About Galveston's Historical Galveston

TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Galveston, Texas
Founded 1841
The Gothic Church Building Completed in 1857

Recently the enormously wealthy Moody Foundation of Galveston, Texas chose to award a grant of $2.7 million to Trinity Episcopal Church’s parochial school rather than to the church itself.

It came with great thought as to how the church and the school could best be helped to grow. I wrote this piece for the Galveston paper.

******************

What Moody Foundations Grant to Trinity Really Means

A number of years ago, Houston’s St. Thomas Episcopal Church’s membership was diminishing. Many worried that at that rate, the parish could soon cease to exist.

My longtime friend, Robert Bennett, CPA and CLU, was a vestryman at the church. He was asked to come up with a plan that would likely save it from possible extinction, but would also significantly rebuild the membership.

Bennett’s advice? Funnel most of the parish’s resources – financial and mental – toward building the church’s parochial school. His corollary? Churches without schools are difficult to sustain, much less to grow.

Today, St. Thomas’ Episcopal School has all 12 grades. And its huge boys’ drum and bagpipe band, kilts and all, have brought it national acclaim.

Many have applied for enrollment in the school with the hopes they could try out for membership in the drum and bagpipe band.

With the growth of the school has come the growth of the church’s membership. Today, St. Thomas is a true feather in the miter of the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Houston.

Galveston’s Trinity Episcopal Church, for various reasons, has been limping along with declining membership for a number of years, even though since 1952 it has had under its wings founder Fr. John Caskey’s academically acclaimed Trinity Episcopal School.

The Rev. John F. Caskey ===>>

Like many of the old downtown Galveston churches experienced, Hurricane Ike did its best to sound Trinity’s death knoll.

All of the churches were left gasping for air, trying to figure out how to rebuild their buildings and save their memberships.

The Moody Foundation trustees’ extraordinary business judgment concluded the same solution for Trinity as Robert Bennett had advised for St. Thomas almost 30 years before.

Rather than devote a grant to Trinity Church, instead the foundation gave $2.7 million to Trinity School to build an activities center and gymnasium.

This huge injection of parochial oxygen guarantees the growth and validation of Trinity School, and that will give reason for the church to be able to rebuild its membership and continue ministering in Galveston to the glory of God.

Blessings to Robert and Ann Moody for whom the facility will be named. And blessings to the trustees of the Moody Foundation for exercising their wisdom. All of Galveston should be thankful.

BILL CHERRY, REAL ESTATE BROKER

Dallas – Park Cities
Since 1964
214 503-8563

Cynthia Mitchell passed away just after Christmas at her home at The Woodlands. She was 87 and had suffered from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease for about ten years.

Her funeral was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Galveston, the church she and her family had attended fifty years earlier when they lived on the Island. Her ten children were there to celebrate her life as was her husband, George Mitchell, 90. And the church was packed with friends.

Another lifelong friend, Trish Clason, sent me one of the printed programs and told me about the service.

The program shows that five people, four of them family members, eulogized her. And I know they did a great job, doing their best to remind all present of how remarkable Mrs. Mitchell was.

But the one who captured and told it all was the person who thought printing this picture of Mrs. Mitchell on the program would be a worthy contribution to her last rite. For me, this is what said it all. It left me to ponder with a smile our many year friendship.

Cynthia Woods Mitchell

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

Since 1964

214 503-8563

WEB

WIKIPEDIA

It Was Just Like HGTV!

A young couple attending university called me one day to see a duplex we have for lease. So I met them there and showed them a sad and neglected apartment. Such is the state of the market where I live and work, having gone through the hurricane last year, many residences are just not what they used to be. And that is not a good situation in a community of university students looking for a place to live near the school.

So I asked them if they had thought about buying a place instead of renting and that it might actually be easier and more financially sound in the long run. I told them about the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers. I think that is what sold them on the idea.

We sat down at the office and I explained to them how buying a home worked, from getting pre-qualified for a mortgage, the search, the offer, negotiations, the acceptance, appraisals, inspections, closing and filing for their tax credit. They had lots of questions and did lots of research on their own. And off we went to find a condo that was walking distance to school and in their price range.

The only bump in the road came when my first time buyers went off on their own and found a FSBO condo that they just fell in love with. I knew something had happened because I didn't hear from them for a week. Little did I know that the FSBO sellers were trying to convince my buyers that they didn't NEED a Realtor and that they would be able to buy this condo with the seller's guidance.

OMG. I could feel my heart start racing with the shot of adrenaline coursing through me when my buyers came to me for advice. Thankfully, they had talked it over and had come to the conclusion that yes, they probably could do this on their own, but they would feel so much more comfortable and confident having someone trained (and trusted) in real estate sales on their side!

We worked out how the commission would be paid in a FSBO situation, crafted an offer and I called the sellers to present it. I told my buyers that it would be best if they left the room while I talked to the sellers. (My buyers were very nervous!)

Well, it was not pretty! Neither buyers nor sellers were on the same page about anything even though they had talked together amicably and smiled at one another as they talked over the particulars of the sale. (That's why you need representation). Thankfully I had sent my buyers out of the room while I presented the offer to the seller. So they weren't there when the seller, exasperated, asked to speak to them (so she could harangue a commitment from them). I simply said they aren't here. After the phone call, I sent the sellers an email expressing my apologies for any misunderstandings and inviting them to make a counter offer.

Needless to say the FSBO deal didn't work. But that's okay because I quickly took my young buyers back out and showed them a Bigger, less expensive condo (it didn't have all the pretty things in it) and they were able to see the value even in the empty spaces!

We made the offer on the bigger unit and by now my newbie buyers felt like veterans of the process.

The closing was last Friday. They brought me cookies and I ate them all. They tried to read every word of the closing documents and the closer gently nudged them on. And afterward we hugged and took pictures.

And it was, Just Like On HGTV!

I can't help but think of this story every year during the Christmas-New Year Holidays, and I always have this burning desire to share it. It took place just before New Year's Eve in about 1960.

++++++++++

Gigs for Italian singers had been terrible for a long time. But then out of nowhere came "That's Amore," "Mel Blu di Pinto di Blue," and "Al di La." And things got very good for them.

And that's when Macino Rapuchi, with his Sam Maceo-esque billing, "the International Continental Stylist," hit Galveston with his guitar and accordion, and found his way to headline at the Studio Lounge upstairs over the Turf Grill at 2214 Market Street. That very spot had headlined Peggy Lee, Myron Cohen, Sinatra, Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy, and a host of others; that is as long as the casino above it was operating.

But about five years before Macino hit town, the famed Texas Rangers had permanently closed Galveston's illegal casino gambling

So for the first time in a long time, business at the Studio Lounge got really good, and it was because Macino knew those songs, and he sang them over and over again as he paraded around the room strumming his guitar or squeezing his accordion. Macino was tall and good looking and was full of personality. He spoke broken English. The girls loved him.

When he'd finish a tune, he'd yell, "Ecco! Ecco!" That was notice for the audience to clap their hands off.

Men had no choice but to take their dates to the Studio Lounge to hear Macino Rapuchi, the International Continental Stylist. Drinks were 75 cents a piece and you had to tip Macino a buck every time he sang a line or two at your table. Macino could make it by your table with his hand out at least a dozen times a night. Be prepared for that date to cost 30 bucks.

Now you remember me telling you about wise guy Joe Pajucie with his cheap looking girls in their Frederick's of Hollywood bullet bras and Carmen Miranda wedge shoes, all piled in his two-payment past-due used red Cadillac convertible from Child's Motors, don't you?

Well, on this Friday night around New Year's Eve-time, Joe was in the mood for some loving. So he picked up his cheap looking girls from the bar at the Derrick Club, loaded them in the red Cadillac convertible and headed downtown to the Studio Lounge.

He figured he'd finally be able to hit a home run and get in some smooching with at least one of the three if he took them to see Macino Rapuchi, the International Continental Stylist.

Macino was singing "Al di La" when they walked in.

Al di la, del bene plu prezioso, ci sei tu, ci sei tu

Al di la, del sogno plu ambizoso, ci sei tu, ci sei tu

Even though the Studio Lounge's carpet was worn thin, and the black light on the murals couldn't hide the years that had past since it had last been redecorated, and the odor of Pine ‘o Pine coming from the restrooms was far from subtle, nevertheless on the way over, Joe Pajucie had convinced the girls that the Studio Lounge in its earlier days had been the place where new talent was auditioned for the chance of a future engagement at the Balinese Room.

They sat down, ordered, and the waitress brought them their drinks along with a small bowl of Goldfish crackers. Macino was on to "Volare," and he was whaling his lungs out and the accordion was huffing and puffing trying its best to accompany him.

Macino finished, and went into his ending, "Ecco! Ecco!" The audience, especially the women, started clapping their hands off.

And that's when one of Joe Pajucie's cheap looking girls, Madeleine was her name, started slowly rising like a human Phoenix out of the banquette and she looked Macino square in the eye and said for him and everyone else in the room to hear, "I love you!"

With that and without saying a word, Macino set down his accordion in front of him on the dance floor, went to the juke box, threw in a quarter, and quickly punched up six tunes, one of them the real "Al di La" by a fellow named Domenico Modugno.

Then Macino came to the banquette, took Madeleine by the hand, and they walked out of the Studio Lounge arm and arm toward the elevator as the audience, realizing what was probably going to happen soon, started laughing and chanting "Ecco! Ecco!"

Joe Pajucie and the two remaining cheap looking girls couldn't believe their eyes. In an attempt to save the night, Joe Pajucie said to them, "Let go to the Pirate Club for an Oscar steak." When they got downstairs and got into the two payment past due red Cadillac convertible, wouldn't you know that the battery was dead. The girls caught a cab back to the Derrick Club.

Joe Pajucie started walking toward the Watch Shop to see if Isadore Jansburg, Sonny Martini and Charlie Killebrew would let him play a hand or two of gin rummy that they usually had going on in the back room. When he got there, the place was dark.

Copyright 2003 - William S. Cherry

All rights reserved

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Selling America Since 1964

214 503-8563

800 314-7110

There is a new historical pictorial titled:

Galveston: A City on Stilts (General History: Texas) by Jodi Wright-Gidley and Jennifer Marines (Paperback - Oct 13, 2008)

It is primarily a selection of photos taken by a professional photographer named Zeva B. Edworthy, who lived in the city for about eleven years after the famous 1900 Storm.

The photos were inadvertently found by his daughter, Judith Wray. She had stored them along with other of her mother's possessions after her mother's estate was settled some years ago. When she found them recently, she donated them to the Galveston County Historical Museum.

Galveston: A City on Stilts was a Christmas present from my lifelong friends, Victor and Judy Damiani.

Those of you who have read my book, Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories or read my AR blogs, will remember Victor. I analogized him as our Fonzie when we were growing up.

To my knowledge most of the photographs in Galveston: A City on Stilts have not been seen by the public before.

Along with the photos are brief narratives written by the book's authors. Most appear to be accurate.

Every person interested in Galveston should buy this book. It's well done, and the authors and those who helped them deserve our thanks.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Selling America for 44 Years

214 503-8563

800 314-7110