It was a very hot day on August 22, 1958. I will never forget that day as long as I have my right mind. Late in the evening when it got a little cooler, My Lady and I along with my sister Linda and her husband got in their old 1949 Ford car and left Herman Junction. We drove to St. Louis where we spent a little time with Linda's brother-in-law and his wife before resuming our journey to Rochelle, Illinois to work in the Del Monte Company canning plant. We got lost on the way and spent some time on roads that we had never heard of and it was during a terrible thunderstorm. We began to wonder if we would ever make it to our destination.
Our plans were very simple. We would work at Del Monte for a few weeks and go back to Herman Junction, build a Jim Walter home on Dad's place, get a job at the Singer sewing machine plant in Truman, and live happily there until we went to heaven. I hadn't really thought about people going to heaven except the folks at Herman Junction and a few from Bay and Truman. Our plans and dreams were simple and we had no doubt that everything would work out perfectly for us. We even took very few clothes because we fully intended to be back to Herman Junction very shortly.
But, it was not to be. The Del Monte plant was slowly closing down because the harvest was almost over and they were not hiring additional workers. I don't know when nor why we decided to go over to Michigan City, Indiana where our oldest brother, C.W. and his wife lived, but that is what we did. Sister-In-law, Emmie worked at the M & M diner on the main street of Michigan City and we walked in unannounced to her surprise. Barbara ordered a Dr. Pepper and the whole place responded in laughter at that little ole Southern girl coming in there and ordering a Dr. Pepper. That didn't set too well with her either. We went on to 202 California Ave. where C. W. and Emmie lived right on the edge of Lake Michigan. I mean when you stepped out their door there was sand on the driveway and it was just a few steps to the beach.
What a wonderful place. We slept on pallets on the floor and wherever we could find a place to lay down.
I got my old job back at Weil-McClain, a company that manufactured boilers for heating systems in huge buildings and maybe even some smaller ones for homes. I loved working there until the snow came and it got extremely cold. I think that I have mentioned before how hard it was to go to work at 6:00 in the morning to shovel the snow off the sidewalks so the people who worked in the offices would not have to wade through it. It was a hard job but one that afforded My Lady and I the opportunity to soon move into our own apartment on Franklin St., the main street of the city. The building is standing there today and we love to drive by and see it. We asked one time if we could go up to the third floor and see it but they would not allow us to do so.
Soon, I was offered a job with a company, Independant Steel where I would work inside where it was warm and it even paid a little more than my job at Weil-McClain. Ray Brown was a good friend and he called and told us that the job was mine if I wanted it. I considered it for about two minutes and took off for home to go with him to work at 1:00 in the afternoon. I really liked that job. I went in at noon Indiana time and was back at home at 8:00 PM and I loved that. When I got home My Lady would have a great meal and I ate like a full grown hog and went to bed and before long I weighed 250 pounds and was still gaining.
I love Michigan City, Indiana to this day and go there every time we have the opportunity to do so. But, we missed Herman Junction so very much, especially My Lady. A truck driver came through one day and he had a stalk of cotton and she just looked at it and cried like a baby. Seeing it almost made me cry too but not for the same reason. It was March of 1959 before we got to go home for a visit and it was a delight for us both.
We have never lived at Herman Junction again but we have visited there hundreds of times and we still do as often as possible. Why don't we just go there right now?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
SMART BOY FROM HERMAN JUNCTION: POST #63: May 19, 2009
We had some pretty intelligent people at Herman Junction when I was growing up. Dad said that Booie Woods had more 'common sense' than anyone that he knew even though Booie could not read nor write. My brother Rayburn won the Math award when he was graduating from high school so I guess he was a pretty smart old boy. My Dad seemed to be able to do anything that he wanted to like farming, carpentering, painting, rail-roading, gardening, and all kinds of things. As I got to thinking about this, shoot, we weren't a bunch of Dumb Bunnies down there.
But, I learned this week that I am lacking somewhat in Computer knowledge. My computer began doing a few things that I didn't tell it to do and would not allow me to do some things that I wanted to do. Marty was too busy so I called "The Computer Doctor" that I found listed in the telephone book. What a nice guy! He took my computer off on Wednesday and said that he would get it back to me on Thursday. He didn't! Barbara called him on Saturday and he told her to send me to his office and he would go over some of my problems and I would see why he needed to keep it a little longer. So, I went over there.
He began telling me all this stuff and clicking on things and telling me things but I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. He said that I didn't have enough Mega Bytes and I told him that my Doctor said that I had been having too many Mega Bites and that was why I had to take the medicine that he prescribed. He said that wasn't the kind of bites that he was talking about. He said that I really needed a GIG! I hadn't heard of a GIG in years and had never used one because I never hunted for frogs in my life and had no idea where to get a GIG! He said that wasn't what he was talking about either and that he would take care of it. He must have clicked on 500 buttons and things would pop up and he would click them off or sometimes he would say, "Uh, Huh" and go on to something else. He sat there and talked to that computer just like it was a real live person and it never answered him one time that I heard. He would tell it to do this or do that and sometimes it would and sometimes it wouldn't and he would ask it, "What in the world is wrong with you?" Since he could tell that I thought that The Computer Doctor needed a Doctor, he told me that I could go on so I did, thinking that if Booie was here he could probably fix that thing!
He brought it back to me and it is working faster and some better than when he took it, but the problem that prompted me to call him in the first place is just like it was when he got it. He said that I would have to call my ISP for that problem and I did and after about an hour they told me that I needed to call Microsoft. I have a call in now for Bill Gates and he will probably call back in a few minutes.
At Herman Junction we didn't have this problem. When something went wrong with a tractor or plow or something, Booie and Dad just fixed and went on with their work. Where did those simple days at Herman Junction go? I think that I'll just go back there today and get some of the fog in my head cleared up!
But, I learned this week that I am lacking somewhat in Computer knowledge. My computer began doing a few things that I didn't tell it to do and would not allow me to do some things that I wanted to do. Marty was too busy so I called "The Computer Doctor" that I found listed in the telephone book. What a nice guy! He took my computer off on Wednesday and said that he would get it back to me on Thursday. He didn't! Barbara called him on Saturday and he told her to send me to his office and he would go over some of my problems and I would see why he needed to keep it a little longer. So, I went over there.
He began telling me all this stuff and clicking on things and telling me things but I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. He said that I didn't have enough Mega Bytes and I told him that my Doctor said that I had been having too many Mega Bites and that was why I had to take the medicine that he prescribed. He said that wasn't the kind of bites that he was talking about. He said that I really needed a GIG! I hadn't heard of a GIG in years and had never used one because I never hunted for frogs in my life and had no idea where to get a GIG! He said that wasn't what he was talking about either and that he would take care of it. He must have clicked on 500 buttons and things would pop up and he would click them off or sometimes he would say, "Uh, Huh" and go on to something else. He sat there and talked to that computer just like it was a real live person and it never answered him one time that I heard. He would tell it to do this or do that and sometimes it would and sometimes it wouldn't and he would ask it, "What in the world is wrong with you?" Since he could tell that I thought that The Computer Doctor needed a Doctor, he told me that I could go on so I did, thinking that if Booie was here he could probably fix that thing!
He brought it back to me and it is working faster and some better than when he took it, but the problem that prompted me to call him in the first place is just like it was when he got it. He said that I would have to call my ISP for that problem and I did and after about an hour they told me that I needed to call Microsoft. I have a call in now for Bill Gates and he will probably call back in a few minutes.
At Herman Junction we didn't have this problem. When something went wrong with a tractor or plow or something, Booie and Dad just fixed and went on with their work. Where did those simple days at Herman Junction go? I think that I'll just go back there today and get some of the fog in my head cleared up!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
CHURCHES AT BAY: POST #62
There never was a church of any kind at Herman Junction that I ever heard of. But, in Bay there were four churches and today as far as I know those same four churches are there, plus as Assembly of God church. The First Baptist church met in a rock building on the Northeast side of town, the Broadway Baptist met on Broadway St., and the church of Christ and Methodist church both met on church Street. When the First Baptist church built a new building the Assembly of God bought their old one and today all of those churches still meet in the same locations.
I was raised in the church of Christ, baptized at the age of 12 and made my first 'talk' in church at the age of 12. Aubrey Vanwinkle asked me one Sunday morning after services if I would like to speak to the auditorium class that night. Aubrey liked good, long, advance notices you see! Well, with my Mom helping me work it all up I made my first public appearance that night and it wasn't long until I was doing that quite often. I also began leading singing at about that same age and Jimmy Chester and I did a lot of the song leading until we both grew up and moved away. I loved to sing and still do. I have some wonderful memories of church as I was growing up. We were always the first ones to arrive. We always parked in the same place. I remember going to 'gospel meetings' in the summer time and the house being completely filled and people standing outside and looking in and listening from the windows which were wide open because it was so hot. I recall many, many, baptisms, dinners on the ground, afternoon singings, vacations bible schools that lasted two weeks, gospel meetings that lasted 10 days to two weeks, and the church growing and was strong. The gospel was preached in love and I don't remember any big fusses or the church splitting because of personal differences.
I went with my buddy Jim Isbell to visit the Baptist church one night and I hoped that nobody would see me and tell Mom that I had gone to the Baptist church. But, you can't get away with much in Bay! I had hunkered down as low as I could so Max Taylor couldn't see me but it didn't work. When Max asked all the visitors to stand and I didn't, he said, "Well, I see Hook Knight back there to but he didn't stand up." Now, everyone in four counties knew that I had been to the Baptist church! Well, as you can see, I survived it!
I don't remember any big fights among the churches although there were severe disagreements doctrinally. I think that we all knew that those disagreements existed but we all agreed that there was a way to address those disagreements with a good spirit. That's the kind of people that we had at Bay and they even let us Herman Junctionites come into town and worship with them and I enjoyed it immensely.
I was raised in the church of Christ, baptized at the age of 12 and made my first 'talk' in church at the age of 12. Aubrey Vanwinkle asked me one Sunday morning after services if I would like to speak to the auditorium class that night. Aubrey liked good, long, advance notices you see! Well, with my Mom helping me work it all up I made my first public appearance that night and it wasn't long until I was doing that quite often. I also began leading singing at about that same age and Jimmy Chester and I did a lot of the song leading until we both grew up and moved away. I loved to sing and still do. I have some wonderful memories of church as I was growing up. We were always the first ones to arrive. We always parked in the same place. I remember going to 'gospel meetings' in the summer time and the house being completely filled and people standing outside and looking in and listening from the windows which were wide open because it was so hot. I recall many, many, baptisms, dinners on the ground, afternoon singings, vacations bible schools that lasted two weeks, gospel meetings that lasted 10 days to two weeks, and the church growing and was strong. The gospel was preached in love and I don't remember any big fusses or the church splitting because of personal differences.
I went with my buddy Jim Isbell to visit the Baptist church one night and I hoped that nobody would see me and tell Mom that I had gone to the Baptist church. But, you can't get away with much in Bay! I had hunkered down as low as I could so Max Taylor couldn't see me but it didn't work. When Max asked all the visitors to stand and I didn't, he said, "Well, I see Hook Knight back there to but he didn't stand up." Now, everyone in four counties knew that I had been to the Baptist church! Well, as you can see, I survived it!
I don't remember any big fights among the churches although there were severe disagreements doctrinally. I think that we all knew that those disagreements existed but we all agreed that there was a way to address those disagreements with a good spirit. That's the kind of people that we had at Bay and they even let us Herman Junctionites come into town and worship with them and I enjoyed it immensely.
E. D. SMITH'S GROCERY: POST #61
I don't know what our family would have done had it not been for E. D. and Aunt Mollie Smith and their grocery store. This is where all of our groceries were bought for many, many, years. We would go into Bay on Saturday night and Mom would take her grocery list and hand it to E.D. and he would go about the store gathering all of the items and piling them on the counter. Then, he would take a pencil, spit on the end of it, and record every item and price of it on his little book and charge it. It took quite some time to do that too because there was always a long list and especially when Grandma Halfacre would send some money and order bologna, cheese, bread, and other stuff for us all to eat when we got back home. Can you imagine the food that it took to feed all of us? In the winter there was a roaring fire built in the stove in the back of the store and people gathered round that thing while the head of the clan would take care of buying the groceries. It was as crowded as Wal-Mart it seemed to me.!
I guess most of the other shoppers paid for their groceries at the time they bought them, but the Knight's charged theirs. I guess we must have paid once a month or something when Dad would get paid on the railroad and then later when we were farming and he was a carpenter. I don't know how all that worked out but we sure spent a lot of money at the Smith's grocery store. Later, E. D. retired and in 1956 he passed away. Dad bought the 1949 Chevy truck from Aunt Mollie and I loved that truck. He drove it until it was demolished by a train one day on the railroad crossing right in the middle of town. Aunt Mollie ran the store for a little time and then she closed it and sold it to Ben and Hazel Swanner and they ran it for a few years. They tore the old building down and built their home there and the house is still standing. I sure did hate to see that old store building go down. Dad built Aunt Mollie a house right next door and he and Mom lived there until they both passed away.
We did our shopping for clothes from Sears-Roebuck and Speigel's catalogs. What a great day it was when one of those big orders would come in and everyone would sit around and Mom hand out to each one what was meant for them. It all smelled so good and fresh. New jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes were distributed to everyone in the family. We sure looked spiffed up for some time before they would all begin to fade into looking just like the ones that we had before. We had Sunday clothes and everyday clothes and you didn't dare get those Sunday clothes all torn and messed up. They all had to last at least a year before we would make another order.
Sometimes I long for those days and those times. No credit cards, hot checks, thieves, etc. It was quite nice really and as we made our way back to Herman Junction we were glad that Bay was close by.
I guess most of the other shoppers paid for their groceries at the time they bought them, but the Knight's charged theirs. I guess we must have paid once a month or something when Dad would get paid on the railroad and then later when we were farming and he was a carpenter. I don't know how all that worked out but we sure spent a lot of money at the Smith's grocery store. Later, E. D. retired and in 1956 he passed away. Dad bought the 1949 Chevy truck from Aunt Mollie and I loved that truck. He drove it until it was demolished by a train one day on the railroad crossing right in the middle of town. Aunt Mollie ran the store for a little time and then she closed it and sold it to Ben and Hazel Swanner and they ran it for a few years. They tore the old building down and built their home there and the house is still standing. I sure did hate to see that old store building go down. Dad built Aunt Mollie a house right next door and he and Mom lived there until they both passed away.
We did our shopping for clothes from Sears-Roebuck and Speigel's catalogs. What a great day it was when one of those big orders would come in and everyone would sit around and Mom hand out to each one what was meant for them. It all smelled so good and fresh. New jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes were distributed to everyone in the family. We sure looked spiffed up for some time before they would all begin to fade into looking just like the ones that we had before. We had Sunday clothes and everyday clothes and you didn't dare get those Sunday clothes all torn and messed up. They all had to last at least a year before we would make another order.
Sometimes I long for those days and those times. No credit cards, hot checks, thieves, etc. It was quite nice really and as we made our way back to Herman Junction we were glad that Bay was close by.
SHOPPING AT BAY, ARK: POST#60
Bay, Arkansas was a suburb of our town of Herman Junction. That is where most of our shopping was done as well as visiting the Doctor, going to church, school, and most other things that we could not take care of at Herman Junction. By the time that we arrived at Herman Junction the school, hotel, sawmill, and the post office were closed. There was the one little grocery store left and that was about all. So, when we wanted to 'go to town' that meant going to Bay or to Truman and we chose to go to Bay most of the time. Truman just seemed a little unclean to Mom because it was in a 'wet' county so we stayed in the one that was dry even though the old highway that ran in front of our house was lined with empty beer cans and whiskey bottles that were thrown out of the car window as the consumer made his way back to the 'dry' county.
Bay was a bustling little metropolis as I was growing up. There were several grocery stores. E.D. Smith and his wife Aunt Mollie had one on what is now called 'Church Street'. Sitting beside the store was a Grist Mill where corn was taken and made into meal. West of the Grist Mill was Dick Davis's barber shop and across the alley was the Herman Hill/Carl Taylor grocery store and then on the corner was a Drug Store. The drug store burned and just left a huge, gaping hole in the place where it had been and there has never been a building built there again on the same spot.
Lining Main Street were several businesses. There was Raymond Collins Barbara Shop, another grocery store that I don't remember who owned it, a Cafe that various ones ran, Sam O'Daniel's grocery store, another building that housed a variety of businesses, the Post Office, and then there was another big grocery store. At one time Willis Holmes owned it and then a man named Roach owned it for several years. Following that the 'Chinaman' owned it and I never did know his name, it was just the Chinaman. Across a small parking lost there stood Fred Friends Gulf service station.
One the other end of Main Street there was the theatre, Howard Hundley's grocery store, later owned by Carl Taylor, W.A. Hall's variety store, the Yellow Jacket Cafe, and a pool hall. Behind Howard Hundley's grocery store was a little shack that Doss Miller lived in. Mr. Miller drank an awful lot and I remember that they would limit his purchase of shaving lotion and other items like that because he would drink them. On past his little house there was another store and on the corner there was Mr. Burris's shoe shop. A big house called the "Hindman House' stood between the pool hall and Vernus Kitterman's grocery store. Barbara and I spent our first night of married life in that house. Out in the alley behind the Post Office was the huge Mule Barn and the jail house. Various families lived in part of the old mule barn building including the Knight family before I made my appearance on the scene. Various changes were made through the years but that is the basic layout of the downtown part of Bay.
When I was in my teens I worked with the Mexican field laborers driving them out to the fields, picking cotton with them, and then driving them home for the night. On weekends we always took them to town and since I had learned to speak Spanish pretty well I would work in Mr. Hall's Variety store translating for them and I really enjoyed that. He sold about everything that one could imagine except groceries. How I wish now that I could remember all the Spanish that I learned and could even expand on it but when you don't use something you usually lose it and I did.
Across the railroad tracks were two gins and several other houses in my day. The gins are still there and still operate during the fall and you can hear and smell them all over town. They sure aren't good for allergy prone people like me. As I mentioned earlier, Bay was a bustling place on Saturday evening and night. It was the place to be. I can go back there in my mind right now and really have a good time, but for right now I will move on back home to Herman Junction.
Bay was a bustling little metropolis as I was growing up. There were several grocery stores. E.D. Smith and his wife Aunt Mollie had one on what is now called 'Church Street'. Sitting beside the store was a Grist Mill where corn was taken and made into meal. West of the Grist Mill was Dick Davis's barber shop and across the alley was the Herman Hill/Carl Taylor grocery store and then on the corner was a Drug Store. The drug store burned and just left a huge, gaping hole in the place where it had been and there has never been a building built there again on the same spot.
Lining Main Street were several businesses. There was Raymond Collins Barbara Shop, another grocery store that I don't remember who owned it, a Cafe that various ones ran, Sam O'Daniel's grocery store, another building that housed a variety of businesses, the Post Office, and then there was another big grocery store. At one time Willis Holmes owned it and then a man named Roach owned it for several years. Following that the 'Chinaman' owned it and I never did know his name, it was just the Chinaman. Across a small parking lost there stood Fred Friends Gulf service station.
One the other end of Main Street there was the theatre, Howard Hundley's grocery store, later owned by Carl Taylor, W.A. Hall's variety store, the Yellow Jacket Cafe, and a pool hall. Behind Howard Hundley's grocery store was a little shack that Doss Miller lived in. Mr. Miller drank an awful lot and I remember that they would limit his purchase of shaving lotion and other items like that because he would drink them. On past his little house there was another store and on the corner there was Mr. Burris's shoe shop. A big house called the "Hindman House' stood between the pool hall and Vernus Kitterman's grocery store. Barbara and I spent our first night of married life in that house. Out in the alley behind the Post Office was the huge Mule Barn and the jail house. Various families lived in part of the old mule barn building including the Knight family before I made my appearance on the scene. Various changes were made through the years but that is the basic layout of the downtown part of Bay.
When I was in my teens I worked with the Mexican field laborers driving them out to the fields, picking cotton with them, and then driving them home for the night. On weekends we always took them to town and since I had learned to speak Spanish pretty well I would work in Mr. Hall's Variety store translating for them and I really enjoyed that. He sold about everything that one could imagine except groceries. How I wish now that I could remember all the Spanish that I learned and could even expand on it but when you don't use something you usually lose it and I did.
Across the railroad tracks were two gins and several other houses in my day. The gins are still there and still operate during the fall and you can hear and smell them all over town. They sure aren't good for allergy prone people like me. As I mentioned earlier, Bay was a bustling place on Saturday evening and night. It was the place to be. I can go back there in my mind right now and really have a good time, but for right now I will move on back home to Herman Junction.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
SHORTEST POST IN BLOG HISTORY: #59
Have you ever cleaned out an outdoor outhouse? That's all I'm saying 'bout that!
OLD SPORT AND OLD BESSIE: POST #58
We lived in a perfect spot at Herman Junction for people to drop off their unwanted animals and invariably they would come to our house for provisions since it was the only house right on the highway. I couldn't begin to count the animals that came to our house and there was no way for us to keep them so I would chunk rocks at them and run them off. I guess that I wasn't any better off than the people that dropped them off in the first place. But, with ten people to feed there wasn't much left for the dogs and cats from all over the country.
But, one dog came and I fell in love with him. I named him Sport. I really loved that dog and I am proud of a picture that I still have of Sport and me. He would wrestle with me just like another youngster would and I taught him a lot of things. The thing that I liked the most about him was that he would go a long way across the field and bring the cow, Old Bessie in for milking. I would just take him out to the edge of the field and tell him to "Go get Old Bessie", and he would take off and in a few minutes they would be back to the house. It sure saved me a lot of walking and I liked that.
I don't remember what happened to Old Sport. I know that he died of course, but I don't remember when. But, I do know one thing---"If dogs have a heaven, there's one thing I know; Old Sport has a wonderful home." Does that remind you of a song that Gene Autry used to sing and even Elvis recorded? It was about "Old Shep" and I have cried a river of tears listening to that song. Don't deny it now, you have too!
Then, there was Old Bessie. She sure supplied milk and butter to a lot of hungry Knight's. I have churned a lot of butter and didn't mind it at all because you could sit and do that. I also loved that milk after it was cold. One hasn't lived until he has a big chunk of corn bread crumbled up in a glass full of good milk.
Have you ever noticed that nearly every old cow in those days had a name and most of the time the name was "Old Bessie"? I have even seen one or two in TV shows that were given that name. I wonder why? I have known several nice ladies named Bessie or Bess. I wonder if they know that there is a big herd of cows scattered all over the place named after them? Or, forgive the thought, but could it be that they were named after the cows? I'll try to see that this doesn't get into the hands of a woman named Bessie.
But, one dog came and I fell in love with him. I named him Sport. I really loved that dog and I am proud of a picture that I still have of Sport and me. He would wrestle with me just like another youngster would and I taught him a lot of things. The thing that I liked the most about him was that he would go a long way across the field and bring the cow, Old Bessie in for milking. I would just take him out to the edge of the field and tell him to "Go get Old Bessie", and he would take off and in a few minutes they would be back to the house. It sure saved me a lot of walking and I liked that.
I don't remember what happened to Old Sport. I know that he died of course, but I don't remember when. But, I do know one thing---"If dogs have a heaven, there's one thing I know; Old Sport has a wonderful home." Does that remind you of a song that Gene Autry used to sing and even Elvis recorded? It was about "Old Shep" and I have cried a river of tears listening to that song. Don't deny it now, you have too!
Then, there was Old Bessie. She sure supplied milk and butter to a lot of hungry Knight's. I have churned a lot of butter and didn't mind it at all because you could sit and do that. I also loved that milk after it was cold. One hasn't lived until he has a big chunk of corn bread crumbled up in a glass full of good milk.
Have you ever noticed that nearly every old cow in those days had a name and most of the time the name was "Old Bessie"? I have even seen one or two in TV shows that were given that name. I wonder why? I have known several nice ladies named Bessie or Bess. I wonder if they know that there is a big herd of cows scattered all over the place named after them? Or, forgive the thought, but could it be that they were named after the cows? I'll try to see that this doesn't get into the hands of a woman named Bessie.
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