tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12059367179293980702024-03-04T23:48:13.896-06:00Gatesville State School for BoysThis is a blog about the Gatesville State School for Boys. A facility operated by the Texas Youth Counsel aka the Texas Youth Commission aka the Texas Juvenile Justice Department during the years 1889 to 1979.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-50862021177063049262015-08-05T14:47:00.000-05:002015-08-05T14:47:18.438-05:00The Vampire Room
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This article
was submitted by a man who was a permanent clothes room boy at the Reception Center
in 1966. </span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of many duties that were assigned to me was to assist
what I would loosely call a person who had a fetish to play a vampire role, the
Dentist. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nurse would take me to the designated
room and I would assist her in preparing for the Dentist. I would then be
instructed to go out to the fields and get the designated boys, aka victims,
bringing the first into the room, and line the remaining boys along the wall in
the hall outside the room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It would be naive not to classify this Dentist as someone
who had been accepted due to being a low bid, local influence, and a kickback
to the individual approving the contract to provide service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, this is Gatesville Texas we’re
talking about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgwwJqWTQ9q-qKrPtuvYP-LeWL3-2eUeQj0SNjzhGrIQPa1KUb4cdXBcMqT-HO1Y2vaLmarba0L4gpAsfnOSI_i-TCRdglLquZXBk2AYU_Uv0-ZUjTDqNx6nlDmju3scqGBPL5lS1KA/s1600/VampireRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgwwJqWTQ9q-qKrPtuvYP-LeWL3-2eUeQj0SNjzhGrIQPa1KUb4cdXBcMqT-HO1Y2vaLmarba0L4gpAsfnOSI_i-TCRdglLquZXBk2AYU_Uv0-ZUjTDqNx6nlDmju3scqGBPL5lS1KA/s320/VampireRoom.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The room consisted of all the necessary modern features of
the day, however, it was clear to me that pulling teeth had to be more of a monetary
gain than doing an actual cleaning, filling or even an x-ray. I
never saw him do anything but pull teeth. I quickly learned that either
the individuals had good teeth or were extremely bad teeth. Unfortunately most
of these boys had never been to a dental office. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>I would escort his first victim into the chair at which
point the Dentist would turn around with his eyes wildly open making ungodly animalistic
sounds having his hands ghoulishly raised in the air while displaying his fake
vampire teeth, scaring the shit out of the boy in the chair. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>Shortly thereafter, he would start giggling, remove his
teeth and the work would begin. This is when the horror actually
started. These boys were extremely reluctant to open their mouths,
whereby the dentist would either slap them in the face real hard and/or pry
their mouth open. When things really got bad is when the teeth were
broken during the extraction process and the dentist had to use a flat shovel
like instrument to dig and pry the pieces out of the gums. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>I’ve seen people with hate in their eyes, I’ve seen people
with fear in their eyes, but I have only witnessed people with terror in their
eyes during this process. This was a horrible act that some of these boys
had to endure. I felt that due to what I would consider malpractice
behavior, that his antics would soon be revealed. This example and the
amount of screams heard by the caseworkers down the common hall you would think...
but this is culturally acceptable practice in Gatesville. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>After many months of this activity it finally came to a
conclusion. One day when he failed to show up at the Reception Center, I
was told he had missed the entrance, barely missing the red brick monument Reception
Center sign and was passed out in his car due to what I was told
intoxication. Many boys that went through this process may have hang ups
about going to a Dentist and that is unfortunate. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>The Dentist used Novocain prior to extracting the boy’s
teeth. I vividly remember loading the syringes during the process with
these tubes of Novocain that had a turquoise rubber blue stopper on one
end. One evening, while cleaning the vampire room with a boy from Laredo,
who we called Indian because he looked like a Mexican Indian, he got a hold of
one of these Novocain cartridges, popped off the rubber top and drank the Novocain.
I worried if he was going to be alright, and the next day when I asked if it
did anything for him, he said that it didn’t. </div>
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The reception center has their
share of unfortunate secrets. </div>
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Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-6501621423592649332015-02-16T15:44:00.002-06:002015-02-16T15:44:49.898-06:00Fried Chicken
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>Most of what can be said about Gatesville is a horror story
unless you’re representing the town’s folks defending their little cash cow to
government investigative agencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
other day I was reminded of how much I enjoyed the Sunday Fried Chicken dinner that
was served when I was there, usually with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, iced
tea and a desert. It was truly the best meal of the week. Walking back to
Terrace School from chapel on Sunday morning you could smell that chicken
frying. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For 2 cigarettes the kitchen
boys would throw in an extra piece or send some ‘to go” through the scullery
window. I’m pretty sure this isn’t on the current Gatesville menu and rumor has
it that the kids in the state schools today don’t get feed as well as we did.
Something about fresh food being to expensive since the Fed’s meddling in the
states correction business. And it could have just been a small window of time
in Gatesville’s history in those crazy Post Morales vs Turman and pre TYC Gatesville
facility turn over where the state boys got feed a decent meal on Sunday after chapel.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RIP Father Atwood c/s</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-86490662286054323192014-08-20T10:13:00.000-05:002014-08-20T10:13:43.086-05:00Gatesville Cemetery Cleanup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc55Inzj1icWbs6OfYDZwjSmdBINsyRriFj1Y9iwE0mJCoynKAYszY2-A8HjUuxJ7FY76Z4bVBoatkw6ZGciCS4nL168HozNvXFKvbSImwwDR0YcI0lti8kbf8sU6C-Wy7kn1_g5ukhA/s1600/BootHillForBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc55Inzj1icWbs6OfYDZwjSmdBINsyRriFj1Y9iwE0mJCoynKAYszY2-A8HjUuxJ7FY76Z4bVBoatkw6ZGciCS4nL168HozNvXFKvbSImwwDR0YcI0lti8kbf8sU6C-Wy7kn1_g5ukhA/s1600/BootHillForBlog.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
was sent this email by a Mom whose daughter is locked up at our old alma-mater
and because of the nature of the email I thought I would share on the blog. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only knew of the one cemetery Boot Hill and
only suspect there are several unmarked graves around the place, like around
the horse barn and Riverside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My daughter is currently incarcerated in
Gatesville she was told today that next week she has to go clean up three boys cemetery’s
she said a lot of bad things happened there and ask me to research this. After
going on the internet i found all these horror stories. M y heart
goes out to you and all the other boys who had to go there. Thank God you made
it out of that place. My question is did some of these boys die from the
torture that they put you through. How come there are so many cemeteries, what
did they do to these poor boys. I only hope that these men were punished for
what they did. My heart goes out to all the boys that had to go to this
place. All that I have read so far no one mentions any boy dying but with
so many graves something had to happen. Any information you could send me
would be greatly appreciated. I hope and pray I have not opened up old
wounds. God Bless You. Ms. Robbins <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-65483806659069186312012-10-11T20:14:00.002-05:002012-10-11T20:14:54.535-05:00Lock Up
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Texas Youth Commission Gatesville State School for Boys
circa 1974-1977</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Crises Intervention Center (CIC) aka Lock Up</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">During a time when TYC was spending everything it could to
protect itself from Federal intervention in the form of the Morales vs. Turman law
suit, the Gatesville facility was on life support. The Gatesville reception
center where all new male inmates arriving to TYC had been moved to a newer
facility in Brownwood and 2 wings at the old reception center in Gatesville
were striped to nothing and used for CIC. According to historical witnesses this
was an upgrade from the facility used at Hilltop. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Many of the boys who would have otherwise wound up in the
Gatesville facility were rerouted to the recently made co-ed state school girls
in Gainesville, the boy’s home in Giddings or remained in Brownwood and sent up
the hill to the main school. At the time the old colored school for girls in
Crocket was being used as a co-ed wilderness program. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A court order from the MvT case forced staff to stop the
random beatings of juvenile inmates and many Gatesville dorm staff quit their
state jobs because of a fear they would be unable to control the population.Those
that stayed either evolved or were let go with cause, while those who struggled
and having seniority were transferred to work CIC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Maximum length of stay was 3 days; any stay longer up to 10
days required a phone call to Austin. Any stay longer than 10 days up to 30
days required a letter stating reason and every 30 days thereafter. There was
only one rule in CIC, absolute quietness. Violation of this rule, depending on
the mood of the staff, the penalty was deeper isolation in another wing and
generally came with a beating. If you became loud enough to be heard in the
other wing the penalty was being hung on the wall, also accompanied with a
beating. The beating was always 2 or more grown men to one boy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To accommodate the hanging of a boy on the wall the cell had
tall windows with thick bars. The widows at one time could be opened but were
sealed. However there was enough room to place a handcuff between the bar and
outer thick glass on each side of the window and hang a boy by his wrist where
he stood on tiptoe. Minimum length for hanging on the wall was 2 hours. Further
noise rule violation would increase the time and in many cases was accompany
with a beating.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For TYC at this time this methodology was considered humane
in comparison to the decades earlier.</span></div>
Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-30480984066349504992012-03-20T22:13:00.000-05:002012-03-20T22:13:58.241-05:00<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The following article by William T. Field is from The Handbook of Texas, Volume 3, Eldon Stephen Branda, editor, The Texas Historical Association, Austin, 1976, pages 330-331.</span><br /><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coryellmuseum.org/index.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oGh6MlHxf8BO_OxQK5Xou_QnmoeF84qSKunqi53ZsHLPWD6jJU_IZYTqxwuI6s1HBs281RqGk2nO4BsRZRmih3bP3U1eHGTbTnn-FoSZL8gZsej6ggb74MSIGtS7grx6AO-SfQWJww/s640/3DmodelGatesville.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.coryellmuseum.org/" target="_blank">3D Model at State School exhibit at Gatesville Museum<o:p></o:p></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_684113946">
</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Gatesville State School for Boys.<br />The Gatesville State School for Boys was placed under the administration of the Texas Youth Council by the Fifty-fifth Legislature. An extensive program was initiated by the council to transform the old school into six separate training units or schools, including a security-treatment institution and five open-type schools. The proposed program became a reality in April, 1963, with the completion of the Hackberry School.<br />The general superintendent directed the five open type schools, which provided benefits from specialized programs of classification, care, treatment, and discipline. Each school was in turn directed by an assistant superintendent, aided by a principal and teachers of the academic and vocational school and by a professional counseling staff.<br />The Valley School was a training unit for 160 young males. It was situated three-quarters of a mile south of the old Main Campus. The school had its own dormitories, recreational facilities, kitchen and dining facilities, academic school, vocational workshops, and playgrounds. It enabled younger, lesser offenders to be separated completely from older offenders.<br />The Hackberry School, a training unit for 240 younger males, was situated three-quarters of a mile southeast of the old Main Campus. The school possessed all necessary facilities, including living, academic, recreational, and vocational accommodations. Its emphasis centered on the classification and treatment of younger males.<br />The Terrace School, one-half mile east of the old Main Campus, provided for the separation and classification of 240 youngsters of intermediate age and background.<br />The Riverside School was composed of two training units. One had complete facilities for living and recreation and for the academic and vocational training of 160 younger Negro offenders. The other was created by renovating and remodeling existing housing and training facilities. The latter unit accommodated 160 older Negro males.<br />The Hilltop School, formerly the Main Campus, provided facilities for classification and treatment of 250 young male offenders less sophisticated in delinquent activities than those housed in Mountain View School. The overall daily population averaged for all five units of the Gatesville School in 1969 was about 1,830.</span>Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-16904446562832900132012-03-19T21:20:00.000-05:002012-03-19T21:20:55.281-05:00Some things never change at TYC/TJJD except the name<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">
A survey of kids posted at the <a href="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2012/03/tcjc-giddings-youth-feel-safe-though-85.html" target="_blank">Grits for Breakfast blog said85% of youth housed at the Giddings State School</a>
have been in a fight since they arrived. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Giddings</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place> went from a boys
home in the 70’s to become TYC’s secure facility when Gatesville closed. The “<st1:city w:st="on">Mountain View</st1:city>” boys were moved to occupy the closed <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hackberry</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place> in the summer of 1975 and in 1979
were moved to Giddings.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The article goes on to note that the biggest concerns among
the kids besides getting into a fight are negative interactions with
staff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Staff has negative attitudes
towards the kids, there’s shocking news! Weren’t these the same root issues
that culminated in Morales verse Turman and the reshuffling of inventory at the
states Gatesville facility?</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It was the inventory shuffling done by the state of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:state> that has allowed
the people of <a href="http://www.gatesvilleisd.org/" target="_blank">Gatesville</a> to continue to profit from the misery of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only now Gatesville’s shadenfreude, its
business as usual inventory is women instead of boys. The TYC staff has been
bitter ever since the federal government told them they couldn’t beat a state
boy any longer. This bitterness is part of the <a href="http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/" target="_blank">TYC/TJJD</a> ingrained culture like
covering up abuses.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The article closes noting that the survey was a wake up call
to leadership. You would think that if the leadership hasn’t been “woke up” to
this news by now they must be in a coma.</div>Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-28814044170501329432012-02-10T18:23:00.000-06:002012-02-10T18:23:20.104-06:00My Personal Gatesville State School for Boys Ghost StoryIn October of 1976 I found myself back at Terrace dorm 4 contemplating how I would get back to the free world faster than what my caseworker’s plans were. I decided to go out the cloths room window during shower time. That night Booboo, a floater was our dorm man and it was movie night for the level 3’s so they would be off the dorm. I can’t remember Booboo’s real name, he didn’t like being called Booboo and would put some hurt on you if he caught you. While Booboo was in the bunk room shuckin and jivin under the guise of coordinating showers, I used a pillow to muffle the sound and broke the window in the clothes room. When I had as clear a jiggers as it was going to get I was out the window and gone. <br />
<br />
<br />
I had trash bags for my feet to throw off my scent to the dogs. I started feeling pretty good about my run that it would be a success as the sound of the dogs faded. There was a full moon that night and it was getting a little chilly as the night wore on.<br />
<br />
I began to hear sounds that sounded like a Boy Scout camp out. I saw what appeared to be a campfire with several boys dressed in blue jeans and white T shirts shooting marbles. As I got closer I thought they were on a run from another school and felt safe enough to light a fire. When I got closer and called out, they were gone, just like that.<br />
<br />
Needless to say the run wasn’t a success and my caseworker Jenson had his usual cunt attitude about the whole thing and left me in CIC, lockup, until January. I thought the ghost stories told by those people down there were to keep us from running. They were real, I saw them. Mayberry, who used to hold Terrace dorm 5 was now working CIC. He knew all about the ghost and other weird shit like the goat man. The jeans and t-shirt style was the state issue of an earlier time. A 60’s era Gatesville. And marbles, who would have thought.<br />
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Every October when the moon is full I think about those boys, the ones who never went home. One day, God willing, their bones will be discovered and their souls can get closure.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-15834548658031166102012-01-04T21:35:00.000-06:002012-01-04T21:35:58.466-06:00Protest March to AustinI remember in 1975 some of the older boys, the II and III timers who were at Valley, Hackberry, and Riverside at the time spun stories about a group of boys who were going to march to Austin in protest of the horrible conditions. It was widely known and respected by the state boys of my time. Never referred to as a Geronimo. <br />
<br />
<br />
According to Dr Bush’s research, he talks about a riot that took place Labor Day morning 1971, the day before the start of Morales vs. Truman court proceedings. That previous July there was a letter sent to every inmate at Gatesville, Mountain View, and Gainesville from Judge William Wayne Justice explaining that tyc was on trial and to please fill out the attached survey. The story tells of a group of about 90 boys at Sycamore School gathered on the athletic field around breakfast, then marched off campus. Guards attempted to block but the boys laughed at them and kept on going. News reporters and TV cameras showed up just as security, the local enforcers, and the High Way Patrol put down the protest. It lasted all morning and marked the beginning of the end. <br />
<br />
State Boys who participated in that protest sent a tremendous message. Anyone out there who remembers this event be sure to leave a comment. <br />
<br />Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-41859237589868699422011-11-06T18:41:00.002-06:002012-01-04T21:48:00.166-06:00The State of Texas as Parent<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkNp7qHq58aXwb0bFZp9HAMGx3VWBs83ZMdVgn65xzvVS4rjmOC7Rvpry8oR9eJxWfmQnQR5h7Fk9jkW5qkUpY9Tn2ICJoH1nM0K5czKSaWeoe7LzmMbKKgntZW8yOj1sFy8UbMR06g/s1600/9780820329833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkNp7qHq58aXwb0bFZp9HAMGx3VWBs83ZMdVgn65xzvVS4rjmOC7Rvpry8oR9eJxWfmQnQR5h7Fk9jkW5qkUpY9Tn2ICJoH1nM0K5czKSaWeoe7LzmMbKKgntZW8yOj1sFy8UbMR06g/s1600/9780820329833.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/who_gets_childhood">Book Web Site</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I recently attended a panel discussion at the capital in Austin during the book fair with same title as this article. I wanted to meet the historian Dr Bush who was one of the panelists. Bush has done extensive research for his book that chronicles cycles of scandal, reform, and retrenchment in the Texas Youth commission. Sherry Matthews, author of </span><a href="http://www.wewerenotorphans.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We Were Not Orphans </span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">was another panelist. Both spent time discussing the abuse issues that plagued the Waco State Home and Gatesville State School for Boys. At one point in the discussion Matthews made a statement about how the kids are looked upon in many cases by staff and politicians as having mental issues but after all her research she has come to the conclusion that it is the staff who gravitate to these jobs with the mental issues. This received applause and cheers from a relatively packed chamber room. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The moderator, Michele Deitch, pointed out the coincidence of having the panel discussion in a chamber where many discussions regarding the most recent fate of tyc had been held. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The take away I received from the discussion was the entrenched culture of what could be called state sponsored child abuse in state schools/homes can’t be fixed. There is absolutely nothing that can be done, no matter how many well intended hours are spent by qualified individuals tasked with reforming these places. The people of Gatesville were so bad, a<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">pparently our legislators <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> thought they </span></span>weren’t good for anything else but abusive penal work. Evidence the growth of facility’s out there in the last 30 years. The old buildings and land were turned over to tdc where the indigenes could continue <span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">to profit on the miseries of others, a local custom </span>started in 1888.Who knows what secrets lie buried out there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I found it very informative. The best part was getting to meet Dr Bush and have him personally autograph a copy of his book. Thank you Dr Bush for being a voice.</span>Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-52329049298485953292011-10-09T12:47:00.001-05:002011-10-10T20:43:08.787-05:00School Staff Very Good At Producing Young Men With Authority Issues<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I just recently discovered that one of my dorm mates was gunned downed by police officers. Roger was a big guy from Houston Texas with a big heart and a very mild disposition. After I had left he got into some issues with staff and was sent to Mountain View, which in the final days of boys inhabiting the schools the boys who pissed off staff were housed at Hackberry. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Apparently <a href="http://www.prisonofficer.org/texas/14938-1988-coffield-escapee.html">Roger had escaped from Coffield</a> unit and made it to Colorado where he was murdered, in what appears to me from the video, cold blood by local authorities. I’m certainly not condoning the acts Roger committed that took him from nice 15 year old kid seeking help from the state school in 1976 into this escaped mad man of 1988. However this graphic video highlights how incredibly well our old school was at turning relatively nice kids who came there in need of help into people who have issues with authority and in many cases are not fit to live in polite society. I don’t think any of us former students would be surprised how many of our school mates went on to prison or were murdered by authority’s. I say murdered because many graduates of gssb and tyc in general really never had a chance indifferent of the crimes they went on to commit. It was foolish for people in our home counties to think those monsters in gatesville could help a kid and the same holds true today for our state’s juvenile agency.</span><br />
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RIP Roger, when I knew you, you were a decent human being. A real shame what happened to all involved. It’s my opinion tyc is indirectly responsible for the mayhem in this video.<br />
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<br />Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-9151974124489734672011-10-09T09:20:00.000-05:002011-10-09T12:12:01.096-05:00Some Thing’s Change But The Attitude of Staff Towards Inmates Remain The Same.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.houstonpress.com/1993-12-09/news/a-visit-to-gatesville/" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAl7mZZmvPerW4Pql7V6n_koItF54f1bQiKNsNma1W8-_TqDgL_xDwE1z1Ta0VbEs__zqvz97cfLFHoVFTQZgtVL61Zwo4v3S1Om2DQBEiou2d_kc9wzBIWheFX_dDhtSZOwCeDMYLA/s320/Terrace3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Much of our old school has become known as the <a href="http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/45859162.html">Crain </a>unit and even though some things change much of what is etched in our memories remain the same. Many of you who were there during the Morales v Turman lawsuit remember how troubled the staff was about being told they couldn’t beat state boys anymore. Well the thugs of <a href="http://www.gatesvilletx.info/">gatesville</a> got a reprieve when the boys were moved out and the state had tdc move in the ladies. A widely held suspicion was due to fear of developers digging up bodies of boys in unmarked graves. However the generational curse placed upon that backwoods town for its abuse of children was all set to continue on for the towns <a href="http://www.coryellcounty.org/">indigenous species</a> through the abuse of the female inmates. After all people in a town whose existence was based on the blood of children, need a steady crop of helpless human beings to abuse to feel better about themselves in their own miserable lives. So the legacy of <a href="http://www.gatesvillemessenger.com/">gatesville</a> continues from the abuse of children and orphans to ladies and widows. <br />
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I remember the plumbing being an issue in the 70’s and today the ladies have to go to a “shower house” at the schools like <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2001-03-16/deep-blues-from-gatesville/">Terrace</a>. The old woodshop has been turned into a visitors area and they wrapped a fence around the schools. The buildings built in the 50’s and 60’s were of poor quality constructions and the place seems very dilapidated today. If it weren’t for the fear of what might be dug up around that place and the need to provide victims for the indigenous I’m sure our states leaders would like the horror story of our old sate school to be bulldozed away.<br />
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Gas for round trip to visit inmate at <a href="http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/gatesville-prison-renamed-for.html">Christina Crain Unit</a> $25.00<br />
Quarters for vending machine to feed starved inmate $20.00<br />
Lunch on the way home (Not in <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g55888-Gatesville_Texas.html">gatesville</a>) $10.00<br />
Look of sheer terror on various CO’s face when inquiring about a former state boy reunion to be held in town. <strong>Priceless!</strong><br />
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<br />Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-78153868677258397312011-09-04T21:12:00.002-05:002011-09-04T21:21:48.279-05:00So what’s in a name change???<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The state of Texas must feel that when an agency goes rouge it can simply change its name to protect the states perpetrators. Texas legislators have made it a practice to change the name of the state youth corrections agency when the public is made aware of what really goes on behind their walls, and how far up the chain of command this knowledge is known. According to this <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20045/tsl-20045.html">link</a>, </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">In 1919 the 36th Legislature created the Texas State Board of Control (Senate Bill 147, Regular Session). The legislation directed the Board of Control to take over management of the state juvenile training school, abolishing the Board of Trustees. The school was renamed the Gatesville State School for Boys in 1939. In 1949, the State Youth Development Council (later named the Texas Youth Council) took over management of the school (House Bill 705, 51st Legislature, Regular Session). </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Well State Boys with this latest <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/03/06/6brookins.html">tyc scandal</a> the agency will have yet another name change. The previously known Texas Youth counsel, formally known as the Texas Youth commission will be known on 12/01/2011 as the <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/05/18/3086108/concerns-raised-over-merger-of.html">Texas Juvenile Justice Department</a>. 120+ years of state sponsored child abuse and covered till the next big public scandal, uh I mean “name change”.</span> <br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 1971 a class-action lawsuit was brought against the Texas Youth Council on behalf of juvenile defenders (Morales vs. Turman). This led to sweeping changes in the Texas juvenile justice system. The presiding federal judge, Judge William Wayne Justice, ordered the closing of the state schools at Gatesville (boys) and Gainesville (girls). The Gatesville State School for Boys closed in 1979. The Texas Youth Commission (Texas Youth Council was renamed the Texas Youth Commission in 1983) today manages several facilities throughout the state for juvenile offenders.</span></span></blockquote>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">And many of you comment about the times leading up to this classic law suit that changed the name from the Texas Youth counsel to the Texas Youth commission.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span><br />
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Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-15392897187099240552011-02-01T18:06:00.001-06:002011-02-01T18:09:49.540-06:00The Little BoysIn the 1880 the Texas state prison had an interesting problem, what to do with the convicts to sick, lame or old to work in the convict leasing farms. Prison officials figured they could make as much per convict with state run farms then lease farms. They did, $500.00 per convict verse $175.00 per convict lease annually. So good was the profit in 1877 Texas Legislators agreed to purchase more land for state run farms and one of the first purchases was outside of Gatesville. The surveyor reported back to Austin; it’s a most beautiful valley suitable for raising cotton and food crops and the town is eager to supply workers. August 30 1887 a story in the Dallas Morning News “Gatesville Triumph, Reformatory for vicious boys to open”. Right from the start the reform school was stigmatized with vicious boys who will provide free farm labor for the state and surrounding farms. A far cry from what the Victorian reformers had in mind.<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatesville_State_School">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatesville_State_School</a><br />
After 90 years of scandal the doors finely shut on Gatesville’s house of pain and the facility was turned over to the Texas Department of Corrections. Today TDCJ houses female offenders in our old schools and among the well known stories that are told; the spirits of the little boys who are still there. <br />
<a href="http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/mediasvc/connections/SeptOct2005/features3_v13no1.html">http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/mediasvc/connections/SeptOct2005/features3_v13no1.html</a><br />
So common is the talk of the essence of former inmates of that place, the Little Boys, that while visiting a female offender, she turned to the guard walking by, and referred to me as one of the little boys. The look on the guards face and her response said it all. The guard responded, we all know how rough it was for you, it appears you are doing all right?” There I was, in the converted bunk room of dorm 10 at Mountain View, a living member of a legacy etched in the prison lore of Christina Crain Unit, a member of Gatesville’s Little Boys.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-69448411693867317312010-03-23T13:58:00.011-05:002010-03-23T14:32:49.570-05:00Hilltop Dorms and Live Oak DormFound these photos on the web and had to share. Im sure it will bring back memorys for some. May it be healing.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77WHjgRJPLDFrNo-KUbgsnVKfNYgZcUHNiP2F6ZC1ypRZnzKCmpUAETYAC6Ek_3FGyZ-OOcpxqFM2cgx9xFN54gu10WWiyO1mGcRwWVllqrGsHkQ2DfFlkk7LKiyPnrrCN7_IrntiqA/s1600-h/HilltopDorm1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 346px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 215px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451908108276912146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77WHjgRJPLDFrNo-KUbgsnVKfNYgZcUHNiP2F6ZC1ypRZnzKCmpUAETYAC6Ek_3FGyZ-OOcpxqFM2cgx9xFN54gu10WWiyO1mGcRwWVllqrGsHkQ2DfFlkk7LKiyPnrrCN7_IrntiqA/s200/HilltopDorm1.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I remember having to go clean these empty old dorms. The cages that were on the third floor of that one building not shown. I cant remember if there were 2 dorms or 4 per building.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uXIRyQGDBUswZYoUSjhCNyUqfJDhhkzZ9tQRwWw4xnH7uebAJjgDjhdEPuBhoOyYGa6bxN1wtvup3-jfDzx7uJcv-y3MOPlKXjZzXKRca0IaWE1avWphfZyheaPz7bD6Zrx7gcCFjA/s1600-h/HilltopDorm3.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 391px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 190px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451907314711881218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uXIRyQGDBUswZYoUSjhCNyUqfJDhhkzZ9tQRwWw4xnH7uebAJjgDjhdEPuBhoOyYGa6bxN1wtvup3-jfDzx7uJcv-y3MOPlKXjZzXKRca0IaWE1avWphfZyheaPz7bD6Zrx7gcCFjA/s320/HilltopDorm3.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTQ6Y-QkWduq_BgMboxOsu_8sV5ThJiGRky83vZ2_aN-lXxgbT5IiPOu4wzqnSRvrhcnlCjwnbkH6dgugMtGqLvYqCJKIUJuZnN2PdrCV6zLrAXAY7GM34Bi9CGtv6b7gqM_QS9uepg/s1600-h/HilltopDorm2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 389px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 161px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451907219633285426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTQ6Y-QkWduq_BgMboxOsu_8sV5ThJiGRky83vZ2_aN-lXxgbT5IiPOu4wzqnSRvrhcnlCjwnbkH6dgugMtGqLvYqCJKIUJuZnN2PdrCV6zLrAXAY7GM34Bi9CGtv6b7gqM_QS9uepg/s200/HilltopDorm2.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2bRBflP5By0_yz5haHaGzFdZU-DySFLFlM89IbdAG66XP2_dNlNEMoy8hFrrqZl_g1vmpCcz1E_1SAYFYCO70QYf7oiCJceiNNJLlWLYP8Ei1wje-2xXLGUSl7bcsNb-rUfl7cxklA/s1600-h/HilltopViewFromDairyBarn.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 297px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451907438059106322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2bRBflP5By0_yz5haHaGzFdZU-DySFLFlM89IbdAG66XP2_dNlNEMoy8hFrrqZl_g1vmpCcz1E_1SAYFYCO70QYf7oiCJceiNNJLlWLYP8Ei1wje-2xXLGUSl7bcsNb-rUfl7cxklA/s200/HilltopViewFromDairyBarn.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />I think this is looking out from the the Dairy barn up the Hill. My last summer at Gatesville I spent removing the stalls from that barn to be sold for scrap money. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMH2XtE13qZo035AmzlmrjLrtCQQcyGf5Sm2XDDq8nyof-qCw__sunUcV_0_tNjxhHn9yFynbUQcoFqdaN-rEmtF3bA9kpL4I2cGPltWmO-bAPqky8mIgW24ZgVeyP8esq-pW8VPuJNA/s1600-h/HarrisHallLiveOkeSchoolWeb.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 418px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 144px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451907519955611202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMH2XtE13qZo035AmzlmrjLrtCQQcyGf5Sm2XDDq8nyof-qCw__sunUcV_0_tNjxhHn9yFynbUQcoFqdaN-rEmtF3bA9kpL4I2cGPltWmO-bAPqky8mIgW24ZgVeyP8esq-pW8VPuJNA/s200/HarrisHallLiveOkeSchoolWeb.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This apears to be taken with back to the river not the hiway. The chow hall is to the left and behind is a dorm. This is from the days of racial segregation where the caption reads Harris Hall Dusky populace Gatesville State School for Boys. I took Upholstery Shop in that old Live Oak dorm.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-69772486958697640962010-03-23T13:56:00.000-05:002010-03-23T13:58:06.018-05:00The ManHey, hay check out the man<br />He will do it to you<br />If you aint got no stand.<br /><br />Hey, hay check out the man<br />He’ll kick your ass<br />If he get the chance.<br /><br />The man have no regrets<br />The man have no sorrows<br />If he don’t get you today<br />He will get you tomorrow.<br /><br />By a State Boy who testified in federal Court against the state of Texas for beating children.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-60393196127340238032010-03-23T12:49:00.005-05:002010-03-23T13:11:20.721-05:00Anti Gay sign in Gatesville Texas<img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 283px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 178px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451888182725965586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUV3YyYPKs46kjQ23wdgNF5sOZzM8fufpVNyavhAtzYIv1UPon1yKv_mySdgpVYKhjw1FAxbDlnZuhew1Rby_cUXFifnesahwrKGAijkebErx7eHR9stylw8N1f5TIlm4g8WD7xa6ww/s320/AntiGaySignInGatesville.jpg" />Shortly after my trip through the prison economic based community of Gatesville Texas I saw this recent picture of this billboard on main street. The article had plenty of commentary regarding how backwards the thinking is in this prison built town and just as many arguments for the message it sends. But what struck me as significant is how that thinking effected us during those impressionable times in our lives while at the reform school. In this age of tolerance towards lifestyles that are different from our own how much closed mindedness did we acquire under that influence.<br />We shunned homosexuals who were placed in separate dorms just like we shunned other races. Many who have left notes on this blog talk about times when the segregation of races was in place and the slow desegregation. I was there when we all slept, ate, schooled, and worked in the same facility. However dropping a race was a serious offence. You didn’t go to the cloths room and ask for black shoe polish. I’m curious how much of that culture from back then effects how we relate to homosexuals as well as other races today. I sometimes wonder about some of those kids who passionately hated white people if they are still like that. And what about this kid who was on my dorm for a short time who could write his name on the glass using a bar of soap tucked in his butt checks. We thought it great entertainment until he was moved to the punk dorm.<br />As human beings we’re tribal by nature. Studies have shown that desegregating lock ups have increased organized gangs. But in a country that forces societal swirl in a state like Texas how much influence did the thinking of a backwoods town like Gatesville have on shaping our young impressionable minds.<br />I don’t think I would want any of my current gay or non white friends to know how I would have treated them while I was in Gatesville. Borrowing a line from Clint Eastwood’s movie Unforgiven “I aint like that no more”. Or am I?Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-40597502470513659802009-12-06T21:55:00.002-06:002009-12-06T21:57:42.676-06:00Trip to GatesvilleHaven’t wanted to blog about Gatesville in the last several months, since a recent trip to the aria numbed me to the subject. It’s a nice ride south on 35 out of Dallas then back roads from Lake Whitney through the prairies of North Texas into the hills of the northern part of the Edwards plateau. From Crawford Texas it’s a nice hilly swervy road, the Coryell road. This is the road that ran alongside Valley School and diapered into the hills up by the caliches pit. The state put in a Hwy 36 bypass to keep traffic from rolling through the facility on Hwy 36. There is a store at the corner of that road and the bypass. We parked at the store over looking Terrace and Sycamore schools, you could see boot hill down the road. It was creepy. It’s a big TDC complex now, lots of boss’s coming in and out of the store.<br /><br />There appeared to be a heaviness that overcame me as we were parked at the store. I just shrugged it off as internal weirdness from seeing that place again after 35 years. Later that night the group I was traveling with spoke about how we all had that heavy feeling, from the time we rolled up to the store and especially at the museum to see the state school exhibit, until we left town. We chalked it up to a spiritual darkness that each person with me said they could feel in their very soul. The people with me had never been near this place and yet they could feel that this is a bad place where bad things were allowed to happen to orphans. This town of Gatesville whose people whose ancestors built their wealth on the blood of state boys continues to thrive on the misery of others. This central Texas town, whose claim to fame is the spur capital of Texas cries out with the blood of orphans and widows. <br />The real history of Gatesville Texas is its 120 year legacy dispensing misery and pain to orphans and widows.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-43967766709010224592009-06-10T11:45:00.001-05:002009-06-10T11:56:20.137-05:00Matron of MemoryMrs. Ruby was the matron of Terrace dorm 4, my dorm, and she was a very caring lady who looked out for her boys. Don't get me wrong she was no pushover; she was tough, but fair and called it like it is. On Saturday when we got done cleaning and passed the inspection she would buy cigarettes for the whole dorm. She would say "Chef, one smoke we all smoke". I ran the store and she had a difficult time pronouncing my name. I knew that meant to give everyone a cigarette and she would cover the cost. She worked at Gatesville for a long time and was raised in the black community of that backwater little reform school town. Some of the boys were on her dorm at Riverside before that school closed and I think she was also a matron at Live Oak school when it was colored boys only. <br />When I came back the second time none of the other dorm personnel wanted me on their dorm. I can’t imagine why, but they didn't. Hell the people at Sycamore didn’t want me either and I was too old to go to Valley school. Go figure the last stop for a juvenile delinquent is Gatesville and nobody wanted me there. They were going to Mountain View committee me and be done with it, but Mrs. Ruby, came and said she would take me back on her dorm. I promised I wouldn't run on her shift and I didn't. I waited until a floater dorm man we called booboo, because he looked like booboo, and I went out the clothes room window. 30 days in lockup and I was back on the dorm. I never ran on Mrs. Ruby and Booboo wouldn't let me in the clothes room when he worked our dome, even after I was clothes room boy again.<br /> I hadn't thought about Ruby Brown until the other night at the Denton County Impact Program and seeing the tyc boys from McFadden who come and speak to the first offender kids with their matron. I think she would be offended if I called her a matron and I don't know what her title is but she reminded me a lot of Mrs. Ruby, only this lady is white. It was how she interacted with the boys in her charge and how they responded. I think if tyc had more people like this lady at McFadden and Mrs. Ruby the agency wouldn't be such a failure at its mission.<br />Anybody out there have any good matron stories or remember Mrs. Ruby Brown please share.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-21129006092745126072009-04-14T18:50:00.000-05:002009-04-14T18:50:01.177-05:00Involve Your Voice of ExperienceToday’s Texas Youth Council/Commission is a great example of mischievous legislation that’s resulted in poor management practices and useless programs designed to further destroy a child’s chances at a life outside of state supervision. All the while decreasing public safety and feeding a booming prison industry. Since Morales vs Turman ordered closing the Gatesville State School for Boys this mischievous legislation has attempted to forces tyc to be something it can’t possibly ever achieve. Today’s tyc only stands to fool the public tax payers of this state, that it’s a rehab with resocialization programs that have the capability to civilize the worst of the worst juvenile delinquents in the state of Texas. <br /><br />The abusive correctional culture that Morales vs Turman attempted to eradicate was just simply redistributed to other facilities around the state. Some say it was a ploy by government officials to turn our old reform school over to the feared Texas Department of Corrections to keep people from nosing around the buried atrocity’s perpetrated by those who ran the old reform school. I suppose one could base this thinking on the premises that no one dare jack with tdc. Look what happened to Bonnie and Clyde. While others may see our Legislators each session continue to look for ways to criminalize freedoms in order to feed its citizenry into the booming prison business. Today’s tyc with its de-socializing programs keeps a continuous feed of bad seeds into our communities that corrupts even more citizenry who are fed into the booming prison business. We have become a society who has found that incarcerating it citizens is good business.<br /><br />During the discovery phases of Morales vs Turman state boys and girls as well as many state employees put their life in jeopardy to testify, only to have legislators build up the monster tyc is today. The child abuse in today’s tyc is worst than before Morales vs turman. Bruises heal but programs implemented that result in mental anguish and the continuance of breeding hopelessness can last a lifetime while its effect on the general public is devastating. <br /><br />Somehow the public needs to be made aware of what our elected officials are doing, the effects of over criminalizing our freedoms, piling more bureaucracy in its building of our state’s juvenile in-justice system, the effects it has on the children, their parents, the people of this great state of Texas. We state boys are a powerful force, we shut down the most notorious reform school in the history of juvenile justice. If we can survive Gatesville we can do anything. Join me and others for a state boy reunion in Gatesville and we can start to figure a way to bring public awareness to this crucial issue our society faces. Join the mailing list oldschool@ironguardiansnt.org for upcoming information.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-16560074696810704072009-04-12T18:24:00.000-05:002009-04-12T18:26:45.374-05:00Its long over due for a State Boy reunionI have spoken with Dodi at the Chateau Ville in Gatesville and they are willing to provide accommodations for a fee, off course. Dodi was a matron at Riverside School, her husband worked at Hackberry School. She is also on the board of the local museum where there is exhibits of the old reform school. I suppose that's fitting since much of that area was built from slave labor provided by the reform school.<br /><br />I know this may sound crazy and any one of us who spent any amount of time in that horrible place knows the last thing we would want to do is go back there. Some of the discussions on the class mates site has been said to be therapeutic. It may be just that therapeutic as well as a hell of a good party. A celebration of freedom.<br /><br />On another note the State Boy reunion will help bring awareness to the atrocities that have been perpetrated on us and continue to be perpetrated on the unfortunate children who find themselves in tyc today. Those of us who have gone on to become productive citizens could really make a difference in what's going on with tyc today. It could help push legislation for better treatment programs in today's juvenile justice system. There is a history professor who is doing a book on the history of the Juvenile justice system in Texas as well as others who would be there to hear stories. A bunch of us former State Boys getting together in Gatesville Texas, the seed of the juvenile justice system in Texas, could bring such an awareness.<br /><br />Please respond back to me oldschool@IronGuardiansNT.org and let me know how you can help with putting this thing together. At the very least let me know when a good week end would be for you to attend in the month of July or August of this year. Also keep a watch on the Gatesville State School for Boys blog.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-33463768345869469032009-03-29T18:00:00.000-05:002009-03-29T18:01:28.125-05:00The worst ass whopping ever.Up to the point of my buddies and I having a float trip on that hot July day in 1975 I really didn't know ass whoppin. I was about to be schooled on Coryell county ex state man ass whoopin style. Recall from the float trip story that I slipped the bell off the dog, well it was in my pocket when we got caught. That's right, I was the idiot who had lulubells bell and for that I was gona pay. Grabbed, thrown to the ground, hand cuffed and beaten was standard protocol for the hillbilly deputy's when apprehending dangerous state boy escapees. While spitting gravel out of my mouth this redneck deputy whom I was told was the kitchen was shining his boots on my belly. Hand cuffed with my hands behind my back, yanked up and made to stand against a state truck kitchens racked, hit in the stomach reputedly, until I could no longer stand. Then those red nicks through me in the back of a state truck and hauled us all off to cic, lockup. <br /> Those were the clumsiest red necks, because as they took me from the truck to a security cell they kept banging my head against the floor and kicking my feet out from under me, careful not to leave any burses. That's when I first met Parker, a heavy set patch lees state shirt wearing red neck that loved to beat up on state boys. This ass hole took great pride in hanging boys on the wall and racking them. Everyone got a kick out of me taking kitchens dog bell, literally. You would have thought the dog was his bitch wife. If Gatesville State School for Boys was under a law suite no one bothered to tell the ass wipes in cic.<br /> CIC was in one of the wings of the old reception center. The boys I ran with were already bedded down which told be they took there time getting me to cic. I was in the shower aria attempting to clean myself up when the kitchen wanted to see me. I made the mistake to take stance and several of them rushed me, took me to one of the empty dorms at the back of the reception center, hand cuffed me to a pole and took turns beating me. The next day after I woke up and someone came to check on me I was taken to the infirmary. I tried to complain about the kitchen and was told that none of that happened. That my injury's were sustained from the escape and the resistance I put up. I told my story several times after that and one day a salty old dorm man we called big t said that if the kitchen got a hold of me I wouldn't be telling this story. Then he said the old basturd must be losing his touch.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-47110787576910028842009-03-29T17:14:00.001-05:002009-03-29T17:15:51.156-05:00Just Another Float TripIt was the summer of 1975, I was 15 years old and had been at Terrace for about 2 months. Terrace was one of the schools at this notorious Gatesville state School for Boys a juvenile training school in Coryell county Texas. The school was in the early stages of compliance with a major class action lawsuit, Morales vs. Truman, filed against the Texas Youth Council the state agency responsible for the the old training school and had recently been ordered to shut down because of the atrocities perpetrated against the boys by their keepers. The place has maintained a history of child abuse since it opened in the 1880's and had provided the surrounding farms with child slave labor for decades. Terrace and Sycamore were the only two schools besides Mountain View left opened at that time. That same summer the last of the boys from the notorious Mountain View school were being moved to Hackberry school. <br /> The facilities had been preparing to close and that summer an influx of boys came into gatesville from the Brownwood reception center filling the dorms to capacity and forcing the reopening of Valley school and talk of reopening Riverside. Some of the 2 timers and the old dorm men who came from Riverside when it closed in 1974 had some stories about that place. All together the facilities were a zoo, and the lawsuit that everyone worked so hard to skirt around was a word we heard while getting our ass kicked.<br /><br /> Anyway about the float trip. Four of us decided we would hop on the morning bus to the shop class's up at Hilltop school. With all the coming and going of so many boys, what appeared to us as unexpected, we figured we had about a 5 minute head start from Terrace and another 10 minutes before they found out we ran from Hilltop. We got off the bus at the vocational shop building and went into the building, then we went right out the other side of the building, climbed a barbed wire fence, crossed hi way 36, climbed another barbed wire fence and headed across a field for the Leon River. Running in state shoes is a bitch but try swimming in those things, one dudes pair disintegrated after a few hours in the water. Some of us had attempted escape before and knew what was ahead if we were caught, CIC, crises intervention center, lockup and the the bust line.<br /> We jumped in that river like kids heading to the swimming hole at summer camp. Although we weren't running from no summer camp, we were still a bunch of kids getting to float down the river on a cool adventure. A cool adventure all right, we figured by floating out of hell on the river the dogs couldn't get us, they would loose our scent. We heard stories about boys who went to the river and were never seen again. We were warned about the underwater ledges where a boy could drown, the poisons snakes, and the vines and underbrush that could grab you. If you didn't know, we must have looked like boys out for a morning swim on a hot July morning in the beautiful Texas hill county. But we were 4 dangerous escapes from the Gatesville State School for Boys, that could be shot on site. We were being perused by the most dangerous men around, Coryell county horsemen and dogmen. These were former state men but because of the law suite they transferred agencies where they could be more brutal.<br /> There was a dogman of whose reputation was grim in nature. Very scary stories were told of this man and where his evil soul might reside. He was called the kitchen and it was said he was a state man but the redneck I saw who I was told to be the kitchen was wearing a deputy shirt not a state shirt with no patches as was the custom among the security personnel, I would first encounter one of kitchens dogs on this float trip. We heard the dogs all around us during the morning hours, it was towards afternoon we felt the dogs getting closer. At one point we hid behind brush at various spots along the river to avoid being seen by the horsemen. We had made our way to what seemed like an island on this river and laid in the brush to rest from swimming. We heard the bells the dogs wore on their collars and before you knew it they were in the water and on that island. We all laid there still and petted the dogs calmly. I was able to slip a bell off of one of the dogs, a suviy from the trip if you will. The dogs were eventually called to return to the dogman and the horsemen unwilling/unable to cross the river to what looked like a nothing of a sand bar talked about going for lunch. <br /> We lied there on that island for what seemed like hours holding our breath, and they were gone. Quietly we slithered back into the river and floated without saying a word for most of the afternoon. Towards dusk we happened upon a more populated part of the river and decide to get out and boost a car. One of the boys was a car thief and said he knew all about boosting a car for our get away. We should have had him be in the name on that one because we never did find a car that fucker could hot wire. And those towns people, they knew who we were, we was state boys. Everybody and their dogs were on us like stink on shit. We were busted and that was the end of a hot July day on the Leon River.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-68888383786669947542009-03-17T22:12:00.001-05:002009-03-17T22:12:28.555-05:00Gatesville State School for Boys former students reunionIt’s time for a long overdue Gatesville State School for Boys former students reunion. It should take place in the lovely town of Gatesville Texas, the birth place of tyc. It could be an opportunity for us to give back for all the love and nurturing that was given to us during those formidable years of our stay at the Gatesville State School for Boys. It will be a celebration of our ability to survive and be free enough to celebrate and perhaps dedicate a memorial, dependent on state government cooperation, to all the boys whose lives were destroyed by tyc. Perhaps a plaque or historical marker in the Boot hill cemetery.<br />It could be a real interesting time for us and the town of Gatesville.Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-48671527628141335522009-02-07T22:48:00.002-06:002009-02-07T22:55:31.534-06:00Gatesville State Rehab (song)There's a reform school in Texas.<br />And I know the tales that they tell are true.<br />'Cause I've been through it buddy,<br />And I wanna tell the truth to you.<br />Well, they'll knock you down and kick you<br />And they'll beat you till you're black and blue.<br />But as long as you are there.<br />Ain't nothing you can do.<br /><br />Well, I got sent to GatesvilleIn June of 64.<br />I hadn't been there but five long days.<br />When I got beat to the floor.<br />And the man just stood there grinnin',<br />Thinkin' he was bad.<br />And the shape his soul was in,<br />Would make a preacher sad. <br /><br />Well they'll beat you up in Hackberry,<br />And they'll stomp you on the Hill.<br />They'll knock you down on the Riverside,<br />And kick you in the Valley still.<br />And the boys up on Terrace,They got spots of blue.<br />And God bless the boy,Who can live through Mountain View.<br />I said, God be with you boy,Don't let it happen to you.<br /><br />Well a group of men from Austin,<br />Were sent to investigate.<br />But the evidence was hidden,<br />And the men just couldn't wait.<br />So they left there a-thinkin',Everything was OK.'<br />Cause the boys there in Gatesville,<br />Were too afraid to say.<br /><br />That they'll beat you up in Hackberry,<br />And they'll stomp you on the Hill.<br />They'll knock you down on the Riverside,<br />And kick you in the Valley still.<br />And the boys up on Terrace,<br />They got spots of blue.<br />And God bless the boy,<br />Who can live through Mountain View.<br />I said, God be with you boy;<br />Don't let it happen to you.<br /><br />Jack Olin Hotchkiss © 1968/2009Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1205936717929398070.post-37649235244183018542009-01-20T13:09:00.001-06:002009-01-20T13:15:01.432-06:00Gatesville Today<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLnv8zByyzRQC719we-n5V7UU0PAuAeJu-5lLQa49DkguM1-fVXVJazAc0S6RkMeMR4o0DwxdZvKlw8-3Qewk7aUdikBO1VFqAuFZC4q30wxwaFKJH8Q0z28VdjSjK0bxdLlUJa-NBw/s1600-h/HilltopTDJC.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293455499933270370" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 278px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 178px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLnv8zByyzRQC719we-n5V7UU0PAuAeJu-5lLQa49DkguM1-fVXVJazAc0S6RkMeMR4o0DwxdZvKlw8-3Qewk7aUdikBO1VFqAuFZC4q30wxwaFKJH8Q0z28VdjSjK0bxdLlUJa-NBw/s320/HilltopTDJC.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The tyc stopped sending boys to the Gatesville school in 1975 unless they were an escape risk or as in the summer of 1975 the other schools were full, or you wouldn’t have sex with the goat roper caseworker chick in Brownwood who ran was the nazi in charge of who went where. I may have been locked up but she did nothing for me. The school was fully closed down to boys in 1981 and the facilities were transferred back to the department of corrections. Anyone who has ever set foot on that place knew it was never, culturally, transferred to what was called the juvenile training school in 1913. So now the good citizens of Coryell county and the surrounding area have moved on from the economy of abusing children to an economy of abusing women.<br />See what the state has done to the old Gatesville State School for Boys today.<br /><br />Reception Center<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bbj66vnkmf&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445427&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bbj66vnkmf&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445427&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Terrace<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bydj6vp6s6&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445630&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bydj6vp6s6&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445630&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Sycamore<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7c28c6vpsqt&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445638&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7c28c6vpsqt&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445638&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Valley<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p79hh26vnjv6&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445539&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p79hh26vnjv6&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445539&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Hackberry<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p79v1p6vp0bt&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445779&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p79v1p6vp0bt&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445779&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Riverside<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bm3j6vnfrj&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445439&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bm3j6vnfrj&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445439&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Live Oak<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bv0s6vng40&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445371&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7bv0s6vng40&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445371&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Hilltop<br /><a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7c6ws6vnw39&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445623&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7c6ws6vnw39&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27445623&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a><br /><br />Mountainview<a href="http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7dt026vp8vq&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27444520&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1">http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=p7dt026vp8vq&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27444520&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1</a></div>Sheldon tyc#47333http://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.com23