New Newsletter Contributor - Welcome Aboard!
We're very happy to welcome a new feature to the WHCA Newsletter. It's called 'Tales from the Tundra.' The new contributor is Gregory Roche.
Greg just finished helping us update our home count for the Sign Up Genius we use to recruit volunteers for things like passing out printed newsletters, home tour volunteers, and distribution of pamphlets and other printed material We've been trying to get this update done over the past couple of years. We've always been hampered by the amount of time needed to do this and Greg volunteered to take on the task. Many thanks to Greg for his hard work with Sign Up Genius' data base and for his new column!
We thank Greg for all that work and are very happy to see that he's now stepping up to offer contributions to the monthly newsletter. Welcome aboard Greg!
The Scarecrow Cemetery
Our youngest son attends St. Thomas High School so we have a familiar route to get him to school on time every morning. Barring excessive school crossing guards and the ubiquitous train crossing on Houston Avenue, we get him to school on time without too much fuss.
Before turning onto Memorial Drive for the final stretch and looking to the right under a shady pecan tree, you will find two grave stones. Countless times I’ve passed them and wondered why and how they got there. I snapped a photo a couple of weeks ago and learned their story – you may already know of their origin. It turns out that the remains of Johnny Mack Chappell (1954-1996) and Dee Brown Hancock (1922-1973) are not located under that tree.
The headstones were placed there to deter vagrants from squatting and trashing the property. A third headstone, Sandra Ruth Howen (1939-1986), no longer lies next to Johnny and Dee. It’s not exactly clear why duplicate headstones were made for these deceased Houstonians. The lot is well maintained and the Chappell family have no problem with this landmark being another interesting Inner Loop tidbit that preserves his name. Stop by and check it out.