Events
The Carousel Lounge By Moira Muldoon Special to the American-Statesman Thursday, February 13, 2003 "June of this year will be 15 years ... When I first came here I started at the Kettle on 183, then the Kettle on Rundberg, from there us waitresses went to Denny's on Burnet. I was part-time at Carousel and part-time at Denny's too for a while. When I came to the community, I was, of course, a divorcée. When I want to make fast money, I go into a club. I waitress ... somehow I landed at the Carousel. My girlfriend, no, it was my sister-in-law, I stayed with her for two weeks. All I heard was 'Carousel, Carousel.' 
"The first night I moved here from Carlsbad, New Mexico, -- it was a short marriage -- she took me to the Carousel. First night ... Before I knew it, I got to know the regulars. I'm just like one of them. I'm a very friendly person, but I'm not a drinker. I serve drinks, you know. It's not that I haven't had -- it's just a nice ice tea -- at weddings, a little toast, or New Year's Eve.
"I'm a dancer, you better believe it. Did you see me dancing? I always dance at the Carousel. My boss knows everything I do. I don't keep nothing from her. You know why I'm there so long? I'm a people person. I will never quit the Carousel, OK? I'm down to Thursdays and I work every first Sunday because the Mad Cowboys are back together once a month, so I work the floor. Nicki Mebane is my boss. I have never worked for a better boss in my whole life. "I came from Canada, OK? I was married to a Texan. We started off in Ohio. Him being a Texan . . . so we came to Houston. We divorced in Ohio. I brought the children to Lee County, they wanted to be by grandparents and I couldn't take them to Canada because he would get me for kidnapping, he had visiting rights and I wouldn't do that anyhow ... My boys ended up meeting two nice girls in Giddings ... and my one daughter's here. I'm a grandma four times. But you know what I'm going to tell you? When I first started the Carousel I was 39-question-mark. I've had a birthday there every year. I already got it booked for June the sixth 'cause I get Ted Roddy to play, and he's very popular. There's a story to that too. I can't get all the musicians to play. I love them all and they love me. "My daughter lives five minutes away from me. People want to know my age. And you know why I've never -- I don't tell them? I'm not ashamed. I tell them at the Carousel or wherever the ages of my children and they start figuring. You know what? I said this to a man at TSO -- where I get my eyeglasses -- I told him the ages of my children and he was starting to figure, wanted to know my age, and I said I was a teenage war bride, I was just kidding. He said 'What war?' And I said 'Desert Storm.' I'll tell you my daughter is 44 ... "Ted (Roddy)'s even going to be one of my pallbearers. You know who I'm going to have? I'm going to have celebrities. I'm going to have two disc jockeys -- Bob Cole, Sammy Allred -- they're from KVET ... my choir director -- I sing in a church choir can you believe it? ... and the sheriff from Giddings, and a deputy sheriff, which is my daughter-in-law's uncle, I'm gonna have him and Ted Roddy. Six of them. ... I want to be like my dad, have everything all set and when I go, all they would have to do is just bring my -- I don't want my children to have to go. ... I just want to make it easy for my children. They're going to go through a lot ... "I'm going to have a large party in memory of me at the Carousel. I guess Ted will -- it's going to be food, I want people to eat, drink, dance, rejoice, remember me, how happy I was, that's all I want, how kind I was -- you know, do good works unto others -- remember me for that, for being a happy person. But in the meantime I'm living ... "Last year I walked for 25 years for March of Dimes. I brought the most money in ... I brought $2,030. My goal was a thousand and a friend who comes to the Carousel gave me a thousand. He said, 'Stella,' I said, 'My goal is a thousand,' and he said, 'I'll match it.' ... He wanted to be anonymous, but I got the March of Dimes to write a letter to me to thank him -- that's the least -- and then I gave my own special thank-you card. I made about 65 walks for good causes. "If you were there Thursday when Stella walks in -- guess what I'm carrying? My American flag, my Canadian flag, my Texas flag. Not just when this September 11 -- I been doing that -- I'm very patriotic. From the time I was five or more, my teacher taught us what your flag means, what your country means, be proud of where you are. I dress a lot -- they call me Miss Patriotic -- I dress a lot in red, white and blue, since September 11 ... If I would forget my flags I'd go home and get them. "I did a pageant in Grand Prairie and they chose me for Miss Congeniality. The only reason I entered that Miss Senior Texas Pageant was 'cause I wanted to use my talent. We wore evening gowns and we wore whatever you wore in your talent, so I wore my short miniskirt and they wrote a story about me in the Dallas paper and when I was leaving, I danced. You only had three minutes to dance, I chose a waltz. The blind man took the waltz that he played at the Carousel -- Jay Clark -- then I put on 'All Shook Up,' Elvis Presley, I left that to the end and then I chose the Texas two-step ... and that man was from the TV station. Do you know what he said? 'Stella's leaving the building.' " Contact Moira Muldoon at bargirl@covad.net | ||||
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