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Page 1
When two A&M-Commerce agriculture students were handed scholarships from the Farm Boy Alumni Association during Homecoming, it wasn’t because of any softheartedness on the part of the men who made them possible. Were their gifts a result of generosity? Certainly. Kindheartedness? Without a doubt. Softheartedness? No way. That’s because there’s nothing soft about Farm Boys. From keeping the farm to keeping the fun Forty and even 50 years after their stint as student workers on the University farm, Farm Boys are still as roughand- tumble as ever, a condition they had several opportunities to exhibit during Homecoming. During the annual Agriculture Alumni Breakfast, for instance, Frankie Thorp (BS ’59, MS ’60) taunted Farm Boy brethren Winfred “Wimpy” McCoy (BS ’57, MED ’61) by telling the crowd the story of how he conquered Winfred’s favorite University rooster. According to Frankie, Winfred had trained this one “durned ol’ rooster” into a particularly nasty attack chicken, if you will. The rooster was feared far and wide, and no one—aside from Winfred, that is—entered that particular University barn without fear of being ambushed, clawed, and/or pecked. Eventually Winfred went to do his student teaching, leaving the rooster behind. The next time it was Frankie’s turn to do chicken duty, he apparently decided not to do it looking over his shoulder. Frankie told the breakfast crowd simply: “The rooster fought me.” Then he added with a tad of contrariness: “ . . . And I fought back.” At this point in the tale, Winfred himself jumped up from his chair at the breakfast table and, holding something in his right hand, made a playful lunge for Frankie. Frankie yelped and skipped backward with the energy of a much younger man. Eventually, the crowd learned the rest: It turns out that by the end of the barnyard tussle between Frankie and the rogue rooster, all that was left of the latter was the rooster’s one spur. It was that spur that Winfred used to take a swipe at Frankie. He had collected it after he happened to return to campus the evening after the big brawl and discovered the rooster corpse. Not only had Winfred claimed and kept it all those years, but he had brought it along with him to this year’s breakfast. Buck’s Boys Not many alumni would treasure a piece of poultry anatomy as a memento. But then these are not everyday alumni. Graduates from the ag department at A&M-Commerce, and in particular the Farm Boys, have a special kinship rooted in their love for the land, livestock, and hard work. Farm Boys are those (including a few females through the years) who, from the late ‘40s to the early ‘80s, earned their education by working on the University farm. For many years they bunked in an old military barrack situated about where Whitley Hall is today, and their day began at 4:30 a.m. when the farm supervisor, A.C. “Buck” Hughes, walked through, extending them one— and only one—invitation to awaken. By dawn farm boys had milked cows, slopped hogs, and wrestled scrappy roosters over the right to collect eggs. If they were lucky, they got to catch a ride to breakfast on the milk truck making deliveries to the cafeteria. Time was of the essence if they were going to continued on page2 Lucky on the loose! A Homecoming pep rally on the East Lawn found Lucky working the crowd. More Homecoming photos can be found inside on pages 8 and 9. Make your nominations now for these two annual Alumni awards! For ALUMNI AMBASSADORS, who should be outstanding achievers in their profession. At the annual Alumni Forum in the spring, those chosen as Ambassadors will be recognized by the department in which they studied. For Alumni deserving recognition due to their OUTSTANDING SERVICE. These Alumni should have performed extraordinary service to the local, state, regional or national community. To request nomination forms, please call Alumni Relations at 903-886- 5765, e-mail to Alumni_Office@tamucommerce.edu, or fax to 903-886-5768. Alumni Calendar January April 17 April 24 |
