January 2022
Pop Quiz! Who was the ninth person ever to be hired by Lone Star Communications?
Answer: John Borden
John came to Lone Star October 20, 1992, just one short year after our official start of business. He was a young 20-something excited to learn, well, EVERYTHING he could about our business. Starting in operations, advancing to service and Service Manager, then making the leap to Sales, John became the smiling face of Lone Star and a resource on whom everyone, both customers and coworkers, could depend. He is an encyclopedia of everything related to Rauland education systems as well as virtually any audio, video, or media system Lone Star has ever encountered.
John’s complete dedication to the Customer has helped solidify loyal customer relationships that have now spanned decades. John is the reason I (Patt) came to work for Lone Star. I first met John on August 3, 1996, when I popped in to check on the progress being made retrofitting a media management system for the school in which I worked. There was John, working away, with the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race playing on the tiny little media television.
Sport Fans Note: The 1996 Brickyard 400 was the third running of the event. Held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon won the pole position with a speed of 176.4 miles per hour. Even though starting in the 24th position, Dale Jarrett (John’s favorite driver) eventually dueled for the lead, passing teammate Ernie Irvan him with 6 laps remaining. With only two laps to go, Robert Pressley hit the Turn 4 wall and Jarrett won the race under caution.
Hometown – John was born and raised in San Antonio. His family moved to Carrollton, Texas his 6th grade year. He attended DeWitt Perry Jr. High and Newman Smith High School before the family relocated to Schertz, TX, between San Antonio and New Braunfels. There John attended Samuel Clemens High School taking classes in Paint and Body. He knew that wasn’t what he wanted to do for a career, however the skills sure came in handy later in life.
Jobs – John’s first job as in New Braunfels as a bagger / cashier for Divine Foods (now defunct). He moved up to be an attic rat for Ranger American Security, then landed at Sound Distributors, the Rauland distributor for the San Antonio / Austin / Corpus Christi area. Funny how life comes full circle. While there, John became acquainted with Frank Riha, the Rauland District Manager for the area. Their friendship endures to this day. In 1987, John moved back into the Dallas area seeking a job with Carver Sound. To get the job, he bet the owner he could fix and Aiphone system in Odessa that none of his other techs had been able to repair. The owner took him up on the bet as John offered to do it for free, transported John to Odessa, and in 15 minutes the system was up and running. John got the job. When his last project for Carver Sound was completed, the John Justin Arena in Fort Worth, John was offered a position with the City of Carrollton because of the outstanding quality of work he had done installing their Board Room system while working for Carver.
Coming to Lone Star – John had stayed in touch with Frank Riha of Rauland. During one of their phone visits, Frank strongly suggested John should come back to Rauland and gave him Ray Bailey’s number to call. He interviewed with Ray and Ron. Dan Hiett was out working on a jobsite. When he came in and interviewed John he had one question, “What do you know about fire alarm?” John started to reply with, “They have an in-line resistor…” at which point Dan stopped him and said, “You’re hired”.
RC Racer - John is affectionately known as “Pooh” to his fellow RC Boat Racers. John’s passion is building and racing radio-controlled boats with his son, Brandon. Starting at the early age of 8 years old, John was introduced to this exciting sport by his stepfather and has never looked back. The family was so dedicated to the sport that, during the Epic 1980 Ice Storm, they still drove to a Boat Club event arriving safely but sliding and hitting a concrete barrier on the way home. No injuries, thankfully.
From bare wood to a complete racing unit, John does it all. His paint schemes should be showcased on an episode of “Garage Squad”, and he tunes his engines to such perfection it strikes fear into to hearts of his competition. John has served as District Director of NAMBA Region 7 (North American Model Boat Association) See: http://namba.com and is currently Vice President of the Dallas RC Thunderboats. Together, John and Brandon have won more trophies and awards than they can count, and John has been ranked nationally multiple times.
John and his wife Therese along with their son Brandon enjoy visiting their timeshares in Branson, Missouri and Orlando, Florida as often as time and dog, Coco, will allow. Disneyworld is frequently their destination of choice.
Q. What is something most people don’t know about you?
A. Therese and I were married in 1988.
A. Also, I had open heart surgery when I was 8
years old.
Q. Do you have any pets?
A. In 2015, our family agreed to “temporarily” take
care of Victoria Kruse’s mini-dachshund, Cocoa.
Brandon and Cocoa quickly bonded, and Ron has
agreed to let the temporary situation continue
indefinitely.
Q. What is your favorite sports team?
A. NASCAR. My current favorite driver is Martin Truex,
Jr. who is a fellow RC boat racer and has set
several records.
Q. What are you currently watching on TV?
A. Hallmark Channel Christmas shows and Longmire.
We are waiting for the new seasons of Heartland,
Virgin River, Longmire, and Mandalorian.
Q. What is something you’ve always wanted to do, but haven’t done yet?
A. Visit The Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum in Seattle, WA and Mount
Rushmore.
- Patt Bowles, Chief Operating Officer Corporate Services