Oster Bayne


Memories of Ursula Bayne, an aunt of Oster Bayne, with a description and memories about the early CREOLE oil camps of the 1920's through the 1950's.	Recollections of Oster Bayne's father about Star Class sailing on Lake Maracaibo in the 1930's & 1940's.	Recollections of Oster Bayne's father about how the Grano de Oro airport originally got its start.


Oster Bayne at 13 in 1953.	Oster Bayne in 2000.

Bayne clan at the 2005 Creole Annuitants Association Reunion in Orlando.

Oster Bayne was born at the Shell Hospital in Bella Vista in 1940. I'm grateful to him for preserving these historical reference photographs for so many years and for allowing me to post them here for all of us to see the way the Creole Camp, Oster's family, and his friends used to look a half-century or more ago.

Oster writes: “My father, also named Oster, worked for Creole from 1925 (then Lago Petroleum) to his retirement in 1953. We lived in the Creole camp in Maracaibo and I and my brothers and sisters (Diana, Ele, Rosemarie, Andrew and Henry) all went to Escuela Bella Vista and were frequent users of the Creole camp club house and other company facilities. After leaving Venezuela, I was educated in Trinidad and then England, graduating as a Civil Engineer, working mainly in the UK but often abroad including South America, but never Venezuela. I am now retired myself living in Hertfordshire with my wife Susan and 3 children that live nearby.”


“Taken in about 1938 with my sisters Diana and Ele plus in the middle, my cousin Marlene (Ursula's) in front of House 16 which, as I recall, was directly in front of the Club entrance.”	“Here we have, in mid flight, that almost internationally famous acrobat, David Gomez, tossed in the air by the troupe of English swimmers visiting Maracaibo with one staying behind and earning his living, at least at first, by selling eggs, door to door as it were. That was the chap with the hat as I recall.”

“A group photo taken at my 12th birthday party in February 1952. ....If memory serves me, front row I think is, left to right, Orlando Ortiz? (not sure) David Reese, Adrian Paulett and my brother Andrew Bayne. Middle row, L - R, Oster Bayne, David Eccles, David Gomez, Bobby Taylor (looking for something very small?). Back row, Frankie Ashford, then not sure of the other three but the tallest one was Buzz (Dennis) Barclay.”	“A photo of two lads on the high diving board at Creole camp, circa 1953... Left I make it David Gomez and right Adrian Paulett.”


The Bayne Family, taken in 1949, while living in Maracaibo. Front L to R: Ele, Diana, Henry, Olga. Back L to R: Oster Jr., Rosemarie, Andrew.	Cub Scouts, EBV, 1950. Though this photo was originally provided by Douglas Becker, I include it here because it includes a picture of Oster Bayne's brother, Henry, as a member of this Cub Scout pack.	Poolside, Creole Club, L to R: Andrew, Oster, Rosmarie, Ele & Diana Bayne, Maracaibo, 1952.

Creole Club, Maracaibo - Carnival 1952. L to R: Louise Roberts, a pirate, Marlene Bayne (La Salina), Diana Bayne.	1954 - Back L to R - Rex Morgan, Orlando Ortiz & Frank Ashford. Front L to R - Karen Nixon (astride the bike), Sylivia Fowler and Eleanor ??	*The “ Fearsome Foursome”, in 1956: left to right, David Gomez, Frank Ashford, Paul Bingham, & Bobby Taylor*.

*Taken in July, 1957: Frank Ashford & David Gomez poolside at the Creole Club, cold Cerveza Zulia's in-hand.*	What they look like today: taken at the Creole Reunion, Birmingham, Alabama, 2001. Seated, L to R: David Gomez, Karen Nixon; standing L to R: Margaret Nyquist, Linda Riedell.	Oster writes, “ Photo (taken in January 2003) of David Gomez, holding our newest baby, Kayla, a Border Collie, 9 weeks old.”