Swimming Party

Submitted by David Gentry

A little tongue-in-cheek look at BHS football in the 50s from Robert Hamlin... 

THE BALLAD OF SLEWFOOT AND THE PUNT

--To be read atthe dedication of the Slewfoot statue
                                    on Main Street in Baldwyn, Mississippi,
                                    duringthe 2012 Okeelala Festival

Muse of football jocks and fans,
Of epic contests, fierce and gory,
Give me words to sing in praise
Of Slewfoot’s claim to fame and glory.

Two great teams—Bearcats and Aggies—
Locked in scoreless, mortal fight;
To claim the prized Tombigbee crown
Would be the victor’s hard-earned right.

Homeric strife as gridiron foes
Up and down the field collide,
Passes caught and tackles made,
With no clear edge to either side.

Until, the Bearcats backed against their goal,
First and ten too far away,
But Bearcats’ fans need have no fear,
Slewfoot’s leg would save the day.

Slewfoot was the Bearcats’ punter,
An awesome, mighty leg had he,
And when he put his foot to ball
’Twas a marvelous sight for all to see.

Heflin‘s snap was straight and true,
Slewfoot’s catch was just as fair.
But when he stepped to kick the ball,
His foot found only . . . empty air.

Rise up, Outlaw, Reynolds, Christian,
And all the gallant Bearcat band,
You must now save your buddy Slew
From infamy with a goal-line stand.

And that they do. They stop the Aggies,
Then Rutherford breaks a touchdown run.
The Bearcats win!  And Slewfoot’s gaffe
Proves no disgrace, but only fun.

More Tombigbee titles would be won,
But Slewfoot’s feat fans still recall:
Batters, even golfers, whiff, but only once
Has punter flat out missed the whole dang ball!

                                                                --HomerHambone

Union Soldier Grave near Baldwyn

East of Baldwyn, near the Hopewell community, is a grave unknown or mostly forgotten by many Baldwynians. This grave is on the side of the road and was almost removed and relocated once due to being on a new right-of-way, but Charlie Murray Gordon who was supervisor at the time worked out a new route and left it intact.

For many years a mystery person decorated the grave, but was never identified. The grave is still kept cleaned and decorated by "concerned citizens" as depicted on the marker.

Thanks to Henry Outlaw for these photos, made on Okeelala Festival Day, 2011. Pictured are Henry and Doug Pruitt of Baldwyn. Sorry I failed to ID them previously.

Old Basketball Newspaper Item

I don't remember if I sent ya'll this article or not, but here it is anyway. Back in the day, Daddy was a "stringer" for one of the Memphis newspapers and occasionally sent in articles that they published.  I'm not sure, but I suspect the "Evening Appeal" was a predecessor to the "Commercial Appeal".  I found this interesting in that they actually played Ole Miss AND BEAT THEM!  This was a semi-pro team I believe that got together and played in the area.  I think that the Grisham mentioned was Forest Grisham.  The last name, Blackard, I think was Arnold Blackard, who later owned a restaurant/hamburger shop next to Daddy's pool room in Tupelo across from the courthouse next to where the "Stables" restaurant is now located.  The others I just don't know about.  Maybe some of your readers can answer some of these questions.
__________________________________________


From Robert H. Palmer. Thanks, Robert. Hope the image size is OK, I have to get the size right for this and mobile devices also, and sometime it is a guess only situation. -CH

Baldwyn Businesses - 1950s

From Robert Palmer:

I just found this. It's hard to see, but there is a sign sticking out from the front of the building that says "Shoe Shop" and you can see the rims of the chairs in the window where Robert Finger had a place for folks to sit while he worked on their shoes. If I recall correctly, the chairs had a chrome metal railing and the seats and backs and armrests were a maroon or burgundy color. That memory just hit me when I saw this picture. The building was originally Orr's Cafe.

__________________________________

Mr. Finger's shoe shop at one time was located under the bank building (Farmers and Merchants Bank) and after he left there a Mr. Boggs had a shoe repair business in the same place (or do I have that backwards?)

I remember Mr. Finger had a Dodge pickup truck to commute in. He gave me a ride one cold morning and I noticed he had a kerosene heater sitting on the floorboard hump, and it really felt good! - Carl

Ritz Theater Schedule 1953

One of the weekly ads for movies published in the weekly newspaper. This from August, 1953.

__________________________

From Tom Shellnut. Thanks, Tom.

Scouting in Baldwyn in 1953

An excerpt from the Baldwyn Weekly News from 1953. Scouting was a way of bonding with fellows in those days, and we were taught many ideas that helped us later in life.

Scouting especially taught boys and girls to be self sufficient, and that hard work to achieve skills was important to make advancements.

____________________________

Submitted by Tom Shellnut. Thanks, Tom.

Some Highlights from 1953

A couple of excerpts from the Baldwyn Weekly News from 1953. Scouting was a way of bonding with fellows in 1953, and we were taught many ideas that helped us later in life.

Old Street Markers

This is a photo of a bygone street marking system in downtown Baldwyn. I guess I never really noticed it back in my youth, but these had been there a very long time. This particular spot is in front of the old Farmers and Merchants bank, now the Baldwyn News building. The location is also in the lower right hand corner of the blog header photo.

Main street has been renovated to modern standards, including handicapped ramps at corners, unlike the rough piled-up concrete in the above photo. These sidewalks were laid in the 1930's, I believe.

Ah, progress...

More BHS tornado damage 1942

The upper photo of the devastation appears to be of the North part of the school, the auditorium, as we knew it. The men standing are in the entrance near the office.

Lawrence Blassingame is sitting on a chunk of brick in the lower photo.

_____________________________________

Thanks to Gloria and Milton Copeland for the photos.

New Website

http://soarwithbirds.com/

For you private avaiation enthusiasts, Gerald McKibben has begun a new website. Please check it out.

Tabernacle and Boy Scout Hut about 1943-44

The lower picture was made by someone standing in the intersection of 3rd and Main in Baldwyn. The buildings on the right are the downtown school lunchroom and the tabernacle. The burned out brick facade of the old downtown school still looms in the background.

The tabernacle was utilized for temporary classrooms after the fire. The building used for the lunchroom was brought in from another location. We think it came from a CCC camp or Camp Shelby, MS; was disassembled, brought by rail and put back together. This photo was probably taken about the first winter after the school building was destroyed. This (lunchroom) building was later used for a Boy Scout meeting area and also for tabernacle singers to assemble and practice before going to the stage.

The tabernacle was moved to a place further South later and I do not know its' fate. The Baldwyn post office is located on this property now.

The gentleman shoveling snow is Dr. R. B. Caldwell. A better view of the burned school wall is in the background.

___________________________

These photos are lifted from a VHS tape of home movies by Claude Gentry.

Something's bad on Twitchell Hill

After digesting a string of movies recently about the supernatural world of ghosts and apparitions one "sees" these days, I started thinking (again) of the scary stories and places we had to deal with in '50s Baldwyn.

There was the Sloan home, the old Caldwell home, and the 20-mile creek wash-hole where someone drowned that come to mind. I'm sure there were others associated with the Crossroads battlefield, but the one that I had to do a bit of research on was the tale of the "headless" Mr. Twitchell.

The hill South of town was named after that fellow. I have heard he was a landowner, farmer, and also a homeless vagrant. Anyhow, and somehow, the story got around (I barely remember it) that he was found decapitated and later roamed the hill around his neighborhood moaning and searching for his head. Many believed the tale, and would not stay in that area after dark. I asked some older folks about the story, and, according to them, it was a very well known tale.

Twitchell hill was a lure to boys in my age group because of the peach trees, pecan trees, and many other fruit trees that abounded on it. It was a good place to have tracking practice in the Boy Scout program and various other functions. Herb Spivey and I sent our first message using semaphore flags there once. I recall only one overnight trip with the scouts in that area, and if anyone had ever mentioned old man Twitchell coming around looking for his head, I swear we would have gone home post-haste.

A public dump was on top of the hill in my day, and we boys found many "treasures" there. Old radios, appliances, glass gallon jugs we could sell for a quarter apiece, and various other items would get hauled away to home on our bicycles.

So, I am told and will trust my sources that there really was a Mr. Twitchell and he lived on that particular hill. His social status I do not know. His death by decapitation or otherwise is also unknown. For the sake of humor, let's assume he did die violently and search for his head as reported - and probably still does. This is no worse of a ghost story than we see on the screen these days.

There was always someone's house on the old road on the hill, it seems, that got a lot of visitors continually. I remind you of that because if some folks couldn't get their thirst quenched by a milkshake or a cola of some sort, they drove down and got an adult beverage... Oh! and that is the person that bought the gallon jugs from us!