Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1981)
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1981 Local ocal handicapped youths to benefit Elephant Bowl to be 2 p.m. Sunday By DENISE RICHTER Battalion Reporter ,e Army and Navy will battle the Air Force and Aggie Band at 2 p.m. Sunday at Kyle Field, but the winner of the battle already has been chosen. The battle is the 10th annual | Elephant Bowl, a charity football game based on inter-service rival ry within the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University. K The winners will be the chil dren who attend Camp Fun and Frolic, a day-camp sponsored by the Bryan-College Station Jaycees for handicapped children. The Mephant Bowl is co-sponsored this year by the Jaycees and by Wings and Sabers, a service orga- fnization for contract-scholarship | Even though this year’s game is only the 10th official Elephant Bowl, the game has been played by senior Corps members for a lot longer than that. “A football game between Corps seniors has been played off and on since the 1950s,” said David Lewis, president of Wings and Sabers, “but it was never a consistent event until 1971. Then Wings and Sabers started sponsor ing it, named it ‘Elephant Bowl,’ and it has been around ever since.” Players have to pay insurance and try out just like they would for any football team, Lewis said. The 35-man teams practice IV2 hours a day during the week and twice daily on the weekends. With all of these practice ses sions, why do seniors want to play in the Elephant Bowl? “Most of these guys were foot ball players in high school and didn’t have the time, talent, de sire or size needed to play college ball, ” Lewis said. “This is their last chance to play regulation football the way they used to. With prac tice every day, they’re making some sacrifices. They’re giving a lot but it’s their final fling before they lay it down for good.” Senior cadets may be the only people who actually play in the Elephant Bowl, but others partici pate as well. Senior football players serve as head coaches for the teams. James Zachry will coach this year’s Army-Navy team, and the Air Force-Band team will be coached by Arlis James. The Fish Drill Team will per form at half time and the Diamond Darlings will work at the gates and serve as water girls. Freshmen cadets will serve as Officers of the Day and as yell leaders for the Elephant Bowl. During the regular football sea son, Officers of the Day stand on the sidelines and act as a security force to keep any Texas A&M fan from bothering the opponent’s equipment. But for the Elephant Bowl the officers stand on the sidelines for ceremonial purposes only and are chosen by lottery, Lewis said. Freshmen who want to be yell leaders for the Elephant Bowl have tryouts judged by the junior yell leaders, he said. Although the Elephant Bowl has always been played for char ity, Lewis said this is the first year that the charity has been a local one. “In the past. Elephant Bowl was strictly a Corps event,” he said. “Now we’re trying to get the community involved, make it a public event. That’s why we’re supporting Camp Fun and Frolic — it’s a local charity that people around here can relate to.” Camp Fun and Frolic is held at the Allen Academy in Bryan dur ing the last week of June. Any handicapped child from the area can attend, Jaycees President Joe Holliman said. Last year, approxi mately 90 children from the area attended the camp. Tickets are $1 and can be pur chased at the Memorial Student Center or from any Corps member. Your Center for AGGIE Designs featuring: counted cross stitch • crewel embroidery latch hook • needlepoint crochet • embroidery • knitting English smocking th^SUtchvuf 707 Texas Ave. South College Station, Texas 77840 Students keep ‘Charlie’going of By BARBIE SMITH Battalion Reporter A three-foot tall chocolate ice bam cone is painted on the store Window beneath a faded maroon froden sign that reads, “CHAR LIE'S GROCERIES.” p Through the window, a heavy, gray-haired man in suspenders ! usually works the cash register, or behind an ice cream bar, packing cones with mounds of ice cream that hang over the edges. I He is J. F. Robbins, 56, who has been the owner of the small 70- Low stamp supply hits B-CS area idifli * atioi -7 spc )ill tine lease I. Three-cent stamps have been in short supply in College Station and Bryan post offices as a result of the postage increase this week, and postal officials aren’t sure if the remaining supply will last un til the next shipment. 11 tin f “We ran completely out of ev erything Tuesday,” said James Nix, window technician at the main Bryan Post Office. ! i ; | ; Nix said the post office then received a shipment of 10,000 .one-cent stamps and 50,000 three- cent stamps on the same day but will be out of one-cent stamps again soon. | “Of our stock of 130,000 three- cent stamps, a few were sold last week and we have sold at least 100,000 in the past three days, ” he said. “We only have about 5,000 in stock now. J “There is no way to anticipate the run on these things. All I can do is recommend that people buy the purple B’ stamps and hold onto those 15-cent stamps until more three-cent stamps are avail able.” 1 “Hopefully most have bought |the amount they want,” he said. Nix said he doesn’t expect the next bulk order from Washington, m D.C., for another week. year-old grocery store for 17 years. The store is sandwiched into the Northgate area across from Texas A&M University. He is also known as “Charlie” by the many students who have become regular customers of the store. The students are “what keeps us young,” said Robbins in an in terview as his wife, Mildred, 55, stood nearby. “Now there’s an ex ample of a young lady who has been coming here for four years,” Robbins said, pointing out a cus tomer. “We’ve become a ‘Mom & Pop’ figure to the kids,” Robbins said. “We listen to them and try to help them out whenever they get a lit tle down-in-the-dumps.” Robbins said it is not unusual for a former student of 12 years ago to walk into the store with a wife and two or three kids. “Course I get a kick out of their receding hairlines and everything,” he added. Although Robbins did not attend Texas A&M, he said he considers himself an Aggie and is a loyal football fan. “Who else is there?” he said with a smile. When Robbins isn’t watching football games or working in the store, he said he does woodwork or farms his 39-acres in the Tabor community. “We only have four or five cows out there. And — oh yeah — three dogs. We can’t forget the pups, can we?” he said. Robbins was raised on a farm in Grayson County and moved to Sherman at 14. He met his wife in high school, they dated for a year, and then they married six months before Robbins was drafted to serve in World War II. He was 17, she was 16. After the war, Robbins was a salesman for 14 years and then got his grocery business. “I really enjoy the grocery busi ness. It’s just something you get in your blood,” Robbins said. He was transferred to College Station in 1960, and in 1964 he purchased Charlie’s Groceries from Mary Opersteny, the widow of Charlie Opersteny, the original Charlie. “Mrs. Opersteny is an angel,” Robbins said. “If you ever see a lady walking around with wings on, it’ll be her.” Robbins said that he and his wife are happy with the purchase of the store. “We love it right where we’re at,” he said. “Every thing’s just real, real nice.” SERVING BREAKFAST 7 DAYS A WEEK! AH 7 A.M. - 10 A-M- 2 with ALL THE PANCAKES YOU 99< 1 CAN EAT CALL IN YOUR ORDER 7 days a week 7 a.m.-IO a.m. 846-7466 203 University Drive at Northgate L’th 1 mpting Foods* Plus Tax. DIETING? * . Even though we do not prescribe diets, we make it possible for many to enjoy a nutritious meal while they follow their doctors orders. You will be delighted with the wide selection of low calorie, sugar free and fat free foods in the Souper Salad Area, Sbisa Dining Center Basement. 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