So I’m idly leafing through someone’s scrapbook, thusly:
And suddenly here appears a guy, ninety-one years ago, just hanging out with his boys, relaxing with a little with a nice game of leap frog and the next thing you know he’s grabbed by the track coach and dragooned into competition:
It doesn’t look like it stuck for long, though. Manuel isn’t listed as a member of the track team after this but he was a pretty big deal in other ways. He belonged to the Rally Club (which might explain the leapfrog) and was president of the band and a saxophonist in Lee’s Owls. I think he’s fourth from left:
Lee’s Owl Band, popular dance band started by Lee Chatham, Rice Institute
He also turns up in this image from Homecoming in 1951, where he organized a Lee’s Owls reunion:
Lee’s Owls performing during Homecoming sign-up, Rice Institute 1951
Bonus: Here’s the sharp-eyed and sharp dressed Coach Hjertberg, circa 1929.
Coach Ernie Hjertberg, Rice Institute