On Thursday morning Ruby and I drove down to Ace Texas to visit Ms. Hazel Rhoten.  Ace is a small town just about an hour north of Houston, so deep in the woods that even after several visits I still missed the turn-off and had to back up to enter the "Wild Country" area.

     Wild Country is a place where quite a few folks from Houston have built retirement homes. The main road is called Hillbilly Heaven and all the adjoining roads are named after country music singing stars such as Hank Williams, Tex Ritter, Roy Acuff and others from that era of country music. Hazel and her sisters live on Bob Wills road.

     We arrived about noon and after a lot of hugs with Hazel and her 3 sisters Freeda, Wanda and Faye, we set off to have lunch at the Catfish Cabin in Livingston. Livingston is 17 miles north of Ace and is known for the Alabama-Coushatta indian reservation located nearby.  Livingston is also the nearest place to "eat out".

     We had catfish, cole slaw and red beans; they weren't as good as in OKlahoma  but they try and you know I'm not going to pass up a bowl of red beans.

     After lunch, we returned to Freeda's home where Ruby and I brought out Virgie Sanders' Sequoyah Campus quilt to show the girls.  It was quite a hit and we spent awhile examining it and pointing out the dorms and where our names were listed.

      We visited all afternoon about who we had seen recently;  the 2002 Reunion, the Special Meeting in Tulsa and the Wickliffe picnic plus any other gossip we could remember. She was glad to hear that the alumni group is so active and that we are trying to get as many as we can to participate  in our activities.

     After a light evening meal, the girls pulled out the dominoes and proceeded to give us another lesson in Chicken Foot. It's a rather simple game but with a set of double-nines, all six of us could play and we really had a good time until it was time for us to leave at 9:30. It's a 4 hour drive back to Plano and we arrived home well after midnight.

     She, like so many others that live away from Tahlequah, really enjoyed the latest newsletter.  She is always happy to hear about her former students and really would like to hear from them. She mentioned that she had heard from a few; Eva Rider and Laura Bighorse are two of them.  I told her I always mention her name and give out her address and phone number when I meet alumni who knew her at Sequoyah.

     If you would like to contact Ms. Rhoten:

Hazel Rhoten
P.O. Box 364
Ace Tx. 77326
Phn: 936-685-7366

      If you don't think she would remember you, she may surprise you, her memory is very good and with a little information from you, I'm sure she will be able to remember things that you may have forgotten. Just send a greeting card or a note with one of your memories of Sequoyah; it'll make both of you feel good.

    Don't wait until it's too late; in the past 5 years we have lost Ms. Elinor Meggs, Mrs. Etta Mae Vann, Mrs. Louise Covey, Ms. Ina Brady, Mr. Howard Kilpatrick, Mr. Joe Grayson Sr., Ms.  Flodelle Dyer and Mr. J. B. Dreadfulwater.

     For those of us who attended Sequoyah in the fifties and sixties, there are quite a few teachers and employees still around; if you would like to contact some of them, contact me and I'll see if we have an address available.

  IT'S NICE TO BE REMEMBERED!!

Charles Cochran
Class of 1960
 

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