KILGOROUND

While in search of the previous owner( s) of the Circle Café, a call came through. "I'm Gerald Toney," he said. "But, I'm not the one." "Oh, you must be the son," was my reply. "Yes," he answered. "But, still not the one you seek. "Same name, same spelling, not related. In fact, I never laid eyes upon the man."

Ah, a story within itself…" My father came to the East Texas field a year after it started," he said. "They came from the Corsicana area and he worked for Gulf Oil Company.

"When he first came, he lived in a bunkhouse provided by Gulf Oil. The camp was located out towards Laird Hill. The roads were mud and it took teams of horses to get them where they were going.

"His first house shared with my mother was only 12' by 15'. They ended up living in a company house provided by Gulf Oil for

their field bosses. We had a crank phone that was set up like a party line for the company. If they needed you, we would receive a call. A short and a long ring was our phone number.

"Later, when we got a phone of our own, the name was listed in the phone book with a four digit number and then the owner's occupation. Beside my father's name was listed field supervisor.That was in the early 50s.

"He retired in 1956, when Gulf Oil changed the policy to where all bosses must have a college education. This pushed many into early retirement. My father had been supervisor over a vast portion of the East Texas field. They replaced the bosses with engineers who did not have the field learning of those before them. I'm sure it made a difficult challenge for the engineers.

"He went to work for Rans Jenkins who owned Jenkins Pump & Electric. Dad would overhaul the pumps and take time out to play dominoes in the office before he fully retired…," said Gerald Toney II.

"As for me, I graduated from Kilgore High School in 1958 and Kilgore College in 1960. Latane Speer was one who graduated with me. I went into the National Guard and was trained in Fort Ord, California. When I came back, I registered at Stephen F. Austin University on Friday; was called in to active duty on Saturday and checked out on Monday.

"We went to Fort Polk, Louisiana, to re-open the base. The barracks were the original ones left from WWII with an inside wall and outside wall and no insulation. That meant when the heat went out, which was often, it was as cold inside as outside. The fort was re-opened for the Berlin Crisis of 1961 It has been opened ever since," he said.

After returning to Kilgore, Gerald went to Houston where he worked for a motion picture company. He started at the bottom and worked his way to the top. "I saw and participated in many things," he said. "They sent me to California to gather medical information for a show. I worked with the head of the anatomy department who was over 250 anatomies; then brought the facts back to the company to be produced in to a series. We also had a contract with NASA. I got to see Ed White on his first walk in space."

After working for fifteen years at the motion picture company, Gerald went to work for an exercise equipment company for eight years, and then moved on to selling insurance. Today, at age 68, he works for Sitel in Longview.

He and his second wife, Alice, have four children and are staying busy with the grandkids. She recently retired from teaching school in the Gladewater area.

"Me retire? Don't look for it," he said. "Working keeps a person young."

"However, I have been told I was listed on the deceased list. And when the other Gerald Toney died, my neighbor came over and said, 'I heard you died the other day'…and the sad part is I never met the man."

Oh, yes, there is a Gerald Toney III running around, well at least in this family, and who knows about the other Toneys

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Blowing out the birthday candles today are Jimi Brantley Greene, Fletcher Jowers, Mark Stovall, Harry Hamilton, Dennis Yancey, James Perry, Norreitha Franklin, Bonnie Durning, Lon Abney Jr., Joy Fox, Staci Silvertooth, David Martin, Bobbye Hearell, Rev. James Boatman, Ronee Laird, Brittany Stovall, Lisa Waugh, Odie Hodges, Jamie Taylor, Mary Climer, Michelle Higgins, Alva Jean Green, Mrs. N.S. Spipman, Lola Templeton, Patsy Ann Willbanks, Megan McChristian, Stephanie Ann Williams, Cotton Kirk, Henry Mitchell, Kimberly Earnhardt Lee, Henley Brown, Anthony D. Adams and Laura Bember.

Happy Anniversary today to Loye and Gary Monroe, Skeeter and Daron Ammons.