Blackshear alumni have a ball

By JOE RUIZ
jruiz@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8262

Some people rolled gutter balls, some rolled strikes and everybody rolled in-between Saturday at Stadium Lanes as part of the four-day Black-shear school reunion.

About 300 people from across the country came to San Angelo to celebrate the 30th year since the reunions started in 1976. While this isn't the 30th reunion, the weekend is still tops on many people's calendars.

Blackshear, which served in various roles as a high school, middle school and elementary school, is now the home of a head-start program and known as the Carver Learning Center. The school opened in 1915 and operated as Black-shear for 81 years.

The school was the only school for blacks in San Angelo during the time of segregation.

What was once a reunion celebrated every four years, then three and now bi-annually, is an emotional time for Marjorie R. Green, the secretary of Blackshear's ex-student committee and organizer of the bowling tournament.

''There's everybody that you haven't seen in a long time, and it's so good to see everybody,'' Green said. ''This is just great for those that are alive and well to be able to get to come home and see old friends.''

The reunion is necessary for some people, said Samuel Green, a San Angelo retiree who finished his time at Blackshear in 1953 and graduated from Central High School in 1959 before joining the United States Marine Corps.

During the last reunion in 2004, there was a man that had not been to San Angelo in 30 years and came back for the Blackshear reunion, Green said.

''The guy I played and won the dominoes championship with, he hadn't been home in 30 years,'' Green said. ''That was one of the joys of his life was coming back and seeing everybody that he hadn't seen in 30 years. Then he went back to California and passed away within three months.''

On lanes 23 and 24, Nancy Scott-Johnson and her brother, Giles Scott, bowled with Green and another woman.

While the Scott twosome said the bowling was more about fun than about winning, the competitive juices flowed as the frames continued.

Scott-Johnson now lives in Austin and works as a bookkeeper for a magic supply company. She left Blackshear in 1964 and graduated from Central in 1967. She said she bowls occasionally with her grandkids, but her scores above 200 told a different story.

The second game was tough for the Scotts: At the end of the fifth frame, they were up by only 10 pins.

''I'm a competitive-type person, but it's all about fun today,'' Scott said. ''At first, I didn't come to the reunions, but the last four, I've been to them and I've enjoyed myself.''

Scott, who nearly everybody at the bowling tournament called ''Butch,'' graduated from Central in 1964 and attended Blackshear in ''the fifties,'' he said. ''You do the math.''

Near the end of the third game, the elder Scott started to get a little winded. The former entrepreneur, who opened his own motorcycle repair business in Los Angeles after getting a degree in accounting, started feeling the aches in his right arm.

Even with the fatigue setting in, Scott still enjoys the game with his old bowling league buddy, Green.

''I told him he was going to have to bring it today. He said, 'Well, come on, bring it,' '' Scott said. ''He's bringing it now.''

Green and the Scotts grew up only a few houses away from each other.

After the third game, they joked about the game, life and what society's become today.

''Before you can unite the world, you have to unite each other,'' Green said. ''That's why I like to teach that we're all human beings.''

The reunion winds up today with private events including a memorial breakfast, church service and reception honoring former students of Angelo State University.