Stories & Recollections of Etowah . . .
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as told by ~ Richard Brown & Friends
Address delivered at the 2014 dedication of the memorial plaque for Etowah High School 1928 - 1960 |
My name is Richard Brown and I graduated from Etowah High School in 1958. I've been asked to share some of the memories that have been solicited from former Etowah school students.
Some remember having to walk long distances just to get to where they could catch the school bus. Many walked miles from Turnpike Road to Blantyre Baptist Church. Catherine Medford remembers principal Ralph Jones' last year in 1942 and Mr. Howard Taft Sitton becoming the new principal in 1943. Bill Robinson remembers several of his buddies flirting with what they thought was a new girl coming to Etowah when it turned out she was really Miss Catherine Sufford, later to be Mrs. Medford, their new teacher. Louise Gray Grant remembers that behind the school was a dirt basketball court used for all games until the early 1950's. Where the gym is now was cleared out in the early 40's to make a baseball field. Everyone brought their lunch until a lunchroom was provided in what was called "The Cannery" where folks brought produce over the summer to be processed and canned. She remembers that the students could smell the homemade yeast rolls and peanut butter cookies being baked all the way to the main school building. This same building served as the lunchroom during the school year through 1958. Earl Sumner remembers teacher and coach Mr. Clyde Peek as being a stern, but fair, disciplinarian. He feels Mr. Peek had a great impact on his life and that he is a better person because of his influence. He and John Love recall an incident where three or four of the boys were outside watching a road scraper and felt like, because of having a substitute teacher, they could be a few minutes late to class. As it turned out the sub was really Mr. Peek covering the class. He told the boys they were to receive one lick for each minute they were late. John got five licks. Earl took his licks, but the third boy refused the punishment and left school never to return. Billy Dalton remembers how his principal Mr. Sitton helped many students in ways that no one ever knew about - lunch money, encouragement, etc. He also remembers that when Mr. Peek set rules you had better follow them. Billy was pretty much a star pitcher on the baseball team and felt that he could bend the rule to be at baseball practice within five minutes of school being dismissed. He was talking to his girlfriend, later to be his wife Grace, and ended up several minutes late to practice. Coach Peek told him to turn in his uniform as he was off the team. He was crushed. For the next couple of weeks he still came on to practice, being the first one there. And putting on the catcher's mitt, he would catch for batter's practice. Peek ignored him. After a couple of weeks, Coach Peek told him, "Let's take a walk down to third base." He put his arm around Billy's shoulder and said, "Do you think you can do what I tell you to do?" Billy said, "You better believe I can." He learned a valuable life lesson. Jo Kilpatrick (Joan Norton) recalls walking to school with her friend Jerri Hensley and the warm radiators that welcomed the students as they entered the school. Also the kids sorting through the coal that Mr. Vic Orr used to fire the furnace for bits of tar that could be chewed like gum. Mr. Orr also threw cinders outside to where Dorothy Dalton Brown and Jean Wells Huggins remember having to walk going to recess, etc. They dreaded falling on the cinders and getting them embedded in their skin. Joan also recalls one impending Valentine's Day and that she dreaded it because of not having money to buy valentines cards to give out to her classmates. She confided in Mrs. Lucy Sitton and Lucy immediately told her she needed an "assistant" to help her clean out her storage closet. Joan immediately volunteered. As she was finishing up Lucy pointed to a large box of items she had "set aside" and told Joan to take that box with her. It contained construction paper, doilies, pencils, pens, colored pencils, glue, scissors and scotch tape. She was overcome with gratitude and able to then make valentines for all her classmates. She made the biggest and prettiest one for Mrs. Sitton. She knew Mrs. Sitton would sit in front of the class and read all her cars aloud. Still ashamed that the cards weren't "store bought," she asked that she not read her name. She obliged but did say when she picked up the card, "I saved this card until last and the person that gave it to me doesn't want their name revealed. But I want this person to know it is one of the prettiest Valentine cards I have ever received." Several students fondly remember Mr. Harry Woodson. He took his girls basketball team from being on the bottom in the county to winning the county championship in 1959. The gals talked him into letting them carry the trophy to town in celebration of their accomplishment. They proceeded to circle all the drive-ins - Brock's, Johnnies', Freddie's, Jody's. While dragging Main Street and holding the trophy out the window of the car, a part was broken off. The panicked gals drove back to Dorothy Dalton's house where they were to spend the night. They tried feverishly to repair the broken trophy, but it was too obvious. The damage had been done. Jean Wells Huggins remembers the oily hardwood floors, especially shiny on the first day of the school year, the hissing of the radiators, playing jump rope, red rover, London Bridge, the merry go-round, the slide, the red clay, the tall steps leading to the ball field in back of the school. Also rhythm band, movies in the auditorium, the magic show. How honored she was when after finishing the fifth grade you were able to move upstairs on the second floor to be with the "big kids." Many remember the fall festival, the king and queen voting, class picnics at Woodlake Farms, the senior trip, the junior and senior class plays, the joy of receiving our yearbooks. The support of the community. Let me sum up by saying, as Joan points out, It was a gentle time and one where students cared about each other, regardless of age, financial position, or grade standing. Also, as Mr. Harry Woodson pointed out in a correspondence with Jean Wells Huggins a few years before his death, "We had a good school, good teachers, good parents, good students. Small schools were better, When will we ever learn that." From my own personal experience I can attest to this. I changed school 8 times while in high school. I quit while in the 9th grade, moved several times, and quit again in the 11 th grade. I attended several schools with huge student bodies. No one knew my name or cared if I fell off the earth. Through the grace of God, an aunt who cared, as well as a foster family the Conner's, I ended up at Etowah late in my junior year. I was quickly accepted for being just who I was. I was made to feel good with who I was. Mr. Sitton took me aside and told me I still needed 1/2 credit in freshman English in order to graduate. He gave me a freshman English textbook and told me to study it over, and he would give me a test. I passed the test and was able to muster the 16 credits needed to graduate. It was definitely the turning point in my life. When asked to do this segment on the program [October 25, 2014 Etowah High School 1928 - 1960 Plaque Dedication], I thought, why me? I only attended Etowah a little over a year. But in rethinking it I thought, who better than I to let folks know that Etowah school was the greatest of places. As Jean Huggins often says, "Hee Haw for Etowah," and I mean that in the most complimentary of terms. Now on a lighter note, my wife [Dorothy] and I have hosted at our "farm" over the last 4 years two all-inclusive, meaning all classes and all students, Etowah High School reunions. Both times we had over 110 folks attending from the classes of 1941 through 1960, the last one being May 31st of this year. They were wonderful and not soon to be forgotten gatherings. I was asked to write some lyrics adaptable to the old Bob Hope tune of "Thanks for the Memories" to be used at this last reunion. I was asked to recite this writing today. |
Thanks for the Memories
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Thanks for the memories . . . of our days at Etowah
attending class and playing ball of our class picnics and senior trips, and the hallway chatter, that seemed to matter. For rock and roll music that we all loved best Elvis and Ricky and all the rest. We’d play our games then circle Brock's in poodle skirts and bobby sox. Some pegged their pants and greased their hair in hopes of a good looking gal to snare. We dragged Main Street with trophy held high touting our victory with a hearty cry. We loved coach Woodson and Mr Peek too. Most of our teachers were a pretty good crew. We shared our feelings and were best of friends hoping the good times would never end. Bus rides to school and home again chatting while sitting next to a friend. Miniature golf and the skating rink too were some of the things that we liked to do. Drive-in movies were a great place to go, especially with someone that you loved so. Young love was often in control of our mind dating and hoping our soulmate to find. The arrival of annuals, near the end of year gave us a thrill that we all held dear. We would sign on our pictures to let people know not to forget us, through the ebb and the flow Now over fifty years later we still have that bond that comes from the place of which we’re so fond. The big schools of today will never compare with all of the friendships we had to share The love and respect we had for each other in this day and age is hard to discover. We loved that experience and never forget had not been for Etowah we might never have met. |