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If you are not already aware, our society has canceled our Sawmill Day festival and Car Show in May due to the national health threat. The society has held this event every year since 1990 as our major fund raiser and as an opportunity to bring the community together. We hope this setback simply gives us time to prepare an even better event next year. We have also decided to close our museums for the near future. In the meantime, repairs are being made on the buildings and museum displays are being updated to better share the history of the...
Sawmills during the age of the "Big Cut" could be wild places. A sea of humanity ebbed and flowed through the mills. Laborers, foremen, businessmen and suppliers all created unique personalities inside this great ocean of industry which was dotted with small archipelagos of plainer mills, ripping saws and other industrial apparatus stations dotting the landscape. These were places where men earned an honest days wage. It was hot work in the summer and cold work in the winter; and it was...
Back before fake Easter eggs came in plastic with every color of the rainbow, filled with gumdrops and Cadbury chocolates wrapped in designer tin foil; there lived in my world kids with real problems. Problems that started weeks prior to the Sunday that was spent at church hearing the story about the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Starting in early March, plans were being carried out for this great day by Mama and her Singer sewing machine. She sat foot peddling that miracle of every household filled with lit...
Coming out of the wettest winter on record, Alabama farmers face a different set of obstacles this spring. To overcome this, farmers will have to change many of their management strategies to ensure the health of the land and livestock. Livestock Kim Mullenix, an Alabama Extension animal science specialist, said cattle could need additional supplementation. “As cattle make the transition from winter to spring, producers should body condition score their herds to determine if additional supplementation is needed,” Mullenix said. “Cattle have...
Gardening is as much a part of being a Southerner as weekend football games and a trip to one's favorite fishing hole. Yet in another era, gardening was a survival tool and the Federal government encouraged US citizens to plant gardens everywhere. Even local railroad companies encouraged its workers to plant gardens along the tracks. Vegetable gardens have always been in the arsenal of preppers in the South going back to the early frontier of the 1700s. The items produced in the garden was...
With this Covid-19 the world is now changing faster than it ever has before. By the time this is over there is no telling what kind of world we will be living in. I will be glad when this is over and maybe we can get to what ever the new normal will be, it could be very different, or it could be business as usual. Listen to your state and local leaders for information, and there are several websites updated daily for those of you with access to the internet. I can tell you one thing, the criminals will be trying to take advantage of the...
I'm old enough to know what I'm writing about so allow me the pleasure. What say you, old lady? We Crews' have planted and shared garden bounty for almost all our 56 plus years of married life. Our first few years we shared a garden with his side (Crews) of the family because we lived very near to them. My side (Smith) was gone to a better land, enjoying the bounty of whatever is allowed in Heaven. Anyway, except for a short time of early marriage (when we had no place to plant) until the year 2018-19, we made all the vegetables we cared to...
I'm self-quarantined with time on my hands and things on my mind. I was born (1941) just as our country came out of the Great Depression. 1929 to 1939 was the longest and most severe world-wide economic depression ever. The stock market crashed, men lost money that caused such panic that they jumped off tall buildings to end their fear of failure. Their families were left to wonder why fathers and husbands and sons and brothers and uncles and recent millionaires cared so little about anyone else that they chose to end their lives rather than...
Sawmill Day 2020 is canceled. We had to make this decision early due to some orders that had to be made right now. Hopefully, next year will be better. The things we are doing to try to slow the spread of Covid 19 are reminding me of my son's experiences with West Nile Virus in 2012. On August 30th of 2012 my daughter in law called to say my son had been hospitalized with suspicion of West Nile Virus. She said he had told her not to call me, but as his condition deteriorated she thought it best to call. By the morning of August 31st he was...
Wars can destroy not just the lives of the people directly involved on the battlefield but the people left on the home front as well. During the War Between the States many loved ones were separated by not only by the geographic distance between them but by death and destruction. Some of the greatest figures in that war were destined for heartbreak. General John Bell Hood is one example. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on recklessness. Arguably one of...
Coronavirus or no coronavirus, Alabama Extension is pressing forward to offer information and learning opportunities to the people of Alabama. Just one week ago, we transitioned to an alternate operations model and assigned employees to work from home. Extension staff immediately began to develop learning materials that you can reach on the web and social media. Our goal is to help navigate this new normal. This briefing will bring you the latest information from Extension. We’ll also help you keep up with all those things that still need to b...
As communities and citizens observe the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for diminishing the spread of the Coronavirus through social distancing and various closings, school systems and municipalities are continuing programs and using resources to ensure children and others who depend on free or reduced meals continue to receive them during this time. Escambia County School Systems in Alabama and Florida as well as the Century Mayor Henry Hawkins and Concerned Citizens of Century...
As mentioned in last week's article, the Corona virus is historic in its sweeping across the globe. The virus carries with it the potential for untold consequences in the infection of potentially millions and many deaths to follow. Yet the virus is not the first time in history that a pandemic has occurred. Looking back at history is the best way to learn what worked and what did not work in earlier occurrences and it also provides a way to learn how to prepare for what may be coming. The...
The U.S. today faces a new health challenge, but this is not new to our nation. One hundred years ago, or so, the challenge of unknown illnesses was almost routine. Today a primary recommendation is similar to one used then, isolation. The following is the story of one man in the era of quarantine. It is not known when Charles Dyer first arrived in the new town of Flomaton, but in 1888 he married a local woman, Fannie Still, when they were both about thirty years old. Their home in the years that followed was a couple of blocks south of the rai...
Little Miss Jimma Leigh Hawthorne, a Flomaton Elementary 3rd grade student, claims the proud distinction of being the 9th Great Granddaughter of Peter Kelly, Patriot. Peter O'Kelly was born in County Limerick, Ireland in 1751. Leaving Ireland with his family for the New World, Peter landed in Annapolis, Maryland in June of 1766. Peter dropped the "O" from his name to begin a new life in America to be known forever after as Peter Kelly. Peter, age fifteen and an apprenticed cabinet maker to his uncle William, had sailed the ocean with William...
Teens across the state came out in full force for the Alabama 4-H Midwinter Leadership Retreat. This year’s retreat focused on workforce development, healthy living and independence. The three–day, Hollywood-themed event was held at the Alabama 4-H Center in Columbiana. “With an event hosting more than 170 people it takes a lot of preparation and dedication,” said Joy Scott, Alabama Extension 4-H specialist. “From day one of planning to the day of the event, the Alabama 4-H State Ambassadors demonstrated great teamwork and leadership skills. I...
There is an old story about the Touchstone, a small black pebble that could turn common metal into pure gold. The Touchstone was located on the shores of the Black Sea, lying among thousands of other pebbles which looked exactly like it. But there was one physical difference between the Touchstone and an ordinary pebble: the Touchstone would feel warm while the ordinary pebble was cold. One day a man, who had heard the story about the Touchstone decided to sell his belongings, buy some supplies and a tent, and dedicate his time to trying to...
For those who think history boring, or not worth teaching or studying perhaps they should take a look at history's lessons when it comes to the growing pandemic known as the Corona virus, also known as Covid-19. As horrible as the potential outcomes may be, the lessons of another pandemic 100 years ago may offer lessons which could prevent, or at least slow transmissions. By November 1918 World War I was at an end. As many a war-weary family prepared to welcome their soldier home, a new invasion...
Several years ago when I first took a DNA test to trace my ancestors only a few hundred people showed up on it that I had shared DNA with. When I checked again just a few days ago the number of people in the world that I had shared DNA with was just over one hundred thousand. According to my DNA I have almost three thousand five hundred fourth cousins or closer, and over ninety eight thousand fifth to eighth cousins in the world. As far as I can tell the test are pretty accurate, several of the ones on my list of relatives are people that I per...
This writer happened onto this story by accident. Let me tell you about a delightful lady in our community that is a singer. A singer of Country Music, a singer of Gospel songs. A voice that will stun anybody that cares to listen. A God given talent.......................... Mrs. Bobbie Roberson Edwards has worked at Brewton Medical Pharmacy for the past forty some odd years. She is as sweet as frosted tea for Sunday Dinner, extra sugar please. Almost too shy to give her incredible story, but...
Last Thursday, Escambia County (Ala.) 4H and FFA participants showed and sold their livestock to potential buyers at Perdido Farms. Exhibitors this year were: Silas Albritton, Temple Albritton, Isaac Bonam, Ashley Bradley, Aron Chavira, Kenslee Chavira, Jacelyn Chunn, Macie Chunn, Caleb Davis, Jason Davis, Colbie English, Emma Grayce Fuqua, Isabella Griffin, Ivy Hart, Ashton Helton, Hagyn Helton, A.J. Hollinger, Conner Lambeth, Parker Landon, Kamryn Langham, Kylee Langham, Gus Lee, Colby Lisenby, Sydney Lisenby, Aidan McCall, Alyssa McCall,...
In the old days, meaning that time before the early 1960s, when many of the tiny communities in our area seemed to prosper and their residents had more of a home view than a world view, there existed small places like Malta and Dugout which had a big influence on farming and industry. The exact origin of the name 'Dugout' is clouded in the fog of history but some say it comes from a train wreck that "dug out" a hill or from a dirt pit which operated there at the time of the construction of...
I greatly enjoyed the article in last week's Ledger by the 4-H agent. It brought back memories of my family's 4-H times. None of my immediate family ever got into raising and showing large animals. My brothers raised and showed chickens. That was an interesting process, not for the faint of heart. In the late 1950's and early 1960's the McDavid, Florida train depot still stood. Trains didn't stop there anymore, but some mail still arrived at and departed from McDavid by train. A mailbag hung from a hook on the track side of the depot. It was...
Alabama’s rich water resources range from rushing mountain streams to the relaxing, sugar sand beaches of the coast. It is not always clear, however, what the connection is between our everyday tasks and the quality of our water. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, in making an effort to better connect members of local communities with their water resources, presents the Alabama Watershed Stewards (AWS) workshop series. Auburn University’s Water Resource Center, in connection with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the...
One of the more difficult things for assertive people to do is to take a “pause for the cause.” There are times when we actually become victims of our circumstances. Events seem to rush us, press us, move us along at a pace that is injurious to emotional and physical health. Taking a self-restoring timeout is as much about a mental gain as it a physical gain. This "timeout" gives our creative juices a chance to flourish. It gives us a chance to think through ideas and solutions buried under the hustle and bustle of daily activities. A wise mov...
