Growing Up in Bandera
It seems that sharing stories about attending school in Bandera always brings fond memories of classmates and friends from earlier times. As we get older we continue to share memories of events from those bygone years each time we meet. Often the same tales are repeated year after year at reunions but they never lose the associated feelings. For many who have moved away from Bandera it makes for a joyful homecoming.
John Tucker and I had a recent conversation about how things have changed through the years concerning how students traveled to and from the schools in the area. Now John and I differ in age about ten years or so and it always intrigues me how fast things can change in that short amount of time.
As he recalled his younger days attending St. Joseph’s Catholic School in the years before my time he recalled Donnie and Hubert Risinger rode a horse to school every day. It was a Shetland pony and her name was Raggedy Ann. Each day they tied her up under the big tree out in the playground by the merry-go-round until it was time to go home.
The mention of that merry-go-round brought to mind some fun times along with near tragedies involving me and my friends when we attended school there in later years. No helmets or safety harnesses to protect us but we survived.
In the warmer days when school let out some of the kids would go down the hill to the river to swim. As the story went Raggedy Ann sometimes was in the water with them. The Risingers lived on the other side of the river and would hang onto their pony as she crossed the river to carry them home.
I have heard stories of others who used horses to travel to schools both in Bandera as well as the old Pipe Creek School. By the time I was in school riding horses was pretty scarce. There was a Western Day when I was in high school and a few students did ride their horse to school that day but early 50’s model Ford and Chevy cars and trucks had taken over by that time.
Gone are the days of horses carrying cowhands along the trails during cattle drives. No one is riding a horse to school these days. Our Growing Up In Bandera has become more about sharing our historic past for the tourists. Our horses may no longer be a necessity but we still remember and celebrate the part they played in Bandera’s earlier times.
Editor’s Note: Want more Growing Up in Bandera? Purchase your very own copy today. Published by the Bulletin, this collection of stories paints a nostalgic, honest and humorous picture of Bandera from back in the day. Visit the Bulletin’s Office at 606 Hwy 16 or call 830-796-3718 for more information.