The 1974 Taylor Reunion, Arkadelphia - Attendance Roster (CLICK PAGES TO ENLARGE). Thanks Jonn Vestal for sharing this from your records.. NOW, WHERE IS THE GROUP PICTURE, PLEASE, ANYONE ???

A Treasure submitted by John Vestal: Studio Portrait of Selma Taylor Pattillo.



Selma Taylor Pattillo
Widow of Rowland Dale Pattillo, Sr
(submitted by John Vestal)



Dorothy Taylor and sister Selma Taylor
(picture provided by David McMillan)

(John, the blogger program doesn't allow pdf files so I printed in B&W and scanned to a jpg file.  It didn't come out as good as I'd like.)

Childcare being provided at the Reunion on Saturday Evening

Following our wonderful Reunion Banquet on Saturday evening (from 6:00 to 9:00 PM), we have engaged 3 highly dependable sitters from 7-11:00 PM.

Rebecca Vestal Augustine, who is a 4th grade teacher and friend of one of the girl's mother, has arranged for three 16-17 year old junior girls to watch after the children.  We have two large deluxe suites located in our room block to use for childcare.

Use of these sitters is optional to the degree the mothers feel it suits their particular needs. 

There is no cost to the 5G families!

The idea here is to provide maximum freedom for the adults to enjoy visiting with one another.

Gaylord Texan - Holiday Ice Sculpture Exhibit opens November 12th

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the theme of the Gaylord's always anticipated Ice Sculpture exhibit.  There was a big spread today in the Dallas Morning News about the exhibit.

My sister Jan emailed the following:

Come to family reunion and plan to tour the Peanuts characters in ice!  The ice sculptures open this Friday just in time for our reunion!  It's pricy but worth it!  See today's Metro section of DMN.   It's 9 degrees in the exhibit so bring hats, gloves and a coat for children... coats are also available but you might like your own.

 

Cost $13.95-$24.95. It is worth it!!

Nov.12-Jan. 3)

I suggest getting tickets ahead of time.

 

For details, go to Gaylord's Lone Star Christmas

 

Jan

A Highlight of the Reunion will be the presence of John Porter Gammill and his sister Kim Goodloe Rochow

5G'ers - the latest collection of photos. Most recently added is Julie and Jerome Simoni who live in Conway, Arkansas. Julie is Jerry and Susan DeLaughter Young's daughter.

There are 80 total people coming to the reunion.  From the 5Gs above plus some of the children, there will be 52 people (including 28 6G children.  The picture above is by no means complete plus some shown are unable to attend.  And, not shown but coming is Carter and Elizabeth McMillan from Dallas who will be in attendance with their 2 daughters Sarah and Caroline.

For a detailed worksheet of those attending and when, you can click on the following link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AuBMRB4hbM37dDJDLTlocEdqTGNiVnpENFpBTmsyWmc&hl=en&single=true&gid=0&output=html

The Gaylord Resort promises to be a Holiday Wonderland for all.  The 3Gs and 4Gs truly believe you will be glad you were able to make this investment of time with your extended family.  Safe travels!!

The "G" Labels for those currently coming to the reunion

80 people are now signed up for the November 13th reunion.  The "G" or generation totals are:

3G'ers -   3
4G'ers - 25
5G'ers - 24
6G'ers - 28

For all the details, click on the web based worksheet.

Black Titlest 7

By David W. McMillan, Ph.D.

(Written privately years ago and shared now for the reunion.)

          It was Saturday, 8 A.M., August 14, 1960. As I was waking I could hear the rumble of voices downstairs and the opening and closing of the front door. These were the same sounds of my parents having a large party, but it was eight in the morning. These sounds were exceptionally loud because I could hear them over the drone of my window air-conditioning unit.

          With the crystallized remains of sleep in the corners of my eyes I stumbled out of bed, put on some shorts and wandered slowly to the stairs in the hall outside my room with the fist knuckles of the back of my hand rotating in my eye sockets, scraping the sleep out of my eyes. I heard mother’s footsteps running up the stairs. When I pulled my fists out of my eyes my mother met me out of breath at the top of the steps.

          “What’s happening downstairs?” I asked.

          “David,” she replied, ignoring my question taking some time to look squarely at me. “Bill is dead.”

          “Oh mother, that’s not funny. What’s going on downstairs?”

          “David, Bill is dead. He and Jo Carol were parked out in the woods on the other side of the highway from the bluff. Apparently that was the place where they parked to be together. They had the engine on so the air conditioner would work and somehow the air conditioner pulled up the carbon monoxide from the exhaust and it killed them. They say it killed Bill first and then Jo Carol, because his body was more bloated.”

          “Mother what are those people doing downstairs? Bill’s not dead! This is a bad joke. What’s really going on?”

          Eventually it became real to me. At 14 I had my first experience of losing to death someone I loved. Bill was 19. He was spending his summer between his freshman and sophomore college year at home. Bill Jr. was the oldest. Toney was one year younger. I was five years younger than Bill and my sister Betsy was six years younger than me.

          My father, Bill Senior, was an archetypal SOB lawyer. He could unpredictably fill our home with rage. My brother Bill was a classic good boy scout, salutatorian of his high school class, quarterback of his football team, president of the student body in high school, good student in his freshman year in college, best pledge in his fraternity. He was quiet, disciplined, hard working and much loved and respected. My brother Toney was not Bill. He had a temper. He was handsome and graceful.  I was the clown, the dramatic jokester, always wanting to play with my brothers, often in trouble for irritating my father. Mother was like Bill Jr. She was valedictorian of her high school and college classes. She was an expert pianist and vocalist. She put flowers in the church every Sunday. She had a roast at whoever’s home had an illness or death. And gave Betsy, who was born a Down’s baby, every opportunity to learn.

          Bill was especially important to me. In addition to being my idol, he was my protector. He would stand up for me when my father seemed to be on the verge of overpunishing me. Toney was often angry at me and Bill would take up for me.

          When my brothers were in high school we had ping-pong tournaments on the back porch. Toney would challenge Bill. Bill was the high school ping-pong champ. Toney was probably better than Bill but Toney was too impatient and often lost his temper and when he did, Bill easily defeated him. I was always allowed to play the winner. If it was Bill I would somehow manage to win and I would be the champion until Toney would pulverize me, often 21 to 10 or more. And the cycle would be repeated.

          Bill took up golf when he was sixteen. And of course I began to play too at age eleven. I got pretty good at it. We played on our small town’s nine-hole course. I thought I could compete with his cronies. He would never let me play with them because they gambled. But when he wasn’t around I would push myself into a game and always lose more money than I had. Bill would have to cover my losses. After he paid up I would always get a talking too.

          Two days before Bill died we played golf together. Bill had a job at Safeway and had money to buy golf balls. I had to use ones that I found or ones that he would give me because they were too banged up for him to use. Bill was driving his 1957 Chevrolet that he shared with Toney. When we got to the course we got out of the car, grabbed our golf bags, and walked toward the clubhouse and Bill said, “Wait here I’ve got to buy some golf balls.” I wasn’t going to miss this. I followed Bill into the pro shop.

          “Give me four balls from the ball jar and a sleeve of Black Titlest 7’s. Seven is my lucky number,” he said. A Black Titlest was a 100-compression ball. It was the ball most pros used. It was more solid and when hit with great power would go further. Seven was simply one number in nine that golf ball companies used to identify their golf balls.

          I watched as he released the flap of the small box holding the brand new balls. “Here,” he said, as he noticed me ogling these new Black Titlests. He handed me one of the three balls that rolled out of the box. “Black Titlest 7. You can have one.” I grabbed it quickly before he could change his mind.

          “Thanks,” I said. I’m sure my face beamed in appreciation and excitement. I had to play with it since it was the one the pros used and by the third hole I had lost it. Bill lost one of these three new balls on the sixth hole.

          After Bill’s funeral I began searching for Bill’s golf bag. I finally found it in the trunk of his 1957 Chevrolet. He was left-handed so I didn’t inherit his clubs. But I rifled through the pockets on the golf bag. I found a few old balls and the brand new Black Titlest 7.

          It was my treasure. I carried it in my pocket much like boys do with lucky buckeyes. I would reach in my pockets and rub the concave dimples with my thumb, carefully feeling the texture of the many circular bridges that formed those small indentions. I loved to turn the ball until I could feel the carved script. I would feel T-i-t-l-e-s-t spelled out on my thumb like Braille and then the 7 below. As I felt it I imagined the black ink instead of the black and red of the 90-compression ball and I would feel strong – as if Bill was sending me a jolt of confidence. 

          Sometimes when I would play I would think of it as magic. I would pull it out of my pocket and use it as my putting ball on the green. I held on to it, taking it out of my pocket and putting it on my dresser with my change at night. In the morning back in my pocket it went.

          One late afternoon I teed off by myself on the first hole without practicing. I sliced my first ball way right. I hooked my second ball to the left. I hit a third tree shot to the right again into the trees. The only ball I had left was the Black Titlest 7. So I hit it. It went in the woods to the right too. I gathered my golf bag and went off to find my golf balls. The one I hooked to the left was the best play ball. So I found it and hit it toward the green for my second shot. Then I went looking for the balls I hit on the right, especially the Black Titlest 7.

          As I walked over to the woods and creek on the right side of the fairway it occurred to me that I might not find the Black Titlest 7. I went right to the Sycamore tree that I used to mark the line of the flight of the ball. I walked all around the tree using the soles of my tennis shoes to feel for round bumps in the ground that I hoped would be Bill’s ball. I used my nine iron to whack at the tall grass and push down into the small creek that oozed among those trees. I felt bumps and reached to find rocks. I found one of the balls I hit there but not the Black Titlest 7. I became frantic, slashing at the underbrush and poking into the water with my nine iron. Tears formed in my eyes and moans began to emerge from my mouth. Suddenly I heard someone shout “fore.” There was a twosome on the tee. I waved them through, hoping they were too far away to see me crying. I was humiliated, ashamed. I could hear my brother lecturing me about my impulsiveness, my poor judgment and immaturity. It was all true. Losing the Black Titlest 7 proved the point. How could I have even considered hitting it? And now it’s lost. After forty-five minutes I gave up the search. I walked away toward the green wanting to go back and look some more. I felt like I had lost Bill again and this time it was my fault. I will never get over losing that Black Titlest 7.

Elsie Taylor - one of the Papa Taylor's five daughters.

She and her husband Gilbert Gammill lived in El Dorado, AR. "Uncle Gilbert" owned a lumber yard. Their son Porter died in the latter days of WWII. Their daughter-in-law Mary Louise (Gammill) Goodloe lives in Staunton, Virginia where her son John Porter lives.  Mary Louise married Breck Goodloe.  Their daughter Kim Goodloe Rochow lives now in Atlanta, Georgia and her three daughters Breck, Lindsey and Somer live near.

John Porter and Kim are coming to the Taylor Reunion!

Who is coming and when! (LINK)

NOTE: This worksheet is not intended to be a family tree.  It CONTINUES to be used to keep up with the specific interests shown and commitments made regarding attending the Papa Taylor Family Reunion. 

So, if you need your own worksheet line, it is up to you!

Martha Jean Taylor and Dub DeLaughter. Their children and grandchildren. (Dub's birthday October 11th! Thanks Gail DeLaughter Pennington.

SOME of the 5G'ers in the Taylor strand! An amazing collage the 3Gs and 4Gs are proudly invested in!

Remember, clicking on a blog picture makes it LARGER. A second time, even LARGER!

P.H. Taylor serves on 1929 Sparkman School Board

Martha Jean Taylor and George W "Dub" DeLaughter wed April 28, 1946 at Sardis Methodist Church, Pine Grove, Arkansas

Toney and Elizabeth Taylor Daniel a.k.a. "HiPop" and "Bobbobbie"

 

Shopping in Hot Springs

Elizabeth, Elizabeth Taylor Daniel and Jane

Toney the salesman with order book on right.

5G'ers - Pictures gathered here and there.



Not totally up to date. But some indications are that Kevin & Paige McMilland (Martin, TN) and Susan & Justin Morgan (Denver) are trying to see how their work obligations might be accomodated.  Same is true for Sarah and Zach Cude (Lubbock).

This 5G group and children will form the core of those doing our Sunday FUN RUN.  Don't take your training lightly as Dr. Ashley Sloan Ross has been on the C25K regimen.  Also, 2G Rowland Pattillo has his ankle immobilized in theraputic preparation of our "marathon"(his term).  I may push Maribeth's wheel chair so as to lock up last place relieving all the 5G'ers of any dead last phobias.

    

The 1974 Taylor Reunion in Arkadelphia. A search is on for the group picture that Thase took. HELP!!

 


1975 picture at Jerry and Sharrylon's Garland, TX home. Jerry was an Eckerd Drug Store manager and Sharrylon in her early years of teaching.  Bill and Maribeth's son-in-laws Dr. Fred Hegi (U.T. business) and soon to be Dr. Jim Burkhalter (U of GA higher education) there with dad and Jerry. (The antique faux velvet couch is still in use!)

 


The 1974 reunion, Bill and Maribeth's children and grandchildren at that time. GranGran now has 6 grand children and 14 great grand children. Dad died in 1976.

 

Selma Taylor Pattillo and Dorothy "Dot" Taylor



Dot and Selma



Dorothy Taylor




One of many devotional books Dot inscribed and gave to Jerry.



Anybody know this to be a Taylor group? Appears to be 1900 +/-. David sent a computer "thumb drive" full of great pictures.

Elizabeth and Bill McMillan - Collection of items to be shared



Henry William McMillan



Elizabeth Daniel

Blog "Comments"

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Test your abilities here!  Unless you have a google gmail account (user name and password) the easiest way is to sign in as "anonymous" but include your name so we know it's you!

Papa Taylor and Mary Francis Taylor's Grave Marker at Sardis

Gaylord Texan Resort for Your Reservations - Link below

Our block of 25 rooms at the $129 rate good to October 10th

Gaylord Texan Resort - RESERVATIONS LINK

Our special rate is $129 plus a $15 "resort fee" for all kinds of Gaylord ammenities.  The Gaylord will group our 25 room block together before the event.

We also have two Delux suites for conversations that go on late Saturday night.  Our meeting room is available to us until 11:00 pm Saturday.

As for the costs of the big banquet Saturday evening, we are soliciting people to help underwrite this "main event."  If you want in on this, be in contact with Jerry by email or phone 214-673-3554.  We don't want the 5th Generation families to feel like the cost our Gaylord Texan Reunion would keep them from attending.  For most of the 5G'ers, it is a simple "no brainer" when faced with the cost of a family reunion with people they don't know and probably will never see again OR  fixing the car or getting the air conditioner repaired! The 3Gs and 4Gs have all been there!

We are having amazingly complete interest in our Taylor Reunion!  We have a block of 25 rooms 30 rooms now and can expand it if needed until October 10th.  Our rates are good for 3 days before and after November 13th.

Mrs. William Arthur Vestal on the 2008 Thanksgiving celebration of her 85th birthday. (Rowland and Dodie and Daphna Ann all knew her when she was Maribeth Evans.)

Maribeth is surrounded by children Jan Hegi, Beth Burkhalter & Jerry Vestal and THE CLAN.

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Many of you have similar group pictures. Email them to me with comments you want included.