.
Thanks,
Gary Yantis
Dear Gary,
My name is Jimmy Alexander. I was from that era. I used to go Van's all the time. Did a lot of Whip Dancing there. I met Van in 1960 at the U.S. Navel Reserve Submarine Unit at the old Dickson Gun Plant off Clinton Drive close to my home town of Galena Park. He addressed us on a Saturday afternoon with a Group of WWII Submarine Veterans that had come down to remember and tell us about their War Patrols in WWII. If you remember, when you walked in, on the left there was a Red Wall with lot of pictures of Submarines from WWII, when I got out of active duty in 1963, I went to 2020 Kipling and introduced myself to him again. He shook my hand like I was a long lost cousin. Boy that made me proud.
Later in the mid seventies, I went to Lake Conroe and ran into Marshall Stewart who owned the 105 Marina. We talked a lot about the Dome Shadows, and when I mentioned Van being in Subs and I was in Subs and met him while I was in the Reserves, he was amazed. We would talk for hours about the Rivalry, which really there was none, and he would really cut up then. He had a small club at Marina. Saw a lot of people that used to frequent both Van's and Dome Shadows. I still have several Hurricane Glasses from Van's. Some with Red Lettering and some with Black Lettering.
Thanks for putting up this portion as a Tribute to Van.
Jimmy Alexander
Retired Longshoreman from Houston, Texas
Gary, I sent an email earlier this evening. I forgot to tell you I met my first wife there in 1968. We married in 1969 and separated in 1970. Her name was Karen Christen. Good Looking and could Dance like nobody's business. She moved from Houston after we split. The last time I saw her she was on Lizza on TV and living in California.
God Bless, Jimmy
Thanks to Sue Ann Banks, an avid customer of 1967, we have photos from Van's Ballroom, corner of Shepherd and Alabama.
Check her page. There are also photos from the Dome Shadows included.
