Matilda the UTPB Ghost

 

(Liz graduated from UTPB and for a summer she worked in the library, which at that time was housed in the Mesa Building.  She never experienced Matilda firsthand, but she can testify to the strange noises that occur in the building late at night, as well as the reactions of students and staff who had felt or heard something out of the ordinary ...

I briefly mentioned the Matilda legend once before in these pages.  The OA ran this article Sunday as part of the 40th anniversary of the university.)

From the Odessa American:

by Celinda Hawkins

I was doing some online perusing recently and came across an Odessa ghost story that I had never heard before involving a haunting in the hallowed halls of UTPB.

In 2009, the good students at the Mesa Journal did some digging and found out that yes, there have been stories about a ghost at UTPB for years and her name is “Matilda.” According to a story penned by Amber Batura, the most common legend claims that Matilda was the wife or girlfriend of a construction worker on campus while the Mesa Building was being built in the early 1970s. Legend has it (remember, this is legend and speculation, not fact) he may have killed her (although the circumstances are vague) and buried her remains somewhere in the building, perhaps somewhere in the foundation of stairwell six.

The legend of Matilda is alive and well — even if she isn’t. The “Matilda” part of the campus lore during orientation is always a favorite of new students. Last week, orientation students could not wait to get to stairwell six.

“They took a photo there and gathered around like they had their arms around Matilda,” said Jessica Zuniga, director of student life. Sadly, Matilda did not appear in the photo. Maybe she was there…in spirit.

Zuniga said there have even been strange orbs that have appeared in photos taken in the Student Union Building.

“If you ask any of the folks that work there or the students — everybody has Matilda stories,” Zuniga told me, especially the security guards who are there late at night. One said Matilda talked to him and may have even forced a soda out of the machine when he was thirsty, Zuniga said.

Some folks were talking about the story on Facebook: a woman said she had always heard about the legend of the ghostly apparition of a woman was haunting the hallowed halls of the Mesa Building at UTPB.

Michele Thompson posted that while she was a student at UTPB there were reports that the gal ghost was haunting the student union area and had been spotted on a stairwell in the building. She admitted hearing lots of different versions, but wanted to quash the rumor mill once and for all.

It was obviously no secret since lots of other folks weighed in. Cindy Wagnon Cole recalled in a post the tale of a UTPB officer in 1985 who said he saw the ghost as he was locking up the doors on the stairwell at the Mesa Building.

“As he is opening the door he saw a figure of a woman with long hair, arms with no legs, staring right at him and in an instant she moved to her right and disappeared,” Cole posted. “Within 2-3 seconds after that the large metal door to the stairwell where she disappeared SLAMMED open!”

She said the officer recalled feeling a bit like a jittery, bug –eyed Don Knotts because when he ran back to the office, he was shaking so bad he couldn’t get his keys in the door.

“…When the dispatcher came out and she said you look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” she posted. “without knowing he really did.”

According to Batura’s report, Matilda mostly haunts the Student Union women’s restroom, the fourth floor and the sixth stairwell. But the reporter also uncovered stories of hearing the voice of a sad and forlorn female in an eerie whisper beckoning him to “come here.”

Other former students and employees have heard of the Matilda legend too. “

I went to school at UTPB and later worked there for five years,” Janice Slaughter Golden posted. “I heard stories from staff members about seeing “Matilda.” One was the Chief of Campus Police at the time, who told a story about doing his security check of the gym building. He said no one was supposed to be in the building and all the lights were out, but he heard noises coming from the weight room. He went to check....no one there. I guess Matilda liked to work out!...”

So if you happen to be at the Mesa Building walking up or down stairwell six and you see an orb, feel a cold chill or see a soda coming flying out of the machine — don’t fret, it’s just Matilda saying hello.

Contact Celinda Hawkins on Twitter at @OAciti or call 432-333-7779.

The Day the Clown Cried

 

Okay, we live in an age that has survived Sharknado and Jar Jar Binks.  So what could be so terrible about this show?

 

Harry Shearer claims to have viewed the whole film, and here he discusses it with Howard Stern.

 

MORE BANNED FUNNIES:

• This Dennis the Menace cartoon actually ran in 1970, resulting in many complaints.
• These two Opus strips, here and here, in which Lola Granola's spiritual search leads her to embrace jihad, were censored by "a large number"of newspapers.
• A list of censored Looney Tunes.  Happy browsing!

 



Bunnytown?

From Fox News:
MARFA, Texas – A Texas agency says Playboy has 45 days to remove a neon-lit 40-foot high sculpture of the magazine's iconic bunny logo from a West Texas road.

The Texas Department of Transportation ordered the removal of the sign, called "Playboy Marfa," because Playboy does not have a license for outdoor advertisement in Texas.

The El Paso Times reports officials representing Playboy said the company has not violated any laws and will try to resolve the agency's concerns.

Officials were alerted about the sign after Marfa resident Lineaus Lorette filed a complaint. "I thought it was a sign -- a corporate logo. And in Texas you can't put up signs without permits," Lorette said. "I checked and it didn't have a permit so I filed a complaint."

Lorette says some Marfa residents are upset the company has used their town, known as a hub for artists, for marketing purposes.

"I was really ambivalent. It's a beautifully made sign," Lorette said. "The problem is that it's a sign. The rules have to apply to everybody."

Veronica Beyer, TxDOT's director of media relations in Austin said that the agency is treating the case like any other instance in which someone puts up a road side advertisement without a license in an area that does not qualify.

The sign is part of a roadside art display designed by New York contemporary artist Richard Phillips and Playboy's creative director of special projects Neville Wakefield. The installation features the offending sign perched atop a post and a concrete platform displaying a stylized version of 1972 Dodge Charger, a classic American "muscle car."

PR Consulting, a firm that represents Playboy, said that they do not consider that "the art installation by Richard Phillips violates any laws, rules or regulations. Our legal counsel is currently looking into this matter and we hope to resolve this issue satisfactorily and as quickly as possible."

Located in the heart of West Texas, Marfa is known as a hub for artists and creative types. It is also no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary roadside art exhibitions. Prada Marfa, an installation that mimics one of the high-end fashion brand's stores in the middle of a pasture was erected in 2005 along the same road as the Playboy display.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Monahans, Texas is getting a Bush's Chicken!  Finally, Monahans residents have a reason to live!

Robert and Friends at Camp

Mountain View Christian Camp, Alto, NM.

Just Forget About Jeans Day!

This requires some explanation: This hilarious video disappears and reappears on the Web due to copyright issues, so I used the best edition I could find. This is the Tennessee version, but it appeared in Texas in almost identical form under the title "STAAR Results Are In", in honor of the state's loathed standardized tests which are a bane to a teacher's existence.

AYP means "adequate yearly progress".
SPED is special education.

The Yellow Jacket Through the Years

From Kermit on Tour.

Speaking of Yellow Jackets, here is an image I've been looking for. It's the 1958 Kermit Yellow Jacket mascot as painted by local artist Michael Vargas:

This somewhat poutier version appears on the wall of the high school basketball gym, which sadly is soon to be demolished:

In the 1990's and 2000's, a modern stylized version is used:

And beginning last year, this bee from the '60's has made a comeback, with the caption "Tradition Old School Style."

Is Kermit Getting Tired of Kermit the Frog?

(We at Frogtown have long celebrated the now-fading images of Kermit the Frog which first appeared in 2005 when he visited our town. See here, here, here and here. But some residents and former residents of Kermit may be feeling differently ... )

From NewsWest9:
Posted: Jul 24, 2012

From Kermit on Tour.

By Sylvia Gonzalez NewsWest 9

KERMIT - It's not easy being green in Kermit.

Several people in the small town of Kermit have taken to Facebook to express their disgust for Kermit the Frog. Some want to see him permanently removed while others like having the amphibian around.

"We were proud to be the fighting Yellow Jackets, we've never been the frogs," former Kermit resident, Allen Vinyard, said.

The Facebook page, Kermit Memories, has been seeing more comments than usual and it all revolves around Kermit the Frog. There are people who believe they're seeing too much of him in town.

Vinyard lived in Kermit during his school years, and even though he no longer lives there, he says its embarrassing the reaction people get when he reveals where he is from.

"It's insulting to me when I tell someone where I grew up and they say oh like Kermit the Frog, and I say no like Kermit Roosevelt, which the town was named after," Vinyard said.

Many of the residents that NewsWest 9 spoke to didn't have any negative feelings towards the frog, as a matter of fact they are proud of it.

Austin Williamson is the starting quarterback for the high school football team and he says when he plays in other towns he actually likes hearing comments about Kermit the Frog.

"I take it as a compliment because I want a lot of people to know what Kermit is, but you have to tell them what it is, what it actually is. It's more than just a frog. I think it is just a little design, there's nothing wrong with it just being there," Williamson said.

Some of the comments on Facebook read, "The stupid frog was nothing until some California hippies got lucky. Kermit, Texas is way more important than the stuffed sock."

Another one read, "death due to an allergic reaction to a yellow jacket."

Lane Nutt is a business owner and he says he uses the frog as a conversational piece.

"In my business, I have lots of calls and they always make some comment about Kermit the Frog, it's kinda like a conversational piece, it doesn't bother me," Nutt said.

Nina Huda is a former resident of Kermit, who says the Facebook comments is just the beginning of what they plan on doing to get rid of the frog.

"We are going to be doing petitions and sending them to the City Manager's office," Huda said. Many residents say they're subject is clear. "Get rid of the frog," Huda said.