Man Steal Recyclables From City of Baytown Under Our Collective Nose

Trash and recycle container are easy pickings for passing aluminum scroungers.

There was a man on the street this morning who lives in my subdivision. He wears a straw hat and walks around with no shirt on. He had a big bag of cans on his shoulder that he filled from the recycle bins which we all put out. 

 I told him he was stealing from the city. He said he was recycling. I told him I realized that, but all of the people in the neighborhood are recycling to help the city and the money he is getting is going in HIS pocket, not the city's. He walked off and said he basically is going to continue. It really angered me that I am recycling to fill this guys pockets. I want him to explain to the police how he is justifying doing this and I called it in.

As a friend explained to me: "At the very least it should be a fine for stealing from the city."

If this guy (and he is the second one I've seen doing this in Chaparral Village) were to go down to the recycle center and load up a bag of cans and then sell them, folks would be outraged, but he is basically doing just that. My recycling efforts make me an unpayed employee of this guy. 

It can be argued that he is actually working and since he is recycling, what harm can it do?  

Well, first off, I could recycle my own aluminum and put the money in my pocket, but I choose to give it to the city that I am trying to help.  This guy is simply a bum who lets all of chumps do his work for him, in my opinion. 

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Old San Jacinto Hospital on Decker Drive

San Jacinto Memorial Hospital stands on a hill on Decker Drive and looks like a place the Munsters would inhabit.

 Here is the sad demise of a once beautiful building and hospital.  The old and abandoned San Jacinto (Methodist) Memorial Hospital on Decker Drive in Baytown, Texas.  It was built in 1947 by W. S. Bellows and donated to the city of Baytown by Humble Oil, now Exxon-Mobil.  It was to honor those who served in World War Two, but I guess that is gone with the building.

The once proud building now houses vagrants.

At the front door is barren planter.  Well, not completely barren, as it has empty whiskey and beer containers, and refuse.  The grass is over-grown, windows are busted out and mosquitoes swarmed me when I tried to get close enough for photographs.

San Jacinto Memorial Hospital was built to honor WW II Veterans.

Some of the comments made concerning the photos I took are these:

- MAN THAT LOOKS LIKE A WAR ZONE...
- That place certainly has major creepy vibes! When we got the geocache there, I couldn't wait to leave! 
- So sad to see it in such bad shape.
- Is someone living in there? Why they keep knocking out more windows? Sad nothing was done with this building.. wud hv been great loft apts even with the GHOSTS that call it home. That hosp had the only morgue in this area. Even when it was a hospice....the strange noises and sitings in the basement are legend. My daughter worked down in the pharmacy during hospice times....LOTS of stories...and people who refused to go back.. but to just let it crumble...with the weather thru broken windows...is a shame...  

At the entrance are empty whiskey bottles, trash, beer cans, and debris.

- Shame on San Jac and City....
- City council would rather the city fall down around us.
- Well it is unsafe....not/boarded up...no/telling what or/whom is going on in there...but it wud hv to be one brave person to be in there after dark.. COULDN'T PAY me to walk around in there.. I am telling u some weird stuff happens....maybe that cud be the attraction and people come for miles to get scared the crap out of u..
- Bet they don't hang around long after dark....NURSES use to refuse parts of that bldg. When it was hospice, there was a cat....and right before someone passed away...the cat would go lay with them. Even the Drs were noticing and paying attn to the cat... I still think loft apts wouldd be great... dang bldg withstood many a hurricane.

Mosquitoes swarmed me when I approached the building to take photographs and I waded through knee deep grass.

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WESTCOAST DONUTS honors Ken Pridgeon

I was chatting with my old Air Force buddy, Ken "the Dauber" Pridgeon this morning and he informed me that West Coast Donuts on Decker Drive was blessing him this morning with a donation from the sale of "Freedom" donuts they sell.  You may remember the story by Jane Lee from the Baytown Sun back in June of this year.

Ken "the Dauber" Pridgeon, Sophan and Sokunthea Som, and Scott Sheley

 I met Ken at the West Coast Donut shop and enjoyed a cruller or two and in walks city councilman Scott Sheley, who I enjoy very much.  He was there for the presentation of a two hundred and fifty dollar check to Ken by the owner of the shop.  He invited me to join their little group at the shop each Saturday morning at 9 am, where he claims "they figure things out", if I remember correctly.  He insinuated I could add to their mental stockpile of facts and interesting stories.

Sophan Som and Scott (the handsome one) Sheley talk about the future of Texas Avenue and the gallery of Heroes.

 The owners of this shop, husband and wife Sophan and Sokunthea Som have been very supportive of the projects on Texas Avenue, the restoration of the Brunson Theater and now, the Gallery of Heroes according to councilman Sheley(who asked to be referred to as "the handsome one" by the way and it was a pleasant experience altogether.
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Portrait of a Warrior (Texas Country Reporter)

Mean Gene Kelton R.I.P.

Mean Gene Kelton's beautiful head stone designed by his wife, Joni Kelton

I was honored to receive an invitation to the dedication of the gravestone and final resting place of Sidney Eugene Kelton, better known in the Blues world as Mean Gene Kelton.  His wife Joni is a friend of mine, as was Gene, and I had to make it a priority to be there.

An intimate group of family and friends dared the threat of lightning and thunder for a small service

 My friend Elke Meyer informed me Joni designed the graphics and text for the grave stone and I must say, I’ve never seen anything so wonderful.  I was part of an intimate group of maybe fifty other people and we gathered under the rain-laden clouds, as the gods of lightning and thunder hailed a final goodbye to Mean Gene.

Mean Gene Kelton at Roseland Park for the Save Our Bayou Rally

 It was a fitting tribute to the man some knew as “too white to play the blues” and others, the hot-lick blues guitarist from Baytown, Texas.  I have his CD’s and listen to them often and it’s a shame, but honestly, I didn’t realize the man was as good as he was until after his untimely death on the 28^th of December, 2010.  It was evident to me how wounded this group of people are over his passing.

Joni Kelton and family at dedication service

 KPFT (90.1) Public radio regularly plays his music and often, I’ve never heard the song, but no one has to tell me who I am listening to.  Along with his band, the Die Hards, they have a very distinctive powerful guitar and lyrics ranging from emotional to earthy.  If you grew up in Baytown back in the heydays of Goose Creek, you remember “Cruisin’ Texas Avenue", a Mean Gene staple.

A very diverse group of fans, friends, and family attended and exchanged stories.

 Self-described as a performing "black leather blues and redneck rock 'n roll” no doubt Gene Kelton will become the legend in death he deserved in life.  In his honor, I created a geocache close to his grave so people can use their GPSr units to find his grave site, as it is way out in the East Texas woods in Pine Valley Cemetery, near Pumpkin, Texas.  I also created a geocaching “Challenge”, which people who play this hi-tech game of hide and seek can complete if they take their own photo with Mean Gene’s headstone in the background.

Emotions ran high as the grave stone was dedicated in the old cemetery

 Last, I built a page on the web site Find a Grave, so those interested in genealogy can find his marker.  Thank you my friend Joni Kelton for allowing me into your inner circle and may God bless Mean Gene, his band - the Die Hards, fans, friends, and family.