After The Home...

Rusty Russell, in January 1971, as he is inducted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. In this photo Russell is 77 years-old and had been retired from coaching football only eight years. Coach Russell was installed to the Hall of Fame that day along with other sports notables like Jack Johnson, heavy weight champion of the world. The crowd was close to 1,000 people and included Coach Joe Paterno and his entire Penn State football team as well as Coach Darrell Royal with his Texas Longhorns whose teams would meet the next day in the 1971 Cotton Bowl Classic.

Cowboy Hat on the Sidelines...

Masonic Home's Coach H.N. "Rusty Russell" is pictured with Notre Dame's College Hall of Fame Coach Frank Leahy in South Bend, Indiana before the kick-off of the SMU-Notre Dame game in 1951.

Coach Russell often wore this hat and this hat was donated, along with other personal effects, to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame for the new Rusty Russell exhibit. The exhibit was funded by the Masonic Home Ex-Student Association and Coach Russell's Ex-Victoria College players who also provided memorabilia.

Hall of Fame...

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame, pictured above, is located in Waco, Texas, and houses not only the TEXAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME but also the the TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS HALL OF FAME. From golfing's Ben Hogan, to baseball's Nolan Ryan, to NFL greats like Roger Staubach and Bob Lilly, and boxing's Jack Johnson, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame is a must see for any sports enthusiast.

Masonic Home Coach Rusty Russell has been honored by his induction in both the Texas High School Sports Hall of Fame as well as The Texas Sports Hall of Fame and has been joined there by many of his ex-players. In fact of the 250 placed in the Texas High School Hall of Fame, over almost 100 years of high school football, 11 were players of Coach Russell's at the high school or college level. The Texas Sports Hall of Fame has 304 inductees and of those, 7 played for Coach Russell in either high school or college , and in several cases, both. Many legendary Texas football greats like The Masonic Home's Dewitt Coulter and Ray Coulter, Scott McCall, Bill Stages and Allie White are inductees. Some of Coach Russell's college players are also inductees, including Ed Bernet, Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Bill Forrester, Forrest Gregg, and Kyle Rote among others.

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame will open a new exhibit honoring a few of Texas High School Great Coaches, Players and Teams from the past, and Coach Russell was honored by being chosen as one of the new exhibitions to open this summer. The Hall of Fame is a beautiful facility on the edge of the campus of Baylor University and very convenient to I-35 . The curators have done an excellent job of putting together a wonderful sports history for the State of Texas, including a new exhibition on the old Southwest Conference, complete with video, audio and excellent memorabilia from the Colleges in the old Southwest Conference.

A Culture of Community...

The culture of The Home was one of creating a family. The long-standing culture of Fort Worth is and always has been one of taking care of its citizens. Today the buildings at The Masonic Home stand in semi-solitude, mostly boarded up on the remaining acreage, waiting in turn for renewal as the campus evolves into serving the needs of the city's community of children and families through the non-profit entity, ACH Child and Family Services, which is also going through a time of change as it looks for better ways to serve its purpose.

Could the magic of The Home and the story of the Twelve Mighty Orphans have happened elsewhere? Other than Fort Worth, Texas? It isn't just Texas swagger -- Texas thrives on connections.

Fort Worth has fostered a personality of caring, an attitude of looking out for others, a business of making compassion its character, action its purpose.

When the city needed a place for fatherless children, Masons stepped up. When a runty scrawny orphan team needed a place to hold their cheering fans, Amon Carter built a stadium. Roll the clock up with this way of doing things and you'll see leaders who left legacies of long duration in matters of heart and soul. Life is short, but the life of a community can have a continual beating heart. Art is long and so is this idea of purpose and spirit; legacies have left tentacles, including the idea that you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make a difference.

Same Kind of Different As Me is a recent book about a real story with true characters in recent times in Fort Worth. Compared to the Depression-era story of the Mighty Mites, it is a new story but is part of a long continuum of creating a community through caring for others.

The still empty buildings today, at The Home, are just the bones of something that continues evolving to stay relevant in the chain of caring -- the Fort Worth Texas way.