Le Gourmet Valet delivered lunch to my longtime friend, Jeff Jones last week. A fellow ’78 Pony, Jeff and I were tied closely to one another’s fraternity and sorority.
Jeff and my brother, 2 years our senior, were SMU Phi Delts. Jim and his 3 best friends, Emerson Swalwell, Jack King and Stuart Hendry, were unlike most SMU frat boys. They were all Texas born, wore muddy cowboy boots and most distinctly, loved chewing tobacco and duck hunting over dating Rotunda Beauties. Their vocabulary included “rubes” as in “a bunch of rubes”, along with other more embarrassing sayings. According to Jeff and the other mid-western Phi’s, Jim, Jack, Stuart and Emerson captivated their attention whenever together and earned their respect to boot, no pun intended! These 4 were pretty dang entertaining to listen to even for me! Talk about tall Texas tales! They were a hoot!
Having an older brother in a top frat was a sweet deal for this little sister! Jim was 6’3” and not a person you would intentionally cross. He was my date sanctuary in the Phi Delt house! I knew almost every Phi because of this blood connection and went out with quite a few. I was very intrigued by Paul Sturdivent, Mike Bristol’s best friend. He played football for SMU and had one of the wilder reputations. He was a ton of fun on our dates and tame as a pussycat!
Unlike me who loved dating around, Jeff, was a one gal guy. His college girlfriend was a Kappa pledge sister of mine, Cele Briscoe. Dolph’s daughter. A SMU Rotunda Beauty. Jeff and Cele were a beautiful and no-drama couple. I always admired this in them both!
Jeff’s office is on McKinney Avenue, near the old Andrew’s, now Breadwinners. Andrews came to our nightlife scene in ‘76. I sentimentally asked Jeff “Isn’t your office near the old Andrews?”… and he said “Becky, I wouldn’t remember!” I chuckled knowing exactly what he meant. I CLEARLY remember evenings spent in Andrew’s courtyard…the drinks were amazing and the setting, casual classy. Certainly, a big step up from Cardinal Puff’s, The Stables and, of course, the Phi Delt House! Now that was the pits! Take a peek at Jeff and his freshman buddies back in our day!
’74-’78 were awesome times to be a college coed in Dallas! Can’t imagine college life better than we had it! What about you? What do you remember?