OUR TOWN
OUR TOWN
One of my favorite places in Taylor is the Duck Room Museum. A few months ago when the communications team at Samsung Austin Semiconductor asked me to pick three of my favorite spots to feature in the video series “Tim’s Top Three,” the Duck Room was No. 1.
My other top two places were Moose’s Brake and Alignment because I wanted to highlight a former student who is serving his/her community as a successful business owner, and New York Pizza and Pasta because they serve really good pizza and pasta. They also get bonus points for having a drive-thru window for easy pick-up.
Taylor High School’s 2023 football team poses for a photo in front of the mural used as a backdrop for filming interviews in the Duck Room Museum. The artwork is by Suzanne Huser.
Taylor High School football players learn about their Duck heritage during a tour of the Duck Room Museum in 2023.
After you finish reading this column, head over to YouTube where you can watch “Tim’s Top Three” on the Samsung Austin Semiconductor channel.
Now, back to No. 1: The Duck Room Museum If you have never visited the Duck Room, you need to stop by for a look at over 140 years of history of Taylor’s schools. It’s located in the first wing of the old Northside School at the corner of North and Dellinger drives.
Mallard Ducks — Taylor High School’s mascot — are painted on the doors.
The museum holds so many things to see, and too many items to list even a fraction here. So, I have chosen to highlight three of my favorite exhibits and you will just have to stop by to see the rest.
You might call these “Tim’s Top Three of the Duck Room Museum.”
First is the Dicky Maegle exhibit. This one is special to me because I personally was involved with obtaining items for this display from Dicky Maegle himself.
A little background for those who may not know about this local legend who played for the Taylor Ducks, the San Francisco 49ers, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys.
This multi hall-of-fame inductee quickly rose in the national spotlight after graduating from Taylor High in 1951. He entered Rice University as a 16-year-old freshman, and during the 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic was involved in what has come to be called one of the most famous plays in college football history. It was an event that landed him a guest spot on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” Footage from the game is still viewed on YouTube today.
The Maegle exhibit opened in 2019 when the city of Taylor discovered a large chunk of concrete with Mr. Maegle’s autograph and handprints. No one knew the origins of this unique piece of history, but the city offered the unusual find to the museum and we gladly accepted.
I kept thinking there had to be a story behind this newly found treasure and began contacting resources who might know. I was able to obtain a phone number for the Maegles and decided to call. Mrs. Maegle answered, and when I told her who I was and why I was calling, she said, “Well, why don’t you ask him yourself? He’s sitting right here.”
During that phone conversation, the Maegles asked if I would be interested in having some memorabilia for the museum to go with the concrete donation. I replied with an enthusiastic, 'Yes!” and a couple of days later two large boxes arrived at my office. The amazing assortment included a very large portrait from his days as a Dallas Cowboy.
As you can probably guess, there is so much more to his story than I can share here. That’s why I plan to write an entire column about this football star soon. Stay tuned.
Second is the exhibit featuring Taylor’s first costumed mascot, Phil Pierce.
Phil became the mascot for Taylor’s football team in 1936, just 12 years after we became the Ducks. He was a second grader at the time, and he couldn’t wait to play football for Taylor High.
Phil showed up at all the practices and games to watch the team, including his older brother, Sidney. One day at practice, the young boy went up to Coach T. H. Johnson and announced that he wanted to be the mascot.
Not only did Coach Johnson agree to let Phil become the mascot, he ordered a uniform for the little guy that was exactly like the one the team wore.
Phil ran out ahead of the team at every game, leading them onto the field. He continued as mascot until he was old enough to play. He served as team captain under Coach Johnson his senior year.
Phil attended every homecoming well into his 90s. At his last one to attend, he donated his mascot uniform to the museum.
Third is the room where my interviews take place for many of the videos in the series, “Taking Flight.” Interviewees have included Irene Michna, Adam Sanchez, Naomi Pasemann, Larry Safarik and more.
I wanted the perfect background for the interviews, so I contacted local artist Suzanne Huser with a list of historic Taylor places and asked if she could incorporate them into a large mural to cover the wall behind the interview table.
Suzanne is truly an amazing artist and she did an amazing job. When you watch the videos you will notice the background includes Taylor’s white elephant, the Moody Museum, the Kolache Shop, the Howard Theatre, the KTAE building, Old Taylor High and more. My 12-year-old self is on the mural delivering the Taylor Daily Press.
The museum was started by my friend and mentor, Naomi Pasemann (Class of 1954), a well-known Taylor educator and the namesake for Naomi Pasemann Elementary School.
Naomi was the coordinator for the Taylor High School Ex-Students Association, a loyal group of Taylor Ducks that organizes the museum and keeps it running.
Families would give Naomi — affectionately known as “Mama Duck” — treasured memorabilia from the Taylor schools as older generations passed away and closets were cleaned out.
Naomi kept the collections until there were enough to open a museum. Prior to its current location, the Duck Room was in the former high school building on Seventh Street, now known as Old Taylor High.
A few years ago, Naomi turned over the responsibilities of the museum to Pat Guthrie Helbert, Class of 1969, who has done an amazing job with the facility. It has grown to occupy the entire first wing of the old campus. You have to see it to believe it.
The museum is open by appointment, and Pat or I would be happy to welcome you and give you a tour. We also welcome monetary donations as well as donations of memorabilia. Contact us at exstudents@taylorisd. org I’m taking next weekend off for the July Fourth holiday. “Our Town” will return July 13, when I plan to feature a grad from the class of 1947 who spent his entire career working for a Taylor business. I’m sure many of you will recognize him and his family.
Until then, make it a great week! Crow is a longtime Taylor resident and retired from the Taylor Independent School District after 40 years of service. For a topic or suggestion, reach out to Crow via jason. chlapek@ granitemediapartners. com.
