About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2020)
Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | life@gainesvilletimes.com S'hc firms gainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition - July 18-19, 2020 History trivia stirs memory of older days Some follow-up on local historical trivia: Hugh Blackstock recalls Wright’s Ice Cream operating the same time as Crescent Ice Cream. Wright’s had an ice cream plant and parlor at 400 S. Main St. next to Slack’s Auto Parts. Wright’s was generous with its ice cream. Instead of a dip or two, you’d get a “slab” for a nickel. Owner A.D. Wright also was a builder and former mayor of Gainesville. Crescent Ice Cream began operating in 1926 and became the third oldest such company in the state. It claimed to be the first in the state to use a pasteuriza tion process and other equipment considered innovative at the time. Its original location was South Main and Broad streets (today’s Jesse Jewell Parkway) but was at 314 West Spring St. when it ceased operations in the 1950s. Roger Nott reminds that Flowery Branch also had a Georgia Boot Co. The leather industry thrived in neighboring Buford in Gwinnet County. Another piece of trivia. The first radio sta tion license was issued to Brenau College’s WKAY, but the license expired two years later because the school couldn’t afford the expensive equipment required. That infor mation is found in the late John Jacobs’s book, “The Longer You Live,” which chroni cles his life and the history of local radio. More trivia Hall County once was proposed as the site for a “lunatic asylum.” A Dr. Rogers from Forsyth County, who was serving in the legis lature, offered a bill in 1879 that would place such an institution in Hall County. Georgia already at the time had the “Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot and Epilespy Asylum,” whose name has changed several times into the now Central State Hospital at Milledgeville. Wrote the Gainesville Eagle newspaper: “They can do nothing that will confer so much benefit upon this unfortunate class of people as to bring them up to our bracing climate and invigorating atmosphere.” The proposal, however, apparently could get no traction, and the facility was either built elsewhere or not at all. Unhealthy budget Hall County’s government was in a pretty pitiful financial situation in the early 1920s. So much so that a grand jury recommended what little health department available at the time be abandoned. The action would have eliminated the county health officer, pretty much the whole department. Yet, the grand jury endorsed the work of the health officer. Prison break Gainesville High School’s student news paper is named “The Trumpeter,” as it has been for decades. However, in 1922 the GHS paper was called “The Mured.” No explana tion of the origin of the name, but the diction ary defines “mured” as being imprisoned or caged in. Maybe that’s how students felt at the time. Old homes fall For many years, except on farms and crossroads towns in rural areas, most resi dences in Hall County were within walking distance of Gainesville’s downtown square. The most prestigious neighborhood was Green Street, where you can still see many of the old former homes. As Gainesville grew, many old residences fell to the wrecking ball to make way for busi nesses or government buildings. That was so when Gainesville’s Federal Building and old post office was built at the corner of Green and Washington streets. Where the Federal courthouse is today was a home built by W.S. Cox, a Gainesville undertaker, former mayor and furniture dealer. Another house on that property was built by Dr. J.W. Bailey and later occupied by E.A. Davison and even later Dr. M.M. Ham. As for Green Street, most of the former residences have remained intact. Exceptions include where the Hall County schools’ office is at the corner of Green and Ridgewood, formerly the Lester Hosch home, The Times building at 345 Green St. where two former residences once occupied by Davis and Sheri dan families, the Post Office and adjacent Brenau University property. Fast in Flowery Branch Oldtimers passed this story down about Flowery Branch. When the railroad first came to town in the 1880s, trains sped through without slowing down. Alarmed, the council passed an ordinance demanding trains slow down. The railroad ignored the order and didn’t slow its trains. The next one that came through, however, the engineer was arrested at the next stop and jailed. Released from jail, the engineer on his next trip through Flowery Branch throttled down as low as possible, got out, tied a rope to the cowcatcher and “pulled” the train through town. Johnny Vardeman is retired editor of The Times. He can be reached at 2183 Pine Tree Circle NE, Gainesville, GA 30501; phone, 770- 532-2326; email, vardeman1956@att.net or johnny.peggy1956@gmail.com. His column publishes weekly. JOHNNY VARDEMAN vardeman1956@att.net ‘Don’t feel old, feel young’ 99-year-old remembers living off the land in rural Georgia BY KELSEY P0D0 kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Lucille Woods of Gaines ville never passes up the opportunity to dance, espe cially when it’s the Charleston. Moving her knees to her own beat, Woods couldn’t help but perform the ‘20s jig in excitement of turning 99 on Thursday, July 16. “Don’t feel old, feel young,” Woods said, smiling. Born in 1921, the near centenarian boasts a family of six children, 32 grandchil dren, 69 great-grandchil dren and “numerous” great-great-grandchildren. Although she has lived a comfortable life in Gainesville for the past 19 years, Woods said growing up in rural Geor gia wasn’t always easy. She spent the first 16 years of her life in Stilesboro, just outside of Rome. At 5 years old she worked on her fam ily’s farm with her father, while her younger sister tended to matters indoors with her mother. “I was working in the cotton field and helping my daddy do stuff,” Woods said. “I helped kill hogs. I helped kill cattle. I milked cows. I picked cotton.” Woods said she was too young at the time to notice the effects of World War II, and her family didn’t expe rience the hardships most people suffered during the Great Depression. Her family depended on their land, which was plentiful with food and other resources. Woods said they never owned a refrigerator on the farm, and instead preserved meat with salt. She remem bers placing the pork and beef in chests and covering the car casses with pounds of salt to keep them fresh. “There was no such thing as blocks of ice or things like that,” she said. “That’s the way we kept our food.” To make ends meet, Woods said she helped her dad make moonshine during the Pro hibition era and would sell it to anyone who wanted it. Despite the ban of alcohol sales in the country, she said her town didn’t frown upon moonshiners. “Times got hard back then, ” Woods said. “We weren’t the only ones who made it. A lot of people made it.” As a girl, Woods said she would walk 10 miles each day to school. If the weather proved poor, her father would take her in a horse-drawn buggy. She didn’t see her first car until around the early ‘30s when the A-Model Ford was released on the market. Back then she said the vehicle cost $100. ■ Please see BIRTHDAY, 9B Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Lucille Woods talks about her life Wednesday, July 15, at her Sardis home. Woods recently celebrated her 99th birthday. Lucille Woods, who just celebrated her 99th birthday, visits Wednesday, July 15, at her Sardis home with great granddaughter Georgia Wolf, 11, left, daughter Ann Stamey, and grand daughter Tonya Busker, right. Five generations of Woods’ family live in the area. Couple turns up the heat at new restaurant SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Blue’s Jamaican Restaurant co-owner Ann-Marie Hibbert pours curry chicken into a pan Thursday, July 16, as the Lanier Islands Parkway restaurant opens for lunch. BY KELSEY P0D0 kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Ann-Marie and Blue Hib bert are bringing the flavors of Jamaica to South Hall. Both native to the island coun try, the couple opened Blue’s Jamaican Restaurant on July 1, off Lanier Islands Parkway next to Coastal Breeze in Buford. “We are cooking for our neighborhood, and we’d love for our neighbors to come in and meet us and taste the cui sine that we’re preparing,” Ann- Marie said. The Hibberts, who co-own the restaurant, run it with two of their sons and their nephew. Ann-Marie said all the meals they prepare originate from family recipes. The menu embraces authen tic Jamaican cuisine with dishes including slow-cooked oxtail, jerk chicken, goat curry and fried plantains. Entrees range from $8 to $12, and the appetiz ers, pastries and sides come in at around 90 cents to $5. For those who have never tried Jamaican food, Ann-Marie described it as “spicy with an array of different flavors.” She said thyme, jerk seasoning and Scotch bonnet peppers help contribute to its characteristic notes. Jerk seasoning typically consists of allspice and Scotch Blue’s Jamaican Restaurant Where: 5370 Lanier Island Parkway, Buford Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday Contact: 678-765-2525 bonnet peppers. Those who can’t take the true Jamaican heat can opt for less spicy versions of the dishes. “People who haven’t gone to Jamaica, we want them to expe rience what it’s all about,” Ann- Marie said. “We do put a lot of passion into it.” Both Ann-Marie and Blue spent their early childhood in Jamaica before immigrating to the U.S. with their families. The two first met while attending high school in New York City. Before the Great Recession hit in 2008, the Hibberts were living in Maryland. Ann-Marie said they lost their home and decided to move to Georgia to live close to her sister. The two now reside in Braselton. Ann-Marie said the idea to start their first restaurant in Hall County came when her husband launched his home- based business, Blue’s Jamai can Catering, two years ago. After witnessing the catering operation’s success, the two ■ Please see BLUES, 9B
