James C. Davidson wrote:Everyone who has spent time in one of the Aramco communities leave their mark in some way or another. No longer jogging, I am now walking the sidewalks of Dhahran before and after work. The other day I parked at the library and on my way to the clinic I noticed a handprint on the sidewalk of H & 7th Streets. I photographed the handprint and the name "Gracie", November 28, 1948. Through Aramco brat Steve Furman I found Gracie to be the daughter of James MacPherson, a VP of Aramco in the old days. I sent Gracie a photo of her sidewalk signature along with her friend, looks like David M., who also left his handprint on the same slab, dated simply Nov 1948. I have not heard back yet, but supposedly Gracie is doing well in Santa Ana, CA.... this morning I took another journey thru Old Camp looking for the sidewalk marks left by us brats. On M Street I found J.K., 1953. On L Street I found RLD 1975. And I found Jim Porto dated 1981 on 8th Street and sent him a message via AramcoBrats. Standby for news, I may find you...
Mark D. Rines wrote:Unless there is a David McPherson, I would venture to guess, given the location, that the David M. is of David Mestrezat...the late great David Mestrezat. RIP my good friend.
Meanwhile the weather has turned Dhahran beautiful in November. I have received a few special requests on the sidewalk search, and I am on it. There are some real beauties out there, but very few in good condition, mostly due to raw water run off from sprinklers. You know, the sound of Dhahran is the sound of running water, and in the modern era, the on and off of AC compressors. Down in the Hills the earliest sidewalk recording is 1981, which makes sense, we didn't see migration from the Old Camp until late '78. The most prolific is Billy W. He made his mark far and wide in huge letters, 1981 and 1982. So, who is Billy W. anyway?
Rise Johansen-Ryan wrote: James C. Davidson wrote:Everyone who has spent time in one of the Aramco communities leave their mark in some way or another. No longer jogging, I am now walking the sidewalks of Dhahran before and after work. The other day I parked at the library and on my way to the clinic I noticed a handprint on the sidewalk of H & 7th Streets. I photographed the handprint and the name "Gracie", November 28, 1948. Through Aramco brat Steve Furman I found Gracie to be the daughter of James MacPherson, a VP of Aramco in the old days. I sent Gracie a photo of her sidewalk signature along with her friend, looks like David M., who also left his handprint on the same slab, dated simply Nov 1948. I have not heard back yet, but supposedly Gracie is doing well in Santa Ana, CA.... this morning I took another journey thru Old Camp looking for the sidewalk marks left by us brats. On M Street I found J.K., 1953. On L Street I found RLD 1975. And I found Jim Porto dated 1981 on 8th Street and sent him a message via AramcoBrats. Standby for news, I may find you... Hey, Jim, Try the east side of 8th Street between H & I, probably around mid-block, or a little more north!
L. Marie Littlejohn-Dunn wrote: James C. Davidson wrote:Everyone who has spent time in one of the Aramco communities leave their mark in some way or another. No longer jogging, I am now walking the sidewalks of Dhahran before and after work. The other day I parked at the library and on my way to the clinic I noticed a handprint on the sidewalk of H & 7th Streets. I photographed the handprint and the name "Gracie", November 28, 1948. Through Aramco brat Steve Furman I found Gracie to be the daughter of James MacPherson, a VP of Aramco in the old days. I sent Gracie a photo of her sidewalk signature along with her friend, looks like David M., who also left his handprint on the same slab, dated simply Nov 1948. I have not heard back yet, but supposedly Gracie is doing well in Santa Ana, CA.... this morning I took another journey thru Old Camp looking for the sidewalk marks left by us brats. On M Street I found J.K., 1953. On L Street I found RLD 1975. And I found Jim Porto dated 1981 on 8th Street and sent him a message via AramcoBrats. Standby for news, I may find you... What a cool thing to do...both looking for handprints/marks of Brats past and actually sending the photos! I'm sure everyone would love to see what you find, even if they aren't our own prints. Perhaps everyone can help identify them?
James C. Davidson wrote: Rise Johansen-Ryan wrote: James C. Davidson wrote:Everyone who has spent time in one of the Aramco communities leave their mark in some way or another. No longer jogging, I am now walking the sidewalks of Dhahran before and after work. The other day I parked at the library and on my way to the clinic I noticed a handprint on the sidewalk of H & 7th Streets. I photographed the handprint and the name "Gracie", November 28, 1948. Through Aramco brat Steve Furman I found Gracie to be the daughter of James MacPherson, a VP of Aramco in the old days. I sent Gracie a photo of her sidewalk signature along with her friend, looks like David M., who also left his handprint on the same slab, dated simply Nov 1948. I have not heard back yet, but supposedly Gracie is doing well in Santa Ana, CA.... this morning I took another journey thru Old Camp looking for the sidewalk marks left by us brats. On M Street I found J.K., 1953. On L Street I found RLD 1975. And I found Jim Porto dated 1981 on 8th Street and sent him a message via AramcoBrats. Standby for news, I may find you... Hey, Jim, Try the east side of 8th Street between H & I, probably around mid-block, or a little more north! Hi Rise... I scoped 8th Street yesterday afternoon between H & I on the east side. There are some markings in front of House 828, they need to be brushed and cleaned, but one mark is aka Remix, whoever that may be. I would guess the vintage as the 80's from the condition of the concrete. More promising is House 824 which is just north of the midpoint. The hedge is seriously overgrown to the curb in spots, and the concrete is older. I will get Gardening to trim the hedge enshallah, then will advise... Jim
Further to my quest with Gardening to trim the hedge in front of Johansen's House 824, the job is done. Unfortunately the concrete is not talking back to us, and that didn't really surprise me. The slabs look newer than other sections in the neighborhood, probably re-poured when the house was rennovated some years ago.
As a sidebar, the quest for cement signatures is not new, Aramco brat Jim Mandaville used to do the same thing during his years of employment. He recently gave hot addresses to Art Clark from Aramco World magazine who scoped out the places a few weeks back when he came to Dhahran on business. Same story. Many old sidewalks were replaced with the coming of the modulars 20 years ago.
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