Football Queen of 1956

Vickie's memories of Temple High School band brought back fond memories for another Temple alum, Vera Sue Wilson Golden.

Thanks, Sue for sharing your fascinating story of the life of a high school band member and football queen. I bet that D.T. Stogner and Clinton Hart were thrilled to escort and crown you – the lovely football queen. I'm sharing your comment below:

The piece about “The Secret Life of Temple Bank Member brought back some memories. I too was a Temple Tiger Marching Bank member. I started very early and stayed with it until I graduated in 1956. My instrument was the flute. I enjoyed playing but I never did achieve ‘greatness’ on that instrument. The flute could be twirled, lake a baton, and I spent as much time doing that as I did playing the thing. My Mom and Dad gave up hard earned money for that instrument and I should have put my heart and soul into learning how to play as well as possible. I don’t have many regrets, but that is one of them.

We had several directors through those years and I cannot recall all their names. One left in the middle of the year to join the army I believe. I guess we were a challenge that he didn’t want to deal with.

Vickie mentioned football queens in her article. In 1956 I was the Temple Tiger football queen. It was an honor that I didn’t expect but certainly enjoyed receiving. Usually the queen is escorted by one guy. For some reason that year two escorts were chosen. D.T. Stogner and Clinton Hart were my escorts and we didn’t ride in a convertible. We went in an enclosed car.
In those days football players were the escorts for the queen and her court. If the field happened to be muddy that night the buys would be covered in mud, grass and sometimes a bit of blood. Getting a kiss from your escort was a thrill, even if he had mud on his mouth.

When I was growing up I thought Temple, Oklahoma was probably the only place on earth that really mattered. Time took care of that particular feeling but I still have fond memories of those years spent living in that “Quiaint Town in Southern Oklahoma”
--Vera Sue Wilson Golden