Local Talent Making Names In Music Scene

For lovers of great music such as myself, I have looked far and wide to satiate my lust for truly enjoyable sounds to blast through my stereo speakers and MP3 earbuds. Great Britain has given me The Beatles, The Animals, Sting and Seal. Australians like The BeeGees and Men At Work, Africans like Jonathan Butler and Hugh Masakela, and the powerful sounds of Ireland's U2 and Wales' Tom Jones have been entertaining me musically for many decades. And my prodigious record collection boasts singers and bands from all over America. But today I need look no further than my own home town and neighboring cities to find ample musical talent. I have collected a few new CD's to add to all those outstanding sounds from years gone by that were recorded by men who either grew up in West Columbia, Texas, or have sturdy family roots in my hometown. Zack Walther And The Cronkites are difficult to categorize when listening to their new CD entitled "Ambition," their debut Sustain Records release. Vocalist and band leader Walther, who grew up and went to school in West Columbia, labels The Cronkites music as "New Braunfels rock." It could be called progressive Texas country, hard rocking jams or what was once referred to in my younger days as "pop." But whatever you want to call it, the sounds eminating from your speakers when you play the CD "Ambition" are wonderful. I have to give it to my fellow West Columbian, the guy has a very soulful voice. The band's website describes their sound as "the next evolution of the sounds from the Lone Star State created by a new generation that's taking the stage with some serious moxie, grounded in the best roots yet also right up to date for these times." Well put. I have really enjoyed listening to "Ambition" since purchasing it earlier this summer on a trip my wife and I made to New Braunfels and the adjoining community of Greune. I bought the CD simply because Zack is from West Columbia and, admittedly I did not have high expectations when I inserted it into my truck's CD player. Boy, was I ever blown away by just how good this new group is. From the opening number "Georgia Cane" to the closer "Pull The Pin," the 10 songs on "Ambition" are without one single throw-away tune. They are all good, from the tender prayer for redemption "Just Say When," to the rocker "Money Tree" and great songs I really enjoyed like "Without One Sound" and "Down Easy." "We were touring pretty heavily beforehand and especially now with the record, doing all these in-stores and fronts, and Hastings and Best Buys," Walther told a reporter for The Brazosport Facts recently during a stop back home. "It's sort of surreal and foreign just because we've never done that sort of thing." "I'm very proud to be from Brazoria County and I love coming back and seeing the place and seeing my hometown," Walther, who now resides in New Braunfels, told The Facts reporter.

Zack, who grew up in the Gayle Estates subdivision near West Columbia, joined the school choir in the sixth grade at Charlie Brown Intermediate School. He played in local bands when he was a student at West Columbia High School and majored in Southwest Texas State's prestigioius Sound Recording Technology program when he attended the San Marcos college. He graduated from the university that is now known as Texas State with a degree in Geography, which Walther says is "fitting for a road dog in the making."

He started a dancehall band with some friends from high school called Sanger West, and fronted the band Roger Wilco prior to putting Zack Walther And The Cronkites together. Zack recorded three albums with Roger Wilco and toured throughout Texas and Oklahoma.

The former West Columbian says "As I get older, I'm writing songs that are more personal and heartfelt and about love and loss and meaningful stuff."

Zack Walther And The Cronkites have played The Armadillo Ballroom outside of Brazoria's city limits several times in recent history (August 14th was their most recent stop at the Armadillo) and have been the featured band at Greune Hall near New Braunfels on Wednesday nights since last year. Check their website at http://zwcmusic.com/ to see where Zack and his band are playing in the coming months, to read up on a little history of the band, order CD's and obtain a free download of their new single "Georgia Cane" off of the "Ambition" CD. There is also a new video for the song "Money Tree" at Zack's website, and another video for "So Easy" from "The Blue Light Live" CD available for viewing.

The new CD "Ambition" was produced by fellow musician and songwriter Mark Addison. The Cronkites are comprised of vocalist and guitarist Walther, bassist David Pettit, drummer Chris Compton and guitarist and keyboardist Luke Leverett. Walther cowrote "Just Say When" and "Money Tree" off of the new CD with Leverett, whose work on a range of guitars and keyboards "brings a kaleidoscope of colors to the recording," the band's website reveals. Bassist Pettit, who hails from the Texas Panhandle, "melds his country roots with later time playing blues-rock to add even more to the group's sound," the website history of the band states.

"We have the ability here to have a softer acoustic power and then go balls to the wall and leave it out on stage every single night," Leverett said.

"Mountain Laurel Bloom" is a song on the new CD that takes listeners for a spiritually-blessed and folk-inflected tour of the Texas Hill Country. And Walther "sings it all with a classic vocal strength and finesse full of feelings that hit anyone with a heartbeat and ear for timeless music right where they live and love music," the Cronkites' website claims.

Reece Cadenhead first made an impact on me when he and his father Kevin Cadenhead sang at the wedding of Steven Horak and Reece's cousin, Ashley Kapalski, at the Catholic church in Lake Jackson. The qualities his singing voice possess are on a par with "American Idol" champions and those young men who sell millions of records worldwide. This kid is just that good. About a month ago I heard the Cadenheads, father and son, sing once again at the funeral for my childhood friend Charles "Boogie" Kapalski's mother at the Catholic church in West Columbia. Boogie's mother was Reece's great-grandmother. In between his two performances at the two local Catholic churches, my wife and son and I were entertained by Reece and Kevin Cadenhead at Dido's seafood restaurant on the San Bernard River near Brazoria. A large gathering of Reece's family and friends filled Dido's restaurant that night to celebrate the release of this Angleton High School graduate's first CD, "Sleepwalk Back To Texas."

Reece recently returned to College Station to begin his sophomore year at Texas A&M. He is majoring in mechanical engineering at A&M and is a member of the Texas A&M Singing Cadets. But he just might have to put that career as a mechanical engineer on the back burner if his musical career takes off like it should. The young man from Angleton, whose parents are graduates of the high school in West Columbia, began singing in the choir at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Brazoria. As a member of the Angleton High School choir his senior year Reece received top honors in the state solo contest.

Give "Sleepwalk Back To Texas" a listen. Gup promises each of you who purchase this young man's CD will be glad that you did. It is amazingly good. Vocals and production on the CD were recorded at R/R Studio in Lake Jackson, Texas, under the direction of Jason Rooks. But this compilation of 10 original country songs were written and recorded primarily in Nashville, and the quality of the sound is evidence that some seriously talented musicians were involved in the production of "Sleepwalk Back To Texas." My favorite songs on Reece's CD are "As Good As Goodbye," "Ain't Gonna Take It," "Operating On A Broken Heart," "Something Real" and the title song "Sleepwalk Back To Texas."

Earlier this summer my family and I were treated on several occasions to the listening pleasure of hearing Bill Middleton and his band perform on Friday nights at Scott's Barbecue in downtown West Columbia. It was a double treat. I got to wolf down some of the best barbecued ribs and fried shrimp ever put before me at Scott Leopold's barbecue joint and hear the wonderful guitar pickin' and singing of my fellow West Columbian who everybody called Billy Bob when he was a kid growing up in my hometown. Bill is a 1973 graduate of Columbia High School who returned to his hometown after "working his way to the top of the bottom" of the music biz playing guitar and singing all over Texas. He says he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to begin a new career "at the bottom of the top." That switch to the country music mecca in Nashville led to Billy Bob landing a prestigious position playing guitar on the Grand Ole Opry with several Opry stars. He worked with Porter Wagoner, Stonewall Jackson and Jean Shepherd at the Opry, just to mention a few. After 13 years (1986-1999) in The Grand Ole Opry family, my childhood friend came back home to West Columbia. And we in the West Columbia area are all the better for it. Hearing this man sing and play that electric guitar is definitely memorable. The boy's good! Blunt and to the point. His live shows are spiced with blues, rock and pop, but mostly his versions of the best country music has to offer.

Bill Middleton has released two CD's that are both worth giving a listen to. His CD "The Crossroad" is primarily inspirational Christian music, many of the selections written by Bill himself. His other CD is country which is a musical genre Bill truly excels in. I highly recommend anyone who loves music to experience Bill Middleton, both on his CD's and when he and his band are performing live in the West Columbia area.

Kirby Gupton, the son of my father's youngest brother S.D. Gupton, has been a part of the Austin music scene since the 1960s when he was a student at the University of Texas. While cousin Kirby stresses to me that he is not peddling his CD's, it is my personal opinion that his recorded music is worthy of a listen. To put it bluntly, I love Kirby's sound. His musicianship is definitely first rate. He excels on the guitar and saxophone himself, and Kirby has employed some very talented Austin musicians to accompany him on the two CD's he recorded earlier this decade.

Kirby Gupton is "pure country" on the majority of the tunes he has recorded, with a little soul ("Brand New Me") and old-time rock and roll ("I'm A Fool To Care") thrown in as well. His vocal strengths are in his ability to mimic country greats like Ray Price, Waylon Jennings and another impressive sound that I'm unable to pinpoint who it reminds me the most of. Hey, now it comes to me after all. He sounds just like Kirby Gupton! And there's nothing wrong with that when a native West Columbian who may be a little vertically challenged in height possesses such "kick ass," powerful pipes.

My cousin, a 1963 graduate of Columbia High School, mailed me copies of his CD's (both co-produced by Kirby and Fred Scott) in the summers of 2003 and 2005. Other family members who received the same CD's are as lucky as I consider myself. Lucky to have such a talented, gifted musician in our family tree, as well as for enjoying the pleasure of listening to the variety of songs Kirby has selected to record. The 2003 CD features Kirby's versions of three Waylon Jennings tunes ("Just To Satisfy You," "Walk Out Of My Mind" and "You'll Look For Me"), a couple of Merle Haggard songs ("If I'd Left It Up To You" and "The Bottle Let Me Down"), and first rate versions of Willie Nelson's "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way," Jessie Colter's "Storms Never Last" and Billy Joe Shaver's "Old Five And Dimers."

Highlights of the 2005 CD Kirby Gupton recorded at FRS Studio in Austin are the great Tom Jans penned song "Loving Arms" that was previously recorded by Elvis Presley, Dobie Gray and Jans himself and done equally as well by my cousin Kirby, and a couple Gordon Lightfoot songs ("Same Old Lover Man" and "Somewhere USA"). Kirby's cover of Willie Nelson's "I Never Cared For You" and Merle Haggard's "Our Paths May Never Cross" are worth the price of the 2005 CD alone. He really does a bang-up, superb job with Willie, Waylon and Merle's songs.

Cousin Kirby insists that he does not sell his CD's. So those of us who have received the two CD's from Kirby are the beneficiaries of this longtime Austin resident's gift and musical talent. Kirby told me that he would gladly burn copies of his CD's from his master tapes if any friends or family members request them. Email me at tracyg@embarqmail.com or drop me a line at P.O. Box 361 in West Columbia, Texas, 77486, and I will forward your requests for the Kirby Gupton CD's to my cousin in Austin.

To purchase Reece Cadenhead's CD "Sleepwalk Back To Texas," go to his website at http://www.reececadenhead.com/ and do so. I got my copy of the new Zack Walther And The Cronkites CD "Ambition" at the record store in Greune. But you can purchase it, as well as other CD's of the New Braunfels band, on the internet at http://www.zwcmusic.com/. Bill Middleton's CD's can be purchased at his guitar shop at 1118 North Brooks Street in Brazoria, Texas, or on the internet at http://www.billsguitarshop.com/. I hope each of you enjoys the excellent music these West Columbia area recording artists have put on CD's as much as I have.

Zack Walther of West Columbia is finding success in the music business. The Columbia High School graduate, shown jamming on stage above, is the lead singer for Zack Walther And The Cronkites, a band based in New Braunfels.

Angleton High School graduate Reece Cadenhead has recorded an excellent first CD entitled "Sleepwalk Back To Texas" recorded and produced by Jason Rooks. Reece is currently attending college at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Nationally known country music artist Trace Adkins, pictured above with West Columbia native Bill Middleton, spent hours signing autographs and talking to his fans at the grand opening of Bill's Guitar Shop in Brazoria.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

In response to Hank Jr.'s catchy tune that has become as closely associated with NFL football on TV as anything in recent years, yes, definitely, I am ready for some football! Tonight the National Football League kicks off the 2009 pro season with the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, hosting my second favorite NFL team, the Tennessee Titans on NBC-TV. It has been what seems like a very, very long time since the Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl in early '09.

The NFL ain't what it used to be, at least as far as this longtime pro football fan sees it. I still watch the pro games on TV every chance I get, because I am truly a big football fan, but there just isn't that same ol' zeal for following the NFL from week to week like I once was addicted to. But, despite saying that, I still find myself getting a little hyped up when a new football season arrives each and every year. Unfortunately I will not be able to view tonight's NFL season opener on TV due to my work schedule. But that same rotating shift schedule that I have been a slave to for the past 20 years, working a set of daylights followed by a set of nights and then back to another set of daylights, provides me the opportunity to be off this coming weekend when there will be a full slate of football games (high school on Friday night, college games on Saturday, followed by the opening Sunday of the '09 NFL season) for me to enjoy.

I have already attended my first high school football game for '09. After missing my hometown team's season opener when an electric lightning display and rainstorm shortened the Roughnecks game against their intracounty rival, the Brazosport Exporters, because I was spending the night at the area petroleum refinery working the night shift, I had the luxury of being off this past Friday night. My Roughnecks, despite losing 36-22 to the St. Pius Panthers at Griggs Field in West Columbia, played exciting football and entertained the home crowd for the second consecutive Friday night. Columbia was leading Brazosport 17-14 when the season opener at Griggs Field was called off by the referees and coaches with about six minutes remaining in the third quarter due to a threat of lightning striking too close to the West Columbia football field. And this past Friday the thunder and lightning the Roughnecks were unable to deal with came in the human form of St. Pius's strong-armed, quick and elusive quarterback who led a Panthers' offensive attack that moved the ball up and down the field much too easily. If my hometown high school football team has any plans of competing for a playoff spot in their AAA district this season, adjustments will have to be made in their defensive strategy and improvements realized in the offensive scheme before such hopes can be turned into an actual postseason berth.

The Sweeny Bulldogs, who produced current Oakland Raiders wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins Jr. (pictured above), appear to be the cream of the crop in West Columbia's district in 2009. The Dogs will host the same Brazosport team this Friday night that the Roughnecks opened the year against two weeks ago. Both of those teams are 1-0 after the Bulldogs stomped Van Vleck in the season opener and the Shippers dominated Port Lavaca Calhoun last Friday night at Hopper Field in Freeport, a week after having their opener with the Roughnecks erased from the record books due to the lightning storm. Columbia travels to Alvin tomorrow night to line up against Manvel at the stadium the new high school in Manvel shares with the Yellowjackets of Alvin. I will be at one of those two high school games, depending on the weather Friday night. If it rains I will more than likely attend the Sweeny-Brazosport showdown about 10 miles from my home. Clear skies will find me and my wife taking the longer route to Alvin.

Keeping me interested in what happens in pro football from year to year are great players like LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers, Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson of the Vikings, Andre Johnson and Mario Williams of my Houston Texans, and my wife Peggy's favorite NFL players, the Manning brothers (pictured above). Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts will be playing under a new head coach following the retirement of their longtime mentor Tony Dungy, while younger brother Eli Manning and the New York Giants return for another season with hopes of fending off the annual challenge for division supremacy from the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles, who will feature Michael Vick as Donovan McNabb's key backup in '09. So the coming pro season should be just as interesting, with many tight division races throughout the year, as the battles being fought in college and high school stadiums across the nation from week to week. Man am I ever ready for it!

The college football season is already underway, with most college teams preparing for the second week of their 2009 seasons this weekend. My intentions are to attend at least one home game this season of my college alma mater, the Sam Houston State Bearkats, and hopefully make it to one or two games Texas A&M and the University of Houston play in 2009.

September 26th is circled in bright red marker on my personal calendar in my home office. That is the day former Columbia Roughnecks standout Jared Flannel and his Texas Tech Red Raiders travel to Houston to take on my son Brian's Cougars at Robertson Stadium. I have one son (Bret) going to college at Texas A&M so I have to pull for his Aggies every chance I get; and another son (Brian) attending classes at the University of Houston so I will proudly wear my Cougars red when following the Cougs. But the ol' home cooking theory puts me in Jared Flannel's corner and rooting for the Red Raiders whenever Texas Tech is not going head to head with my kids' Cougars and Aggies. And my Dad's little brother, Hank Gupton, graduated from Baylor University so I always cheer for the Baylor Bears when I get the chance. Cousin Dolores Gupton is an SMU grad and her younger sister Peggy Lou and her husband Kenneth Boone both graduated from TCU.

But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, ol' Tracy Bob just simply loves FOOTBALL!!! High school, college, pro, whatever, I love to watch football games . . . in person, on my new high definition color TV or (when lucky) on my cousins Jack and Angie's or Hank and Lynette's big screen sets in Cove or Anahuac. Even if it's at the corner bar or listening on my truck radio, if there is a football game being played somewhere nearby there is a good bet I will be tuned in or sitting my fat ass on my worn out Columbia Roughnecks cushion and watching.

My son Kirk is coaching youth football this season. So on the Saturdays that I am not working I will be in the stands, cheering on Koy and Koby Richardson (my future grandsons following Kirk's November wedding to their mother Tanya) when these little 9 and 10 year olds get down and dirty in the trenches for the Tri-City Cougars. So, hell yea, I'm ready for some football. Bring it on!

Former TCU Horned Frogs running back LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers is among my favorite current NFL players. Those pro players with Texas roots remain atop my personal list of "must see" gridiron heroes when I watch NFL games on TV.

Tough Times Fail To Dampen Nation's Generosity

As a child growing up in West Columbia my favorite entertainment venue was the Capitol Theater downtown. And my favorite movies from my earliest visits to the "picture show," as we always called it back then, starred "The Big Three" in my book: John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis. Anytime a new film one of those 1960s Hollywood Heroes put out was being shown at the Capitol Theater, it was a good bet that my tiny ass was going to be sitting in the dark watching it . . . popcorn, pickle, Milk Duds and ice cold Coca-Cola in hand.

I caught about an hour or so of the 44th annual Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon this past Labor Day, and was watching the early hours of the 21 and a half hour broadcast on Houston's Channel 2 Sunday night when the show suddenly went off the air. I was disgusted to discover that the local NBC affiliate that had aired Jerry Lewis's telethon in its entirety in years past was not going to do so in 2009. Bill Balleza of Channel 2 informed the viewers, including yours truly, that KPRC-TV would be picking the telethon back up at 8 a.m. on Monday morning. I switched through the other gazillion channels on my DirecTV satellite dish to see if the MDA telethon was airing throughout the night on a different channel, but it was nowhere to be found.

Despite the cutting back of the annual fundraiser's TV air time in the Houston market, Jerry Lewis still proudly announced at the 2009 telethon's conclusion Monday evening that nearly $60.5 million was raised across the nation to continue funding worldwide research to find treatments and cures for muscular dystrophy and related diseases. Lewis said the total was down from last year's record $65 million but added it was an amazing accomplishment considering the state of the nation's economy.

I shed my usual tears sitting in front of my TV set, as numerous feature stories and guests appearing from both the Houston studio and with Jerry Lewis and his many cohosts in Las Vegas touched the softest parts of my heart. Little Abbey Umali, the MDA's current National Goodwill Ambassador, is pictured in her wheelchair with Jerry in the photo above. She and many other people of all ages--but primarily the children afflicted with this horrible disease--who have to live with Muscular Dystrophy are the reasons so many of us dig deep into our pockets to help Lewis and the MDA hopefully one day bring an end to the crippling of so many humans. To think that Jerry Lewis started his annual telethons 44 years ago is really mind boggling, and when you add to the equation the many health issues the telethon's host has had to endure himself in recent years it becomes even more stunning that the octogenarian comedian is able to live out the old entertainment world motto: "The show must go on!"

Lewis, who told the Las Vegas crowd Sunday night that he will be 84 in March of 2010, had to do the telethon for the first time since 1973 without his sidekick Ed McMahon. Johnny Carson's longtime announcer and best bud, who had served as Jerry Lewis's MDA telethon announcer for 35 years, died in June. I made a point to tune in to this year's telethon this past Sunday night to see my childhood comedic hero for what possibly could be the last time.

Jerry disclosed several years ago that he is dying from Pulmonary Fibrosis, a disease that suffocates its victims by scarring the lungs. The disease is irreversible, untreatable, and invariably fatal, according to wire reports I read during the week leading up to this year's Labor Day telethon. Most patients suffering from PF die within three years of diagnosis, the wire reports indicate, which is why thousands of PF sufferers tuned in Sunday night looking to Lewis for clues to his survival for so many years with the disease.

Jerry Lewis has spoken many times publicly about his disease but has not yet spoken out on behalf of the cause that has stricken him so personally. Pulmonary Fibrosis claimed the lives of actor/singer Robert Goulet and Odetta in recent years, as well as being the primary cause of the death of my favorite actor of all time, Marlon Brando, who died several years ago at the age of 80. Pumonary Fibrosis claims the lives of approximately 128,000 Americans annually.

Lewis has suffered two heart attacks--a serious one in 1982 that led to Jerry being forced to kick his cigarette habit and a minor heart attack in 2006--and has been forced to deal with prostate cancer, diabetes and extreme back pain. But he has never missed hosting his annual Labor Day telethon over the past 44 years.

Born Joseph Levitch in Newark, New Jersey, on March 16, 1926, the comedian who took the stage name Jerry Lewis and later vaulted to stardom on stage, TV and films when he teamed up with Dean Martin in the 1940s remains today an entertainment industry icon. Among the many comedies he starred in (usually writing, producing and directing his films as well) that I loved so much as a child were "The Nutty Professor," "Cinderfella," "The Patsy," "Don't Raise The Bridge, Lower The River" and "The Big Mouth." I never missed a Jerry Lewis movie at The Capitol Theater when I was a kid. So many of my childhood movie heroes have gone to that great big screening room in the sky, so Jerry's importance is amplified in my viewpoint even more because he is one of the few Hollywood stars from the 1960s still working.

I was thrilled to learn late last year that Jerry was going to be honored at the 2009 Oscars telecast. Who could possibly be more deserving. Forty-four years of hosting his annual telethon to raise much needed funding in the fight to defeat Muscular Dystrophy, combined with seven decades of entertaining the world with his slapstick antics and, as the French and T. Gup truly believe, his comedic genius, earned him the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the February 22, 2009, presentation of the Oscars in Los Angeles.

Jerry Lewis received an honorary Oscar at the February 22, 2009, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' telecast. The "King of Comedy" was the most recent recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in honor of his more than 40 years raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Jack Weems Celebrates 91st Birthday!

Today is the 91st birthday of one of my favorite people, Jack Pershing Weems, the husband of my father's cousin Phyllis and the father of my cousin and best friend, Steve Weems. Jack, who grew up in Rockdale, Texas, is truly a family treasure. Phyllis's father, Phil Gupton, was the younger brother of my grandfather, S.M. "Buff" Gupton. Phil and Margaret Gupton lived next door to Buff and Eula Gupton at the end of Gupton Lane in West Columbia for the entirety of their married lives. And now my wife Peggy and I have inherited my grandparents' property and Steve and his wife Rhonda have inherited the adjoining property once owned by his grandfather. Together, Steve and I carry on that "Family Tradition" as neighbors, along with our individual extended families.

Many members of our extended families, as well as many close friends of Jack and Phyllis Weems, gathered at Steve and Rhonda's home this time last year to help Jack celebrate his 90th birthday. I had my camera with me at Jack's party and snapped lots of photos. In today's edition of my blog "The World According To Gup," in honor of my cousin Jack's 91st birthday, I share several of those pictures taken at last year's party. In the photo below the birthday boy addresses the crowd prior to opening his presents while his wife Phyllis, left, and his daughter Jackie Weems Jenkins, right, look on. And in the top photo my buddy Steve and his mother Phyllis listen intently as Jack displays his sharp mind and keen sense of humor, entertaining the family gathering with one of his humorous tales or jokes. I tip my hat to cousin Jack on his special day and thank him for making me laugh for half a century, taking me on numerous trips with his family when I was a kid, being an excellent role model as a husband, father, grandfather and man, but primarily for always making me feel like I was important in his life. "Important" cannot adequately describe what Jack Weems and his wife Phyllis have meant to me over the past 50 years. You, Jack, are the greatest! I love you.

Posing for a family portrait below are Margurite Gupton and two of her three sons, Ronnie Gupton, left, and Tommy Gupton. The Gupton family members were in attendance last September at the 90th birthday party for Jack Weems, the husband of Margurite's late husband's sister Phyllis Gupton Weems. Children of Phyllis's two deceased brothers, G.R. "Footsie" Gupton and Dr. J.W. Gupton, attended the party at the former home of Phyllis, Footsie and J.W.'s parents, Phil and Margaret Gupton, in West Columbia to honor their Uncle Jack.

Steve Weems, left, and his wife Rhonda hosted the 90th birthday get together for Steve's father Jack last September at their beautiful West Columbia home. Jack, who celebrates his 91st birthday today (September 5, 2009), looks over one of the many birthday cards he received at his party in the photo at right.

Talking over old times at the 2008 birthday party for Jack Weems are, in the photo above, cousins Tom Gupton, left, and Cody Gupton. Tom is the eldest son of Phyllis Weems' younger brother Dr. John W. Gupton while Cody is the eldest son of Phyllis's first cousin Rex Gupton.

In the photo above one of Jack and Phyllis Weems' great-grandchildren is pictured with his grandmother, Jack and Phyllis's daughter, Frances "Chug" King and her husband, Jack King. And in the photo below Jack Weems is pictured with his grandson, Stephen Hill, the eldest son of Mary and Clay Hill. Stephen was the ring bearer in my wedding in 1980 when he was a little boy. Steve Weems was my best man.

Two of Jack and Phyllis Weems' grandchildren who were in attendance at Jack's 90th birthday party last September were Megan Wallace Savant (pictured with her youngest child at left), the daughter of Margo Weems Wallace and Melvin Wallace, and Logan Hill, right, the son of Mary Weems Hill and Clay Hill.

Kelli Gupton Kuban, left, joins Rhonda Weems on the deck Steve and Rhonda added to the old family home on Gupton Lane where Phil and Margaret Gupton once lived. Kelli and Rhonda, who are cousins and coworkers at city hall in West Columbia, were observing the large family gathering held in September 2008 in honor of Jack Weems' 90th birthday.

Kathleen Gupton, left, and Jack Weems' daughter Frances "Chug" King enjoy each other's company at the September 2008 birthday party when Chug's father Jack Weems turned 90. Kathleen is the wife of Chug's first cousin Tommy Gupton.

In the photo above a couple of Gupton cowboys engage in a heated argument over which of them is the baddest outlaw in their family, Cody Gupton on the left and Billy Ralph Gupton on the right. The Gupton cousins gathered in September 2008 at the West Columbia home of Steve and Rhonda Weems to celebrate Steve's father's 90th birthday.

Samuel Morris Gupton: 1886 - 1961

On this day (August 30th) in 1961 my grandfather passed away at the age of 75 in West Columbia, Texas. I was only four years old when "Bussie" lost his battle with emphysema. He was born on February 9, 1886, and had operated a grocery store and meat market in first East Columbia and later in West Columbia. He was also the posmaster of West Columbia for many years but is remembered more by his family for being a wonderful father, grandfather and great-grandfather. In the top photo Samuel Morris "Buff" Gupton is shown near the end of his life with his wife Eula and my sister Kelly Renee Gupton, the youngest of Buff's nine grandchildren. Kelly was born March 22, 1960. He is also pictured holding the reins of a horse being ridden by my older brother Samuel Cody Gupton, who was named after our grandfather, and in another photo standing in his yard in West Columbia. The other photo is of a very young Samuel Morris Gupton. Bussie, you've been a long time gone, yet the memories of the love you displayed for your large family still burn vividly in the hearts of each of us. We loved you and still miss you dearly, our wonderful grandfather.

Samuel Morris "Buff" Gupton is pictured below at right, smoking cigars with his brother James Gupton and a friendly pooch. In the photo above my grandfather "Buff" Gupton is shown in his younger years riding a horse in West Columbia, Texas. Today, August 30, 2009, marks the 48th anniversary of the passing of my father's father.

Gup's Picks For '09 CHS Sports Hall Of Honor

Two years ago my alma mater, Columbia High School in my hometown of West Columbia, Texas, created a sports hall of honor to recognize the exploits of former Roughnecks greats in the field of athletics. A well-deserving group of athletes and coaches from the past were honored at halftime of a Roughnecks football game at Griggs Field in each of the past two seasons. I have submitted nominations of five former Roughnecks greats to be considered for induction in the sports hall of honor during the 2009 football season, which kicks off tonight when Columbia hosts Brazosport.

I have no idea who will be chosen for induction this season. There are many deserving of the honor, but in my opinion the 2009 Hall of Honor class should be comprised of former CHS football heroes Kenneth Boone, Gene Hernandez and Marcus Bonner, baseball pitcher Kurt Heble, and tennis star Clark Woodson III. I would love to see my father, Rex Gupton, who died at the age of 79 in 2001, included with his high school's sports elite one day. After all, Daddy played guard for three college football teams (Austin College, East Texas Baptist and Texas Lutheran) before and after World War II. But I don't feel comfortable nominating my own father. And, while Ken Boone is married to my cousin, at least he is not blood kin. So I nominated "Cousin Ken" sans any kind of guilty conscience. Hey, he's deserving!

The 1969 Roughnecks football team was the most successful in school history, reaching the state championship round in the playoffs under first year head coach Jack Hays. Charley Davis, Charley Johnson and assistant coach Charley Brand were honored the inaugural year of the school's new sports hall. Hays received the honor last season. Now, in my opinion, it's time for Hernandez to get in. He was a valuable member of that '69 football team that lost to Brownwood in the state championship game.

And Boone, pictured above on water skis in a photo taken from his senior yearbook, was a running back for the 1957 Roughnecks team that advanced to the state semifinals where Brady High School defeated the 'Necks 20-6 when West Columbia was a 2A team. That was Ken's junior year. The '57 Roughnecks whipped Sam Houston High School of San Antonio 46-6 in the quarterfinals after having edged Mercedes 7-6 in regional and beating Deer Park 23-6 in bi-district. So, prior to the '69 team advancing all the way to the state championship game, the success of the '57 Roughnecks was the best the West Columbia high school had experienced.

Ken Boone lettered in football three years and was a co-captain his senior year in 1958. He lettered in baseball and basketball four years and lettered in track his junior and senior years. He was the epitome of the versatile all-around athlete during his four years at West Columbia High School. Thus, Ken was voted "Best All Around Senior Boy" by his classmates.

In the district track meet his senior year Ken Boone came in second in both the 100-yard dash and the 440-yard relay and was fourth in both the shotput and the mile relay. His junior year Ken also placed in the 100-yard dash, 440-yard relay and the shotput.

While Ken Boone was voted honorable mention all state as a running back in football his senior year and made all district and all county as a senior, he would probably say his junior year was more memorable. In addition to earning all district and all county honors on a Roughnecks football team that was a quarterfinals champion in 1957, Ken starred on Columbia's basketball team that finished 14-7 and were champions of District 26-AA for the 1957-58 school year.

His senior year Ken played on the Roughnecks baseball team that won a district championship and was the featured ball carrier on the football team that was 4-3-2 the year after Coach E.S. Golson's team came one win shy of earning a berth in the state championship game.

Kenneth Boone played college football at Rice University, TCU and Tulsa. Gene Hernandez was a standout defensive back at TCU and Marcus Bonner was an exciting kick returner and dual-threat carrying and catching the football out of Texas A&I's backfield.

Ken Boone coached football in the Columbia-Brazoria school district for the past nine years but will not be patrolling the sidelines at Roughnecks and Roustabouts football games this season. His wife, my cousin Peggy Lou Gupton Boone, told me this week that Ken will be coaching only boys track and girls volleyball at West Brazos Junior High during the 2009-2010 school year. Like his high school teammate Dennis Gaubatz, who played middle linebacker for the Lions and Colts in the NFL for seven seasons, Ken has had both knees replaced in recent years and is unable to cope with all of the standing around football coaches have to deal with.

Current West Brazos Junior High coach Kenneth Boone is pictured at right in the photo below with, from left, assistant coach Holmes Ellisor, Allan Sassin and head coach E.S. Golson, during his senior year in high school. Both Boone and Sassin were named all county football players for the 1958 season.

The first class of inductees into the Columbia High School Sports Hall of Honor included the four former Roughnecks who played in the National Football League. James Ray Smith of the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys, Dennis Gaubatz of the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Colts, Charley Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings, and Charley Davis of the Cincinnati Bengals were all honored by their former high school two years ago. Now I would like to see Columbia High honor a pair of former Roughnecks who came close to being NFL players. Gene Hernandez was an eleventh round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1975 NFL draft, and Marcus Bonner played professionally in the United States Football League with the San Antonio Gunslingers.

Hernandez was cut by the 49ers prior to the start of the 1975 NFL season. During a conversation I had with Gene at a West Columbia restaurant earlier this year he told me that he also tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1976 but wasn't able to survive the Chiefs' roster cuts either. He was the 270th college player taken in the 1975 draft, going to the 49ers in Round 11.

As a junior at Columbia High, Gene Hernandez played alongside future pro football players Charley Johnson and Charley Davis on the Roughnecks team that lost to Brownwood 34-16 in the 1969 Class 3A state championship game. In his senior season in 1970 Gene was an all state defensive back, earning a football scholarship to Texas Christian University. Now 56 years old, Gene Hernandez is, in my estimation, very deserving of induction as part of the 2009 Columbia High School Sports Hall of Honor class. Equally deserving in the world according to Gup to join this year's group of inductees is former Roughnecks running back Marcus Bonner. And, although neither is related to me like Kenneth Boone, both Gene Hernandez and Marcus Bonner are friends of mine . . . and that should count for something! In fact, it's all that matters in "The World According To Gup."

Marcus was an outstanding running back and kick returner for the Texas A&I Javelinas from 1979 through 1981. Texas A&I, now known as Texas A&M-Kingsville, was the champion of the Lone Star Conference in 1979 when Marcus Bonner played football for the Javelinas. A&I was 12-1 that season (6-1 in LSC play) under head coach Ron Harms. The former Roughneck is still tied for the Lone Star Conference record for the longest punt return, Bonner having returned a punt 100 yards for a touchdown against Northern Arizona in 1980. And Marcus was the LSC annual scoring leader in 1980 when he scored 78 points that season.

Marcus Bonner played professionally in the USFL as a running back and kick returner for the San Antonio Gunslingers in the early 1980s. He went to training camp with the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL following the USFL closing up shop after the 1984 season.

Gene Hernandez led the Southwest Conference in interceptions in 1973 when he picked off seven passes while roaming the secondary for the TCU Horned Frogs. Five players were tied for second behind the former Roughneck with four interceptions each that season. Yet Gene had to settle for second team defense on the All-SWC team in 1973.

In "Dave Campbell's Texas Football" magazine released prior to the start of the 1974 college football season, Gene was listed at 6'1", weighing 175 pounds. He was the starting left cornerback his senior year at TCU. First year head coach Jim Shofner stated in "Texas Football" that year that Gene "is well-suited to the new four-deep arrangement" Shofner was implementing for the Horned Frogs defense.

"He's outstanding, a natural athlete," TCU secondary coach Junior Wren said of Hernandez in the 1974 edition of Dave Campbell's annual football magazine. "That's why he's at the corner, where the pressure is." I watched my fellow West Columbian play several football games on TV when he was at TCU and was so very impressed that somebody I actually knew was doing so well on the college level.

Gene Hernandez (with helmet on backwards) is pictured in the 1971 Gusher yearbook cutting up in the locker room with Roughnecks teammates, from left, Gary Sims, Charlie Scott and Mark Kirksey. Hernandez was a member of the only Roughnecks football team to play in a state championship game.

Marcus Bonner, wearing number twenty in the photo below taken from the 1977 Gusher yearbook, is pictured with Coach Charles Forehand at right and surrounded by Gary Phillips (83) and Danny Carpenter (60) as the trio of Roughnecks leave the field in a 1976 football game.

Marcus was the recipient of the Marvin Gray Award, given each year to the Roughnecks most valuable player in football, based on his outstanding performance during the 1976 season. He also contributed greatly to the success of the 1975 Roughnecks during his junior year. The Roughnecks defeated intracounty rival Brazosport 7-3 in the Houston Astrodome to claim the district championship in 1975. At that time the district was divided into two zones; Columbia was the winner of one zone and Brazosport won the other. Quarterback Marshall Edwards' long pass to speedster Carl Williams for the only touchdown of the game proved to be the winning score in that Astrodome matchup 34 years ago, as the Roughnecks' defense limited the Exporters to a field goal. That game under the big top in H-town remains vivid in my memory and will go down as one of the greatest Columbia High School playoff victories of all time.

Trey Woodson was one of five state tennis champions Columbia High School could boast about during Charlie Brand's tenure as the Roughnecks varsity tennis coach. Bobby Farmer was the first, in 1962, to win a state singles championship representing the Roughnecks. He was followed by Van Manning in 1976, Joe Langner in 1978, Trey in 1985 and Kelly Hay in 1991. In 1986 Trey Woodson's younger brother Clint advanced all the way to the finals but lost in the championship round. Each of these state champions who played tennis at Columbia High School under Coach Brand is equally deserving of induction into the local high school's sports hall of honor. But for 2009 I have suggested Clark Woodson III of West Columbia for the honor.

Clark, who currently is an attorney in Angleton, and his brother Clint are two young men I have known since they were both small children. They used to live next door to my parents' feed store in West Columbia and would often come in the store when I was working there as a teenager. I used to push the two little Woodson brothers around the feed store on the dolly that we used to haul stacks of feed and fertilizer out to the customers' trucks. They are the nephews of Gilbert Jones, one of my closest friends from my high school days at CHS. I still call them "Trey" and "Clincy," nicknames from their childhood days when they were my "little buddies" at the feed store. Clark, obviously, was called "Trey" because he is Clark Woodson the third.

Trey Woodson followed up his outstanding high school tennis career, capped by taking the boys singles state championship in 1985, by playing tennis at Southwest Texas State University. He was named to the all-conference squad his freshman and sophomore years as a Bobcat tennis player, and was later the tennis pro at Columbia Lakes for a couple years while pursuing his law degree.

Kurt Heble and his twin brother Kevin were playing baseball for coach Bobby Tosch on the Roughnecks varsity team when I was the editor of The Brazoria County News. I had the privilege to watch the Heble twins excel firsthand at Renfro Field in West Columbia when I covered the Roughnecks games for the local newspaper. Both Heble brothers were top notch baseball players in high school so, like the Woodson brothers in tennis, it is almost unthinkable to nominate one brother over the other for the sports hall of honor. It would be great if both sets of brothers (the Woodsons and Hebles) could be inducted in the same year. But, for the sake of a numbers game and an attempt to limit my suggestions to the handful of deserving nominees I have selected, I will save Kevin Heble and Clint Woodson for future years.

Kurt Heble was born February 9, 1969, and first played college baseball at Lee College in Baytown once his high school baseball days in West Columbia had ended. He later transferred to McNeese State to continue his college baseball career. Kurt was the 875th player selected in the 1991 amateur entry draft of major league baseball teams, picked by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 33rd round.

The 6'3", 205-pound righthander was 22 years old when he was drafted by the Jays in 1991. Kurt launched his professional career as a member of the St. Catherines Blue Jays of the New York-Pennsylvania League in 1991, pitching and playing first base in the South Atlantic League at Myrtle Beach in 1992, and splitting time in 1993 between Dunedin in the Florida State League and Knoxville. He pitched for Knoxville, the Blue Jays' double-A affiliate, during the entire 1994 season. And in 1995 Kurt Heble pitched for both Knoxville and the Jays' triple-A team, the Syracuse Chiefs.

Among the highlights of Kurt's pro career was getting to pitch to Michael Jordan when the Chicago Bulls multiple MVP winner decided to step away from the NBA to pursue his dream of playing major league baseball. I recall watching the former Roughnecks star pitch to Jordan on television when the national media was following MJ around minor league baseball parks.

And, until Jared Wells of Brazoria (a 2000 Columbia High graduate and classmate of my son Brian Gupton) pitched for both San Diego and Seattle during the 2008 baseball season, I don't believe any other Roughnecks product other than Kurt Heble and Wells advanced as high as triple-A in pursuing their dreams of being a major league baseball player. I remember Dexter Tielke of West Columbia pitching in the Baltimore Orioles' minor league system in the 1960s but I was only a child then and have no knowledge of how high up the ladder Dexter climbed during his minor league career.

According to a little research I did on the internet recently, I came up with the following statistics on Kurt Heble's minor league career. In his five years in the Toronto Blue Jays' farm system, Kurt won 18 games and lost 16. He was being groomed to one day be a major league closer. In the 170 professional games Kurt Heble pitched in he threw 226 innings, allowing 212 hits, 15 home runs, 101 earned runs, striking out 204 batters and walking 128. His career ERA in the minor leagues was 4.02 and he recorded 13 saves while finishing 46 games on the mound.

He capped his pro career by pitching in four games in 1995 for triple-A Syracuse, striking out five and walking two in four and two-thirds innings of work for the Chiefs. For these accomplishments in the Blue Jays' farm system, and based on my memories of watching him play baseball in high school, I recommend Kurt Heble be inducted into the Roughnecks Sports Hall of Honor in 2009.

Former Roughneck pitcher Kurt Heble, pictured above with his wife Holly in a recent photo, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays and pitched for five years in the major league baseball team's minor league system. Kurt is among my recommendations for this year's Columbia High School sports hall of honor.

Mets Call Up Cousin Lance To Bigs

The New York Mets announced Wednesday (August 26, 2009) that they have recalled righthanded pitcher Lance Broadway from their triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. Broadway, the grandson of my mother Verna Giesler Gupton's sister Yvonne Giesler Broadway, was 5-7 with a 6.27 ERA in 16 games and 14 starts with the Buffalo Bisons. He struck out 41 and walked 34 while allowing 59 earned runs to score in 84 and two-thirds innings pitched in his time with the Bisons. Broadway was victorious on Monday as he allowed just two runs in 5.1 innings of work in the Herd's 7-2 win in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Broadway also pitched a complete game with Buffalo on July 8 when he allowed just one run in nine innings in a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees' triple-A team at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The former first round pick out of Texas Christian University in the 2005 June First Year Player Draft, was acquired from the Chicago White Sox on May 29, 2009, in exchange for Mets backup catcher Ramon Castro. In eight games with the White Sox this season, he posted a 0-1 record with a 5.06 ERA (nine earned runs allowed in 16 innings). The 6-3, 195-pound hurler, who is the son of my first cousin Lynn Broadway and his first wife Toni, began the season with Charlotte (the White Sox's triple-A club), going 0-2 with a 5.63ERA (10 earned runs allowed in 16 innings) before being recalled by the White Sox on April 25.