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Parade official: 'A cart! A cart! My kingdom
for a cart!'
By Bill Whitaker
Before God and everyone, 81-year-old W.O. "Doc" Beazley
got down on both knees and practically kissed the fine dust of
the West Texas Fair & Rodeo arena.
Reason: Doc had just learned a scholarship endowment fund had
been set up in his honor.
"I cried till there wasn't a tear left in me," he
said not long after the surprise honor, put together by fair and
rodeo officials and Hardin-Simmons University, where Doc ran the
fabled and stabled Six White Horse program beginning in the early
1960s.
Doc later said he was overwhelmed by the forming of a scholarship
fund for future Six White Horse riders (though by then no one
really needed any convincing). He said he had wanted such a scholarship
fund "for years and years" but never imagined one might
be named for him.
Certainly the announcement and subsequent parading around the
arena of Doc and wife Madge in Ray Boeshart's sturdy buckboard
proved one of the highlights of this year's rodeo, which wrapped
up Saturday night.
"Best of my knowledge, we haven't had a situation like
this, where they gave a standing ovation all around the coliseum
at a rodeo," fair official Butch Albus said later. "From
the time that buckboard took off and everyone got to their feet,
that said what we did tonight for Doc wasn't all wrong."
Best touch: Doc was followed every hoof of the way by the Six
White Horses and their engaging riders.
CART BEFORE THE HORSE
Besides ensuring the presence of the Six White Horses during
rodeos every year, Doc has long chaired the West Texas Fair &
Rodeo parade, a huge undertaking which this year saw more than
320 entries riding, rolling or marching through downtown Abilene.
"He puts hours upon hours into that thing, always worrying
about it," said West Texas Fair & Rodeo president J.V.
Martin. "And then when the parade gets going, I'll tell him,
'Doc, you know, it sure is looking grand.'
"And he'll always say, 'Yeah, but it's not over yet!'"
In any case, Doc hasn't done bad for a fellow past 80, though
he typically gives all credit to others, including his parade
committee and Debra Jones, who for the past several years helped
run the Six White Horse program and this year succeeded him.
For once, Doc was speechless upon being honored in the West
Texas Fair & Rodeo arena.
On the other hand, he was anything but speechless several days
earlier, during the fair parade itself. That's when Doc, who uses
a golf cart to race from here to there during the parade, unwittingly
attracted the attention of a young boy.
Actually, the boy was more taken with Doc's cart than Doc.
"I let him on the cart for a while," Doc said, "but
then he wanted to go someplace else. I said, 'That's fine with
me, son, but you'll have to walk, because I got a parade to run.'<t>"
A bit later, while Doc was out of the cart directing one facet
or another of the parade then just getting under way, his golf
cart disappeared.
"It was just gone," Doc remembered. "Police
found it later behind a Skinny's in an alley. Unfortunately for
me, they found it after the parade."
In the meantime, the confounded octogenarian did a bit more
walking than he figured that morning.
NO FOOLING
Dr. George Newman, area rancher, one-time HSU biology professor
and fair and rodeo president-elect, said Doc's magic has been
a total lack of pretense in dealing with people, regardless of
their place in society, and a talent in making different personalities
mesh.
An example of this came 15 or so years ago, back when Dr. Newman
was emceeing basketball games on campus and Dr. B.W. Aston was
running the clock. Toward the end of one particularly close game,
Dr. Aston unintentionally began the clock a little late.
That ended up giving HSU a second or so more than it might
have had otherwise - and in that crucial second, it scored over
the visiting team, clinching victory.
While HSU supporters cheered, Dr. Newman and Dr. Aston suddenly
became aware of an older, distinguished-looking administrator
from the other university in their presence. "He began chewing
B.W. out," Dr. Newman said. "I mean, this man was livid.
He was red in the face. And we didn't know what to do."
The situation might have gotten worse except for one thing,
Dr. Newman said.
"Doc walked up, put his arm around him and said, 'Now,
you know, you're out here in front of all these people and you're
really making a fool of yourself.' And then he kind of pulled
this guy, who was about his age, to him and they walked away.
"Boy," Dr. Newman said, "were we grateful!"
Anyone wanting to contribute to HSU's newly created fund for
an endowed scholarship named for Doc Beazley and benefiting the
Six White Horse riders can contact Vice President Rick Styles
at HSU. The number is 670-1000.
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Copyright ©1996 or
1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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