his hearing back to normal. He plans to go back to the University of Missouri in the fall of 1970 to finish up his degree. In the meantime he's relaxing as a civilian in San Antonio waiting to hear from the VA. After a few months, he'll probably go back to the New York metropolitan area and work in theatrical productions until the time comes to resume the scholastic life once again. He's been out of school since 1962.

As 1968 was drawing to a close, Ed's draft board was casting loving looks in his direction, Ed was fully aware of the situation, and not at all happy at the idea of losing several years of engineering usefulness in a non technical capacity as an enlisted man. After researching the Officer Candidate School possibilities, Ed ran across an obscure Army regulation that permitted direct commissioning of those possessing certain special engineering skills, which fortunately he possessed. So he applied in January, was accepted in February, and then began an intensive effort to finish R&D projects at LTV Aerospace before putting on the uniform. It wasn't easy! Late in April, Les swore in Ed as 2nd Lt, Signa] Corps. For two months at Fort Gordon, Georgia, the new shavetail went to school to get educated in the military way of doing things. Finally, in July, he allowed to US Army Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, assigned to a group with the impressive sounding mission of Combat Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Night Vision System Laboratory. Except for the first month or so, Ed hasn't been spending much time at Fort Monmouth. He's been shuttling back and forth to a plant in the Washington, D.C. area as liaison officer on a project under development there. The chances are good that by next spring, he'll have a tour of duty out in southeast Asia, Ed has a relaxed attitude about the whole business.

Dan began 1969 teaching English 11 at Brackenridge High School, helping with the band and taking an education course in a local college at night. Just for a change, like a postman taking a walk on his day off, he went back to Texas A&I for summer school. That added another BA in History and English (cum Laude), plus a start on his Master's degree. All summer long the San Antonio schools tried hard to keep up with the many HEW directives. Nobody knew what they would be teaching or where. In the final shuffle, Dan wound up assigned to a newly created junior high covering the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. He has 120 pupils under his wing in language arts, social studies, and math courses. For a while, it was a problem to know what to talk about in what class. Until he got a routine established, he tied strings on his fingers to remind him which of the classes was which. (Dan of course denies this). It was a long haul across San Antonio to the new school, with lots of early morning traffic to fight, so Dan took an apartment nearby at 1226 Schley. By the end of the school year, he should be a pretty good cook and housekeeper. Aside from weekly trips home to use the washing machine, we don't see much of him. When his prowess as a chef warrants, we'll invite ourselves there for dinner!

There have been some changes in the animal population. Pixie, Polly's faithful black shadow got so feeble that life was just too much strain. So in January, just short of her 14th birthday she was put to rest in the garden. Several months later, our neighbor across the street called. Zeke was lying down on her lawn. What happened, we don't know, for there were no marks on him. Afterwards the house was so darn quiet that Polly got herself a blond cocker puppy. What a holy terror that mischievous little brat turned out to be! You forget how much trouble it is to bring up a puppy. We settled on calling her Buffy, and she's gradually taming down, tho still a self-willed charmer. Going to obedience school is on the schedule for her very soon, and she sure needs it. Ming and Buffy have a ball together, wrestle and chase each other all over the house. Kit stands for no nonsense from either, but on occasion they give her a hard time. Animals can present a lot of problems at times, but they certainly make life interesting.