About Me

I am a child of the 50s . . . was born in Cameron at St. Edward's Hospital . . . and we have family history in Rockdale and Milam County dating back to before Rockdale became Rockdale in 1874 . . . Dad was Forrest Lee "Fuzzy" Pounders (1927-1996) . . . Mom is Roberta (she still lives in Rockdale) . . . and I am Vickie, the first-born of their four children . . . I now live 30 minutes south of downtown Dallas . . . and I initially compiled this list in 1999 . . . and some of the things I remember about growing up in Rockdale include . . .

• being in the fashion show at Heaven-to-Seventeen
  
• having portraits made at Mr. Brady's in Cameron
  
• making shopping trips to Taylor and hating their awful-tasting water
  
• first grade in Mrs. Love's classroom (and then graduating from RHS in 1970 with the majority of those I started 1st grade with in 1958)
  
• pledging allegiance to the American flag at school each morning
  
• participating in the annual Christmas Pageant . . . with Mary & Joseph & the Baby Jesus . . . held in the auditorium of the new high school building (completed in 1955-56)
  
• second grade with Mrs. McLeod
  
• third grade with Mrs. Rogers
  
• my elementary classmates walking a couple of blocks to our house to sit in front of our TV & watch Alan ? Shepard (5 May 1961) or John ? Glenn (20 February 1962) make history with their space flight (anyone remember which one it was?)
  
• playing in Ham Branch after a rain, & catching crayfish with a piece of bacon on a string
  
• catching tadpoles in Ham Branch & putting them in the dog trough at the house & having baby frogs hopping around all over the place a short time later
  
• finding a Shetland pony tied up with a big red bow standing in the backyard one Christmas morning
  
• riding around town with Daddy in his gig, or riding horseback all over town, and up and down dirt roads all over the area
  
• going to Mr. Abbott's place to pick dewberries, & eating Momma's fresh dewberry cobbler & Grandma's homemade dewberry jam
  
• stealing nectar from honeysuckle blossoms
  
• an abundance of horned toads & doodlebugs & lightening bugs
  
• crying during Old Yeller and Bambi at the Reel Drive-In Theatre (probably while comfortably wearing our p.j.'s in the backseat of the family car)
  
• playing in the storm cellar at Beverly Yoakum's house in Praesel Addition
  
• Brownie's and Girl Scouts
  
• sitting in my "reading nook" up in the chinaberry tree in our backyard
  
• reading LOTS of books (including Gone With the Wind before I ever saw the movie) and making lots of trips to the library for fresh reading material (when the library was upstairs above ?)
  
• watching Disney on Sunday evenings, followed by Ed Sullivan
  
• spending Saturday mornings with Roy & Dale, the Lone Ranger & Tonto, and Fury & Flicka
  
• attending church camp (First Christian) in Mexia, Texas . . . & Bible School
  
• getting fresh sugar cane, miniature loaves of bread & comic books at McVoy's
  
• walking to "the Little Store" for candy & ice cream
  
• hoola hoops & jump ropes & Barbie dolls
  
• roller skating on Saturday afternoons at Mr. Quick's roller rink
  
• standing on the playground at the old junior high in 1963 when we learned that President Kennedy had been assassinated just up the road in Dallas
  
• junior high dances in the gymnasium that is now (1999) a part of the Elementary complex . . . and those dances being square dances . . . called by Mark Towery
  
• homemade ice cream & sweet watermelon (NOT together!) in the backyard at home
  
• Sunday afternoon outings to Lexington to visit my great-Grandma (Emma Patience Muston nee Nettles), & my grand-Aunt & Uncle (Gladys & John Taylor)
  
• our neighborhood residents, including ...
  
  • Mr. & Mrs. Menn & children
    
  • Mrs. Adams & Judy
    
  • Mr. & Mrs. Harris
    
  • Mr. & Mrs. Owens & children
    
  • Mr. & Mrs. Seelke (& their goldfish pond & bluebonnets)
    
  • Mr. & Mrs. Smith
    
  • Mr. & Mrs. Caffey & children right around the corner
    
  • Aunt Ruth & Uncle George across the street from the Caffeys
    
  • Mr. Caywood behind our back pasture (he gave me my first poodle)
    
  • the Spains just down the street
    
• our neighbor, Mrs. Adams, wearing her sunbonnet & working in her garden, & her quilts of every color & design airing on the fences around her house . . . she was also one of the Cafeteria ladies . . . remember those wonderful hot rolls?
  
• feeling truly blessed to have my Grandma next door on the other side, & cousins & aunts & uncles & long-time family friends all over town
  
• my first piano lessons at Mrs. Adams' house next door, taught by her granddaughter, Judy Moseley (who married Merle Kilgore (1934-2005), long-time friend and manager of Hank Williams, Jr.)
  
• having what we thought was the best playground in town right in our backyard, with our very own see-saw & swing set, & a special merry-go-round (and it's still there, y'all), created just for us by our Uncle Billy
  
• high school dances at the RHS band hall . . . and regular weekend dances at the American Legion Hall . . . or Circleville . . . or Deanville . . .
  
• Frontier Days & street dances & trailrides from Lexington to Rockdale . . . & stopping for lunch at the store in Tanglewood
  
• more trailrides & bluebonnets & sleeping in the horse trailor on overnight rides . . . & Mr. Caffey & Mr. Love & Mr. Fiesler
  

What can you add to this list?