Reminiscing On The Good Old Days

Editor's Note: This letter was sent to The Association by Christie Yeates '88 in December 2018. 

Dear Editor,

I am writing to you today to reminisce and remember some of the good old days at Texas A&M.

I arrived in Aggieland when I was 3 years old in 1966. My father, B.F. Yeates, received an invitation from Texas A&M to come and serve as a state horse specialist.

My mother, Janet, and I came with B.F. to Aggieland, where we lived adjacent to the Texas A&M head baseball coach, Tom Chandler, and his wife, Willowdean.

Gary Potter, along with his wife Charlotte and son Bill, arrived here from Arkansas, and Potter took a position in the horse section of the animal science department.

I remember when the pavilion was a horse riding arena with a dirt floor. It had grand stands that circled around the upper sides of the entire building. At 9 years old, I was up riding my horse around the old pavilion on the TAMU campus. In the old days, the pavilion was available for community use. Area 4-H clubs held horse riding practices in the facility. The Country Livestock show was held in the TAMU Pavilion when my family arrived at Aggieland. 

My parents helped me purchase and show pigs at the County Livestock show.  I remember the chickens, turkeys, rabbits, sheep, swine, and cattle all caged in the TAMU Pavilion every March of every year. In 1975, I showed the Reserve Grand Champion swine at the Brazos County Livestock show night in the middle of the TAMU Pavilion. The would be the last year for the Brazos County Livestock show to be held on the TAMU campus.

The following year, 1976, I would go on to win the Grand Champion pig at the Brazos County Livestock show. This year the show moved from the TAMU campus to the Tabor Road arena in Bryan.

We would never ride our horses in the TAMU Pavilion again after 1976. The pavilion was later converted into an office building.

Sincerely,
Christie E. Yeates ‘88

P.S. I remember the outdoor Olympic-sized swimming pool at Texas A&M University that has since been removed.