Rockdale,TX Class of 1965
Rockdale TX Sports Hall of Honor
Honoring past athletes from Rockdale High School and Aycock High School
Thanks to the Rockdale Reporter, Mike Brown, Editor for permission to use these articles and photos
Rockdale Reporter - Established 1893
Rockdale Reporter - Established 1893
Visit the Reporter at http://www.rockdalereporter.com
2009
Rockdale
Sports
Hall of
Honor
Sports
Hall of
Honor
2009
Rockdale
Sports
Hall
of Honor
Sports
Hall
of Honor
The Reporter has some great pictures of the ceremonies on-line
Rockdale Reporter, October 29, 2009
Honored by them all
14 more Tiger legends take their places in sports shrine
The venue was new, but the theme was an old one—every single honoree left an indelible imprint on Rockdale athletics.
Fourteen new members were in the third class to be enshrined in the Rockdale Sports Hall of Honor Friday in the commons area of the new high school.
There are now 42 former athletes in the Hall of Honor and for the first time have taken their permanent home in the concourse area of the new Rockdale gymnasium.
As is the tradition, the honorees were introduced before the Rockdale-Caldwell football game and sat together in a special section in the end zone.
The first person to be enshrined Friday night was former Rockdale Reporter publisher and Tiger athlete Bill Cooke, who was completely oblivious to the fact that he was part of the program (see column left).
It was kept a secret because Cooke is on the selection committee and would have objected to his being a nominee.
“My job was to cover the news, not make it,” Cooke said. “That’s what I’ve always preached. Apparently it didn’t take. They must have lowered the criteria to let me in.”
Dr. Fannie Lovelady, the only Aycock graduate inducted, was shocked by her inclusion.
“I never believed I would be remembered for my athletics,” said Lovelady, who was also a talented singer in her day.
All-state lineman Ernie Wayne Laurence followed his father, legendary coach Ernie Laurence, and brother Donnie Laurence into the hall Friday evening.
“I’m glad I wasn’t just remembered for breaking (teammate and fellow honoree) Ronny Menn’s leg,” he joked.
Dr. Copie Perry noted the skill level of his teammates.
“I played with some really, really fine athletes,” said Perry, a state champion hurdler. “You just don’t know how proud I am to say Rockdale is my hometown.”
Master of ceremonies Mike Brown introduced all-state linebacker Richard Kubiak, and congratulated him on becoming a dentist after knocking out so many people’s teeth, now he was helping to fix them.
“When I think of all the tremendous athletes that have come through here... it makes this even more special,” Kubiak said. “Those before us paved the way. We knew what we had to do to live up to what they had done before us.
“I’d like to accept this award for all those who aren’t here tonight,” said Kubiak, who joins
his brother L.B. in the Hall of Honor.
The class of 1968 led the inductees with four, with Vernon Guest, Mike Speer, H. Earl Marion and Glen Chmelar.
Speedster Vernon Guest didn’t take the news of his induction very seriously.
“I thought it was a joke,” he said. “To go in with three of the greatest athletes in RHS history — Mike, Chmelar, H. Earl — I’ll cherish this for the rest of my life.”
“Growing up here, you look up to these guys,” said a choked up Speer, who played football at the University of Texas. “You never think of yourself as being on that level.
“And all those coaches we had back then, they were all of one cloth,” he said. “Not only did they want us to be a better athlete, but a better person.”
“It’s not about Mike Speer — it’s about Rockdale and the people here. I’m the turtle on the fence post, he had a lot of help getting there.”
Marion heaped praise upon his teammates.
“I’d like to thank my offensive line that year,” he said. “They did some things that I don’t know how they did it.”
Marion brought probably the most unusual guest with him, Archie Bennett of Seguin who helped hand the 1967 team their only loss of the season. They were teammates at Blinn.
Two-way all-state lineman Glen Chmelar, who later starred at Baylor, fought back the tears.
“Mike Speer and I are known as the crybabies,” he said. “But tears are a reflection of the heart.
“Our coaches made an impact on my life because I could have gone either way, positive or negative. They helped me get a college scholarship. It all started right here.”
Chmelar then presented master of ceremonies Brown with a 12-roll package of toilet paper, admitting that he stole some toilet paper from the school when he was in school to toilet paper a coach’s house.
“This is accrued interest for the role I stole.”
Deceased inductee Ronnie Heflin was represented by his widow Karen.
Samaji Akili (Sammy Williams), who is a coach in Canada, was represented by his uncle, Fred Hoyle, Jr.
2009
Rockdale
Sports
Hall of
Honor
Sports
Hall of
Honor
There’s something funny going on here
Bill Martin, Sports Editor,
Rockdale Reporter, October 29, 2009
You may have noticed in our Hall of Honor story in this week’s edition, that there was an honoree’s name that
had not previously appeared in print.
It wasn’t a mistake, it was done on purpose.
Last spring, the honor committee decided that Reporter publisher Bill Cooke was worthy of induction in the hall, if not for his athletic accomplishments, but for promoting what’s good about Tiger athletics for the past 50 years.
The only quandary was, how do you keep it a secret from a trained newshound for six months? Especially when he is on the actual committee?
It wasn’t easy.
First off, the committee met a half an hour earlier than usual—without telling him of course.
His family was notified so they could make plans to be in attendance, but were sworn to secrecy.
We took odds on which family member would spill the beans first and the former cheerleader
— his daughter Kathy — was the odds on favorite, just ahead of his grandson Will.
The most diffi cult of the clandestine operations was trying to print the actual banquet programs with him in it and without him seeing it.
That fell on the shoulders of Reporter printing experts Sammy Summers and Cliff Dungan.
Bill is so excited about the Hall of Honor that he pays particular attention to the programs.
He wants everything to be perfect and he wants to see them as soon as they slide off the presses.
That in itself presented a problem.
So, when it came time to print the programs a couple of weeks ago, Sam and Cliff made several copies of a fake program— without Bill in it—and stacked them on his desk and hoped he wouldn’t ask for any additional copies.
When it came time to print the actual programs, that became a duplicitous operation that resembled the tunnel digging scenes in the classic war movie, The Great Escape.
Should Bill show up unannounced, there was a series of check points and signals to announce his arrival.
Watch outs were posted in strategical spots, trash can lids were switched, noses were tweaked, Morris codes were tapped out on the floor.
Last Monday at our weekly breakdown of the previous game, Jeff Miller asked me if I thought he knew something
was up.
I answered with an emphatic no.
“I know he doesn’t know anything because if he did, he would try to put a stop to it.”
When I asked master of ceremonies Mike Brown who was going to be responsible for keeping him from running
out of the building when his name was announced, I was informed it was me.
The secret society worked, he never knew a thing and his entire family, including his grandkids, got to see him go in the hall.
So, if I were to use today’s vernacular, I’d say, “Bill Cooke, you just got punked!”
But in this case, no one got hurt.
Bill Martin, Sports Editor,
Rockdale Reporter, October 29, 2009
You may have noticed in our Hall of Honor story in this week’s edition, that there was an honoree’s name that
had not previously appeared in print.
It wasn’t a mistake, it was done on purpose.
Last spring, the honor committee decided that Reporter publisher Bill Cooke was worthy of induction in the hall, if not for his athletic accomplishments, but for promoting what’s good about Tiger athletics for the past 50 years.
The only quandary was, how do you keep it a secret from a trained newshound for six months? Especially when he is on the actual committee?
It wasn’t easy.
First off, the committee met a half an hour earlier than usual—without telling him of course.
His family was notified so they could make plans to be in attendance, but were sworn to secrecy.
We took odds on which family member would spill the beans first and the former cheerleader
— his daughter Kathy — was the odds on favorite, just ahead of his grandson Will.
The most diffi cult of the clandestine operations was trying to print the actual banquet programs with him in it and without him seeing it.
That fell on the shoulders of Reporter printing experts Sammy Summers and Cliff Dungan.
Bill is so excited about the Hall of Honor that he pays particular attention to the programs.
He wants everything to be perfect and he wants to see them as soon as they slide off the presses.
That in itself presented a problem.
So, when it came time to print the programs a couple of weeks ago, Sam and Cliff made several copies of a fake program— without Bill in it—and stacked them on his desk and hoped he wouldn’t ask for any additional copies.
When it came time to print the actual programs, that became a duplicitous operation that resembled the tunnel digging scenes in the classic war movie, The Great Escape.
Should Bill show up unannounced, there was a series of check points and signals to announce his arrival.
Watch outs were posted in strategical spots, trash can lids were switched, noses were tweaked, Morris codes were tapped out on the floor.
Last Monday at our weekly breakdown of the previous game, Jeff Miller asked me if I thought he knew something
was up.
I answered with an emphatic no.
“I know he doesn’t know anything because if he did, he would try to put a stop to it.”
When I asked master of ceremonies Mike Brown who was going to be responsible for keeping him from running
out of the building when his name was announced, I was informed it was me.
The secret society worked, he never knew a thing and his entire family, including his grandkids, got to see him go in the hall.
So, if I were to use today’s vernacular, I’d say, “Bill Cooke, you just got punked!”
But in this case, no one got hurt.
Fannie Lovelady, an Aycock standout and Ernie Wayne Laurence of the legendary Laurence brothers swap stories at the third annual Rockdale Hall of Honor ceremonies Friday held at the high school
Bill Cooke
‘HALL OF A GOOD TIME’—Jimmy Keen (standing) shares a laugh with former RHS running back Robert Brady (L), and H. Earl Marion, a 1968 Tiger star who was inducted into the Rockdale Sports Hall of Honor during a Friday ceremony. Keen is on the selection committee.
Art Copie Perry Eddie Grubbs
Bill Cooke Richard Kubiak Fannie Lovelady Spain Ernie Wayne Laurence Barbara Young
Sue Jean Bennett Glen Chmelar Mike Speer H. Earl Marion Vernon Guest
.