Wednesday, December 22, 1999
Loose cats had Abilenians climbing walls
By Bill Whitaker
When the 12-member Abilenian of the Millennium Committee met
at the request of the Abilene Reporter-News, it was inevitable
a little history would get made.
A lot more, however, was simply retold — and in highly
entertaining fashion.
“Somebody really should’ve recorded this thing,”
longtime teacher and Abilene Preservation League board member
Kathy Aldridge said after the three-hour meeting to select an
“Abilenian of the Millennium” concluded at Cypress Street
Station. “Some of the stories told were just wonderful.”
By now, regular readers are probably familiar with the Reporter-News
“Abilenian of the Millennium” series. If they aren’t,
they will be by New Year’s Day. Beginning in Thursday’s
paper, the series will focus on Abilenians who have made their
marks in any number of areas, including business, medicine, religion,
law enforcement and the arts.
But some of the tales told during the selection committee’s
meeting bear repeating — if not for history’s sake,
then at least for readers’ amusement.
For instance, at one point during the meeting, longtime businessman
and former Abilene mayor Fred Lee Hughes began laughing about
something with Joe Alcorta, the Hardin-Simmons University academician
and author who served on the Abilene City Council with Fred Lee.
Turns out they were laughing about, of all things, cats.
Talk of local history brought back memories of their own days
in power, when City Council chambers were packed with citizens
irate about … loose cats.
Have a heart
“We were talking about how funny things are,” Fred
Lee said. “We had budgets back then of $16-$18 million and
we’d have public hearings to get people’s input about
the budget and taxes and, well, no one would ever show up. Then
we had this proposal for an ordinance to have Animal Control pick
up cats and we had a room full of people. They were standing on
the walls!”
Although the city in the 1970s had an ordinance mandating that
Animal Control Shelter employees capture loose dogs, no such ordinance
existed for cats. Eventually, complaints about dog-cat inequity
and the casual comings and goings of local felines came to the
attention of the City Council.
There wasn’t a soul in town who didn’t have strong
feelings on the subject.
Because cats are often “in trees and on roofs” and,
thus, almost impossible to catch, local veterinarians and Taylor-Jones
Humane Society members suggested homeowners use a Have-a-Heart
Trap to catch cats without harming them. Then people could phone
the Animal Control Shelter to pick the cats up.
One by one in council chambers, members of the public weighed
in on the issue. Diehard cat-lovers strenuously opposed the idea
of trapping the animals. Others wanted to ensure the council showed
firm resolve in ridding neighborhoods of bird-eating, dog-provoking
felines. And then, in the thick of all this, a little lady stood
up, walked before the council and offered her two cents.
“You know,” she said simply, “the real trouble
with this Have-a-Heart Trap is it’ll only catch one cat at
a time!”
That’s when everyone lost it.
“I don’t know what it was about that little lady,”
Fred Lee said, shaking his head at the memory, “but it was
just so funny, it took all the tension out of that room. I guess
she wanted to catch a whole bunch of cats!”
Lots of class
Fred Lee also fondly recalled his senior English class under
Miss Tommie Clack, one of the most beloved teachers at Abilene
High and a virtual town matriarch during Abilene’s centennial
in 1981. A gentle, gracious figure neatly symbolizing the hardy
pioneer spirit that colored this area, she was one year younger
than Abilene itself.
But the esteem with which she was long held didn’t keep
City Council members from voting to put Loop 322 through some
of her land while Fred Lee was on the council. It was not a pleasant
moment for the businessman, who idolized the firm but soft-spoken
teacher. However, by the mid-1960s, city leaders were pushing
hard for extension of the loop.
“Miss Tommie came to the City Council meeting and was
very eloquent about her not wanting this loop to be built through
her land,” Fred Lee remembered. “I mean, she addressed
the case just beautifully that day. But we still went ahead and
passed it. And, you know, she sold the city the land. We didn’t
have to use eminent domain or anything like that.
“Once it was done, it was done,” he said. “Miss
Tommie and I had a lot of conversations in the years after that
and I’d often go out and visit her at her home, a place she’d
been born in. She never once said an unkind word about the affair.”
One only hopes that Miss Tommie’s goodness will characterize
Abilenians in the 21st century. Fred Lee’s sense of humor
also wouldn’t hurt.
Bill Whitaker, who knows some humans he’d like to trap
and have hauled off, can be reached at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com.
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