Newspaper Page Text
Memories of Inside: Fundraiser ahead Sat. for fire dept. — page 8C
small town life
March 17,
2010
“Growing up in Jefferson was
a fun time, an adventurous time
and a simple time, a time that
just happened. We were bom
and everything was there wait
ing for us - our families, out-
friends young and old, our town
andLawrenceville Street.’’
O ME, that line encap
sulates the whole feel
of Harry Woodward
Bryan's Growing Pains and
Gains: The
Way It Was
Growing Up
in Small Town
Jefferson,
Georgia.
My mother
got me a
copy of Mr.
Bryan’s book,
which he
kindly signed
for me, and
I’ve been reading and enjoy
ing it over the past few days.
From the great descriptions of
Saturday afternoons at the mov
ies (and the players of the day)
to the accounts of how Jefferson
was when the square was still
round at center, the swim holes,
school days and more, Mr. Bryan
tells it in his voice. Even if you
don’t know him, you get to know
him, as his voice comes through.
I grew up in neighboring Dry
Pond in a different era, when we
spent summer afternoons at the
Jefferson swimming pool, then
afterward went to Mac's for coke
icees (or cherry, if you preferred).
We loved McEver’s, with its
upstairs reserved for T-shirts -
you could pick your picture for
the front and what words you
wanted in felt letters on the back
and watch while a big steam press
created your shirt. I remember the
screen door that creaked open to
the late Mr. Owen Webb’s store,
pre-Snack Shack days. I don't
remember what else he had in
that long store, but I do clearly
remember the ice cream counter.
I spent many hopeful moments
in the toy room of the five and
dime store once located on the
comer. Sundays after church we
would either stop by Kesler’s
grocery to pick up a cherry pie
for dessert or we would head
over to Bruce’s Fine Foods. I did
eat several times at Marlowe’s
Cafe with friends, as well.
That is the Jefferson I remem
ber, but I am interested in the
town that came before, that of
the Depression-era 1930s to
the World War II years and the
1950s beyond that figure into Mr.
Bryan's book. That was when
cotton was still a formidable
farming factor in the area but
dwindled away, when there were
numerous stores on the square,
when Martin Institute was still
standing and when children, it
seems, were given much more
freedom as everyone kind of
looked out for everyone else.
(For we, deemed the hover
ing “helicopter parents,” afraid
to let our children out of our
sights because of so many “bad
things,” that is a sad note.)
While I didn't ever see the
movie theaters or the old Harrison
Hotel, and the square took on its
current shape before I was bom,
I have seen photographs, and I
do recognize a lot of the names
of people included in his stories.
So, it’s about Jefferson,
and newcomers to the town
and “oldcomers” alike
should find it interesting.
Actually, though, it’s about
a way of life. If you are inter
ested in the way things used
to be, the way people lived in
the small towns of past years,
it doesn’t really matter where
the setting is. Friends, family
and hometown, they are key.
Mr. Bryan writes: “We spoke
or waved to everyone who
passed by during those days
and it seemed we knew almost
everyone. We were one big happy
family but today everybody is
in such a hurry we seem to have
lost that feeling of togetherness.
Even though we are still a small
town, we are spread all over cre
ation and often do not even know
our neighbors. But I digress as I
yearn for the days of long ago.”
Jana Adams Mitcham is features
editor of The Jackson Herald.
jana. a.
mitcham
0 The Jackson Herald
J* nemos
Jana Adams Mitcham,
Features Editor 706-367-8760
jana@mainstreetnews.com
Section C
Nicholson quilters gather weekly for
fellowship, library fundraising project
By Jana A. Mitcham
T HEY DON’T GO out to the cotton field
to pick the leftover bolls for quilt bat
ting like their grandmothers and great
grandmothers may have, but they still share the
long tradition and camaraderie of the quilting circle
and value both the practicality and beauty of their
work.
Under the tutelage of long
time and self-taught quilter
Susan Rice, members of the
Nicholson Quilt With Friends
group ply their needles and
thread as they share their quilt
ideas, life stories and general
items of interest from garden
ing to American Idol to devel
opments at work.
On Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., some 10 to
12 ladies meet to quilt at the Nicholson Community
Center, while a smaller group gathers from 7 to 9
p.m. on Thursdays. From beginners who are just
learning to thread a needle to experts who can teach
the group something new, everyone is welcome.
The quilters began meeting almost two and half
years ago at the Harold S. Swindle Public Library
and have since moved to the quilting room at the
community center, the walls of which are hung
with Rice's colorful quilts and lined with shelves
and bolts of materials. While they moved to the
continued on page 2C
All quilting levels welcome.
•10 a.m. to 2 p.m.Tuesdays
•7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays
Quilting at the Nicholson
Community Center.
A QUILTING LESSON
Instructor Susan Rice (R) gives Gail Maxwell a quick quilting lesson. Numerous quilts cre
ated by Rice, who often dyes her own material, grace the walls of the quilting room (and
are shown here) at the Nicholson Community Center where the Quilt With Friends group
meets twice a week. Photos by Jana Mitcham
LOG CABIN QUILT A FUNDRAISER
Members of Nicholson’s Quilt With Friends quilting group meet twice a week at the
Nicholson Community Center. Some of the quilters are shown here Thursday eve
ning at work on a Log Cabin pattern quilt, which they will contribute to the Friends
of the Harold S. Swindle Public Library as a fundraiser. Tickets for a “giveaway” of
the quilt will be offered at $1 each or six for $5, with a winner to be announced at
Nicholson’s Fourth of July celebration. The quilters, including (L-R) Nancy Murphy,
Vicki Howington, Carolyn Knight, Gail Maxwell and instructor Susan Rice, also spend
time working on individual quilts, knitting and crocheting. The quilters first began
meeting at the Nicholson library two and a half years ago. Some 10 to 12 ladies gather
on Tuesday mornings, while a smaller group meets on Thursday evenings.