another OT--but a very nice one
'Aunt Vade' Is 'Ready' For Moon Trip
By Lillye Younger
Sun Correspondent
(1969)
PARSONS. Tenn. — "I have lived in Parsons longer
than any other resident, yet I am only 79 years old," says
Mrs. Vada Warden, affectionately known as "Aunt Vade."
"There are residents in Parsons older than me, but they moved here later," she adds.
Mrs. Warden, is an active member and church worker, is always ready to go.
"When they start tours to the moon, I would like to be of the passengers.
"I think it is a wonderful age, scientists have gone a long way since 1886." she says.
Mrs. Warden fits in well with all circles, young, middle-aged, and elderly. Her physical health is perfect and she never complains. She retires around midnight and does not get up early in the morning.
Her philosophy of life is simple.
"I try to be kind and good and love everybody."
rest of Aunt Vade:
web.utk.edu
and do check out the entire site-- its filled with small town articles of people around the mid 1960's who have enjoyed long lives and retell a tale or lesson like:
MARY DELLA HERNDON
PARSONS, Tenn.—What’s an old-time remedy for earache?
(go there for the answer)
web.utk.edu
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Parsons Molasses Maker Tells 18-Year-Old Recipe
By LILLYE YOUNGER
PARSONS, Tenn. "You have to know what you are doing to make good sorghum molasses," says Biddie Rogers, who started making molasses at the age of 12 and has continued for consecutive 18 years.
"I learned from the ground up," he says.
The sorghum cane is stripped by knocking the fodder off and cutting the cane with a big sorghum knife. The sorghum head is then cut off and the stacks are hauled to the mill. When they are unloaded they are placed across logs to keep clean.
Biddie says he had a horse-drawn mill, however today tractors are used. The mill is three cast iron rollers on a 3½ foot frame and is used to press the juice from the cane. It weighs about 1,100 pounds. Two rollers roll in one direction and one in the opposite direction.
In the center of the mill is a pole and pulley. In the old method the mule goes around in a circle while the cane is being fed through the rollers. The juice is caught in a trough.
"One time I remember when the mule got drunk and turned the mill over," Rogers said.
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It Was All Muscle, Eye and Timing
By Lillye Younger
Sun Correspondent
LINDEN, Tenn. - Old-time lumberjacks who made their living in the woods are a part of the bygone generation which carved its mark in the forests and became a legend in its own time.
Arbin McKnight recalls working in the woods with his father, Albert McKnight, who was a lumberjack of the old school and an ax-swinging marvel who worked in the woods in Perry and Hickman counties.
"I started helping my dad in the timber business at the age of eight," McKnight said, "however, I didn't start making railroad cross-ties until I was 12 years old. I learned to hew a cross-tie from any log on which I could get a six-inch face."
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. K. BROOKS
From Lillye Younger, People of Action (Brewer Printing Company, Jackson, Tennessee, n.d.). Special thanks to Constance Collett and the estate of the late Lillye Younger for permission to make this web page.
W. K. Brooks, 75, Undaunted by Political Failure
DECATURVILLE, Tenn. — W. K. Brooks of Bath Springs, a veteran of past political wars, is going to ride out this year's battles.
Brooks, who is 75, takes pride in the fact that he is the only man in Decatur County to ever run for United States Congress. He has made the race three times — in 1933, 1941 and 1964 — nd has been unsuccessful in each.
But he doesn't regret his campaigns at all. He styles himself a professional public speaker and, well, he just enjoys politics.
He was making speeches in behalf of Democratic candidates in Decatur County before there was such a thing as a Democratic executive committee.
Of his race for Congress in 1933, Brooks says: "I spent only $5.25 during my entire race. I hitched rides and sat up in taxicab stations at night. I ran a good race, and lost only two votes in my home precinct."
web site
web.utk.edu
I found them enjoyable and a little wisdom in their nostalgia--
PS Happy Birthday! |
