What store did you love to go to as a child?

 My Daddy was manager of the YELLOW FRONT STORE in Hamilton. Alabama, until he went into the US Army. He worked for Sumpter Farm Stock Company for 11 years total.

When he returned home, he continued with them until he and a cousin bought a grocery and feed store which they named “Pollard and Davis”. I was older but don’t have a lot of memories of that store. Daddy soon bought a ‘peddling truck’. At some point, he hired my uncle to run the peddling truck and he worked for Hardin Bakery, paying Uncle Victor. He continued to work in the in town store until he sold his half to Hilburn Pollard.

But to describe the peddling truck to the best of my memory: Daddy bought a long flatbed truck and had the store built onto the truck per his design. There was a shelf built over the cab where we stored crackers and things of that nature. In the back there were long shelves (I think about four per side and across the back). There was a cold box that was plugged in overnight and milk, soft drinks, butter, ice cream, etc. were put in it. There was an egg candling box where eggs were candled that folks brought for barter. The truck carried dry goods as well as a varied supply of groceries, staple items and things folks on the farm needed. There was a kerosene heater bolted to the floor of the truck, between the door and driver seat but a little back to be out of the way and still keep the driver from freezing. The back of the truck outside had a chicken coop for chickens Daddy took in barter. There was a large tank of kerosene and I don’t remember anything else about the back.

When I was out of school, it was my greatest joy to work with Daddy on that truck. It taught me a good work ethic when I was only 10 or 11 years old. During winter break the year I was 10, it was bitter cold. Daddy ran the store routes even though the windshield would freeze inside. It was my job that year to keep the ice scrapped off the windshield for Daddy. During that summer, I could take one friend with us one day during the week. My friends vied for who would get to go. I worked every day that summer.

    Many back then did not own a vehicle other than their farm wagon and went to town only on Saturday. Some only went once a month or once a quarter. Many of the share cropper farmers only went once a year. For what the peddler did not carry, folks back then ordered their needs from the “Sears and Roebuck” catalog. Ever seen someone measure a child’s foot on a piece of a brown paper sack, with the big toe being the front and heel being the back, adding a size or two for growth and mailing the paper to a mail order house? I have. In those days, things were much different than today. Many (or most) of the customers who met the peddling truck were poor. That is why the barter system worked so well. Daddy also kept a book with charges for customers who could not always pay as they bought. These folks were honest hard working individuals who did the best they knew how and hoped their children would be better off. Because of their frugal way of life, many children did get a better education and were able to find better work than share cropping. My Pa Davis was a share cropper and made a fair living.

Daddy saw the end of the peddling truck business looming down the road and sold the truck to a man who wanted to continue the same routes for the folks who still needed that type of shopping venue. Daddy became a freight unloader for a store in town for a while. We moved out in the country and he and mother sold cook ware. I missed the truck and getting to work with Daddy.

    My next experience with a favorite store was when I began to cashier at the Yellow Front Store when we moved to Gordo. Yes, that is the same company Daddy had worked for many years in the past. I had just turned 14 and the first day after we moved to Gordo, my neighbor asked if I wanted to work. Well, yeah! Not many 14 year old kids knew anything about working in a store but I had practically been raised in one. I started that Saturday and worked there for three and one/half years. I cashiered for the grocery side which at that time also meant that I worked stock, cut and weighed bologna and hoop cheese, ground coffee for customers and anything else that needed doing. When someone checked out, I unloaded the grocery basket, checked the groceries, added tax in my head, took the money and gave change. There was no such thing as a computer in those days and you had to do the math in your head. Today’s kids would have no clue what change to give a customer if the computer doesn’t tell them. Sad!!! I sacked the groceries and sometimes carried them to the customer’s car. During Christmas time, I worked dry goods. I knew most of the customers and would make suggestions for gifts for other family members when they were shopping. At that age, I was not shy and could have sold a refrigerator to an Eskimo. After first semester of 12th grade, the store manager said they liked to hire a 9th grader and let them work until after first semester of 12th grade so I worked my last semester in a dry goods store down the street. There was a man from Reform that heard about my work experience and work ethic and came to our house one night to ask Daddy if I could come work for him at his drive in restaurant. The restaurant was very popular and the car hops were busy from school letting out until closing. On Friday and Saturday nights closing was 12:00 midnight. The establishment was a good nine miles from home and I was sure glad Daddy said no. He told me about it later.

At Harrison’s Dry Goods, I was the after school clerk every day. I dressed the windows, ticketed the merchandise and displayed things to attract buyers. My friend’s mother worked part-time for the Harrisons and drove Mr. Harrison on a sales route. One day, Mr. Harrison asked me to go with them. Boy! What a day that was! I saw the first Thalidomide adult that I had seen. He had no arms or legs. Babies whose mothers took that drug to prevent a threating miscarriage had babies who had no limbs and probably other deformities. Dean Junkin and I had a ball that day!! She and I were friends and she was such a fun lady to know. Some of the things I saw that day are not something I would repeat today. When I graduated from Gordo High, the Harrisons closed the store and retired to their home town.

Thus ends my favorite store adventures as a child and young adult. As usual, I have gone into many details and chased a few rabbits down the trail where it was not in response to the topic. I trust my children will enjoy this story nonetheless.

What are some of your special talents?

 Do I have any special talents?

There are many talents I WISH I had but they were not in God’s plan for my life. I enjoy what few talents HE gave me.

I guess my favorite pass times are writing, cooking & sewing. These may or may not be classified as talents but that is how I spend my time. IF I do have a real talent, it is reaching out to shut-ins & others who might be ill. I LOVE people & spending time with them. My all time favorite thing to do is be with my family. I like spending time with my immediate family. There are 30 who have descended from my husband & me. Those are my best times.

I like to write. For many years, I wrote poetry all the free time I could squeeze into my busy life as wife, mother, and employee. If a friend was having a birthday, a relative or friend died, just about life, I would write a poem. There is a chapter in “Let Me Tell You About My Grandpa” of poetry. This book was published a long time ago. It took ten years to compile and included stories told me by my daddy, grandpa, cousins and other relatives, poetry, pictures and genealogy. Currently, the second book is underway and will include mostly genealogy with notes about some relatives. It may be longer and will include pictures along with the aforementioned. It has been my privilege to write a few poems for the church when asked.

When I sew which I do frequently, it is now a days mostly craft sewing, mending, alterations. I make many things. It only 72 years for me to finish the first quilt I ever started. I began it when I was ten and finished it when I was 82. I sew tops on dish towels to hand on the oven or refrigerator door or cabined pull, make shoe bags for travel, embroidery baby diapers for burp pads, baby blankets and finish quilt panels. For my grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great nieces and nephews I made hand embroidered quilts or pieced quilts. One year, I made hand embroidery Christmas tree skirts for some family members. I enjoyed sewing dresses for my granddaughters and great granddaughters and flannel shirts for the grandsons, pajama pants for some of the boys. Recently, I made myself some handkerchiefs. I have made napkins and table clothes.

I like making bunt cakes, so much so that I bought bunt pans past having room for storage. This past Christmas, I shared by giving each granddaughter a bunt pan or fancy pie plate (which I also bought past having storage). Yes, when I bake a pie, it goes in a pretty pie plate. I bake Bunt, sheet, and occasionally a stacked cake. Known at church as the Banana Bread lady, I was baking banana bread for my 99 year old friend and would bake several loaves at one time. The extra was shared with other shut-ins from my church. She passed away recently but I will try to continue baking for the others. I like baking fruit pies, fruit dumplings, and crisps as well as custard and nut pies. Banana pudding is about my only pudding.

I ‘make a joyful noise’ in our church choir. My voice does not compare with the talents in that group. Great voices that could have been professional singer are included so my old voice doesn’t do much. I mainly take up space but what fun to shout out to the Lord with them. Our choir director is excellent. Whether we have six singers or a whole group of 12 or 14, the choir ALWAYS sounds great. Just wish I was able to sing as well as the rest.

The library at church is one of my best-liked things I have done. The library had lost its ‘keeper’ and since I have long ago retired, I volunteered to try to keep it. There have been so many donations of books that our little room is overflowing. Many of our church and even community folks have donated book cases for our use. Having worked as library assistant years ago, and as an organizational file clerk for many years, it has been an enjoyable task for me to get the library back in shape. It became an ever increasing pass time for me to add to and work in for a few years now. It can be done at my convenience and sometimes since Covid19, at times, it has backed up so that it may take a few hours to ‘catch up’. It is a fun task.

I have helped other church ladies in providing food for funerals at church. More recently, I have helped to organize the food. We have wonderful ladies who worship there and every one of them is a great cook. Sometimes, we have more than one funeral in close time frame. It is almost unbelievable that there are so many asking what can I bring and what time do you need it, can I help in the kitchen? This is such an honor for me to be allowed to help with this for the loved ones who are grieving.

It is an honor to do whatever I can to give honor and glory to our Father.

In jest but true is – my BEST ‘talent’ – I am clumsy and can make a mess at ANYTHING. Sometimes when I open snack bags, it explodes and the snack will fly everywhere. I can even open a bag of ice and spill at least 1/3 of it trying to pour it in a pan. Anything liquid is easily spilt. Cake pans can be over filled to run over in the stove as the rise.

Do you believe in a higher Power?

 Do I believe in a higher power? I believe in THE Higher Power, in the Creator of all things, from before this world we live in to all eternity. HE was before, HE sent His Son, Jesus Christ who, after He was crucified, rose again on the third day. He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us and Christ will come for His followers at the time appointed. We wait expectantly for His return but ONLY God, the Father, knows the time.

Having been raised in a Christian home and taken (with my parents) to worship every time there was a church service, I was raised knowing “about” God and “about” Jesus Christ. At age ten, I gave my heart to God through Christ and have never doubted my salvation. I doubted many times why God would send His Son for “my” salvation but the longer I serve HIM, the sweeter He grows. I have never doubted that Christ did die for my sins... It just seems such an enormous weight to bear for mine and ever one else’s sins. Mine seems to be too big a load and HE took the sins of the whole wide world’s sins.

As I have grown older and hopefully wiser, it is my one desire to live as close to our Lord as humanly possible. I want to follow God’s will in my life, point others to the Savior and always treat others in a manner that is a reflection of how Christ treated others while He was on Earth.

I have watched as my children and grandchildren and now great grandchildren have given their lives to Jesus. My grandchildren are rearing their children as I was raised. What a blessing to have a total of 30 members of my immediate family and know that they believe in ONE GOD, the God who was and is and is to come.

Where you involved in any organizations in High School?

 It was so much fun to be in various organizations in Gordo High School!

I joined the Band my first day in Gordo. It was during the summer but band practice had already begun for the upcoming football season. Patsy Johnson lived next door to the house we rented and invited me to come join the band. I had taken band in grammar school and taken piano for a few years and knew music so, why not? The girl who had played the tenor sax had graduated that year so I was given the sax and showed me the keys and fingering. This was similar to the ‘tonette’ I had played in Amory Elementary. When Daddy got home from work that day he said, “I hear Gabriel blowing his horn. What’s going on?” He was glad I had already made friends. Gordo was our fifth school to attend. I later played snare and bass drum and cymbals. I was better with rhythm than I was on sax but I did my best with the sax for four years.

The band was probably the best organization I was a part of. For four years, there was not a Gordo High football that I did not see. We were the cheering section lead by some fantastic cheer leaders. We were a family united with football players and cheer leaders. There was no friction between any of us. We supported each other. The band members who rode the bus to school went home with ‘town’ kids and several came to our house for sandwiches, Kool Aid or milk before the game. Billy played football so until he graduated, some of the bus kids on the football team came home with him. I later learned that it took Mother’s full weekly salary to pay for some of those afternoons but she never said a word. Anyway, there was a band bus and a football bus so we all rode to the games.

The one year the band did not go to the game at Gorgus. I do not remember why the band did not go. My friend across the street and her boyfriend were going and asked me to go with them. That is the only way I got to go to that game.

When we were on the field performing, we were fairly good in keeping our band organized and doing whatever we had practiced. Of course there were times someone might go a step or two in the wrong direction. Ha. No one is perfect but we had a wonderful time.

Either my freshman or sophomore year the band went to Jacksonville State College for their homecoming. Mr. Whitt had graduated from Jackson State and this was a great trip for us. As we were marching in to the drum cadence, Clay Durrett who was playing the bass drum fell into a large hole. He did not miss a beat and whoever was behind him grabbed the drum strap from behind and brought him out. He did not miss a beat. I think that is where Nina Burkhalter fell off the top bleacher with the tuba. She was not hurt but the tuba got bent a little. It did not hurt her and she played whatever we played that night. Mr. Whitt had arranged for the band to sleep with some of the other bands that were there and we all found a cot and just sat on it. When he saw how crowded it was and heard sounds from the homecoming dance held in the in the same building one floor below where we were to sleep, he told us to get on the bus, we were going home. If memory serves me correctly, we got back home at 4:00 a.m. All parents were thankful that we were home ‘early’.

Everyone who could worked on floats for Home Coming. That was such terrific ‘work’. We would work after school until almost dark if we were outside. One year, the band worked on a ‘thing’ for one of our Half Time performances. It was a boat or car that someone ‘rode’ in. What it was, memory fails me. I just recall us working in the band room on ‘it’.

Andy Anderson was our drum major and he could lay down on the ground, put both his legs behind his head and twirl two batons. He was great. He was later Drum major for the Million Dollar Band at the University of Alabama. At last report, he had moved to somewhere overseas.

When Big Jim Folsom was Governor, our band (and many more) were invited to march in the inaugural parade. We left that day very early and dressed so many layers we could hardly walk much less march. BUT march we did. We walked a long way before we got in position. I played cymbals that day and was able to wear gloves so I may have fared better than those who had to finger keys. I don’t really know except it was cold.

After football season, we still had practice every day. I played bass drum one year for our concert season. It wasn’t bad since I was a bit better on that. One year, my sophomore year I think, we had to have a formal for the concert. I bought a used yellow formal from Durrett’s Store in Gordo. The day before the concert, a group went to a lake and I sunburned – bad – red as a lobster. The next night, my yellow formal on my red skin wasn’t very pretty but I played that drum.

We had state band competitions at the University of Alabama. Several of our members were outstanding and got first chair in the combined band by their performance. I don’t recall how our band did overall.

I was in the 4-H club in 7th grade. I got a blue ribbon for my biscuits and for my dress I made that year. I got a white for my biscuits and a red for my dress at the State Fair. 4-H is still a great club and it is still continued in many schools.

The Choral Club was another organization I enjoyed. We had concerts and members were in theatrical performances at school. I wasn’t good enough to get a solo (and still not) but was in some of the chorus lines. We had a good group and there were some really great singers in the Choral Club.

Future Homemakers of America was another club I enjoyed. There were business meeting but my memory of those is not good. I do know it is a good organization if that is still included in school. I doubt large city schools continue this club but should.

And, yes, I was in The National Beta Club. I’m not sure how I got there but I did. It was an honor to be in it. My grades were mostly an A and B but I had an occasional C. My behavior was always good. I cut up a lot and was sort of a clown. But in the class room, I studied and did my work.

The last three years, I was Library aid to the lady who later became my sister-in-law, Ruth Junkin. I learned to organize books which has been helpful to me since that time. Organizational skills have helped me in the rest of my life. She and her younger brother Clatus went by town before going home and sometimes gave me rides to work. This particular day, her oldest brother (younger than her), Thomas, had borrowed her car for a job interview. He had just gotten out of the USAF in May and had not found work. I knew who he was because the Junkin family attended Gordo First Baptist when Zion Baptist was not having church. (Their church only convened once a month.) Anyway, in November, Thomas was at the homecoming dance and asked to walk me home. We lived across the road from school. I let him (remembering that the year before, I had gone to the dance with his younger brother, Ralph). He asked to see me again and I told him I was engaged. I would not go with him at first but he won me over and we dated. I would not tell my fiancé that I was seeing someone else until he got home from Germany (Army). So after that, I dated Thomas until we married in August. And that part has NOTHNG to do with organizations. Just an important ‘intermission’ with how I met my forever sweetheart.

I was also teacher assistant for some of my other teachers. I typed stencils for tests and ran them off. I graded papers for teachers. I sat in the back of the room for some of them and got their notes after class to study. I did NOT type tests for my grade, just for their other grades. I always did homework and took test but if our daily grades were such that our semester grade was high enough, we did not have to take final exams. In English one year, Mrs. Glass asked me to take the test even though my grades were sufficient that it was not mandatory. I made an A on the test.

Other than working part-time on Saturday for three and one/half years and every day after school and Saturday the last semester, that is my story about my membership in organizations in High School.