Floating down the Brazos

When I was in 8th grade Don Roe came to our church as the Minister of Music. His son Johnny was a year younger than me but 2 years behind me in school. Don invited me to take a float trip down the Brazos with them.

I think we spent two nights out on the river, so I got out of school early on Thursday and was out all day on Friday. Don and Johnny picked me up at the drugstore at the corner of Handley Drive and Lancaster (Hwy 80/Division) and we drove somewhere near Glen Rose for our trip down the river.

It was really fun floating down the river. Somehow we put the boat in the river upstream and someone took the car and boat trailer several miles down the road to a park where we were supposed to come out. Occasionally we fished while we floated down the river and we talked and we just hung out. Of course, Don was always singing. Since we didn't get on the river until fairly late in the day on Thursday, we didn't go very far when we stopped before sundown to build our camp.

Johnny and I gathered wood for an open fire and Don made something for us to eat. I have no idea what we ate. I remember finding a trot line that someone had put out just above the rapids. There were a couple of fish on it and the guy came by sometime that evening and took them off.

The next day was fairly uneventful until Don saw a school of gar coming down the river behind the boat. We quickly pulled the boat over onto the bank, again just above some rapids. Gar have alligator type mouths with rows of sharp teeth. I guess they can be dangerous. After we got out of the boat Don loaded his shotgun and started shooting the gar as they came by where we were standing. Sometimes the concussion of the shot would stun some of the fish and they'd wash up on shore by the rapids. Johnny and I were then supposed to take big rocks and crush their skulls. It was really kinda exciting.

The other thing I'll never forget is what Don did while we were floating down the river. He pulled his pants down, hung his rear over the back of the boat, and proceeded to take a dump. A few seconds later these little brown logs came floating down by the me in the river at the front of the boat. Gross!

We floated a long way and were on the river all day but we weren't anywhere near our take out point. It was getting dark so we floated until we came to a place where there was a house. We pulled over to shore there to find out how much further the park was. It was still a long way away. By the road we were only going a few miles, but the way the river twisted and turned we would have had to have gone 5 or 10 times that much further. The guy helped us pull the boat out of the water and carry it to a place where we could load it onto the trailer. Then he took Don to get the truck and trailer from the park. After we loaded up and drove home it was pretty late and we had church the next morning.

I had a good time. I was also pleased years later when Don told me why I was invited. He said he'd learned that to build a good youth choir you had to recruit the leaders. Even as an 8th grader he recognized me as a leader of my grade and a future leader of the entire youth group, so he wanted to get me to know and like him.

There are lots of Don Roe stories. He was quite a character, but I'll always thank him for teaching me to enjoy singing and I know he always had a heart for the Lord.