Local History

So much about Christmas gives assurance to believers in in a world that is dark and gloomy. Christmas comes quickly when you are a senior adult. Anticipation of Christmas reminds me of how very long it seemed between Christmases when I was a child. The songwriter...

I  experienced the Comer Camaraderie in 1958 when I became associated with the J.S. Clifton family who lived on Pelham Avenue in Sylacauga. I was smitten with Arrie Clifton’s youngest son, and I was still in High School at Sylacauga High, in Fess Simpkins’...

My cousin Dot, living in Spanish Fort, sent me a clipping from the Mobile Press Register about a Sylacauga girl and her successful business in Homewood, Alabama, making and selling cookies at a shop called Cookie Fix. “Do you know her?” Dot asked, for Dot and I share...

The class of 1958 at Sylacauga High School had a reunion last week, not unusual because they gather often to share memories and enrich friendships that have continued down through the 64 years since they graduated They have had more class reunions than any other SHS...

Someone asked me about the legend of Merkel Mountain.  It is absolutely Southern to tell stories about mountains, sometimes in poems, stories, and often in songs; but the legend of Merkel Mountain is a fascinating true story about a place right here in Sylacauga...

There are certain times and certain situations where it is sensible and realistic for boys and girls to be separated because they were created, male and female, for separate roles in life. Last time we talked about the Boys Club, and then this opportunity came to talk...

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for boys and people who see potential in them and try to guide them through the tender days of childhood and youth.  My Dad, my hero, had a favorite charity. It was Boys Town, a home for disadvantaged boys, with a slogan,...

Many wonderful people came out of the Avondale Mills Village family, people who contributed to good in the world even though they grew up in hard times, with big families, and not much of this world’s riches. They worked hard, played hard, and apparently got a good...

William and Frances Berryman came to Sylacauga High School in the fall of 1957. I was in the tenth grade and excited, but a little bit nervous about taking some new subjects, algebra, biology, and typing. Algebra I and the teacher had a reputation that made anyone...

Remembering education in Sylacauga from 1948 until I retired from teaching in 2005 covers a lot of territory as well as a lot of time. I was thinking of Sylacauga’s school board policy which often hired married couples at the same time, sometimes in the same school...

Always I have loved vacations. They were a luxury when I was a child, and our family’s first trip to Fairhope, my Dad’s favorite destination, was made in a car that belonged to Daddy’s boss. It was not a luxury vehicle, and my sister and I sat in two little...

The weather is hot here in central Alabama, and lately the Redhead has been hinting (well, nagging really) that it is time to get my “summer” haircut. The summer haircut is an old southern tradition in which men get their hair cut a little shorter than usual for the...

Weather is definitely one of those things in life that is out of man's control. We can have all the warnings, watches, and apps available, but we cannot do much about what is coming our way except follow proven safety protocol. If you are a student of the Bible, you...

Weather demands attention almost everywhere, but especially in Alabama where if you don’t like the current weather,  it will likely change in a few hours. An old Baptist preacher liked to say, “Whether the weather is cold, or whether the weather is hot, we...

Memorial Day was never overlooked in the small town South when I grew up.  One of the first things school children learned was the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and to sing loudly and the out-of-tune The Star Spangled Banner, even when some little ones called it...

Shel Silverstein came to my elementary school classroom via my son,  the year I became a public school teacher in 1980 and Ray went to the University of Alabama as a freshman.  Ray and I were both poetry lovers, but Where the Sidewalk Ends was a different...

The Magic of Marble Festival 2022 is over, but the magic of marble in Sylacauga remains with us in the number of jobs the industry provides as well as the beautiful art treasures that make Sylacauga such a unique place. This was the 14th annual event sponsored by the...

One of my favorite books, When God Winks at You, was written by Squire Rushnell, a former television president and CEO with ABC. It is packed with interesting accounts of how God speaks directly to you day-to-day through events that first seem to be coincidences. Such...