Sibling Saturday: 1965

Karen (age 7), sitting in Dad's rocking chair and holding Mary (age 1) and a Raggedy Ann doll; Mark (age 5) holding a football, and Brian (age 3) in front.  Christmas 1965, at 8015 Sharpview, Houston, Texas.


© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Face From the Past: RPTS Stories - RP Club Friends, 1989-2006

I've been sharing a number of stories recently here in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS) Department at Texas A&M University.  This isn't an "RPTS story" per se, because it's not about events or activities that occurred in that department. 

Rather, this is the last in a series of some postings of "RPTS stories" about what happened afterwards - the lifelong friendships made and the fun meet-ups former members of the Recreation and Parks (RP) Club and I had over the following years, in places all over the state and country.  

While I lived in Washington state (late 1985 until early 2006), I didn't see my RP friends as much.  When I did, though, it was often with our growing families.

The pictures below were taken in Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Euless, Texas; Houston, Texas; and Stephenville, Texas; between 1989 and 2006.  You'll notice that our children are a big part of the pictures:

Above:  A get-together in Portland, Oregon, with our kids.  The adults from the left are Wilfred Korth '79, Barbara Dennis (not RP), Mark B. (not RP), Amanda Pape '78, Karen Bellinghausen '79 and Cody Jetton '79.  At the time, Amanda lived in the Seattle area, Cody and Karen in the Portland area, and Wilfred's in-laws were living in Portland.  Spring 1992.

Below:  Amanda Pape '78, her son Eric Bolme, and Josetta Hawthorne '80 in Seattle, April 1989.  Josetta (who was also a high school classmate) was there with the Discovery Channel.

Above:  Amanda Pape '78 and Mark Gray '76 in Euless, Texas, Spring 1999.

Below:  Wilfred Korth '79 in Houston, Texas, Spring 1999.  Wilfred was visiting from his position as Chief Ranger at Coleto Creek Park and Reservoir, part of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority.

Above:  Josetta Hawthorne '80 and daughter Laynna at their home in Houston, August 31, 2004.  At that time, Josetta was (and still is) executive director of the Council for Environmental Education.

Below:  It's a small world sometimes - I came to Tarleton State University in July 2006, only to learn that Jim Pack '78, my former right-hand man (I was 1977-78 RP Club president, he was vice-president) was already at Tarleton as its director of facilities maintenance!  This photo was taken at a new faculty reception on September 12, 2006.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: TAMU RPTS Stories - My Favorite T-Shirt

I've been sharing a number of stories recently here in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS) Department at Texas A&M University.  This isn't an "RPTS story" per se, because it's not about events or activities that occurred in that department. Instead, it's about t-shirts.

I have saved a bunch of t-shirts from my college years, and plan to have them (and other t-shirts commemorating later special events in my life) made into a quilt some day.  Most of the shirts related to the Recreation and Parks Club (as it was called back then) at A&M were actually shirts commemorating particular events or conferences - like TRAPS (Texas Recreation and Parks Society) or STRAPS (Student Texas Recreation and Park Society), or ones RPTS hosted like AIN (Association of Interpretive Naturalists).

The year I was RP Club president (1977-78), we sold some iron-on decals for t-shirts for $1 each.  As I recall, there were three designs - one for the department itself (nearly identical to the one shown just below, except the blue and green were different shades), one for the club (as pictured below), and one with the old "Welcome to Aggieland" metal water tower that had been part of campus until it was torn down in late 1975.

I still have two of the three shirts.  Here's the front of the one where I applied the club decal.  As you can see, iron-on decals don't hold up as well as today's screen-printed t-shirts - especially when they are worn and laundered as much as mine was:

And here is what was added to the back of mine, with iron-on letters and numbers:

"Wonder Woman" was a name I picked up while working as a volunteer at the 9th RMI (Recreation Management Institute) hosted by RPTS in March 1977.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: TAMU RPTS Stories - RP Club Friends, 1984

I've been sharing a number of stories recently here in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS) Department at Texas A&M University.  This isn't an "RPTS story" per se, because it's not about events or activities that occurred in that department. 

Rather, the next few postings of "RPTS stories" will be about what happened afterwards - the lifelong friendships made and the fun meet-ups former members of the Recreation and Parks (RP) Club and I had over the following years, in places all over the state and country.  

The year 1984 was my last in Texas for a while.  I'd moved up within the City of Corpus Christi to the Budget Office.  I'd gotten married the year before and my husband and I moved to his home state of Washington, leaving in mid-October.  Before then, though, I had a few get-togethers with my friends:

Below:  Peggy Cook '80 and Amanda Pape '78 - Peggy was visiting Amanda in Corpus Christi from her then-home in Florida.  Summer 1984.

Cody Jetton '79 (above) and Wilfred Korth '79 (below) at a get-together at Wilfred's home between Victoria and Coleto Creek Park and Reservoir, where Wilfred was a park ranger.  Summer 1984.

Elida and Dale Zuck '79 (above) and Karen Bellinghausen '79 (below) at a get-together at the home of Wilfred Korth between Victoria, Texas, and Coleto Creek Park and Reservoir, where Dale was a park ranger.  Summer 1984.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Pape Girls, Summer 1966

A very overexposed picture of my sisters Karen (age 8), Mary (age 2), and me (age 9) in the summer of 1966, on the driveway of our house at 8015 Sharpview in Houston, Texas.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: TAMU RPTS Stories - RP Club Friends, 1982-3

I've been sharing a number of stories recently here in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS) Department at Texas A&M University.  This isn't an "RPTS story" per se, because it's not about events or activities that occurred in that department. 

Rather, the next few postings of "RPTS stories" will be about what happened afterwards - the lifelong friendships made and the fun meet-ups former members of the Recreation and Parks (RP) Club and I had over the following years, in places all over the state and country.  

By 1982, I was no longer working directly in parks and recreation.  In October of the previous year, I had moved to the City of Corpus Christi's Information Services Office.  I still kept in touch with my old friends, though, many of whom were still in the field.  Like this time:

Below:  RP Club Reunion at Lake Somerville State Park, September 6, 1982.  Left to right:  Amanda Pape '78,  Cody Jetton '79, Mark B. (not RP), Karen Bellinghausen '79, Glen Korth '81, Peggy Cook '80, Steve Holland (MS '79, PhD '85), Dale Zuck '79, and Wilfred Korth '79.  At this point, Amanda was with the City of Corpus Christi Information Services Office; Cody, Karen, Steve, and Peggy were all in graduate school at Texas A&M; Wilfred and Dale were park rangers at Coleto Creek Park and Reservoir with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, and Glen was a park ranger at Lake Somerville State Park's Birch Creek Unit.

Wilfred Korth '79 and Cody Jetton '79 (above); and Dale Zuck '79 and Peggy Cook '80 (below), looking at photos from 1976 through 1981; at a get-together at Lake Somerville State Park on September 6, 1982.

Above:  Dale Zuck '79 brought his sailboat, and took Cody Jetton '79 out in it on Lake Somerville.

Below:  Amanda Pape '78 and Cody Jetton '79 at the RP get-together, September 6, 1982.

Above:  Lynn Timken '79, Debbie Bishop '79, and Amanda Pape '78 at Amanda's apartment in Corpus Christi, Texas, May 1983.  Lynn was visiting from Keystone, Colorado, where she was working with the ski resort there; Debbie was with the Victoria YMCA, and Amanda had just been promoted to the City of Corpus Christi Budget Office.

Below:  Lynn, Amanda, and Debbie clown around in the next four pictures.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Wedding Wednesday: TAMU RPTS Stories - RP Club Friends, 1980-81

I've been sharing a number of stories recently here in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS) Department at Texas A&M University.  This isn't an "RPTS story" per se, because it's not about events or activities that occurred in that department. 

Rather, the next few postings of "RPTS stories" will be about what happened afterwards - the lifelong friendships made and the fun get-togethers former members of the Recreation and Parks (RP) Club and I had over the following years.

Three weddings among five of my RP Club friends occurred between September 1980 and June 1981. Other RP Club friends (and myself) were bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, and members of the house parties.  Here are some pictures:


Below:    Josetta Hawthorne '80 and house party member Amanda Pape '78 at the wedding reception for Peggy Cook and Steve Holland at Peggy's family home near Smithville, September 27, 1980..

Above:  Maid of honor Denise Abendschein '76, groom Steve Holland (MS '79, PhD '85, in background) and bride Peggy Cook '80 just after Steve and Peggy's wedding at Beuscher State Park near Smithville, Texas, September 27, 1980.

Below:  I didn't take too many pictures at the wedding of Cody Jetton '79 and Karen Bellinghausen '79 in San Antonio on November 8, 1980.  In this one, groomsman Dale Zuck '79 and usher Kent Keller '78 have finished decorating Cody's car.  Wilfred Korth '79 was also a groomsman.

Above:  House party member Marve Mayton '80 caught bride Barbara Dennis' bouquet.  Groom Wilfred Korth '79 threw the garter and his best man, Darel Ball '79, caught it.  Marve and Darel were already engaged.  At Wilfred Korth's wedding in San Antonio, Texas, on June 13, 1981.

Below:  House party members (and groom's cake cutters) Mari Angers '84 and Amanda Pape '78 have fun with John Longoria '82 (RP Club social committee co-chair in 1981-82) at the wedding of Wilfred Korth '79 in San Antonio, Texas, on June 13, 1981.

Above:  Bridesmaid Cindy Hunter '82 (RP Club social committee co-chair in 1981-82) and groomsman Glen Korth '81 at the wedding of Glen Korth's brother Wilfred Korth '79 in San Antonio, Texas, June 13, 1981.

Below:  Suzanne Smith '80, groomsman Dale Zuck '79, Cody Jetton '79, and Karen Bellinghausen '79 at the wedding of Wilfred Korth '79 in San Antonio, Texas, June 13, 1981.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Travel Tuesday: TAMU RPTS Stories - RP Club Friends, 1980

I've been sharing a number of stories recently here in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences (RPTS) Department at Texas A&M University.  This isn't an "RPTS story" per se, because it's not about events or activities that occurred in that department. 

Rather, the next few postings of "RPTS stories" will be about what happened afterwards - the lifelong friendships made and the fun meet-ups former members of the Recreation and Parks Club and I had over the following years, in places all over the state and country.  In 1980, for example, I traveled from my home in Corpus Christi to Houston, Port Isabel, Victoria, and Brownwood in Texas, and to Colorado Springs and Keystone, Colorado, and got together with RP friends in each place.  Like this one:

Above:  After a night of dancing at "The Cowgirl" in Victoria, Texas, on May 9, 1980:  In back:  Dale Zuck '79, Amanda Pape '78, Wilfred Korth '79.  In front:  Darel Ball '79, Debbie Bishop '79, and Mark Henneke '79.  At the time, Dale, Wilfred, Darel, and Mark were all park rangers at Coleto Creek Park and Reservoir near Victoria, Debbie worked for the Victoria YMCA, and Amanda for the City of Corpus Christi Park and Recreation Department.

Below:  Amanda Pape '78 and Mark Gray '76, at her family's home in Houston, January 1, 1980.

Above:  Lynn Timken '79 and Amanda Pape '78 outside Lynn's apartment in Port Isabel, Texas, on January 6, 1980.

Below:  Lynn Timken '79 demonstrates THE way to drink tequila - with (a slice of) a (HUGE) lemon followed by a beer chaser.  At Lynn's place in Port Isabel, Texas, January 6, 1980.

Above:  Dale Zuck '79, Amanda Pape '78, and Wilfred Korth '79 at the fourth annual STRAPS (Student Texas Recreation and Parks Society) Conference at the Texas 4-H Conference Center in Brownwood, March 28-30, 1980.









Left:  Dale Zuck '79 on a hike around Lake Brownwood during the 4th annual STRAPS (Student Texas Recreation and Parks Society) at the Texas 4-H Center, Brownwood, March 28-30, 1980.

Above:  Lynn Timken '79, Marshall McKinney (not RP but should have been - Wildlife & Fisheries Science '79), and Amanda Pape '78 at Marshall's workplace, the Keystone Environmental Education Center (now the Keystone Science School) in Keystone, Colorado, October 10, 1980.  Lynn had just left the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs to begin working for the Keystone Ski Resort.  Amanda was on a vacation from her job with the Corpus Christi Park and Recreation Department.

Below:  Marshall McKinney teaching a class at the Keystone Environmental Education Center (now Keystone Science School) in Keystone, Colorado, October 10, 1980.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: TAMU RPTS Stories - RP Club Christmas Party, 1979

I made it back to College Station (from Corpus Christi) for the Texas A&M Recreation and Parks Club annual Christmas party on December 7, 1979, once again a dressy affair at the Briarwood Apartment complex Blue Room.  Always fun to see former classmates and professors.

Above:  Dale Zuck '79, RP Club secretary in 1978-79, receives the Fall 1979 Silver Chaparral Award from Recreation and Parks Department head Dr. Les Reid as the most outstanding graduate that semester, at the RP Club Christmas party on December 7.

Below:  Marihelen Kamp, wife of Dr. B. Dan Kamp (PhD '73); Diane Blackburn, wife of John Blackburn (PhD '81), holding Gabrielle Hodges '02, Lucia Juenger Hodges (MAg '78), and Dr. Lou Hodges (PhD '71) at the RP Club Christmas Party on December 7.

Cathy McMahan '80 (above) and Robert Sterrett '80, the 1979-80 Recreation & Parks Club president (below), receive the two Recreation and Park Honor Awards ($50 book scholarships) at the RP Club Christmas party on December 7, 1979.  I donated the funds for one of the awards.

 

Above:  Wilfred Korth '79 is about to be thrown in the Briarwood Apartment complex pool at the RP Club Christmas party on December 7, by RP Club president Robert Sterrett '80 (at far right) and others.

Below:  Fall 1979 Silver Chaparral Award winner Dale Zuck '79 after his dunking in the pool.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Happy National Siblings Day! (tomorrow)

Mark, Mary, Amanda, Karen, and Brian, sometime between August and October, 1965.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: TAMU RPTS Stories - RP Club, Spring 1979

I graduated from A&M in December 1978 and had hoped to obtain a full-time position with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - since I had been working for them in state parks since April 1977, part-time on weekends and full-time in the summer.  However, shortly before my graduation, the governor of Texas instituted a hiring freeze.

So - Dr. Les Reid encouraged me to apply for graduate school and offered me a quarter-time assistantship in the Recreation and Parks Department.  I was accepted into graduate school and started in January 1979.  Most of my courses were business-oriented though, thanks to the inspiration of Dr. John Crompton and his RP 403 (Recreation Administration and Policy) course from Fall 1978, where class members became directors of mythical park districts and had to apply for grants, prepare budgets, etc.

My contacts from my involvement in the student branch of the Texas Recreation and Park Society ultimately paid off, though.  I was hired as an assistant to the director of the Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department, starting April 2.  I withdrew (passing) from all my courses in graduate school except for accounting - I made arrangements with the professor to study on my own, and Dr. Lou Hodges agreed to serve as proctor for the final exam, which I took while on a late April weekend trip to College Station from Corpus Christi.  (That course applied to the MBA I earned from Corpus Christi State University, now Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, in December 1983.)  That same weekend, I attended the RP Club's end-of-the-year luau on April 28.

I also went to the third annual STRAPS (Student Texas Recreation and Park Society) convention, held at Camp Rio Vista near Ingram, April 20-22, 1979.  The RP Club hosted the convention under the leadership of RP Club president and STRAPS vice-president Cody Jetton '79.

Below:  Lynn Timken '79, Carolyn Carlisle '79, Cathy McMahan '80, and Sheryl Tomlinson '79 perform on Friday night at the STRAPS convention at Camp Rio Vista near Kerrville, April 20, 1979.

Above:  contact sheet from Spring 1979 RP Club "Luau" - April 28, 1979 (click on it to enlarge it).

Below:  Cody Jetton '79 receives the Spring 1979 Silver Chaparral Award from Recreation and Parks Department head Dr. Les Reid as the most outstanding graduate that semester, at the RP Club Luau, April 28, 1979.

Above:  Sheryl Tomlinson '79 and Debbie Bishop '79 enjoy the food at the RP Club Luau on April 28, 1979.

Below:  Dr. Jim Stribling (MS '69, PhD '76) demonstrates fishing techniques at the RP Club Luau on April 28, 1979.

Above:  Dr. John Crompton (PhD '77) and his daughters Christine and Joanne at the RP Club Luau, April 28, 1979.

Below:  My College Station family, clockwise from upper left, Dr. Lou Hodges (PhD '71), Lucia Juenger Hodges (MAg '78), Rashelle Hodges '96, and Danielle Hodges.

© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.