A Lesson in Government

Yesterday Caroline, almost 14 and an upcoming 8th grader at St Anthony's Catholic School in Florence, SC, went with me to the bi-monthly Elba City Council Meeting at 5:30 P.M. at City Hall.


When we arrived at 5:25 P.M., the 6 councilmen (notice  men, no women) were already seated behind the long table at the front of the room. The Mayor was walking around greeting the few people in the audience, which included the Police Chief, local newspaper editor, radio station owner & manager, head of the water board, a concerned African American citizen who attends every council meeting to "learn", and Caroline, me and the person we were honoring. Not a very large audience.


At exactly 5:30 P.M., the Mayor welcomed everybody to the meeting and then said a prayer. I didn't know they opened their meetings with a prayer. I was impressed. Next he welcomed visitors and asked me to introduce my guest, Caroline. They all welcomed her to Elba. She liked being recognized.


The order of business was very routine with the Mayor asking the Police Chief for a report, which was not very detailed. Then the Mayor telling them about expenses, revenues, bills to be paid and a list for them to review before paying the bills.


He then recognized me and I stood before the group and explained why I was there and asked my guest Mr. Charlie Walker to please stand with me at the front of the room. I told the council members of how Mr. Walker had helped with the bricks needed for the completion of phase 2 of the playground; total number of old high school bricks used in the project and how many of those he donated, and I then presented him with a check for $899 from the Kiwanis Club (which was a donation to the city to pay for the bricks and they in turn gave me the money to present to Mr. Walker). I thought the public should know where the bricks came from and of his generosity. The newspaper editor took a picture of the presentation for the Elba Clipper this week. 


The meeting adjourned at 6 P.M.. and several stopped to talk to Caroline to ask where she was from, etc. and welcomed her to Elba. In turn, we went with the Radio Station Manager (owner) to tour the playground and new buildings. He had never taken time to check it out and it was built in 2006!!! He plans to talk about it on his morning program at 6:30 A.M.. and encourage people go check it out.



Caroline's comments: How boring! I didn't have a clue as to what they were talking about! The Mayor just read something, the clerk called the roll and they all said "I do" (agree). She wanted to know why they had all men at the meeting. Didn't they allow women to have a part?
(young people are beginning to notice these things, YEAH)


She said, "Grandma, you were the only person who said anything meaningful!"

57th Class Reunion was a Big Success

Our 57th class reunion has come and gone and we had a great time last Friday.

Eighteen of 39 remaining members of our class got together as planned and it was so good to be together again. Everything went as planned. They all declared it was the best reunion ever.

We had a total of 28 people present. Of the 5 who had planned to come, 2 called and were ill and couldn't come and we don't know what happened to the other 3. Maybe they just forgot!

It was so much fun "catching up" with things of the past and of future plans. We enjoyed the tour of Elba's newest business which is inside the old Church of Christ downtown - the Coffee County Roasters. And they rejoiced to see the old school facade facelift and the new park buildings which are almost completed. There was a big pile of sand in front of the school steps where we had this photo made, but we didn't mind. That meant "progress" in the restoration of the old building.

Getting ready for my 57th high school class reunion

I'm having so much fun getting ready for the big event on Friday, Aug. 7th. This summer one of my classmates suggested we get our classmates together for an informal reunion, one where we could sit and talk and do a lot of visiting. I agreed and told him I'd send a few emails to see if there was any interest. And everybody started getting excited.

I printed our high school graduation group picture on the back of a post card and send out "Save the Date" with the announcement of our gathering in August. That was back in May and August seemed like a long way off. Now it's here!!

To date we have heard from all but 4 (out of 39 surviving classmates). We have 22 (56%) of our classmates planning to attend, along with several spouses for a total of 31. Twenty of our classmates are deceased. There's only one surviving teacher, Carolyn Brunson. Her daughter plans to bring her to see everybody. She is on the front row of the picture, one from the right.

Many are unable to come due to bad health or other problems. Some aren't driving anymore.

I am so thankful for my good health after hearing of the plight of those suffering from all kinds of illnesses, or their spouses suffering.

When I didn't hear from everybody, I started making phone calls and this took about 2 days to contact everybody but 4. I'll try to finish calling in the morning. I'm glad I have unlimited long distance so I could call everybody. I promised to take a lot of pictures to send to those unable to come.

We had planned to go next door to the coffee house and get our lunch at Pearl's Deli and bring it back to the coffee house to eat. Guess what! Pearl's closed for good on July 31. So I solved that problem today by ordering enough Subway sandwiches to feed 30. I am filling a large tub with ice and putting bottles of water in it. Do you think that back in 1952 we would ever have dreamed of "buying water" in bottles??

Our big event is the 75th birthday cake. Most all of us turn 75 sometime this year. We can all celebrate our birthdays Friday.

One of our classmates (Phillip Hamm) will drive 50 miles to Dothan to pick up another classmate (Glen Vaughan) at the assisted living home where he resides, and bring him to the reunion. That's true friendship! 
Some from out of state or away from the area are coming to Elba the day before so they won't have so far to come for the big event the next day.

We are looking forward to a tour of the new coffee roasting business and maybe another tour or two before we assemble at the old school (now remodeled) on the front steps to have another group picture made in the same spot as in 1952. Then we will settle down to lunch and more visiting and swaping stories of our high school days.

Ah! I can hardly wait to see all my friends. I plan to make name tags with our high school photos on them so we can recognize everybody right away.

On Saturday I will give an update of what takes place on Friday, August 7th, 2009.

School Days Remembered

In this 1945 school photo, I am on the 2nd row from top, near the center with my face circled with white and my name written there.


Curtis School that I attended out in the country usually started early in September. Sometimes we would get dismissed at noon so we could go home to help work in the cotton or peanut fields in the afternoon.

I remember how hot it was without air conditioning or electric fans. We would open the tall windows to get air circulating. The school buses were not air conditioned either and I don't think they had heaters for the cold days. The buses were privately owned and the bus I rode was orange, with 4 long benches running from front to back of the bus. Two of the benches were in the center and students sat on each side.


On my left in the photo above, were my two best friends: Janice Cowen Hudson and Evelyn Jones Mikel. We have remained close friends for all our lives and don't live too far apart.


Janice and I organized the Curtis reunion many years ago and are still "in charge" the 2nd Saturday of October every year. Janice's husband Buddy Hudson died a few years ago. She has 2 boys and 2 girls and they have children and grandchildren so she has a big happy family to take care of her when she gets old!



The next photo is my friend Evelyn Jones Mikel, in the green sweater. Next to her is her older sister Edith Jones Calhoun.


Evelyn had a tragedy in her family yesterday. Her 2-year-old twin great-grandchildren accidentally fell into their grandmother's above-the-ground swimming pool and drowned before the grandmother missed them. I feel so sorry for the grandmother, and of course the young parents and great grandparents, Evelyn and Joe. Earlier this year another granddaughter had a severely deformed child whose lifespan is short. The little boy is still alive and growing but cannot live much longer due to so many problems.


My heart goes out to this family. Things like this just aren't supposed to happen to my friends; this is just something we hear about on the news or read about in the newspaper.


Now that I've told you about my friends, I'll get back to "going back to school" memories. We didn't have to purchase many school supplies. I think a few pencils and a tablet for younger kids and a pack of notebook paper for the older students. I think we had to buy an 8-pack of crayons and maybe a pair of scissors. They were always handed down to the younger children in each family. As I was the oldest, I always got to buy new supplies.


When I reached Jr. High (7th grade),  I had to buy some of my textbooks. I always bargained with someone when school was out to buy his or her books in the fall. We took very good care of our books so we could sell them at the end of the year.


Having a few new clothes to wear when school started was always so much fun. My Aunt Barbara would usually make me a new dress to wear the first day of school. I don't remember if I had new shoes or not. We would remove our shoes after we got to school and sometimes go barefoot all day. It was very hot inside the school building. We were not allowed to wear shorts to school. It wasn't until I was in the 8th grade that girls could wear long pants or jeans.


In the group photo above I have on a green wool 2-piece suit with a white satin blouse. My mother cut the suit from one her sister sent to her and I don't know where the fabric for the blouse came from. She made me such pretty clothes to wear. I had pigtails (braids) until the 5th grade and I remember my mother rolling my hair so it would be curly in the photo above.


I always get nostalgic when I see the ads for back to school supplies. I usually go to the store and get a few items just for the excitement of being in on shopping for school! Plus I can always use more paper clips, pens and pencils, paper, folders, crayons, etc.


I used to help the 5 granddaughters with back-to-school school supplies, but all are in college but one and she informed me that she had everything she needs for the 8th grade. The last time I helped them shop for school supplies, I couldn't believe the many things (and certain brands, etc) that they had to buy and take to school the first day. Things like Kleenex and hand washing soap, paper towels, and on and on.


I'm sure that when the big yellow school bus comes by our house in a couple of weeks, I will have a lump in my throat and start humming "School Days, School Days, etc."

Tiger Town Getting a New Look

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The old school facade is almost completed and soon the 4-step amphitheater will be attached to the back.


In the first photo, you can see the old school wing in the back on the left. It has been made into 8 luxury two-bedroom apts and 2 efficiency one- bedroom apts. The old trees were left for shade.


The next photo is a view of the new restrooms on the left. Old bricks from the school were used. Some of the old bricks were used to replace broken or missing bricks on the sides of the old school facade. There are columns made from old brick to anchor the fence, and 4 columns on the pavilion for the big, round posts.
A new sign is being painted to put on top of the building. You can see I typed "Elba High School" and placed in on the photo. There will be landscaping between the buildings including dogwood trees and crepe myrtle trees. A path will lead to the playground on each side of the old school facade, and you will enter through a gate.

The old parking lot was enlarged and new asphalt put down and stripes added for parking at an angle. Soon it will all be complete and children will have a wonderful place to play. Some of these hand print tiles were made in 2006 so the little kids are 3 years older already. A new mulch topping was added to the play area in June.

I have worked on this project for
several years and will rejoice when it is completed - hopefully by the end
of July according to the contractor.

Anniversary of "Elba Lady" blog

I started my "Journal" on Monday, July 23, 2007. This past Thursday was the 2nd anniversary and I have posted 279 entries over this period of time. Two years = 730 days or 104 weeks. So I average two or three a blogs a week.


I started out putting down things I wanted my grandchildren to know about from my early childhood, living on the farm and growing up. As they call it, "the olden days". I have such good memories of that period of my life. As farmers, we didn't have a lot of money but we didn't have TV to tell us that we need "things". Somehow we always had everything we needed and that freed out mind to enjoy those things we did have. School was a lot of fun and we never wanted to miss a day. Church was the center of our social life and VBS in the middle of summer was so much fun.


After I ran out of things to talk about on the farm, I started recording things about our children and their lives. Then I talked about places we have lived and traveled.


I've had a hard time writing my blog since our son James died on Feb. 2 this year. For 52 years he has always been by my side and I've taken care of him. We miss him so much.


The past few months have been more about daily occurrences, trips, happenings, etc. rather than my past.


My first blog was about going to WW and losing some weight. Guess what... I weigh about the same as I did in July 2007. I think I am healthier maybe but I can tell I am aging. I will be 3/4 of a century old come November.


I think that will be a good subject for my blog - to show how I have changed (aged?) over the years. Keep watching for this; might take awhile to get the photos scanned. I will do this especially for my granddaughters.

Home Again! Fun Trip

Remember the song "It's good to see the green, green grass of home?" Well, the grass was indeed green, and tall, and thick.... Jim mowed today.

We drove over 1,800 miles in one week, in our new Honda Accord. We had fun using the built-in navigation system. You just put in your beginning address and your destination, plus stops along the way, and you get very good instructions. I loved it when she would say "You are entering unverified territory" if we got off the main road and turned into a shopping center, store, etc. Once back on the main road, she would say, continue on your highlighted route.

Our first stop was in Charlotte, NC where we visited my sister Alice and her husband Jerry Thrasher. They live near South Park Mall in SW Charlotte, not too far from downtown. They're the only people I've ever known of that bought an exact replica of their old house in another part of the state. Their furniture was easy to place back where it originally was. Weird!! They have one addition; a nice sunporch on the back and lots of big shade trees for the back yard. They love living in the big city and taking advantage of many programs for seniors. Their favorite is "ushering" for big events including concerts, plays, etc. They are ushers for opening night of the broadway play, "Mama Mia" on July 28th.



Day 1 was Jim's and our son Bill's birthday (July 15) and we celebrated it with a picnic luncheon in Charlotte, NC at my sister Alice's home.

It was well attended and the big lunch spread was held in the back yard under a big oak tree.

Our son turned 51 and came from Florence, SC with his 3 daughters. Jim turned 75 and had fun opening his presents from the granddaughters. They always know just what to buy him. Bill gave him a new telephone with lots of new tech stuff I don't understand!

Day 2 - Jim's 57th high school class reunion in nearby Harrisburg, NC. He made a DVD for each member present with background music from the early 50s and lots of photos thru the years. 


The man in the dark shirt was voted the person who had changed the "least". Everybody went home happy from the restaurant (which is in a shopping mall on the land where the old school was located). Jim presented the owner of the restaurant with a big poster size aerial view of the old Harrisburg School and he said he would hang it in the restaurant for everybody to see.

Day 3 - we left Charlotte around 9 a.m. on Friday, July 17, and drove to Olive Hill, KY to attend the Logan family reunion on Sat. night and Sunday at noon. It was a beautiful drive through NC, VA, WVA, and KY - traveling through the mountains most of the day.

We stayed in Grayson, KY (closest motel to the reunion). Jim's brother Larry and his wife Suzi drove from Virginia Beach, VA and we had fun visiting with them.

About 60 people gathered at the youngest Logan sibling's (Geraldine) house on Sat . night for the cousin's get-together. The crowd has increased over the years with grandchildren, great grandchildren, in-laws, etc. We didn't have as much fun as in previous years at this gathering when it was smaller and we got Geraldine wound up telling "tales" about growing up on "Head of Grassy" and the youngest of 8 children and born when her mother was 46. She had a niece older than she was. Geraldine is a great story teller~

The reunion took place on Sunday at noon at the senior center in Vanceburg, on the side of the Ohio River that separates KY and OH. Of the 8 Logan children, only 3 attended the reunion. Pictured here are Geraldine, Paul and Noah. One other sister also is still living (Gyneth, called Jean) was in attendance on Sat. night but unable to come to the reunion on Sunday. We spent the day visiting around and having left-overs at Geraldine's house on Sun. night.

Day 6 - Monday, July 20th we headed home via Black Mountain, NC to visit my sister Carolyn and her husband Dave. We got to spend the night in their B&B as they had a vacancy. It was very cool in the mountains.

Driving through Virginia, near the NC border, we stopped at Natural Tunnel, a VA State Park. There's a tunnel running thru a tall mountain, with a stream running thru it and a railroad track. It was a most interesting stop along the way. You could ride a chair lift down to the bottom of the gorge to check out the tunnel. We checked it out at the scenic overlook instead and took this photo.

We checked out this home in Montreat that was one of the original homes built in 1918 on the side of the mountain. It belongs to a family in Montgomery, AL and he told me he rents it. I haven't decided if we want to stay there next May or not when we go there for a wedding. First of all, there are no parking places on the one way, narrow road on the side of the mountain. Billy Graham originally lived on this street before moving farther up the mountain to avoid people looking at his house. 

After a stop-over in Black Mountain, we drove all the way back to Elba (9 hours) on Tuesday, getting home at 5 p.m. We had a great trip visiting with family and friends.