Everyone, I mean everyone, locally, statewide and nationally, knows that Texas is a football hotbed. Every school goes all out for their team. Brownwood is no different.
Brownwood High School has achieved greatness in this sport but little is known about a sport’s record that was set some 61 years ago and has not been broken. Brownwood was in the state finals in basketball and lost to Texas City by two points. No athletic team prior to 1949 and no basketball team since have advanced to the state finals. Why is this so important at this late date?
Just a little history…the Coach of this team was Roland “Slim” Warren, who later became Principal of BHS. When the new high school was built, the School Board voted that the gymnasium would be dedicated to Coach Warren and a plaque commemorating this be placed in the gymnasium. At that time the Athletic Director and football coach was Mr. Gordon Wood and he was master of ceremony at the dedication and the 1949 team represented the basketball players.
Sometime later, some of us came to BHS homecoming and toured the new facilities and could not find our trophy in the trophy case. It so happened that the basketball team was practicing basketball and we stopped by to watch the practice. On the wall of the gymnasium were the achievements of later teams but nothing about the 1949 team. When we asked the coach, he said that he had researched the records, etc. and there was no record of the 1949 team achievements that he knew of. We then asked Mr. Gordon Wood, why was there was no trophy or record of this achievement…his reply, was that it probably got lost in the move from the old high school to the new high school. We started a mini-crusade to find the trophy and establish it in its rightful place. The effort was haphazard and yielded no results. We came to the conclusion that it would have to be replaced. Ralph Wallace, a retired M.D. and Valedictorian of the `49 class, who was a member of the basketball team, contacted the UIL offices and they said a request from BHS to replace the lost trophy would be required. Mr. Faircloth, BHS Principal, readily agreed to make the request. For $85 (paid by BHS) and a little time, the trophy, along with the team picture, is in its rightful place. Not the end of the story…!
There was a game film…like the original trophy, could not be found. Lee Wise, Co-Captain of the `49 team, contacted the Texas City high school Athletic Director’s office, hoping by chance, they would have preserved a copy that we could borrow, buy or ?. The lady that answered the phone said that she did not have to contact the AD, she knew someone, Max Montegut, a member of that team that had a copy of the film. Max had one but could not find it but he knew a fellow that would lend us his copy of the game. Lee’s wife, Caron…very technically qualified in all things that go into putting a DVD together and a whole lot smarter than all of us…agreed to edit the film and adapt it to our need. Texas City Singletrees were edited out…BHS players were taken from a team picture and placed into it individually… (game film and score stayed the same). Now Caron gets innovative! Put in pictures of the Howard Payne gymnasium, that was our home gymnasium because the high school had no gymnasium…just a hole under the Sr. High building that was called a gymnasium but not large enough to accommodate competitive basketball. Other pictures were added…but she needed the Alma Mater and Fight Song. Norma Gill Burns, our class source of all kinds of information and history, agreed to contact BHS to find us the recordings. The BHS Superintendent’s Secretary, Karen Dempsey was contacted but no recordings existed. She solved this problem by contacting both, the Choir Director, Dean Kiesling, Jr., who graciously agreed to record the Alma Mater and the “ever great BHS Band” led by Director Richard Graham who recorded the fight song. With all the bits and pieces, film, music, pictures, and narrations done by Lee Wise and Harold Moore, Caron was ready to produce a masterpiece. The Peter Principal is now in play…Caron’s technical facilities and organizational skills have about maxed out. No sweat…she knows someone in San Antonio who has the technical competence and equipment that can professionally put it all together on a DVD…still not the end of the story.
In August, 2010, four classes, `47, `48, `49 and `50, had a reunion at the Country Club in Brownwood. The Class of 1949 had as their guests, Mrs. Frances Warren and her daughter, Marilyn Warren Clark. Coach and Mrs. Warren’s son, Mark was unable to attend. The Warren children were either, not born, or too young to remember their Dad’s coaching days so this had real significance to them and brought back memories to Mrs. Warren of late suppers and out of town games. We are all so appreciative of her support during those times and still cherish our memories of Coach Warren and our BHS heritage. By the way, Frances Warren is as beautiful now as she was in 1949…a few more miles, but never-the-less, just as pretty as you can see in the picture below.
Seated: Cecil Elkins, Mrs. Frances Warren
Back Row: L-R Don Jordan, Harold Moore, Lee Wise, Roland Elledge, Don Low, Ralph Wallace, Billy Bishop, and James Blake.
The end of the story…there are so many people that had a part in this production that any attempt to recognize everyone would be futile…can’t blame everything on age but this is one time the “ole memory” is not trustworthy. Caron is so humble that she will not accept all the accolades she deserves but we will forever be indebted to her and Lee for what they have done to preserve the history of the 1949 basketball team.
Harold Moore 1949 Basketball Co-Captain
