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Goree is a quaint, quiet town with easy access to the lake, guided hunting/fishing, hunting lodges, RVing, camping and extremely affordable real estate for your very own hunting headquarters. Finally, Goree has the last stop for bait, beverages and snacks before heading to the lake, Millers Creek Reservoir.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Friday, July 16, 2010

Fiddle and Guitar Camp

Click here: Music, memories » Times Record News

Copied from Wichita Falls Times Record News-Goree pictures in link above.

GOREE — In fiddling circles, the late Bobby Boatright (1939-2008) could fiddle circles around most fiddlers. In his other life, he was a mathematician and physicist. It was a fine art, juggling two careers. His younger brother, Johnny Boatright, remembers it all. He reminisced about his brother this week at the Bobby Boatright Western Swing Music Camp in Goree.

Bobby Boatright’s fiddling career took off in Wichita Falls when he was just 14, the younger Boatright said. The family had just moved to the Faith Village neighborhood from Denison.
“He started playing with Bill Mack,” Boatright said. “It was a live TV show.”

Johnny Boatright smiled when he said his brother was introduced as “the 14-year-old fiddle player” for about three years.

The music camp opened Sunday night with a visual presentation on Bobby Boatright narrated by Johnny Boatright.

Bobby Boatright helped found the camp, previously held near Crowell, and was the chief curriculum organizer and fiddle instructor until his death.

Johnny Boatright himself traveled from Houston to Goree to take advanced guitar lessons at this year’s camp, the first time for instruction sessions to be held in Goree. The Knox Prairie Events Center, the old Goree School complex, furnished a place for classes, dining and lodging.
At the drop of a hat — and plenty of students were wearing them — Johnny Boatright would talk about his famous brother.

“He never made a B after the eighth grade,” Johnny Boatright said. “That includes his first master’s degree, which was in math, a very difficult master’s to acquire.”

Bobby Boatright was a student at both Midwestern State University and East Texas State in Commerce, where he earned a master’s in physics.

He continued to study.

“He had over 100 hours past his second master’s,” Johnny Boatright said.

A question often asked is why Bobby Boatright never pursued a doctorate.

“I’ll tell you what he told me one day,” Boatright said. “He did not go and write his doctoral thesis because he wanted to teach at a junior college, where he could teach Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. The reason for that’s pretty obvious. That left him a three-day weekend where he could play fiddle.”

And fiddle he did, all over the country, earning a name for himself in western swing.

“Western swing is jazz played with country instruments,” Johnny Boatright said, showing his own bent for teaching. “It’s a different flavor. It’s Big Band music. It definitely swings. It’s definitely not country music. It’s much more complex, where harmony means something. The chord progressions — excuse the pun — they’re off the charts.”

Johnny Boatright talks easily about western swing, but it’s a little harder for him to talk about his late brother. Tears come.

“J.W. (Sollis, camp director), asked me to come last year,” Boatright said, talking about the camp. “It was just too soon after Bobby passed away. This year had its trepidations. Once here, all that was like a wisp of smoke. It takes me back to my own childhood when I was learning. It seems like Daddy was always teaching kids.”

This year’s camp drew mostly youngsters, ages 10 and older. Adults also enrolled, including Jack Drury, 87. Camp director Sollis is only a few years his junior.

The music spans the generations. Many songs aren’t familiar to young ears.

Guitar student Ashley Wheeler, 17, is learning the words to “I’m Confessin’,” a 1930s song popular in the Big Band Era.

“I love the old songs,” she said. “A lot of them I’ve never heard before.”
Agewise, Johnny Boatright found himself somewhere in the middle of it all. When other responsibilities forced him to leave the camp a day early, he directed his farewell speech mainly to the younger set.

“You represent everything his ideal was about,” he told the students, referring to his brother’s standards. “It’s an honor to be part of this. Good luck with your fiddle playing, your guitar picking. Play with your heart. It’s a no-miss situation.”

The camp ends today with a 1 p.m. concert at the old bank in downtown Goree.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Another Coffman in the house (bank, actually)...

Very cool...cannot wait to tell you guys about this visit. But, I have to go to the music camp for the evening. Supper, Swing Dance Lessons, Hayride-aka-Cornbread Carolin', Campfire Choir and Smores...see ya later alligator.

In Loving Memory...

Jerry (Brooks) Massey, Goree Class of 1955
Jerry was born December 15, 1936.

Click here: Jerry Brooks Massey » Times Record News

Copied from Wichita Falls Times Record News:

Jerry Brooks Massey, age 73, of Houston, Texas passed away Thursday, July 7th in Houston, Texas. Jerry was born in Goree, Texas on December 15, 2010, the daughter of Lee Roy Brooks and Lucy Mathews Brooks. Jerry graduated from Goree High School in 1955. She married Jimmy Roy Massey of Munday, Texas on September 23, 1955.

A memorial service will be held Friday, July 16th at 10 AM at Edgemere Church of Christ.
Jerry was a homemaker until her youngest child started school. Jerry was employed by Best Products and the State of Texas in the Department of Human Services.

Jerry was preceded in death by her parents, a daughter, Lisa Lou and son Jimmy Roy, Jr.
Jerry is survived by her husband Jimmy Roy Massey, her daughter Phyllis Massey and son Scott Massey in Houston, Texas.

Flowers may be sent to Edgemere Church of Christ in Wichita Falls for the service or a donation may be made to the American Cancer Society at https://www.cancer.org/involved/donate.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Swingin’, Steppin’ and Strolling, Saturday night in Goree

Do you remember?

Mr. Hosea’s homemade corndogs at the Halloween Carnival?

When folks lined up for Mrs. Bernice’s Western Burgers and the Wildcats ruled in Goree?

Listening to car radios and visiting with your neighbors downtown on Saturday night?

Waltzing with your darling at Rhineland?


Did you ever?

Enjoy a cup of ice cold lemon-aide, and a child’s smile, at the little girl next doors lemon-aide stand?

Do the jitterbug? Dance ‘till you dropped? Glide to a beautiful waltz?

Wish for the good old days?

Wish for something to do and somewhere to go on Saturday night?


Do you ever want to?

Step back in time? Take a stroll down memory lane?

Glide to the sounds of fiddle music, just one more time?

See our hometowns vibrant, full of people and life?

Or just find something fun to do on a Saturday night? On a date, with the family or a carload of friends?


Did anybody tell you?

You can go home again, step back in time, relive your memories, and find out what all the hoopla was about? That’s what the heritage tourism program of the Knox County Visioning Team and the GGG volunteers in Goree are all about. Bringing folks back to our hometowns, to enjoy our heritage and help us preserve it.

Why Western Swing? It’s all about us, our heritage and our future. Western Swing music, the big band sounds, house dances, bridge and street dances, they were all born right here in the cotton fields and on the ranches of West Texas. Now it’s nurtured by those who remember life on the farm, in small towns, during the Depression or the droughts of the ‘50’s and rediscovered by a new generation who are flocking to Swing Dance lessons and to learn the unique fiddle and guitar rhythms of the big band sounds of Western Swing. They’re carrying on an old family tradition, our family’s tradition and if we want, our future. The nostalgia, the music, the appeal, they’re all tied together and we can bring folks to Knox County and our new/old Knox Prairie Events Center to enjoy them. If, and here’s the big IF, we work together and get out and show our support for our neighbors efforts and help celebrate the rebirth of a community and its traditions.

Did you know?

You can return to yesteryear? Relive the sounds, sights, tastes and smells of big band dance music, community carnivals, downtown neighbors gathering and all those great memories? It’s easy! Just step on out, stroll on over to Goree and swing with us Saturday night, as we glide, or maybe just tap a toe, to the music of The Sidekicks. Indulge your taste buds with corndogs, Western burgers and funnel cakes, catch up with old friends and maybe make some new ones while you help us preserve the memories and build a future right here at home in Knox County.

Don’t miss it!

Downtown Saturday Night
Party and Street Dance
7:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Saturday, July 10th, 2010
Goree, Texas

In Loving Memory...

Jerry (Brooks) Massey, Goree Class of 1955
Jerry's parents owned and operated Brooks Laundry in Goree

This is Phyllis Massey, Jerry's daughter.

My mom passed away today in Houston. She was hospitalized last Thursday with a blood clot in her lung and fluid in and around her lungs. She had a stoke yesterday. She had been fighting liver cancer for over a year.

We will probably have a memorial in Wichita Falls some time next week.

Please pass this on to her Goree friends.

Thank you,

Phyllis Massey

Sunday, July 4, 2010

What goes around, comes back around, eventually...

Well, this might have been one of the most nostalgic visits for me, since the Latham Kids came to town and went above the 'City Cafe' (City Hall) into the hallways and rooms where they once played as children.

The Coffman Kids once again treaded across the tiles of the bank/drugstore. Their parents were Walter (Cut) and Kate Coffman who had an insurance company. They lived in the upstairs and unbeknownst to them, they walked all over those newspapers nestled under the rugs and linoleum. So, for the first time they laid eyes on a secret of their home place as they gazed upon the tables.

I'm a little confused on the 'timing' of it all. Remember how we found Dr. Taylor's 1940's secret newspapers under the carpet upstairs? How and when did they get there? And then there is Mr. Rogers who ran the drugstore? Was that at the same time these folks lived there or after they moved? These Coffmans remember the white carved scrolls in the carpet that kept the neswspapers a hidden mystery. Sooo, I don't know the time frame as well as I'd like to know. And I forgot to ask.

They recall going to Mr. Nix and paying him nine cents for a movie in the theater next door. If they were return customers and had already seen that particular show, then it was on the house. Skating was another pastime fondly filed in their memories. After school, if you ventured into the drugstore you might trip over a pile of school books littering the floor tiles. It was 'the hang out' spot for kids.

Joel (Joey) Lynn Coffman was bestman in Doug Moore's wedding, or at least that's what I think I overheard him telling Kent while I eavesdropped from the other side of the room. It may have been the other way around, not sure. Gail, Joey's wife, has done extensive research on the family ancestry. She found them as far back as Switzerland.

Alpha Ann Coffman was among the bunch. (Hope I spelled that right) She pointed to a scar that began at her forhead and went down through and under her eye. She would've lost it, had her dad not done an amazing thing. They had a car accident in the snow out by the turn before Hefner. None of the cars would start and Cut, her dad, scooped her up and ran with her all the way back to town. Dr. Heard stitched her up and saved her eyesight.

They peered at the poster announcing the Western Swing Street Dance on the 10th of July, and that jogged their memory, too. If memory serves them right, there was a city ordinance forbidding dancing after Lois had one at her house. And they recall having one in the upstairs living quarters of the bank during their lifetime. So, Caroline you better dig deep in those city annals and see if we are lawbreakers. There is a bingo ordinance, so surely we can get us a street dance ordinance overturned. They may decide to reopen them 'ole jail cells.

So now, some of their stories are carved here on this blog and in my heart. The past and the present for a moment were stitched together in time. There are some fuzzy puzzle pieces still to be found, but there's always the future.

Guess Who...

...walked into the Goree Bank/Drug Store today? Keith Chamberlain...and this is what he said on facebook, of all places:

I asked Tammie for a withdrawal and then, a milk shake. The answer to both was a firm 'nope' and I was handed a red plastic cup of ice water. Can you believe that, a Bank with three safes and a Drug Store??? She did inform me that I could make a deposit. A short time ago, only fifty-five years, I drank one of the best ever milk shakes in that very room.

Now, if you do visit the Goree Bank/Drug Store, one thing you do get is excellent hospitality and interesting conversation. Nancy and I really enjoyed visiting with Tammie and the pretty young lady, Caroline Garcia, working with her today. Also they have done a fantastic job restoring the old building. You really need to see it to appreciate the work that has been done.

Now to let you in on something that I figured out after a tour around the building and seeing all the improvements and reconditioning. Money has to come from somewhere. If you are in Goree and need to make a withdrawal, go to the old Trainham Grocery building, now an ice plant, and look up Kent. I doubt you can get a loaf of bread, can of beans or package of potato chips, but Tammie has to be making 'withdrawals' somewhere, so ask Kent.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

In Loving Memory...

Douglas Allen Moore of Munday, 77, went to be with his Lord and Savior on July 1, 2010, in Tyler, Texas.

He was born December 18, 1932, in Goree, Texas.

He served in the US Navy for 4 years.

He attended Abilene Christian College and Texas Tech.

He was employed with TI, F & M Systems, and Nelson International before retiring and moving to Munday to care for his parents.

He was the owner and operator of Memories of Munday Antique Store before retiring in 2008.

He was a member of the Munday Church of Christ.

He was preceded in death by parents Johnny & Jo Emma Moore, brother David Moore and sister Linda Moore Burris. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Bettye Blacklock Moore of Tyler, Texas; brother and sister-in-law Wendel and Glenda Moore, sister-in-law Sandra West of Lubbock, Texas; daughter and son-in-law Melinda and Erik Switzer of Arp, Texas; son Michael Moore of Munday, Texas; daughter-in-law Kathie Cummons, son and daughter-in-law Milton and Connie Moore of Arp, Texas; and daughter Melissa Eades of Knox City, Texas; special daughter Alexis Beyer, Arlington, Texas.

Grandchildren surviving him are Dustin Bates, Buffalo Gap, Texas; Matthew Shelton, Orange Park, Florida; Justin and Jeremy Switzer, Arp, Texas; Chelli Moore, Teague, Texas; Torie Moore, Bryan College Station, Texas; Douglas Moore, U.S. Navy - Japan; Erin Hale & Treavor Moore of Arp, Texas; Jenifer Moore of Troup, Texas; Skyler & Dawson Eades of Knox City, Texas.

Great-grandchildren, surviving him are Caden & Kylie Switzer, Arp, Texas; Jaden Moore, Teague, Texas; Grahm, Charles, Riley Grace & Max Hale of Arp, Texas.
Chosen children Duan Piland, Aaron Wallace and Kelley Wallace and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hospice of East Texas, 4111 University Blvd., Tyler, Texas 75702.

Services will be Sunday, July 4, 2010, at 2 p.m. at the Munday Church of Christ with minister Adrin Fletcher and Eric Switzer.

Burial will be in Goree Cemetery in Goree, Texas under the direction of McCauly-Smith Funeral Home in Munday, Texas.

Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Saturday.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

In Loving Memory...

Doug Moore passed away in Tyler, Texas, about mid morning yesterday, Thursday, July 1, 2010.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2010/jul/03/douglas-allen-moore/

Visitation:
McCauley- Smith Funeral Home
Munday, Texas
5-7 PM Saturday, July 3, 2010

Funeral Services:
Church Of Christ
Munday, Texas
2:00 PM Sunday, July 4, 2010

The family is requesting memorials be made to:
Hospice Of East Texas
4111 University Blvd
Tyler TX 75701