A Most Memorable Summer
"We've Never Been Licked" was a 1943 World War II film that was partly shot on location at the Texas A&M campus.
During the summer of 1972, I was completing my freshman year by attending summer school. While I was reluctant to stay on campus, it turned out to be one of the most memorable summers of my life, thanks in part to the Grove .
Mornings were spent in class. But after lunch, it was down to the pool, books in hand, for an afternoon of swimming and sunbathing. There were usually 20 or 30 people at the Wofford Cain outdoor pool, including some of the College Station locals. There was plenty of space for setting up a small encampment on the grass until the sun began to set.
After dinner, depending on the night of the week, it was time for movies at the Grove. I remember little about the quality of the screen or the projection system; I’m sure it was primitive by almost any standard. But we saw everything just fine, and the outdoor setting was special even for those times.
I don’t remember many of the titles, but they were usually older feature films like “Spencer’s Mountain” or “National Velvet.” One evening, there was a special screening of “We’ve Never Been Licked.” There was lots of audience participation, as we laughed at the scenes of the Corps and the hokey patriotic sentimentality. The Vietnam War was raging, and it all seemed more than a little anachronistic.
I am happy to know the Grove is remembered and that there are plans for a kind of resurrection of sorts. Texas A&M was a very different place in the summer of 1972, and it will never be that intimate again. But our memories of the Grove make us smile even as the campus continues to grow and change. Perhaps the Grove at The Gardens will mean just as much to present and future generations of Aggies.
Thomas Drury ’75
Boerne, Texas