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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCheletia Johnson Oral History Interview Part 2Oral History Interview Cheletia Johnson I Lincoln Recreation Center Director Kimberly McNally I Historical Records Archivist December 4, 2024 I 1:58 PM 00:00:01 Kimberly McNally (KM) So, my name is Kimberly McNally. I'm here interviewing Cheletia Johnson for the second part of her oral history interview. It is December 4th at 1:58pm and we are at the Lincoln Center again. So, when did you start working for the City of College Station? 00:00:21 Cheletia Johnson (CJ) I started May of 1993 under the supervision of the late Lillian Jean Clark Robinson. Yes, she hired me with no experience I was just one of her Lincoln kids, yes. 00:00:41 KM So was that a job that was posted or just - OK. 00:00:43 CJ Yes, yes. It was a job that was posted. My mother used to work for Texas Employment Commission and people would assume that she would get us the jobs and I was like, no she can't get the job for us, but she can give us the job announcement. And so, my mom told me about the job at the Lincoln Center. And she knew that I was looking for something that was close to home and she was like, Lincoln Center is hiring, so apply for it. And so, I applied with Miss Jean, and I was hired 2 weeks later with keys in my h and and I opened up. It was very nerve wracking. 00:01 :23 CJ But I learned a lot under Miss Jean. And when you see the passion that someone has for what they're doing. Miss Jean's health wasn't the best, she had asthma real bad, and even when she would be sick she would still be at work making sure that everything w as running the way that it should be running. And so, a lot of the things that we are doing today is because of her. She taught me a lot. She taught me about the perseverance and being dedicated, standing up for a cause, it's OK to speak out against thing s that might not be right. And during her tenure they were not always respectful towards her and so she went through a lot because she was, you know, we were the stepchild. Central was where Central is now, Lincoln Center is over here. And so, it was just – it felt like we were the stepchild. So, but she - she did a lot you know and she - she allowed me the opportunity to do programs, you know. She saw something in me when she hired me with no experience That truly was my second job, well third job because my first job was playing the piano at church, my second job was at McDonald's, and then she hired me, yo u know. Especially being a rec assistant, you know. Being able to work with the renters, as well as the kids, or whatever else needed to be done. And my first day was nerve wracking because at that time we had an alarm system and you had like 20 seconds to get in the door and de-alarm it. And I was like oh Lord I'm going to mess up, the cops gonna be here, it was just nerve wracking. But it all worked itself out. Because back then, on Saturdays, we used to be open for the kids and so you just never know w hat to expect with kids, so. But it was a good experience, you know working with her. Unfortunately, I worked with miss Jean from May of 1993 until September 1994, and she passed in September of 1994. So, I've only - I had that one year of experience to work with her, but I can say that I learned a lot from her. And one of the things, that her legacy, that she left, is something that we can look at every day, is the mural in the gym. She had that commissioned and unfortunately, she passed away before she could see it, yeah. But hopefully what she instilled in me I can let that shine on the other people. But she was a great woman, she was a good one. 00:04:40 KM So, were you in college when you started? 00:04:42 CJ Yes, I was on the verge of - yeah, I was. That was like my first year of, maybe my second semester, of college and at that time I was going to Blinn when I started and it was the end of the semester and then going to summer school and so she allowed the schedule to be flexible to where you could work and still go to your classes it wasn't a lot of hours. Don't get me wrong because at that time. We were working with boys and Girls Club too and so most of the boys and Girls Club staff got the majority of the hours because we didn't we didn't have a big budget you know and then whatever miss Jean had in her budget it's just like other people within the department would use her budget. And so it wasn’t as – she – she had a very small budget, you know, and so I would say I was probably working maybe 15 to 20 hours a week, if that much, at $4.50 an hour. It wasn’t a lot, but I was thankful for what she was providing for us, and I can recall one time we was complaining about our hours, you know, like why did she give certain people certain hours and, you know, so she showed us. So, that little 20 hours that we were getting, she cut us down to 10. You know, so we stopped complaining about our hours... yeah. She was trying to find ways to be cost conscious because of the small budget. Always trying to find donations, different things like that but she was -she was – she was good, she’s a good woman... yeah. 00:06:32 KM So, she was the Director for the Lincoln Center. So, what was her relationship with the employees that were under her? 00:06:41 CJ Oh see we all just had a - a love for Miss Jean because just about everybody that worked under, we all kind of grew up at Lincoln Center. At that time Nelda Gilbert, who used to be the head coach for Consolidated, was Miss Jean’s secretary, so we all grew up at Lincoln Center and so. And then we had a facility maintenance person here and he actually lived in Hearne. And so, we would fuss about Miss Jean because, you know, we didn't always like what she did but she had a reason for doing it, but we we respec ted her. It was just, like, almost like a mother figure, if you could say, not to bug against anything that she would do because, we didn't know at that time the challenges that she was going through coming from the top and trickling down to us. And so, we didn't want to make any additional ways for her, I mean she was already having to deal with the - the foolishness that was taking place over in the Parks Department. Yeah, but she was - she was good to us. She was good to us, yeah, flexible. Yeah. 00:08:02 KM And so, you said your - your title was Recreation Assistant. What were your responsibilities? 00:08:05 CJ Mm-hmm yes. Uh – let's see – let – let me see... One thing about the Recreational Assistant position is very vague and generic, because you do whatever needs to be done, ok, you have multiple hats. And so sometimes we will work with the rentals, you know if that means setting up for rental, breaking down a rental, being out on the floor with the kids, supervising the activities, planning the activities, going on field trips with the kids, picking up trash, you know, setting up or – uh – setting up for events. Passing out food because that's what we were doing back then. It was called commodities and when they had the cheese, I don't know you probably too young to remember all that, like the government cheese and different things like that - it was called commodities and so we would set up for that. You know, if it meant picking up seniors, you know, we would do that. If it meant helping with the senior program. Just whatever needed to be done, that's what we did. You know. If we had to go clean up, that's what we did but it never was something that we did not do. I mean it just like, Miss Jennie said I need you to go to grind and go pick up this, that's what you did. 00:09:23 KM And what are the rentals? 00:09:24 CJ Like we - we used to rent out the different areas of the facility, like we still do now, and there was always for a very small fee that people could rent out the different rooms for different events. Yeah, so, it's not as - back then, it wasn't as busy as it is now. Yeah. Well yeah, we would set up right now for a rental, sit and wait till the rental was over with, just make sure everything was good. 00:09:52 KM Yeah, and how long did you work in that position? 00:09:52 CJ Hmm... From 93... Of 93 probably to like... 97. 97, 98 something like that. And then I started working for Boys and Girls Club. And I became the program supervisor to where I was supervised the staff and plan and do their scheduling and all that kind of stuff and that's when I had graduated from A&M. And umm to where part of my... I was working 1O hours for the city. And then 30 hours for Boys and Girls Club. It was crazy, and that was like 98, 99, 2000 that I was doing that. Working for both. Until it go t to the point where I can tell you what my salary was - was $21,469. That was not going to cut it, you know, for a person that had a degree. Plus I had student loans, rent, and everything else. So, it just wasn't going to cut it and so I stayed up unt il 2000 and that's when I left in 2000 on a full time basis but I was still working part time. Working the rentals on the weekends and different stuff like that wasn't a lot of hours but if they needed somebody to fill in, I would come and fill in. And so, I did that from 2000 to 2004. And then when a full -time position came open, I applied. And then that’s when I became the assistant to the supervisor and that was October of 04. When I came back. 00:11 :43 KM OK yeah, and what – how did your roles change when you became the assistant supervisor? 00:11 :53 CJ Umm .....I'll say it wasn't that different between the program supervisor and the assistant supervisor position it was almost the same we did - I did the same exact same thing. It was just a different title, and it was all completely under the City of Coll ege Station. It - you know, I would work for Boys and Girls Club but primarily all of my benefits, my salary, everything came from the City of College Station. And so, that was the - the only difference but I still did the same job duties, the script - I mean the same job duties it was just a little bit. To where I had boys and Girls Club stuff to do plus, I had city stuff to do and it was just on a bigger scale. You know, bigger scale. But, it was – it was fun, you know, working for both entities. You kno w, and then our kids, you know, the different things that our kids got a chance to do with Boys and Girls Club so it was a good relationship for the time that it lasted, yeah. 00:13:04 KM So, what was the relationship between the Boys and Girls Club and the Lincoln Center? 00:13:08 CJ The - the relationship started I think early 90s... 91 when we, the Lincoln Center, became one of the sites under the Brazos Valley Boys and Girls Club. And so, Boys and Girls Club would use Lincoln Center to run their youth activities, from after school t o summer. Boys and Girls Club would also pay the staff that were here at the center until that change probably like in probably 98 99 to when the city started paying the staff that were working under Boys and Girls Club. Yeah, it was sticky. Was real stic ky. Because it was not, let me get in trouble, it wasn't really a formal agreement. It was more of a handshake kind of agreement to where the executive director would take care of certain needs for us. He would buy equipment, he would buy whatever we need it you know. He sponsored primarily all of the keystone trips that I had mentioned earlier and so it was a good agreement, a working relationship until all of the key players that had this handshake agreement. Until they all left. And then when they left it was just like the powers that be said we need a formal written agreement and we severed all our ties with Boys and Girls Club probably September 2017. 00:14:56 KM Wow. That’s a long time. 00:14:58 CJ Yeah it – yeah, yes and so because we, you know, talking to Boys and Girls Club, what could they offer that we’re not already doing? And then when you're looking at the bulk of the expenses, the bulk of the expenses was coming from College - our budget, not the Boys and Girls Club. So, what was the benefit? I can’t say that there was any, you know. Besides the Boys and Girls Club have excellent curriculums, you know. They have great curriculums for - for kids but other than that, I mean... we still have a good relatio nship with them, we're just per say not really working together. But when we have reached our capacity I refer kids to Boys and Girls Club and they do the same thing for us, even with their athletic programs. You know, if somebody is looking for - to participate in a program athletic wise, I do refer them to Boys and Girls Club if our, City of College Station, programs have already closed. And so we’re still in contact with each other and we still work together because we're in the same business. And that's just making sure that our youth have a safe place to go and making sure that they become productive adults and citizens we - we are all about the same business you know it's just under different umbrellas. Yeah. 00:16:26 KM So, when they would use the Lincoln Center would they have free reign over all the rooms and stuff? 00:16:31 CJ Oh yeah. 00:16:32 KM Or was it like mostly in the gym or OK. 00:16:33 CJ No, no, they had free reign of all what Lincoln Center - everything that Lincoln Center was they had free rein to it. And at that time we was just over in the, I call it the old building, the original Lincoln Center building to where we just had a game roo m, the community room, multi-purpose room, computer lab, and a gymnasium, and then the playground. Back then, that's all we had. And then later on, in the 2000s, they expanded the game room and then added a fitness room and then added the pavilion. And the n added the splashpad and then, you know, they had reign to that also. But – no, I‘m wrong... Pavilion was before then... I can’t remember. Maybe it was 2000, because I was gone. Maybe it was 2000 when they expanded, yeah, somewhere around there. Now, don’t - don’t hold me to it but I can tell you when the new building came up. We moved into this new building, the purple building in 2018, January of 2018, yeah. 00:17:51 KM OK. So right after that relationship ended. 00:17:54 CJ Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was a bittersweet but I understand. I understand the reason why, you know, the powers that be - Parks leadership at the time - the reason why they did what they did . Because if we couldn't come up with a written agreement, then there's no purpose, you know. And Boys and Girls Club couldn't - they - I don't know what their issue was. But it - they - they couldn't - they wouldn't comply to our deadline for the written agreement and so we see what decides. 00:18:25 KM Yeah. 00:18:27 CJ But it’s all good. 00:18:29 KM So, after you were the assistant supervisor how long were you in that role? 00:18:33 CJ 12 years! From 04 to 2017. Yeah long time. And most people don't stay in one position for that length of time. It was always my career goal to become Lincoln Center supervisor and so however long I had to wait to get in that role that's what I was going to do. Plus, I wasn't trying to move because this is home for me, you know. And so I just was patient, I knew Lance Jackson was gonna leave eventually so and so that gave me an opportunity to learn the job a little bit more and to be more comfortable to be able to sit in that seat. That's a big seat, that's a big chair. And so, it gave me an opportunity to learn what I needed to learn and make the connections that I needed to be able to be successful in that role. 00:19:33 KM So, Lance Jackson, was he after Miss Robinson? He became the director? 00:19:38 CJ After Miss - Miss Jane died, Kimmy Daily became the supervisor. And she was a local that grew up in Consolidated, teacher, all that kind of stuff. And so, she was the center supervisor I think between 95... and 98, I think. And then she got the opportunit y to go teach and so she went to teach and that's what she's currently doing now. Then that's when Lance Jackson became the center supervisor and so he served as a supervisor from 98 until 2017 but Lance's history was he worked under Miss Jean from like 85 , 86 you know he worked for Miss Jean a long time. Then he came back and worked part time under Kimmy. And yeah, he worked part time all that from like 86 on, he was part time. And then, he applied and became Center supervisor in 98. 00:20:57 KM And then when did you - so 2018 you became the Lincoln Center director? 00:21 :05 CJ July 2017, yes, I became center supervisor when The Lance Jackson retired after serving 23 years full time here. Yeah and that was why I kept messing with him because he's like I'mma retire, I'mma retire. Like, ok, I’ll believe it when I see it. And he sai d I’m done for real, Cheletia, I’m retiring. I said OK OK. And then it was just like, he’s gone, you know. But I - I can say he prepared me to be able to sit in the seat. And so, it really wasn’t a big transition from assistant to supervisor because I was already doing the majority of the work. But the one thing I would say he did not prepare me for was dealing with the temperament of our guests that have this sense of entitlement. Like I'm a taxpayer you supposed to do this. And they thinking they can just talk to you any kind of way. And I'm - I'm kind of mouthy and, I won't say mouthy, but I don't back down. You know, if I'm going to talk to you with a sense of respect, I expect the same thing. And so, I - I kind of just like - that was a shock for me. I feel like that was my biggest challenge – of being able to provide this excellent customer service to people that are not respectful to you. So that was a challenge for me. And I kept telling my supervisor I need a cultural sensitivity class, I need this, because this is hard. Have y’all worked with these people before? And they’re like, yes Cheletia. They - they come to Parks board meeting and so I was like I – I need that, you know, help me. I’m struggling here. But, he didn’t prepare me for that, he prep ared me for everything else but not that side. And so now I just smile, and say this is what we can do and this is what we cannot do. You know, and keep it moving. City of College Station people have to understand, I understand that you are a taxpayer but we can't do everything. We can’t do everything. There's a thing called a budget. Or you know just because you asked does not mean that it's going to happen you know. Thank you for your suggestion, thank you for your feedback, and we will take those things into consideration and keep it moving, and smile. Yes, but anyway though other than that, I've enjoyed like all the aspects of what Lincoln Center has provided not only this community but to the City of College Station. From our youth programs to our senior services to our rentals to our athletic side to our special events and now that things that we have provided to this area. Umm and meeting thousands and so many people over the years, you know. So the number of people that I've met since 93 it's ridiculous. And the number of staff that have come through here since that time frame and even our volunteers it's amazing when you when you think about it. The lawyers that have come through here, the professional Football players that have come through here, or doctors and I mean just the number of people. It's amazing and it's a very rewarding feeling. Like you’re blessed like you know he allowed me to be in this position. 00:25:09 KM How would you describe your day-to-day working here? 00:25:15 CJ You talking about now? Pre-retirement or pro-retirement? Which one? 00:25:24 KM I guess just since you've been a director. 00:25:27 CJ OK, on a good day. On a good day, I can get in my office in the morning time and do admin stuff you know and then go see how the singers are doing and have a conversation with them and then by 1:00 o'clock that's usually like our dead time kind of between 1 and 2:30 and then you got to get ready for the kids. So I can't succumb between 3 and 6:00 o'clock so there's no office time between 3 and 6 o’clock. You’re on the floor, you’re making sure everything is running OK, you’re making sure that they have the supplies that they need, you might have to correct somebody behaviors, but you having fun with the kids. Or I was talking to parents, you know. And then about 6:00 o'clock, 6:30 we're transitioning into evening activities. If it's a karate or Zumba, you know, might peek my head in for Zumba. I might do the little Zumba dance for about 5 minutes, you know, and then they telling me to come in and I'm like no no! Alright, getting ready for whatever athletic activity is going on; if it's the basketball program, or volleyball, just checking in, See what’s going on, and you know, making sure the floors are good the net is up properly. Making sure they don't need anything and hopefully, on a good day, I can get out of here by 6:30. On a good day. 00:26:53 CJ But in the midst of all that, you might have people to stopping in, community or someone from an agency that wants to collaborate, to stop in and talk, you know. Or somebody from the community want to stop and talk. Or somebody wants to rent out an area, a nd you have to give them a tour of the area. Or a former student that just came home because they haven’t been home in a long time and they want to see all the areas that, you know, how it has improved. You know. That's all a good day, you know. I'm checki ng outside make sure the pavilion is OK, make sure we don't have any unauthorized activities out at the pavilion. And then, checking for, you know, still some wildlife that come through here, you know, making sure the skunks don't come out during the day. And if they do, 3600 animal control, we need some assistance. So it just depends, you know, don't let pray for lady you know with the weather. They are in the process of trying to figure out that - I think they corrected the behavior in the gold gym. Like, don't let it - don't let us have a downpour, because the gym will flood. Yes, it's a mess, but luckily they - they - facility maintenance have corrected the problem, so yes and so that's that. 00:28:16 KM Oh wow. That’s good. 00:28:25 CJ You just never know, yeah, on a good day. 00:28:30 KM So how do you see the Lincoln Center and like, with you as director interacting with the rest of the city? 00:28:38 CJ Hmm. Good question. One thing that I've learned is that regardless of where we are, we are still a part of the City of College Station. We should all have that mentality on one team, you know. And so, I have learned to make friends with all the departments, because you never know when we’re going to need each other. We can’t operate without being friends with facility maintenance, public works, accounting, community development, purchasing, city managers, police department, fire department, electric, waste water. We can’t go without being friends with them and so, I’ve made nice connections with them, you know. And they know that if they needed something from Lincoln Center, we would be there for them as well. Just like Public Works, they host their Christmas party here every year. As long as they clean up and they share their steaks with us, we good, you know. But no, but yes, you - you have to be - you have to have relationships. Regardless, you know, although we're parks department, cool beans but, we're still all a part of the city of College Station. Yeah. 00:30:11 KM So, you said that when you started at the Lincoln Center you knew that you eventually wanted to become the director. Was that a goal that you had entering college? Or just after you started working? 00:30:22 CJ After I started working. In my mind, I had wanted to become a doctor. I think I mentioned that earlier. It was always my dream to be Doctor Cheletia Johnson, blah blah. But like I said, once I got to college it was just like that's - that's going to change because I'm a terrible student. I don't like to study, and I'm very honest about that. And so, I was like that's not the direction I want to go in but I knew I wanted to do something to where I could help people, right? And so why not be here? Where you can still have fun, but you could still help people. You can engage with everyone, you know, you can network with a lot of people and most of the time, sometimes, it doesn't even feel like it's work, because you're having fun. And I didn't mind getting up coming to work except for when it's cold, I'm sorry I don't like the cold, but other than that I still love coming here to the center, you know. And that - that's why I was just like yeah that's what I want to do. You know and especially in 04 when the position opened back up, I was like, yeah I want to be Center Supervisor. I can do it, you know, and I feel like he placed me, brought me back - I call it - he brought me back home so I can lead. I can be the next leader for this community. And so that's the w ay I looked at it. And now I accomplished my goal. 00:31 :50 KM What would you consider your greatest accomplishment since you've been here? 00:31 :56 CJ Oh I don't know. I don't know. That's a good question, I don't know. I don't know, only thing that I'm very proud of that we were able to do because the gym used to be so dark, the gold gym, we replaced the old windows. So now it has more lighting. Hey you can take decent pictures, OK, in the gold gym. That's one thing. And then they changed the lighting, you know, they changed it to LED lights is better, it's brighter, in the old gym. That's - that's a great accomplishment. Oh, and we got a - we got a new playground, so that's a great accomplishment. We moved into this building, you know, which that was good. We watched the remodeling project when they remodeled the old building. That was - that was great. When they redid the parking lot, all of the expansion project that was great to - to watch it. I can't think of anything else. I guess watching the kids grow watching our programs grow. And then the diversity of our programs. When first - when I first started working here in 1993 it was just all neighborhood kids, you know but I guess at that time it was just - it was neighborhood, it was families. But now we surrounded by student housing, but that's another story. But it was all neighborhood kids, you know, and they used to walk here. But now I would say out of 120 kids now maybe 10 walk home. The rest of them, they’re parents had to pick them up. And so watching the growth of our programs. From my youth programs to our pickleball programs to our programs senior program, all the things that we've done over the - over the years just watching it. But I can't say anything, I mean, I don't know. I don't know. 00:33:56 KM Just the growth. 00:33:57 CJ It’s just the growth. And having fun. That's why I said, I - I've enjoyed. We have fun, you know, everything that we do with parts is fun. From Christmas in the park that's coming up to games of Texas, you know, that's fun. All of our special events: the Easter egg hunts, our fall fest, our Juneteenth celebration. It's just been fun. All of our collaborations with different organizations. It's been fun. You know. A car show that we - this would be our 3rd year in 2025. Fun. Just fun. It’s a fun job. Rewarding job. Yeah, get to see people smile. You know, but there's been some sad times too, don't get me wrong, but we were blessed. To be able - to be a sanctuary for the survivors of Katrina. We were a shelter - we were a shelter for almost 2 months. And we still have relationships with some of the survivors of Katrina that's still in this community. So that was a blessing for us to be able to be there - be here for those people. I mean we worked - I mean for the City of College Station to step up the way that they stepped up. But they probably wont [inaudible]. Real talk. 00:35:39 KM So what was - what was that like after Katrina? Like how - what did the Lincoln Center do for the people? 00:35:46 CJ Well gosh during the time that we were a shelter. We couldn't do anything else because the whole gym was full with people. 00:35:57 KM Was it like cot setup or? 00:36:00 CJ It was cots. And at that time, we didn't have this building it. It was just that building over there and so we had to shut down our after -school program. And Kids Club allowed our kids to go to Kids Club during that time. And so, the kids that were here wi th their families, we ran our after-school program with them. Umm and then like I said, that was almost 2 months that we were in operation like that. To where staff, we had to have a staff of 24 hours, so it was always somebody. If it wasn't Lincoln Center staff, it was city staff and we had it covered for 24 hours. I didn't mind working the 11 to 7 shift for some reason. 00:36:50 KM So how many people do you think the Lincoln Center hosted during that time? 00:36:54 CJ Maybe 150. 00:36:57 KM Wow. 00:36:58 CJ Yeah, 150. And when I say the community came out, the community came out and helped. I'm talking about the different organizations: Red Cross was here, people providin’ food. It was – it was- it was a blessing for the community to show up and show out the way that they did, because those -those people they came here with nothing. Literally nothing. And so for us to be open for 2 months as a shelter. You know and then we were also helping them with the resources, like we would take them to the workforce center. You kno w, we would help them try to find housing so we can shut down operation as a shelter. And the city spent some money during that time. I'd be curious to see how much they actually spent with us operating as a shelter, because it was some full -time staff that had already worked their 8 hour shift, but was still coming over here to make sure that we had 24 hour coverage. And then when they called us in to action, I would say we probably was up for almost 30 hours trying to get everything set up. Yeah, and it's like, you didn't want to go home because you felt like you was missing something, you felt like you need to be there to help. And so Manns would be like, y’all need to go home and so that's when we started working in shifts you know. And like I said, I di dn't mind working 11 to 7 shift, you know, because it gave me an opportunity to get things done, and it's quiet, you know, but it was it was very trying, you know. And it made you thankful and humble for what you have, you know, because like I said these people had nothing. Nothing. And then for them to come with the stories, you know, what they saw, you know, and it's a it's a blessing, you know, that we were able to be here for them. And like I'm saying I'm glad College Station opened their doors as an emergency site, not just look Katrina, but also Rita as well. But Rita wasn't at bad, Rita was just a weekend. But I think after that, we didn't open back up for emergency shelter. I think they had something where it would just go to the churches and the schools and not use city facilities or something. Yeah but that was very trying that was ‘05 and ‘06. Yeah. 00:39:52 KM So can you tell us a little bit about the history of the Lincoln Center? 00:39:54 CJ From what I do know, this was the school from 1941 to 1965. And when parts of the school burnt down, just like the school closed up and the - the kids were integrated into College Station school district OK. When they saw that - when they heard that College Station ISD was planning on turning this property into the bus barn. Yes, they were going to turn us into a bus barn. Some gentlemen, they was called the community knights, went and talked to the school district to see if they could use the gym for kids to come have a place to go. And so. They started using the gym as a Recreation Center. They got donations from Alenco, because they all kind of worked at Alenco, they had replaced the windows that the kids were busting out. They bought balls and all that kind of stuff and just started using it as a rec center. And then somehow the city purchased the land from the ISD. Lincoln Center used to be the main headquarters for parks and recreation. 00:41:19 KM Oh, I did not know that. 00:41 :20 CJ Yes, yes, and so this was the main site for Parks and Recreation and then after that when they moved over to Central. West District Shop used to be over here until they built their new facility and so... I’m trying to think. ‘85 they tore down the old gym and rebuilt the gym that we have now in ‘85. And so I would say, it turning into a Recreation Center was because of the community knights. If it wasn't for them this possibly could have been a bus barn. So we have honored them, the community knights, and I think somebody has done a recording of them, for them to tell their story like Henry Lewis, Lawrence Smith, Lawrence Smith, Mister Britton and... I'm missing one. I can't think of the other guy’s name. But anyway, they have talked to them about being community knights and helping form the Lincoln Center into the rec center so I think they were the catalyst of us going into what we are today. Yeah. 00:42:51 KM So from the time that you came to the Lincoln Center as a child to now, how do you see that it has changed over the years? 00:43:01 CJ Ohh God, when we would come out to you know - when I was probably in junior high, high school, it was still where you had the game room, you still had the gymnasium, we would have dances. Places that we could go to, it was a safe place for us to hang out. Yeah. Miss Jane still did the Juneteenth celebration, the MLK celebration. It was always a good time here. And one thing that I can say, with the – the – how it has improved, back then the gym didn't have AC. And so we finally got AC probably in... what ‘9 5? When we finally got AC in the new gym - in the old gym. Then just watching the growth, you know, from replacing the playground, to getting a splash pad, to the pavilion we didn't have the pavilion. 00:43:58 KM Were there still basketball courts there or? 00:43:59 CJ We the basketball courts used to be on the backside, where the Gaga ball pit is. We had basketball courts out there. It was just the one court, that’s it. Whereas the pavilion is a double court. And then watching the expansion project to expand the game ro om with the fitness room, office. What else did we get? OH! Locker rooms, locker rooms and showers. Yeah. And so, watching that that growth. And then with the bond from 2008 that the citizens approved for us to have a 3.8 -million-dollar project to get this new building as well as remodeling. And so watching the growth has been amazing but the sad part is this neighborhood demographics has changed. Because now it’s students. I mean I'm happy - it's a love hate relationship with the students. I just hate that this neighborhood is no longer families. Yeah, it's sad that – that - that's changed that's one part that's changed. I don't know if it's good or bad. I would say probably bad because that means the tax rates went up for families over here. And but the good thing is that we are able to do more things because we have more space, you know, and we still provide the same type entertainment for our kids. You know, we still have our summer day camp program, we still have our after school program, and we can, you know- we can have more kids participate in our programs because of the spacing. We still do our cultural events, we still do our MLK, we still have our Juneteenth program, we still do our fall fest, we still do our Easter hunt, we still it's still able to do all of that. We are able to reach more people because we have more space to do the things and now our senior program has really grown over the years. I mean we're still 9 to 1 but they do so much every day, you know, even going on field trips and just, you know, having a good time with each other. But I just think that, you know, I think it's - it's - it's going to continue to grow. It's just that we have to be strategic in how we get the people here. And that means that our marketing is going to have t o step up because the people no longer live in the community to for us to go hand out flyers, you know, and so if you're going to do social media, do social media. You know, figure out a way, how do we get the word out so that people can show up. A lot of times people say, oh I didn't know that was going on and I'm like I don't know what to tell you, you know, because how many of our citizens or people actually go to the City of College Station website. And I was lik e, it’s on the website like, you know we're not going we're saying. OK. So, we just have to figure out how to get the word out, you know, and do a big social media marketing push or whatever the trends are. That's what they're going to have to do to get th e people here. Hope I answered your question, I don't know if I did. 00:47:50 KM I think you did how this has changed. Yeah. What challenges have you seen the Lincoln Center face? 00:47:59 CJ The only challenge that I have seen is the decline in the community participating in our program. And I don't know if it's because they don't know about it or they're just not interested in what we're doing. I don't know. We have asked, but we can't get a clear answer and even when we tried to host a town hall meeting to ask people what they want. I can't get a clear answer or they don't show up for it. So that's the only kind of sad part to me, the hurtful part, the challenging part, when you put your ener gy into something and then nobody really shows up. That's - that's the challenging part to me, because the Lincoln Center is for everyone. And I think because this used to be the African American school for College Station people still think that we still in 1961 when this area was segregated, you know. That's not the case. You know. Our programs are for everyone, we don’t - we don’t exclude anyone. We make sure that all of our programs are for everyone. Yes we'll celebrate culture, don't get me wrong. Yes we'll celebrate Dr. King, yes we're going to celebrate Juneteenth, yes we're going to celebrate Women’s History Month, yes we're going to celebrate different cultures, yes. That's what we do, you know. Because that's who we serve, you know, and it shouldn't be just Lincoln Center doing those things, you know, it should be the city of College Station doing things, you know. But I just think that - and then plus, the people thinking because of the neighborhood, they have this negative connotation about Southgate, for whatever reason. Because of the - the part that the media plays. Southgate is just a place for people to live that might not be able to afford other places to live. You know, there's characters in every neighborhood. Come on, let's keep it real, there's characters - they're bad characters in every neighborhood. But, I feel more safe over here than when I would go anywhere else you know but some people might not feel safe coming over here. I think that plays a big part in it too, but you can go anywhere and get mugged. I'm sorry, that's sounds tacky, but I'm just saying. I'm being honest. You – you can go anywhere and get mugged, you know. So people need to, instead of making assumptions, come find out, come see what we do. You know. Come talk to us. Don't go by what you heard, don't go by what you saw on social media, because half the stuff on social media and Facebook is not true. So you have to do your homework for yourself and come see what - and like I said, what's going on over here in this neighborhood. And I'm going to make sure well. I would make sure that whenever somebody came to our facility that you were safe. You're going to be safe. You know, my first intuition is to make sure you OK. And when you get in this building, you're going to have a good time. Whatever it is it's – just- if you're going to line dance and you want to sing or whatever it is we're going to have a good time. And so that's the 1 - 2 of the biggest challenges, you know, people changing their mindset, changing the mindset. It is a safe place, the neighborhood is safe, you know, the program is for everyone, you know. And if you really want to know what's going on, just like you find any other information - Lincoln Center – Google, you know, to see what we're doing and just don't make assumptions. Yeah hope I answered your question. OK. 00:52:18 KM Yeah. So how do you view the Lincoln Center interacting with the community today? 00:52:30 CJ I think we've always, and will continuously, interact with the community. Iif there's something going on at one of the churches or something going on in Southgate, you know. If they need us, they reach out to us. I would ask them, how would that be, to make sure that we can support and go from there. I think the people know that if I need some help, I can call the Lincoln Center. They might not be able to, per se, help me ,but they can give me a contact on who I can call to where I can get some help. You know. To be a safe haven. You know, like, we had a kid that was - that was kind of lost and - but they knew they can come to Lincoln Center. He knew that he would be safe here until the parents was located. You know, or any person that's in need, we’ll try to help them in any way that we can. We'll contact someone that can help them. So, I think we still have that relationship. Now the struggle has been real with making a connection with the students that's around here, but as far as our neighbors the Southgate residents and the state streets, I think we still have that connection. But, I don 't - the students yeah, they want to come use our pavilion, yes they want to use up all our parking which is a no -no. But as far as connecting with them I don't know. I don't know because even when we - we tried to do a National Night Out and we walked the neighborhood no students came. So, I don't - I don't know. I don't know if they're trying because they are part of the community, want to be a part of the community or if they just do what they do, you know, be rowdy. I said it, be rowdy, because it's a fraternity house behind my Mama 's house and yes she calls 3600. So, I don't know, like I said, if they are trying to be a part of the community while they are here. And, I think that's something that needs to be mentioned to Texas A&M, you know, like y'all are going to be here for 4 years, right? But you still need to respect the people that a re in your community where you live. 00:55:29 KM Yeah, I think it's valid. Yeah. When do you think that you saw that shift? With the - the houses around here. 00:55:42 CJ 1O years ago. 00:55:44 KM 1O years ago? 00:55:46 CJ Mhmm and it was kind of like almost predicted, you know, because this is prime real estate you know? When we notice the value of property going up, we knew there was a shift coming in. And then, when Southgate’s federal housing... whatever - term was almost up we knew it's a shift coming. You know. And it's the same thing that happened earlier in College Station to where the houses like right off of Fairview, the front of Fairview, Park Place, all of that those used to be African American houses. But then, it shifted to where we are now the McCallum and Holick, they push – push - pushed us back, you know, and so now the push is coming again. They trying to push us somewhere, I don't know where we're going, because land is high, it's just, there's no more land, you know, so yeah it was predicted. 00:57:04 KM Can you describe some of the activities or programs that the Lincoln Center hosts? 00:57:11 CJ Yes, we have a senior program 55 and older. We have a youth program for ages 6 to 15, summer and after school program, we have fitness activities from Zumba to pickleball, and we have a fitness room. And then we also host athletic events, the youth athleti c events, from youth basketball to adult league volleyball and adult basketball. We hold special events our annual fall fest, our Easter event, annual Juneteenth celebrations, car show, Mother’s day event, father's day event, Valentine's Day social, and th en I'm missing something - oh Women's History Month activities and Black History Month activities. We are also a rental facility, so where people can rent out the different areas for a small fee. And basically whatever the community needs from us that's what we'll provide. Yes and we have a splash pad that's that would be renovated real soon, that's coming probably by next summer yeah. 00:58:27 KM So for - for Juneteenth because you've mentioned that several times, when did that start? Do you know? for the Lincoln Center. 00:58:34 CJ Ohh Lincoln Center first Juneteenth was in 1986. The first one that was hosted here and it was - it was a guest speaker and then it had a spiritual connotation to it. And then Miss Jean would always have some some Blues. You know would always have a live b and or something. And so, we've kind of transitioned from hosting the traditional program for Juneteenth to now we collaborate with Bush library to where we have the Freedom Walk. And so, the first one was in ‘04 to where we walked from Lincoln Center to G eorge Bush Library. Then afterwards, they would do storytelling and then we started doing our own little programs with the kids. So, we’ll have like a carnival with them and then in the evening time we would do like almost like a family reunion. Where you can have the cars, the games, and vendors and all that kind of good stuff. And then, we would have different things. Like last - think it was last year- last year? Last year we showcased local black authors, and we had like an author's corner. One year, we had genealogy where you can trace your roots. I’m trying to think about what else we did. We’ve done different things over the years. Oh, this past year we actually participated in the Brazos Valley Juneteenth parade, and we got second place. Yay! We got a float and everything so but that was fun. 01:00:11 KM And that was through Bryan? 01:00:14 CJ Yes, uh-huh, it was Bryan. So that was cool for us to do that. So, whatever we can think of, you know, to celebrate Juneteenth because we at one point in time I felt I kind of felt like it was a forgotten type of Holiday. You know, because the kids didn't know about it and I'm like, what you mean you don't know what June teenth is? I grew up you, know, with Juneteenth, that was our family reunion. You know, celebrating when the slaves found out they were free. What you mean you don't know about it? And so, I 'm glad that it was signed to become a national holiday. I know some people are very perturbed about it, but I'm going to take my day off, you know. It's all good. And so now to celebrate and have that day off, I feel like that's a time for families to really come together as a family unit and - and celebrate. You know we - we've accomplished a lot, but we still got a long way to go. 01:01:11 KM So, when that became federally recognized, did you see any changes in participation in y’all’s event, or has it basically been the same? 01:01:18 CJ No, it's been the same, yeah, it's been the same. This past year, with our freedom walk, because that was the first time we were able to - second year – no - since COVID. We didn't walk last year because they were working on the Amberg Center, so we didn't get to do it last year. But this year we were back and we had a great turn out, you know, I think that's probably one of our largest turnouts with people actually walking with us to go to the library. It was a little hot, but it was good. And then, our other activities - oh I know what's been different, collaborating with the historical preservation to show the documentary. And so, for the last 2 years we've been doing that. We’ve had a larger crowd with people watching the documentary and having free watermelon and free stuff and then having vendors and so I have seen an increase in participation with that. Yeah. 01:02:30 KM And what does your Martin Luther King Day event look like? 01:02:33 CJ Oh, okay, MLK. We celebrate all month long. OK, so, for MLK we kick it off with Fit Fest, OK so - where we showcase and highlight our fitness activities that we have available here. You get you a good workout for 2 hours and then we do introductory of pick leball. OK we'll move. And then we go into our annual program to where we honor people in the community that have made significant contributions. And then we will do the lifetime achievement, the Lily and Jane Clark Robinson Lifetime Achievement Awards, we will pass those out. And then, we would have a guest speaker or some type of entertainment, either the kids are performing or something, and then we will conclude with a nice hot meal. And then we will go home. And then we would have a book discussion. An d we would discuss one of MLK 's books but couple of years ago I had this bright idea of hosting a community Bible study. It was great. It was great. It was great and Pastor Dan de Leon from Friends Congregation, I brought it to his attention to help him - for him to help me form what I was trying to do. He helped spearhead it and so for about 3 years it was great to where we would depict certain parts of MLK to talk about and then he started forming this organization called A Beloved Community and it inclu ded local pastors from all denominations. So, one year the pastors from the different denominations led a segment based off of MLK. It was great. It was amazing. We would have like 50 - 50 plus people here for Bible study. Every Wednesday we were doing Bible study, and the different churches was coming we were breaking - breaking down the word, talking about loving your enemy, this, this, this is peace. It was - it was wonderful but, you know, church and state, you know, yeah, yadda yadda yadda and so we-we stopped the community bibl e study. But instead of doing the community Bible study, we just started breaking down one of MLK 's books, having discussion about one of his books, but we still have relationships with all of those ministers and pastors. And then we started collaborating with the Brazos Valley workforce solutions to where we host a career fair, a job fair, and it's always like the last Wednesday of the month. And so, we try to do at least 4 activities in honor and celebrating Dr. King. Because I think it's all about him wanting the world to be better, whatever that means to be better. For your – for yourself to be better, you know. How can we make things better for people? And providing those opportunities, so things could get better for them and living in a beloved community. Coming together, you know, not judging people by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. So that's what we've tried to do at Lincoln Center and what we continue to do at Lincoln Center but the 2025 MLK is going to be a little bit different. It's going to focus on the performing arts with the singing, the dancing, you know that like a - a back in the day concert, gospel concert. That’s the feel we're going for this year and so we're not even doing T -shirts this year. And we’re not doing a meal; we'll get some cupcakes and some punch at the end of the program. But it's still going to be a great show and we're honoring black women in law enforcement this time and then we're going to honor officer Brad Smith with the lifetime achievem ent of the Lillian Jean Clark Robinson Lifetime Achievement Award. So, we're excited about it. It's going to be a good time. And we're still doing the Fit Fest and we're still - the job fair, all of that will still take place. Yeah so, it's gonna be a great celebration to remember-remember doctor king and what he stood for you know and now just celebrate him in January but remember what he stood for just so we could have the liberties that we have today. Walking in solidarity right. 01:07:32 KM And what about the fall festival? Tell me about that. 01:07:40 CJ Our annual Fall Festival, it's just like a big community Halloween carnival. You know, we started inviting different social service agencies, businesses, to set up a booth - a candy booth and to play games and stuff with the kids. Plus, we have our own little games and stuff. And then, we set up the scariest haunted house and that's one of the highlights of the event, is the haunted house. So, imagine us putting together a haunted house, we have no skills, no nothing, but we put together a haunted house. OK but somebody said this one is the best one ever. I said thank you, I appreciate it, you know. But the haunt ed house is really good and then we had some entertainment from the schools and they did something, then we had a costume contest. And then the - the vendors that were here, they brought prizes for the costume contest but - and then we always give away some free cotton candy, some cookies, or drinks, or something. And then, of course, our favorite - my favorite person in the whole wide world, Charity the Clown is always here. She has been coming for many, many, many years. I love Miss Charity, OK. And then we'll have - we'll do - we didn't have bounce houses this past year. Yeah, we didn't have bounce houses, couldn't get the contract, but anyway Miss Charity was here. This past year, 2024, the weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold, it w asn't windy, anything so close to 1000 people here. Yeah, it was good, it was really good. Yeah. 01 :09:19 KM Are there any other events that you want to highlight? 01:09:22 CJ Our annual Easter - well I changed the name to Easter Extravaganza. We were doing Easter egg hunts, but people don't know how to act with Easter egg hunt. I call it 30 seconds of intense fun but when people started just not following the rules, it got real ly frustrating with trying to do an Easter egg hunt. It was just - it makes you mad because people don't follow the rules you know because we had it set up by ages. And a parent allowing a 5-year-old to go out and hunt eggs with 8-year-olds, what you think going to happen? So, I'm really fussing at a parent because you sent your 3 -year-old child out there with the 8-year-olds for a penny egg, I give you an egg for you to go buy your kids whatever. So, I changed it to an Extravaganza. To where all the kids that participate, you go home with a bag of eggs, and you can do your own hunt at your house, OK. It was just peaceful. Then I started - we started doing it on the day before Good Friday, perfect, so all the staff we can have our day off. It's perfect, OK. And it was peaceful. They still can have fun, they could still do the different games, we still have entertainment, 2 -hour event, perfect, it was great. Now changes might take place. I don't know if the city wants us to do another Easter event, because there's so many other entities that are doing them. I don't know, I'm not happy about it. I can say that now because I'm no longer going to be a city employee, but I hope that that will change because that's been one of our signature events for Lincoln Center . And I would hate to take that away from the community. But if we can't do a community one, we will do one with our after-school kids. Still Easter, right? Right and then one thing that we just started doing 2 years - this would be - 2025 would be our 3rd year is the Show ‘Em Off Car Show. Last year was good, 2024 was good, 2025 is going to be even better. So, those that are car enthusiast, the motorcycles, bikes, it was good you know. Yeah. It was just the afternoon that Mother's Day - nope, the weekend - the first weekend in May, of people just coming to see the different cars and stuff. It was, it was good. So, I'm looking forward to us building that up a little bit more and, yeah, so it should be good. 01:12:05 KM So, for the car show do you work with Any local car clubs or anything? 01:12:1O CJ I do. I actually do. I work with the Street Legends Riding Club, and they are a local group from this area. The president, Mister Dee Johnson, has been really instrumental with us getting people out to come. I just started hitting people up on Facebook, I just started posting it. And then I started, like, oh I'm gonna come to your show, and I'm gonna share my information, and then Dee would take our flyer to the different shows that he goes to and so it's just - it's, it's growing. I'm gonna put it like th at. People come out and you know to enter it's only $5.00 and then most of the time Dee was just like, they weren't expecting trophies or prizes. So, we have trophies, you know, and so he was just like, yeah, we just got to keep, you know, as long as we can get the information out. Hint hint, if we can get the information out, then we can start promoting it sooner rather than later. Yeah, but yeah it- it's gonna grow, it's gonna grow. 01:13:19 KM So, when a car enters, like, are there categories that you're judging by or like how does the event work? 01:13:27 CJ It's it, OK, so I said, OK, all cars have to be in place by 10:30, OK? And so, the show is from like 11 to 1:30, so people just walking around. I got judges, and they're judged by the paint job, original interior, the make. What else - what else was it? What else, there’s something else. I’m missing one.... I know paint job. Custom to custom, you know, whatever you had custom put on there. But mainly the makes and models and then the best of show. Yes, this past year, I don't know how they did it, but one o f the guys they cut a 300 ZX in half. Cut it in half, so the car was, it was low and it was like a Go Kart and he was driving it like this. And so, of course they won best in show, because that was just like what is this? You know and people was really surprised that they were able to-to drive it. But the same guy he won the year before, because he had a custom made Ford - old Ford truck. It was-it was nice, but my favorite is always - it was a 68 maroon Mustang. It was awesome. Yes but it's- it's- it's a really- it's good, people come out you know. We had vendors, food vendors, and then we had a kid zone. So, it was a good time for families to come out and it's a free event! You don't have to pay for anything unless you want to eat, that's it. Yeah but that's the first weekend in May. Yeah. 01:15:29 KM So you’ve mentioned working with Workforce Solutions, are there any social - any other social services that the Lincoln Center regularly interacts? 01:15:39 CJ Oh yes. Let me break it down. Let me break it down. Workforce Solutions, Brazos County Health Department, Brazos Food Bank come and do programs with our seniors. AgriLife, Texas A&M AgriLife, the Master Gardeners program they come here a lot. I work with T exas A&M all the time, it used to be RPTS now it’s hospitality or something, something, something. Worked with them a lot. I’m trying to think about who else? I know Aggieland Pregnancy, if we needed something they will come. The Lincoln House of Hope thro ugh A&M Church of Christ, we work with them. I’m trying to think about who else. Of course, BVCAA because that's mainly who senior program - the meals - Meals on Wheels. I can't think anybody else, I know I'm missing somebody, forgive me. Yeah, I can't thi nk anybody else but the organizations. Of course, the amazing women of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, my sorority sisters, as well as the men of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, they are really good about supporting our events and volunteering. And they have they do a lot of programs just for boys and so they actually have a fishing event coming up this weekend so that would be good if the weather permits, I need to check on that, yeah but anyway I can't think of anybody else. Yeah. 01:17:33 KM So, for the Lincoln Center I-I noticed that this building is called the purple building and then you have the gold gym, is that related to the history with the school? 01:17:43 CJ It's related to yes. I named this new building after shades of purple, so it wouldn't get, so we could tell people to go to the purple gym or go to the Iris orchid room or the Violet room. So, I just called this building the purple building and instead of calling it the old building I just say the gold building. Yes. And it's all related to the school. 01:18:12 KM Are there any other ways that you have tried to incorporate the school's history into the Lincoln Center? 01:18:19 CJ Everything that we do is the school’s history pretty much with the purple and the gold, the mascot on the floors, the Panthers, stuff in the gym on the - he walls that's related to the 1960 basketball, they won the championship. That's on the wall. I'm trying to think about what else. The forward forever, backwards for never on the gym. Yeah, we tried to make sure we incorporated, yeah, the purple and the gold. That's all I've since I've - College Station that's all I've known besides coming to Lincoln Center. Everything was purple and gold with the Panther, everything was Panther, all our teams. Even when we play basket - I mean basketball. Everything was Panther, we were the Panthers. 01:19:16 KM What do you hope the future holds for the Lincoln Center? 01:19:21 CJ I just - I hope that the growth continues. I hope that the community supports. Come out and support what we're doing. To be more engaged in the activities. To not allow anyone to come in and change the cultural components of what Lincoln Center stands for, like to continue all of our signature programs, our traditions. You know, not changing them but adding a little bit more flavor, maybe, I don't know. But still continue with our signature programs or what what we're known for. Just to continue to grow wit h trends, you know, maybe offering a little bit more family-oriented activities, more inclusion activities, for those that might have some challenges. I would love to see us do more of that, just so people will know about Lincoln. And I hope that in my retirement, I've already started working with some of the Lincoln former students. I would love for them to restructure, reorganize their association. To where they have some footprints in the world of the World Wide Web. I see nothing about Lincoln former students, you know, I want to see them establishing their own Facebook page, them establishing their own this. So, people will know this is what this used to be, you know. because I noticed it. Other, former black schools they have footprints. They have something, yeah, Lincoln former students? I don't see anything and so I've been working, I hope to work with them to help grow the association to keep the memory up, to keep the memories alive, and keep the history alive. That's-that's the main thing, you know, what they model said forwards forever backwards never. We can't go back, we can't go back, we won't go back, and so we'll -I'll do whatever I have to do and gather people too. 01:21:36 KM Yeah. 01:21:44 CJ To make sure we do not go back. Yes. 01:21:49 KM So, with the items that you were loaning to get digitized and put on to Project HOLD is there anything that you want to discuss or mention about them? 01:21:54 CJ MHM. Them mainly the jacket, the jacket with the Lincoln Center. That was before all of the City of College Station branding. And we could do our own PR, I created the logo that's on the jacket and then the logo on the back is what we stood for, you know. All the things that encompass Lincoln Center and then the hoodie is from the keystone days, we’re the Neopanther Keystone Club and keystone club was the team leadership program through Boys and Girls. And that-that hoodie is what we wore to the national keystone conference when it was in Minnesota. And so, we were you know the purple and the gold and we had some very nice hoodies, so we-we stood out like we always do you know. And then one of the members actually got a chance to sing on stage. She was selected to sing on stage, and she was on the steering committee for that conference as well. And then the South Knoll, I went to South Knoll from kindergarten through 5th grade. And then Oakwood to Oakwood to junior high and just sharing all those good memorie s that's in the yearbooks. I didn't want to tote all of the high school ones I left them on my shelf but I have those too except for my freshman year because my mother was like if -if it was my older sister, if she was in school at the same time, she got th e yearbook. OK, and so that's why I don't have a kindergarten yearbook because my sister was still at South Knoll and even my freshman year of high school, my sister was a senior, so she got the yearbook but yeah, but no, those are great memories. I enjoyed my time all through school at College Station School District, great memories at South Knoll and at Oakwood. We thought we would be it because we were the only grade at Oakwood, you know, and then they changed it to where it's 5th and 6th, you know. When I tell the kids that, they was like what? It was what? It was just 6th grade? Yes, it was just 6 grade. And so it was -it was amazing and junior high was good, never complained. I just had a good. I would say good – good from elementary to junior high school, can’t say about high school. High school's a little rough but that's another story but yeah it was just good. Yeah. 01:24:38 KM Is there anything that we haven't covered that you want to talk about? 01:24:41 CJ I can't think of anything. Not that I know. But I just hope that with College Station, with the growth, that is more inclusive. Not just focusing on the students, you know, what about the residents? And bringing more diversity to the city. I think we are w e are growing but I don't know if it - is it growing for-for me? If that makes sense. I just, I hope that it becomes a little bit better with the-the diversity, yeah. We are lacking in that area. We're lacking with some trends also that we need to grow. We need to grow. If we don't keep up with -with what's going on. But, yeah, this is home for me so I'm not going any. I mean you know unless God needs me in a different direction, but this is home for me, and I just would like to see it be more just a little bit more inclusive. Yeah, and then, for Texas A&M to have a conversation with their students about being in our community. You are visitor. Literally. You are a visitor for 4 years. So just being a little bit more respectful of the city and the community, I think that needs to be addressed with Texas A&M. With the students. Just don't come and tear up the community. I'm upset with it because, like I said, my mother lives right up the street, you know, and her neighbors behind her, no respect. But the neighb ors, just like, right here on the corner? They're respectful, they're very respectful but the mother was no respect, none, whatsoever and knowing that this is a community where older people live, show some respect. You know, I don't-I don't like that. And I hope that the City of College Station does something about that, you know, because my momma shouldn't have to call 5 or 6 times for a noise complaint. Ridiculous but I know the CSPD is short staffed. We know that, but they need to establish some type of other... something to be able to address those things. They just need to learn to show respect, be respectful. 01:27:26 KM Well thank you so much for all of your time and answering all the questions. 01:27:31 CJ Thank you thank you for doing this. I appreciate you taking out of your time to ask me questions that I didn't think about you know. But thank you.