Western Tidewater Living Fall 2014

Western Tidewater

Living

The Big Red Machine

A look back at the 1972-1979 Southampton Indians football program

Hometown Histories: Capron The town that grew from railroads, sawmills and lumber

FALL 2014 • vol. 5, no. 3

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4 western tidewater living

Western Tidewater

Living

Several weeks ago, my son and I went to see the movie “When The Game Stands Tall,” a film about the football team at De La Salle High School in California and its legendary 151-game winning streak, which began in 1992 and was snapped in 2004. It is a great story, and as a former football player I marvel at what it would take to sustain such excellence over an extended period of time.

In this edition of Western Tidewater Living, we are reminded that such excellence doesn’t just exist in far-off places or in the movies. In the 1970s, there was another high school football team that won 69 consecutive reg-

letter from the publisher ular-season games, went to eight straight championship games and won four state titles. That team was known as The Big Red Machine, and they played for Head Coach Wayne Cosby and Southampton High School.

Thirty-five years after their last state championship, Managing Editor Cain Madden rounded up 10 former players and two coaches, including Cosby, who represented several of those championship teams from the ‘70s. For most, the memories of those glory days are still fresh in their minds.

We hope after reading the story that they will be fresh in yours as well.

Tony Clark Publisher Tidewater Publications

western tidewater living

5

contents fall 2014

Cover photograph

by Cain Madden

ON THE COVER:

Players from every year of The Big Red Machine’s 1972-1979 run. Back row, from left, Shelton Artis, Calvin Barnes, Jakie Robertson, Alvin Blow and Coach Larry Logan. Middle row, Eugene Flood and Maryland Pope. Bottom row, Cyrus Lawrence, Jerrel Kindred and Roy Beale Jr.

Western Tidewater

Living

Tony Clark Publisher Cain Madden Managing Editor Stephen Cowles Staff Writer Merle Monahan Contributing Writer Leah Lewis Columnist Ryan Outlaw Designer Loretta Lomax Editorial Assistant Mitzi Lusk Advertising Director Ginnie Spivey Advertising Representative

INSIDE THIS EDITION

6

PARTY PIX

Western Tidewater residents were out and about this Summer, whether it be county fairs, powwows, family reunions or concerts.

THE BIG RED MACHINE

The Southampton High School Indians, from 1972 to 1979, went to 8 straight State Championship games. Head Coach Wayne Cosby and others connected to the program talk about how The Big Red Machine did it and what it meant to them.

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32 western tidewater living

T

he year was 2006, and Yvonne Hilliard-Bradley was just sitting in her parked car. As she sat and took in her surroundings — pine trees on all sides, that smell pine trees bring, and a quaint brick building with a large, wall-sized window revealing its contents, books — she felt a bizarre sensation was working its way through her body.

Moments before she had been driving down Main Street in Courtland. As she started pulling into the driveway of her destination, the Walter C. Rawls Library, that sensation began. Had she been here before? Then it hit her.

Many years — no — decades ago, Hilliard-Bradley was invited to Southampton County by the Extension Services agent to do a presentation on a new healthy family concept that libraries were adopting. Working in Norfolk at the time, she had just finished a healthy family resource center.

The purpose of these centers was to provide space for children up to age 4 a place to learn. The centers use puzzles, toys, puppets and other activities to help them learn through play.

She was to give the presentation to the Rawls Library board. It was one of many that she had given on the same subject. But this one was different. She remembered that as she parked in this library, the way it looked, the smells, the town, she got the oddest sense that — perhaps — this was home.

“Oh my gosh,” Hilliard-Bradley, now working in the Blackwater Regional Library system, suddenly recalled. “This is the little library that I’m supposed to be at.”

It wouldn’t be until 2009 when she actually worked at the Rawls Library, when then-director Patricia Ward retired and wanted her to take over.

At first, Hilliard-Bradley, at the time the assistant director, wasn’t sure.

Years ago, when she was working in the City of Norfolk as the assistant library director, she had been temporarily promoted to be the acting director of the

Yvonne Hilliard-Bradley story and photos by Cain Madden

36 western tidewater living

where am I?

In each edition, our magazine staff provides a challenge of sorts for readers,

38

testing how much of Western Tidewater they really know. We photograph a scene in Western Tidewater that is visible to motorists or pedestrians.

PASSING ON THE FAMILY BUSINESS

Whoever can identify the location pictured above will be entered for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to any one of our partner advertisers.

For the summer edition, the photo was taken on the Blackwater River near South Quay Road. Photo by Cain Madden.

So, if you know where this issue’s photo was taken, let us know. If you’re right, you could be a winner. E-mail your answers to magazine@tidewaternews.com

Advertising rates and information available upon request to ads@tidewaternews.com. Subscriptions are $20 annually in-state, $24 annually out of state and $30 annually overseas.

36

Tell us where our photographer took this photo and get a chance to win a gift certificate.

Walter Scott learned how to cook from his father when he was young, and he came to love cooking during college.

46

46 western tidewater living

Western Tidewater Living is published four times a year by Tidewater Publications, LLC P.O. Box 497, Franklin, VA 23851 757-562-3187

Catching up with Yvonne Hilliard-Bradley

Go out and enjoy Western Tidewater!

Kate Archer Marketing Consultant Michelle Gray Office Manager

32

HISTORIES: CAPRON

Ethel Francis shares her memories of growing up in the town.

41

The chimney incident

T

he noise came from deep inside. It was a muffled, muted sound, like something too large was shuffling around and lodged within.

“I think there’s a bird in our chimney,” said my father.

Although intriguing, it was not an abnormal occurrence to discover small creatures lost in the shaft.

He grabbed a flashlight and looked up into the dark and then handed the light to my brother. He was fourteen-years old at the time and small enough to climb up the chimney himself. Yet despite his mischievous nature, he resisted the urge and instead simply peered upward – much like my father. It was at that very moment that the bird, frightened and tired of being imprisoned, attempted to escape. It flew down and out of the chimney, striking my brother directly in the face and knocking him to the floor. My mother and I let out a startled scream, while our cocker spaniel began frantically running up and down the stairs yelping. We were all stunned, but it was my father who first noticed that the bird was more or less a duck – a large, black, soot-covered one at that.

The confused animal flew into the wall with a hard “smack!” causing the dog to bark a little louder and run faster. The duck, now terrorized, continued straight up into the loft, hit the wall with another loud ruckus, and rolled under the couch.

We stared at one another and recognized a similar look of disbelief. A few seconds passed as we tried to grasp the reality of what had just happened. Yet, there on the wall was the evidence: A large, imprinted soot mark.

Wordlessly the men knew what to do.

The younger ran upstairs to locate the duck as my father proceeded to the two French doors in the kitchen that opened up to the backyard.

“We have to get him outside,” he said.

“See if you can’t scare him out from underneath the couch and down through the doors.”

My brother was already curiously

column by Leah Lewis photo by Judson Alphin

peering underneath the furniture, but now with a little more caution. Panicked and disoriented, the animal needed no prompting. With determination it abruptly flew out from hiding, swooped down and made its breakaway. Miraculously and in an instant, the bird headed straight through the open doors and successfully into familiar surroundings — with no other disturbances or collisions.

Again, the four of us looked at each other. What a surprising whirlwind of events!

Was it really only minutes before when the house was quiet and the day ordinary?

Astonishment hung in the air, and in the distance a bulky, bewildered, and still very-covered-in-soot silhouette flew into the sunset, never to be seen again.

It is with this story I offer a word of caution: as you make preparations for the coming colder months, as you retrieve coats from the attic and put away summer items in the garage, as you gather blankets and heaters from the closet, and as you close windows and sweep chimneys — take heed. Sometimes there are creatures simply wanting to escape and adventures just waiting to happen.

Columnist Leah Lewis tells a story of an unlikely adventure following a mysterious disturbance in her chimney.

party pix

6 western tidewater living

Whitley Family Reunion Left, Bob Holt, Earl Blythe and Frances Holt. The three were celebrating the 150th annual Whitley Family Reunion, which was held in Franklin on July 4. Below; from left to right, in front Kenneth and Shirley Williams of Newsoms, Steve Worrell of Como, Jim Rice of Williamsburg and Keith Worrell of Como; back row, Kim Worrell of Como, Sarah Worrell of Como, Judy Hachey of Como and Donna Rice of Williamsburg.

PHOTOS BY CAIN MADDEN

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western tidewater living

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party pix

8 western tidewater living

Franklin-Southampton County Fair Top left; Tyler Farr takes time out to meet Southampton County Miss Teen 2014 Cameron Francis. She is from Newsoms and attends Southampton High School. Top right; Ansley Thomas is closely guarded by her older brother Cody Thomas at the fair.

Cody was a participant in several 4-H demonstrations including showing his pig and rabbit. They are the children of Steve and Amy Thomas. Bottom left; Allen Cannon, left, and Hunter March, center, lend a helping hand to fellow Shriner Eddie Owens in the Funnel Cake booth. Bottom right; Ann Morgan Hawthorne, 12, from Boykins, left, and pal Abbey Boyce, 12, also from Boykins, took advantage after the Tyler Farr performance to meet him along with some of the band members. Abbey was given a guitar pick, which she is holding. She said, “I cried when he handed it to me.�

PHOTOS BY JIM HART

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party pix

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Navy Concert at Barrett’s Landing Top; Scooter sits in front of Anthony Ona of Boy Scout Troop 17, seated left, Scoutmaster Bryan Fenters and T.J. Moore; kneeling are Brandon Fenters, left, and Michael Fox. Below; Mai and Erica Rundall with their mother, Yuriko, and grandparents, Mieko and Keiji Hara.

PHOTOS BY STEPHEN H. COWLES

western tidewater living

Franklin-Southampton County Fair Top left, Madison Fajna and Deborah Barnes at the Franklin-Southampton County Fair. Top right, Ida Gray, Nancy Fray, and Pam and Timmy Moore With Moore Emergency Solutions. Bottom left, Korynb Andrew, Luke Whitehead, Lauren Watson, Scott Bean, Grayson Drake and Dillon Hasty. Bottom right, Emily Nelson checks out the feel of the rifle.

PHOTOS BY DON BRIDGERS

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party pix

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Isle of Wight County Fair Top left; Caitlyn Paul, 10, from Virginia Beach, and Kalyn DeVites, 11, from Zuni, enjoying hanging out at the Isle of Wight County Fair. Top right, Kaitlyn King,4, Kendall Carr,4, Kodi Fridley,4, Stepannie Herrin,4, Jessica Carr and Tonya Fridley enjoying some time at the Isle of Wight County Fair. Bottom left, Felicia, Dosson, Chanel and Nicole Smith from Carrollton.

Bottom right, Melissa, Rylin, Paisley, and David Szymanski.

PHOTOS BY CASSANDRA ALBERT

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party pix

Isle of Wight County Fair Top left, Hunter, Shannon and Keith Whitley from Carrsville enjoy a Friday evening at the Isle of Wight County Fair. Top right, Stepannie Herrin and Kodi Fridley, on a field trip with Carrsville Learning Center. Bottom, Reid Petty, Marlese Boyer, Emily Babyak, Matt Lemon, Jaylin Barrett, Cameron Altizer, Lexi Boley, Tyler Hicks and Spencer Buehlman are all from Smithfield Middle School and are enjoying a night of amusement rides.

PHOTOS BY CASSANDRA ALBERT

western tidewater living

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Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Powwow Left; David Bryant of Richmond, left, with his son, Adam, came down from Richmond to attend the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Powwow in Courtland.. With them are David’s parents, Dorothy and George Bryant of Southampton County. Top right; Joshua Crickenberger, Lyndsee Crickenberger, Mike “Thunderdancer” Cranford, Lisa and Emma Crickenberger of Dreweryville. Bottom right; Claudette “Rain Flower” Orie of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) tribe came from Carrollton to attend the summer powwow. With her are grandchildren, Nia Orie, left, and Mya Orie.

PHOTOS BY STEPHEN H. COWLES

western tidewater living

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Windsor Fourth of July Parade Top; From left, daughter, mom and dad. Kimberly, Barbara and Dennie Ellis of Suffolk. Middle; Helen Eure, left, and Cindi Fulgham of Windsor. Bottom, Helen Eure, left, and Cindi Fulgham of Windsor.

PHOTOS BY MERLE MONAHAN

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20 western tidewater living

what to do

Homecoming from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 100

in a casual relaxed style. The single finished

Wilson Ave., Wakefield. There will be a parade,

piece can be used alone as a wall hanging or

followed by a day of Wakefield’s famous Bruns-

pillow front, or come to all the sessions and

wick stew, food, music, craft exhibits, peanut

learn how to connect the separate tiles togeth-

xxhibit, games for the children, informational

er to create a small art quilt. The cost is $45 per

Pumpkin decorating: The Walter Cecil Rawls

booths, children’s ID Program, Little Miss Wake-

class, all materials and wine included ($65 non-

Library will have pumpkin decorating at

field pageant and more. For more information,

member fee). Register now by calling 357-7707

5:30 p.m.

call 757-899-2365.

or visit the Arts Center at 319 on Main Street in

CALENDAR OF EVENTS WEDNESDAY, OCT. 1

Bingo night: The GFWC Sedley Woman’s Club

THURSDAY, OCT. 2 Suffolk Quilters Quild: The Suffolk Quilters

will have bingo night at 7 p.m. at the Sedley

fieldArts.org)

Fire House on Johnson’s Mill Road. There will

Guild will meet at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church,

be 10 games for $15. Children’s games at inter-

213 N. Main St., Suffolk at 6:30 p.m. For more

mission and refreshments are available. Pro-

information, call 484-6688.

Historic Downtown Smithfield. (www.Smith-

ceeds go toward community projects.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8 Introduction to drawing and design: The

class, taught by Stephanie Faleski, from

Senior’s Health Fair: The 2014 Senior Health

Family Day/Homecoming: The Wakefield

6:30 to 8:30 p.m., is helpful for beginners

and Educational Fair will take place from 9

Foundation is planning the event, which

with little or no drawing background, or

a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Smithfield Center, 220 N.

will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the

students at any skill level who want to ex-

Church St. There will be a continental breakfast

grounds of the “Old School.” Organizers are

plore design and composition. Students

for seniors at 9 a.m. The fair will host more than

looking for people to be a part of the Craft

will complete several hands-on exercis-

30 exhibits, guest speaker, flu shots, screen-

Exhibition and Sale. The booth area is $25 per

es during each class session, including

ings, entertainment, door prizes and lunch.

space, approximately 12’ x 12’. Participants are

quick studies and more complex pieces.

Tickets are $7 per person. For more informa-

responsible for their own tables and tents. The

Materials (not supplied): sketchpad or

tion, call 357-5352.

application can be found at www.wakefield-

tablet (any kind or size); pencils, markers

foundation.org, and are due back by Tuesday,

or other drawing materials. The fee is $75

Sept. 16. For details, call 899-2365.

for members, $95 non-members for 3 ses-

FRIDAY, OCT. 3 FHS 20-year reunion: Franklin High School

Class of 1994 kicks off the weekend at 7 p.m. when the Broncos play against Surry

sions (total of 6 hours) Register by calling

SUNDAY, OCT. 5

357-7707 or visit the Arts Center @319 on

The Sketchy Side of Drawing: The Rawls Mu-

Main Street in Historic Downtown Smith-

High School. The reunion continues from

seum, Courtland will offer a beginners draw-

9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. A booth

ing class that is fun and energetic from

will be set up at the Franklin Fall Festival in

1 to 3 p.m for teens and adults. Students

THURSDAY, OCT. 9

downtown. From 7 to 11 p.m., a party will

will be taken inside and outside to draw!

Give a hoot: Children will create an owl created

take place in the Southampton Ag Center.

Nature and manmade objects will be ob-

from a cardboard tube and paper cupcake lin-

For details, call Bull Johnson at 651-8483.

served and juxtaposed on drawing paper

ers at the Rawls Museum, Courtland.

Aiken and Friends Music Fest: Coastal Virgin-

to create a unique composition. All mate-

field. (www.SmithfieldArts.org)

Boykins Ladies Auxiliary Bingo: Doors open

ia’s Premier Music Festival will feature national,

rials included. The cost is $25 for members

at 6:15 p.m. and the games start at 7 p.m. in the

regional and local Americana, Country & Roots

and $35 for non-members. For more infor-

Boykins Fire Department. $10 buys 10 games

artists and songwriters including Mike Aiken

mation, call 653-0754.

at three cards per game. Extra cards available

Band, Patty Reese, Snuff Trio, Adrian Dickey, the Caleb Hawley Band. The event will be on Friday

for purchase. One game will have a $100 cash

TUESDAY, OCT. 7

prize. A 50/50 raffle will take place. Hot dogs,

night, Oct. 3, at the Smithfield Little Theatre

Sip and stitch: Come relax, have fun and learn

and all day Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Windsor

something new with fiber artist Angelia Arm-

ers for cards can be bought for $1 each. All

Castle Park in Smithfield. For tickets or more

strong. For this workshop we will design and

profits benefit the fire department. Bingo takes

information, call 357-7707.

stitch four fabric tiles or blocks, one each class

place the second Thursday of each month. For

session. Using simple hand-work techniques

details, call Sandy at 654-9103.

SATURDAY, OCT. 4 Family Day/Homecoming: The Wakefield Foundation will have its annual Family Day/

chips and drinks available for purchase. Daub-

including applique, embroidery, quilt stitching, and other fiber art techniques we will focus on color, texture and composition while working

SATURDAY, OCT. 11 Glass fusing: From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. stu-

western tidewater living

dents will learn the basics of glass fusing

Historic Downtown Smithfield. (www.Smith-

using a variety of beautiful glass to make

fieldArts.org)

field. (www.SmithfieldArts.org)

SATURDAY, NOV. 1

fused glass jewelry. Glass cutting, kiln firing techniques, and fused glass jewelry

SUNDAY, OCT. 26

design will be presented in this class. at

Shades of Pink Gala: The Shades of Pink Gala,

Museum, Courtland, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. stu-

the Rawls Museum Arts, 22376 Linden St.,

sponsored by Pink is Powerful Breast Cancer

dents will learn to create wearable works of art

Courtland. The cost is $60 members and

Support Group and Empowering and Uplift-

with copper and kiln fired enamels. Make jew-

$70 for non-members. For more informa-

ing Foundation, will be from 4 to 7 p.m. at the

elry such as earrings, bracelets, pendants. Cop-

tion, call 653-0754.

PDCCC Workforce Development Center, Frank-

per pre-cut blanks and copper sheets can be

lin. Tickets are $20 per person. Dinner, enter-

enhanced with bright enamel colors to create

Silent Auction: Southampton Middle

Copper Kiln Fired Enamels: At the Rawls

tainment, vendors, door prizes will be featured

beautiful wearable works of art. Students will

School student Madelyn Cosby, 11, will

along with honoring breast cancer survivors.

be introduced to enameling using a variety of

host her second annual Silent Auction/Art

For more information, tickets or donations,

applications such as sifting, wet packing, and

Auction/Bake Sale from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

contact Audrey Lee at 556-5765 or 742-6081.

enamel painting. The cost is $50 for members

at Sedley Baptist Church. Homemade BBQ plates will be served. All proceeds will go

and $55 for non-members. For more informa-

SATURDAY, OCT. 25

tion, call 653-0754.

to Graz’N Acres Therapeutic Riding Center

Christmas In Our Hometown: The third an-

in Sedley. Cosby also wants to encourage

nual Christmas in Our Hometown craft

children and local artists to donate art

and vendor show will be from 9 a.m. to 3

Button Stash Necklace: Bring your Grandma’s

work for the Art Auction this year as well

p.m. at the American Legion building on

button collection to the Rawls Museum, Court-

as try to get donations for the Silent Auc-

Armory Drive. Proceeds from meal and

land and learn to make a beautiful crochet

tion. You can contact her mother, Kasey

food sales will benefit Southampton So-

necklace. Participants will learn simple crochet

Cosby, at 647-8778, or by email at kasey-

cial Services. Vendor spaces are still avail-

and proper finishing techniques while using

cosby@hotmail.com for more information

able. For more information, call Shirley

your own treasured buttons for a one-of-a-

or to donate.

Billups at 620-5499.

kind heirloom necklace. Bring approximately

SUNDAY, NOV. 9

200 of your favorite buttons — all other sup-

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15 Archeological Society of Virginia: The Arche-

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29 Movie afternoon: The Walter Cecil Rawls Li-

plies and tools will be provided. Your button collection can be multi-colored or a single hue

ological Society of Virginia will be at the Walter

brary will movie afternoon at 4:30 p.m. There

— each will turn out beautifully. The cost is $35

Cecil Rawls Library at 5 p.m.

will be spooky snacks. Call the library at 653-

for members and $45 for non-members. For

2821 for the movie title.

more information, call 653-0754.

TUESDAY, OCT. 21 Sip and stitch: Come relax, have fun and learn

THURSDAY, NOV. 6

Introduction to drawing and design: he

something new with fiber artist Angelia Arm-

class, taught by Stephanie Faleski, from

strong. For this workshop we will design and

6:30 to 8:30 p.m., is helpful for beginners

Museum in Courtland, students will use beauti-

stitch four fabric tiles or blocks, one each class

with little or no drawing background, or

ful fall leaves as canvases for doodle designs.

session. Using simple hand-work techniques

students at any skill level who want to ex-

including applique, embroidery, quilt stitching,

plore design and composition. Students

FRIDAY, NOV. 14 - SUNDAY, NOV. 16

and other fiber art techniques we will focus on

will complete several hands-on exercis-

Powow and School Day: Visit the 16th Annual

color, texture and composition while working

es during each class session, including

in a casual relaxed style. The single finished

quick studies and more complex pieces.

“Corn Harvest” Powow and School Day - A Cel-

piece can be used alone as a wall hanging or

Materials (not supplied): sketchpad or

ebration of the Corn Harvest at Cattashowrock

pillow front, or come to all the sessions and

tablet (any kind or size); pencils, markers

Town, Rt. 742, Old Bridge Rd & Cattashowrock

learn how to connect the separate tiles togeth-

or other drawing materials. The fee is $75

Trail, Courtland, VA. School Day takes place on

er to create a small art quilt. The cost is $45 per

for members, $95 non-members for 3 ses-

Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and The Powow

class, all materials and wine included ($65 non-

sions (total of 6 hours) Register by calling

takes place on Nov. 15 and 16 from 10 a.m. to

member fee). Register now by calling 357-7707

357-7707 or visit the Arts Center @319 on

sunset. The Grand Entry event takes place at

or visit the Arts Center at 319 on Main Street in

Main Street in Historic Downtown Smith-

noon.

Autum and Tree-mendous Art: At the Rawls

Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Intertribal

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western tidewater living

Pet Grooming

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24 western tidewater living

From left to right, Roy Beale Jr., Alvin Blow, Cyrus Lawrence, Calvin Barnes, Coach Larry Logan, Jackie Robertson, Shelton Artis, Jerrel Kindred, Eugene Flood and Maryland Pope. Head Coach Wayne Cosby was away on a previously scheduled trip during the photoshoot.

western tidewater living

story and photos by Cain Madden

Since about 1979, The Machine has sat idle after having dominated a decade.

Big Red, they called The Machine.

During this time, pieces and cogs left and more were brought in, oiled and painted bright red. Everyone in Virginia wanted a piece of The Big Red Machine, but it kept grinding until the day that it simply walked away.

Like the heroes from the Westerns popular during the time period, Big Red simply

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26 western tidewater living faded into the sunset. No one was ever able to claim the satisfaction of truly taking a piece of Big Red — the Southampton High School football dynasty built under Head Coach Wayne Cosby.

First, some numbers generated by The Machine: 128-8-2, the team’s record from 1966 to 1980; 69, that’s the regular-season winning streak put together during the mid-1970s; 8, that’s still the state record for the consecutive number of years that a Virginia football team has made it to the championship game, set by Big Red from 1972-1979; 4, for 1973, ‘76, ‘78 and ‘79, the years when the team won the Virginia State High School League Group AA Football Championship; 566, that’s how bad Southampton beat Gate City in the championship of 1978, which is also the year when the Indians set their own standard for unparalleled success.

Many who were a part of The Machine didn’t stop playing football when high school ended. Several former students played football for the big schools in the area: Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina and Duke. Big Red also sent players to East Carolina University, the University of Richmond, James Madison University and many other Division I and Division II schools.

Big Red wasn’t just between the hashmarks. Players also went on to become teachers, doctors, attorneys, coaches, county administrators, ministers, business professionals and one former quarterback is now a Supreme Court Judge of Virginia. Cosby himself was elected to serve as the Circuit Court Clerk for Southampton County and served from 1981 to 2007.

But this is no simple Machine that just spits out numbers. It was also something to feel, something that brought the community together. During the 1970s, if you didn’t get there early, hopefully you brought your radio. It wasn’t unusual to have thousands of people packed in the bleachers, along the fences and in the back of trucks. People parked miles away to get to the game. On the road, it wasn’t unusual for Big Red to outdraw the home team.

On Friday nights in the fall when the lights were turned on, Southampton High School was the place to be. But it was more than that; the county needed Big Red. When Jerrel Kindred was in 7th grade, there were two school systems in the county. In 8th grade, this became one after new superintendent J.W. Harville implemented the forced court order to

western tidewater living

desegregate in the 1971 school year.

Desegregation only came to Southampton County, and much of Southside Virginia, after a long fight.

It was ugly and uncomfortable, Kindred said. But when the integrated athletes got together on the football field, and worked with the multi-racial coaching staff, he said something beautiful happened.

“There were a lot of racial problems back then,” Kindred said. “But I think deep down, a lot of people wanted to see the whole community work together.

“People saw us working together and playing together, and they saw how well we were doing. It just clicked. It was really good. It was really nice.”

And that resume was something special. Kindred himself was a running back on the first championship team in 1973, along with fullback/linebacker Jackie Robertson and offensive guard Maryland Pope.

Robertson remembered that Championship game against Brookville.

“It was a good time,” he said. “We were away from home, and we played that game in the snow.”

During the closing minutes, that game was tied 7-7.

“I remember I got hit running the ball,

but I spun around away from the tackle and I saw Maryland Pope. Maryland Pope led me across the goal line.”

“That was the winning score — we won it 13-7,” Pope said. “It was a hard year for us because everybody wanted to beat Southampton. But we went undefeated.”

The next championship came in 1976, and Alvin Blow and his fellow seniors had been fighting to get it for 3 years, while others, such as Cyrus Lawrence, were just getting started.

“The first two years were very disappointing for us,” Blow said. “It felt like we had a bad season, just because we lost the last game of the year to Gate City, and then we came back to the last game of the year again and went to Martinsville and lost.”

In ‘76, however, Big Red got another shot at Martinsville.

“But then they came down here for my senior year, and we beat Martinsville in Southampton County 24-20 for the state title,” Blow said. “I’ll never forget it.”

It was particularly important for Blow because if they had lost, his class would have been the first full class to come through the integrated program and not win a state title. Everyone thought that would happen. People thought The Big

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28 western tidewater living Red Machine was done.

“The article in the paper that year was that the Southampton Indians’ well had finally dried up,” Blow said. “This was going to be the team that wouldn’t win. Everybody wore that on their shoulder. We didn’t have any phenomenal superstars, but we just played together.

“We didn’t have a lot of blowouts that year, but we whipped everybody that got in front of us,” he added, as the team went 13-0.

Cosby said ‘76 was one of the years where the coaching was really important.

“Our team was not as talented as it had been,” said the head coach who went on to earn membership into the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame. “We probably did a better job coaching and and playing with what we had than most other years.”

Whatever made 1978 so special was hard for the players to describe. Even though many had played on the 1979 championship team as well, they all say the 1978 team was the Big Red standard.

“That’s the best high school team I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Shelton Artis, who played defensive tackle from 1977-1979. “I felt like I was part of something that would be forever in history. Something that would never be broken.

“I was playing with some of the best players I ever knew, some that I feel like should have been in the NFL.” Artis said besides the immense talent all around him, including Lawrence, Linebacker Calvin Barnes, Defensive Tackle Roy Beale Jr. and Defensive Nose Guard Eugene Flood, the other big factor was unity.

“And we still have that same unity,” he said. “If we lose one of us to death from that 1978 team, everybody would be right there at the funeral. We’re like a family.”

Many families fight, but the Indians were on the same page.

“We all put a lot of hard work into it,” Artis said. “We were very dedicated. It just felt like we all belonged to an elite group.”

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Barnes, who also played from ‘77-’79, said that’s where the philosophy of The Big Red Machine became important. That was all about the coaching staff.

“Coach Cosby, he wanted it all to work together, like a machine,” he said. “And everything did work together.”

The coaching staff also wanted to give credit to the talent. Assistant Coach Larry Logan said in 1978 they were 33-deep offensively, and 33-deep defensively.

“We were just solid all the way through,” Logan said. “There really wasn’t that much difference between our first unit and our third unit, both offensively and defensively.”

Then came 1979. It was a year that saw one state record gained — eight straight years in the state championship game. But they also ultimately lost a record in game one. Logan said Martinsville beat them and stopped the single-season win streak at 69.

That record held for a while, but it didn’t last.

“If Martinsville hadn’t beat us, I think we’d still have the longest win streak in the state of Virginia,” Logan said.

Losing that game at the beginning of the season wasn’t fun, Artis said. But at the end of the season, playing under the lights at the University of Virginia Stadium and

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shutting down Jefferson Forest 14-0 made it better.

“We didn’t want to be that weak link,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure, and we ended up losing. But when we won that second straight state championship, I felt like we got revenge for losing that first game.”

Losing that game was tough, Flood said.

But ultimately, it woke up The Machine.

“Man, it really kicked me in the butt losing to Martinsville,” he said. “It did haunt me as time went on, but it didn’t stop me from getting better.

“It made me hit harder. It made me practice more. We kept up that drive, and we

won the championship anyway.”

After 1973, Logan said the coaching staff had pretty much mastered the game.

“We never went into the season saying that we were going to play for a championship,” Logan said. “We just went out there and took it one game at a time. And we always ended up in the state finals.

“We really had one hell of a run.”

To this day, those players remembered working with Southampton’s coaches. Once they had the students in the zone, Blow said the athletes were so focused on just their part of The Machine that they couldn’t see anything else.

“They had us so in tune, that when the ball snapped, you didn’t see anything but what was going on in the field,” he said.

“And don’t let anybody ever catch you turning around and talking to your momma or waving at somebody in the stands.

“Your mind was on one thing and one thing only, and that was your assignment.”

The coaches had built The Machine up, and they demanded discipline and nothing but the best, not only for the games, but also in practice.

“You couldn’t half step. Even when you tried to go get some water, you had better do that full speed,” Blow said with a laugh.

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30 western tidewater living “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have time to drink it.”

As The Machine was built, that winning tradition made it all the easier to keep bigtime athletes coming in to play football.

Flood remembers looking up to players like Alvin Blow.

“I used to sit at home and listen to the radio, and I heard those guys on there,” he said. “And going to the games. You couldn’t really see too good because there were so many people. But oh man, it was just awesome. The cowbells. The horns. The rescue squad blowing the horn every time we got a touchdown,” Flood continued.

“And I wanted to do the same thing they were doing. I wanted to play for that school.”

And the players weren’t just learning about football out there. Not everyone goes on and plays in the NFL, but the lessons they learned from football and the coaches transcended football and made them into men.

“I know people say that football players are just out there playing for the sport of the game,” Blow said. “But playing football here taught me a way of life. You will learn more than the game itself.

“You will learn how to persevere. You will learn how to survive. And you will learn how to get back up when you get knocked down,” he continued. “If you are ever lucky enough to be a winner, you will never want to be a loser again. That will transcend into everything else that you do in your entire life.

“There is just so much you learn from football that teaches you how to be successful in this world.”

Lawrence, who went on to play at Virginia Tech and for decades had the school’s single season rushing record at 1,403 yards, said that the legacy they left behind on and off the field was important to all of them. As men, no matter what was taken from them, they still had those accomplishments, and more importantly, were still together as a group of guys.

“We have really been like an extended family all of these years,” he said. “As grown men today, we can still talk about those

times and those traditions that Southampton held.”

Those traditions are still there today, and Lawrence said he felt blessed to be able to pass it on to his sons. One of them, Chris, is playing football today at North Carolina Wesleyan thanks to his experience at Southampton High School.

Although the on-the-field winning tradition isn’t there today, Lawrence said it was

Head Coach Wayne Cosby poses with one of the four trophies the Southampton Indians won.

BY THE NUMBERS

665-23 139-6 4 The Indians’ total score vs. all opponents

The 1978 Indians’ total score vs. all postseason opponents

Players went on to play Division I: Bernard Goodwyn (Harvard) Cyrus Lawrence (Virginia Tech) Ashley Lee (Virginia Tech) Will Saunders (East Carolina)

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going to come back. But more important is the winning tradition off the field is still around.

“Both of my sons are academic scholars, and they aren’t the only ones,” he said.

“Football teaches kids how to work for something and to work hard for it and accomplish something.”

When he thinks back on it, Cosby said, having a chance to impact those young men’s lives was the thing that attracted him the most to coaching.

“It really was rewarding,” he said. “It was good to see them develop, mature and then go on and be successful in life. I still see many of those persons, and it is always

5,000

good to see them. They have done really well.”

As far as walking away on top, Cosby said he felt like he and the other members of the coaching staff believed that they had accomplished all there was to accomplish.

“We had been in the finals 8 years in a row,” he said. “We just kept doing it over and over. Everybody in Virginia football wanted a shot at us, and we felt like everybody had gotten that opportunity and they couldn’t stop us.

“We felt like that was all we could do,” Cosby continued. “We had seen the best that everybody had to offer and won. It was time to do something else.”

fans at Southampton High School to watch the championship game

And so The Machine came to rest. Since then, Southampton’s had spurts of success, particularly so under Littleton Parker, who was also an assistant coach under Cosby during the mid to late 1970s. But as far as building an entire decade of dominance near the level of Big Red, it hasn’t happened.

The Big Red Machine is gone, but it’s not forgotten.

“The Machine, wow,” Kindred said. “The Big Red Machine, that’s what they called us.

It’s because every single person on that team played their own part, and every single part was special. When we all came together, we really were like a machine.”

1978 - THE BIG RED STANDARD

56-6

Final score, championship game vs. the Gate City Blue Devils

3

The number of first-downs the Indians’ defense allowed the Gate City Blue Devils

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T

he year was 2006, and Yvonne Hilliard-Bradley was just sitting in her parked car. As she sat and took in her surroundings — pine trees on all sides, that smell pine trees bring, and a quaint brick building with a large, wall-sized window revealing its contents, books — she felt a bizarre sensation was working its way through her body.

Moments before she had been driving down Main Street in Courtland. As she started pulling into the driveway of her destination, the Walter C. Rawls Library, that sensation began. Had she been here before? Then it hit her.

Many years — no — decades ago, Hilliard-Bradley was invited to Southampton County by the Extension Services agent to do a presentation on a new healthy family concept that libraries were adopting. Working in Norfolk at the time, she had just finished a healthy family resource center.

The purpose of these centers was to provide space for children up to age 4 a place to learn. The centers use puzzles, toys, puppets and other activities to help them learn through play.

She was to give the presentation to the Rawls Library board. It was one of many that she had given on the same subject. But this one was different. She remembered that as she parked in this library, the way it looked, the smells, the town, she got the oddest sense that — perhaps — this was home.

“Oh my gosh,” Hilliard-Bradley, now working in the Blackwater Regional Library system, suddenly recalled. “This is the little library that I’m supposed to be at.”

It wouldn’t be until 2009 when she actually worked at the Rawls Library, when then-director Patricia Ward retired and wanted her to take over.

At first, Hilliard-Bradley, at the time the assistant director, wasn’t sure.

Years ago, when she was working in the City of Norfolk as the assistant library director, she had been temporarily promoted to be the acting director of the

Yvonne Hilliard-Bradley story and photos by Cain Madden

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city.

“It felt more like I was a city official than a librarian,” HilliardBradley said. “When you are the assistant director or the branch manager, you are still connected to the purpose of a library.”

The purpose, she said, is to connect people with the information they need, regardless of the platform. When she was assistant director, her office was in the library system. She still felt connected to the job. However, when she was acting director things were different.

“My office was in city hall, next to human resources,” she said. “One of my duties was to drive through a neighborhood and report potholes, graffiti and vandalized signs.

“It was a noble idea — they just wanted the department heads in city hall to be out in the city instead of silo’d into their offices. But I was trying to run a library system and I felt disconnected from the day-today happenings at the libraries.”

During her time as acting director, one of her friends, Ward, who she knew from the Tidewater Area Library Directors group, had asked her to consider applying for the assistant director job in the Blackwater system. She knew she would like the job more, but it would also mean a pay cut. But then again, maybe not. After 30 years in the Norfolk system, she could collect her retirement.

It would also mean a commute to Carrollton from her home in Ghent, which was within 30 minutes from her mother, sisters, daughter and nieces and nephews. The commute didn’t seem bad, though.

“The commute was going through an area that was a pleasure to drive through,” Hilliard-Bradley

said. “It’s pretty country side, much different from the City of Norfolk.”

She always had liked being assistant director, so she applied and got it. Then she stepped up and became the system’s director, and retired in June 2014 after a final budget season.

“I was lucky to end my career here,” she said. “I feel truly blessed for all of my the great memories and the people I met here were just wonderful. I loved Norfolk and what I accomplished, but my heart was really here.”

The people, both staff and the patrons, really made it work.

“People would often laugh and joke, ‘What’s out there, crops?’ But the people were just so generous and receptive,” Hilliard-Bradley said. “I had so much fun working with every single person here. It gave me energy and drive.”

And a country library is the same, but also vastly different, from a city library.

“In Norfolk there are a lot of resources available for public use, and the library is one of them,” she said.

“In Courtland, the library may be just about it.”

Libraries are not just about connecting people to fiction books, they are also about staying educated. They help people earn their GEDs. They help entrepreneurs learn more about business. They offer computers, with high speed connections — even in 2014, everyone doesn’t have that, and most employers require an online application process.

Librarians can also provide guidance and help filter the information that’s out there.

“You have to be wise when you get your information from the In-

Yvonne Hilliard-Bradley, right, along with her husband Gregg Bradley and daughter Amanda Bradley. Photo submitted.

Yvonne Hilliard Bradley poses with a baby goat at the Walter C. Rawls Library in Courtland.

Photo Submitted.

A Spring 2014 family camping trip on the Shenandoah River. Photo submitted.

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34 western tidewater living ternet because it’s a place where anyone can put up data,” she said.

“Some of it is intentionally fake, and some of it is just misinformed, bad information.”

Libraries also have workshops, to help with sharpening skills, such as perhaps interview skills for getting jobs, improving resumes and learning how to use the computer.

At the heart of it, librarians are social worker wannabes, HilliardBradley said.

“It’s not like a 9 to 5,” she said.

“You want to be doing something, trying to help people improve their lives.

“You don’t really come in for the pay, but because of the feeling you get when you help connect people to the information that they need to improve their lives for the better.”

That’s what originally attracted her to the field.

After graduating from Jacksonville University, she had vowed that she was moving from Florida to Virginia. Childhood vacations to the mountains and countryside were enough to do it.

“It was just the prettiest state,” she said. “I was going to live here, and I told my family, ‘Y’all come if you want.’”

Her first job out of undergrad was at an eye doctor. It didn’t go well.

“I was the picture of misery,” she said. “It was just awful.”

Having graduated with a degree in music, when an arts library opened, Hilliard-Bradley was able to get a job there and loved it.

“It was just the connecting people to information,” she said.

“People came in with a need, and I

knew where the information they needed was. It felt really good.”

After three years, she was accepted into a program that let her get her Master’s of Library Science degree at Rutgers University through a state fellowship. Then she worked her way up to acting director over the next several years.

Things are different at the local library compared to 30 plus years ago when she got into the field, but they are also exactly the same.

“The sole function of a library is to provide information and education — it’s a people’s university,” she said. “Mostly what has changed has been the way people get and receive their information.

For example, instead of checking out a VHS tape, it’s now a DVD or Blue Ray. Not long from now, you’ll probably be streaming the video from your entertainment system at home.”

As far as retirement, HilliardBradley said it was just that time.

Deep down, you know when it is time, she said. A lot of her time was spent thinking about what she wanted to do when she retired — more time outdoors, camping and canoeing; more time with her family, they all live nearby and it would be good to do it while her health is still there; and more time working on her crafts and pottery, as she can now spend more time visiting shows.

“I was starting to feel like I was not putting as much energy into this place as it deserves,” she said.

“When you start thinking that it’s time to retire, then it is time to retire. It is not fair to your coworkers and the people who depend on the library.”

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where am I?

In each edition, our magazine staff provides a challenge of sorts for readers, testing how much of Western Tidewater they really know. We photograph a scene in Western Tidewater that is visible to motorists or pedestrians.

Whoever can identify the location pictured above will be entered for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to any one of our partner advertisers.

For the summer edition, the photo was taken on the Blackwater River near South Quay Road. Photo by Cain Madden.

So, if you know where this issue’s photo was taken, let us know. If you’re right, you could be a winner. E-mail your answers to magazine@tidewaternews.com Go out and enjoy Western Tidewater!

Welcom e to be au tif ul

Visit Smithfield for a unique shopping experience!

CLOUD NINE 210 Main Street Smithfield, VA 757.357.2190

Hours: Mon 10-5 Tue-Thurs 10-5:30 Fri-Sat 10-5 • Sun 12-5

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38 western tidewater living

Passing on the family business story and photos by Merle Monahan

W

alter “Dusty” Scott didn’t realize when he was 12 and helping his dad make cupcakes in their kitchen for his class “end-of-year” party at school, that he would grow to enjoy cooking so much.

But today, at 25, the son of Alice and Dixie Scott, has become “a really good cook” said his dad. He should know because the family admits, the elder Scott does most of the cooking at home.

“He has just about taken over my job,” Dixie said with a smile. “And I’m as happy as I can be. Every man should know how to cook.”

Scott, on the other hand, says jokingly that it was out of necessity that he took to cooking. “I was in college and it was cook, or live on chips and sodas.”

The tall, athletic golf enthusiast, who lives with his parents at their home on Seacock Chapel Road, graduated from Lynchburg College two years ago.

With a degree in sports management, he says, “My intentions were to go into some type of sports business, preferably golf. But I spent a lot of time at first with my parents

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at the family business and I began to like it.

“I decided that I would work with them for a while, and it seems to be just what I wanted. They were pleased too,” he smiled, adding that this is what they had wanted all along.

The family owns Ivor Furniture Company, which was founded by Scott’s grandfather, Russell West, in 1949. The elder Scott’s daughter, Ashlyn Scarborough, also works there.

As for cooking, however, Scott says seriously that he developed an interest in the culinary arts long before college.

“I watched my dad when he grilled steaks for dinner and was fascinated. Then sometimes he’d take me down to the Seven Pines Hunt Club and I was always underfoot while the hunters cooked for the rest of the crowd.

“I also learned a lot from my brother-inlaw, Robert Scarborough, when we’d have dinner at their home, ” he said. “So I had a lot of good teachers.”

Scott began to show off his skills and gradually began to help his dad cook dinner.

Then at college, after class he’d back his pickup to the back door of his townhouse, set up his portable Webber grill and cook dinner for his roommate and himself .

“This was a lot of fun,” he said, “but weekends were the best. That’s when many of the neighbors would come over and we’d have a big dinner.”

Over the years, Scott has developed his own style of cooking. Using different spices and condiments, he turns out tenderloins, steaks and burgers on his grill that are “un-

beatable,” said his mom. “I’m really proud of him.”

The young salesman recently came up with another idea that his parents like. He made an appointment for them to meet with a company that sells a different kind of grill, called the Big Green Egg. “Actually we bought one of these grills for my dad for Christmas and we all liked it,” Scott said.

“So when I saw a chance for our store to become distributors, I thought mom and dad would agree. They did.”

“He made the arrangements while my husband and I were on vacation,” Alice said.

“It was a good decision. It’s a good item and we think it’s going to sell.”

Scott also believes it will sell. “It really is unique,” he said. “It is a ceramic charged charcoal grill that cooks faster and at higher temperatures.

“It can be used to bake, roast and smoke, as well as grill. And you can cook almost anything on it, including vegetables, breads and even cakes.

“I’ve been using the one we gave dad almost every night,” he went on. “It does a great job.”

Although Scott cooks mostly on the grill, he is at home in the kitchen as well.

“I like to bake,” he said. “That’s something to do when the weather is bad.”

And what is his favorite food to bake?

Why cupcakes, of course.

DUSTY SCOTT’S RECIPES GRILLED STUFFED HAMBURGERS: Ingredients: 1 lb ground beef, 80/20% fat 4 oz white block American cheese Other ingredients-peppers, onions, etc.- as desired.

Directions:

Portion hamburger into 8 thin patties. Spread 1 oz cheese bits and other desired ingredients on top of one patty. Cover with a second patty and crimp edges to seal. Marinate patties in refrigerator for at least one hour, bring to room temperature and grill at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes on each side.

GRILLED PORK TENDERLOIN: Ingredients: 1 (1 lb) Pork Tenderloin Directions: Marinate tenderloin for at least 2 hours in refrigerator, bring to room temperature and grill at 350 degrees for

10 minutes on each side.

Marinade for Beef: ¼ cup olive oil ½ cup Worcestershire sauce Salt and pepper Any spice or seasoning desired Marinade for Pork: Add ¼ cup vinegar to above ingredients.

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Capron

Hometown Histories story by Stephen H. Cowles photos by Cain Madden

For anyone who didn’t already know, Capron’s one of several towns in the county that grew out of a railroad, lumber and sawmills. The Atlantic and Danville line was established in 1888, according to a history printed for a local celebration of the country’s bicentennial. The depot then was named Princeton for Judge J.B. Prince, a company vice president. In 1889, a post office was set up within a store and named Cairo, of all places. But confusion with a West Virginia town of the same name eventually prompted a change for both the train stop and P.O., and in 1890 the hamlet became Capron, this time for the general freight and passenger agent of the A&D Railroad. From then the place grew.

Jump 35 years later and Ethel “Dick” Pope Francis comes into the town’s story.

Born on Feb. 22, 1925 — George Washington’s birthday she pointed out — Francis remembered when there were a dozen stores in Capron. She ought to know hav-

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ing grown up in one of them, P.A. Pope’s Store, which belonged to her parents, Ruth Scarborough and Percy Ashby Pope.

“I was raised in daddy’s store,” said Francis. “I think my daddy’s store was one of the first in Capron.” She added that the place once stood where Porky’s Barbecue is now at the corner of Main Street and 58 East. When she was 2 years old, the family came to the site from their home outside the Capron limits at the corner of Carys Bridge and Old Belfield roads.

“My birthplace is still there,” she said.

Although Francis referred to the shop as her father’s place, apparently her mother chiefly kept up the business, while Ashby was out on other work.

“Daddy was a huckster,” Francis said, and explained that he was often out buying and selling horses or livestock trying to make a dollar. Sometimes, she said, he also lost money in order to help out people who weren’t doing well.

“My daddy, he was a good man,” she

added with emphasis.

Her early schooling was learned at the store.

“I only went to high school; 11th grade was all we had,” she said. “I learned more at income tax school.”

As Francis got older she gradually came to work there “helping momma catch up.”

Among many duties, Francis had to fill bottles of molasses, which like kerosene, motor oil and vinegar came in barrels.

“I despised the jug,” she said because a

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break in concentration or other mishap caused a sticky mess.

Her uncle Benjamin is remembered as “so witty” and also something of a mischief maker. When the store got too crowded with people sitting around the pot-bellied stove, he would discretely sprinkle some pepper on it. The heat would reportedly ignite the spice and cause people to sneeze and sneeze, and then they’d usually leave.

Asked about her nickname, Francis

shrugged her shoulders about why her mother called her “Dick.”

“You tell me,” she added with a smile.

Her brother James was called “Punk,” but sister Thelma had no nickname for a yet still unknown reason. Later when Francis married Linard T. “L.T.,” Francis, he got to calling her “Old Lady.”

“It didn’t bother me a bit,” she said. “I was a tomboy anyhow.”

By the way, according to his obituary in The Tidewater News on March 25, 1982,

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“L.T.” was the co-owner and operator of Francis Brothers Lumber Co. From their marriage, Ethel and “L.T.” had a daughter, Donna Irene, and a son, Linard Jr. At 89, Francis has seen a lot of changes.

But one thing stands out above everything else: “The difference is the people. When I was growing up, everybody was the same.”

As a child, for example, she could move

44 western tidewater living about the community without fear.

“We were looked after as children. I went into colored folks’ houses as easily as my own. I knew all the tenants to [Route] 58,” Francis said.

“You had your rich people in Capron. You had your poor people in Capron. We didn’t show any distinction.

You were an individual...I was born at the right time.”

At one point during the interview, Francis is joined on her porch by Erma Williams Joyner. They’re also seated with Helen Gillette, 84, who listened in and sometimes answered a question or added a detail. For example, Gillette said she can remember when J.T. Barham’s sold groceries — today it’s a feed and seed store.

At 91, Joyner is one of the oldest — if not the oldest — residents; she also serves on the town council. She too has seen notable differences in Capron.

“The biggest change is everybody moving away. You used to know everybody.

Now you’re lucky if you know every other person,” Joyner said. “There’s a lot of imports (Francis referred to them as “come-heres.”).

“This used to be a thriving community,” Joyner said.

“We had all kinds of people.”

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The chimney incident

T

he noise came from deep inside. It was a muffled, muted sound, like something too large was shuffling around and lodged within.

“I think there’s a bird in our chimney,” said my father.

Although intriguing, it was not an abnormal occurrence to discover small creatures lost in the shaft.

He grabbed a flashlight and looked up into the dark and then handed the light to my brother. He was fourteen-years old at the time and small enough to climb up the chimney himself. Yet despite his mischievous nature, he resisted the urge and instead simply peered upward – much like my father. It was at that very moment that the bird, frightened and tired of being imprisoned, attempted to escape. It flew down and out of the chimney, striking my brother directly in the face and knocking him to the floor. My mother and I let out a startled scream, while our cocker spaniel began frantically running up and down the stairs yelping. We were all stunned, but it was my father who first noticed that the bird was more or less a duck – a large, black, soot-covered one at that.

The confused animal flew into the wall with a hard “smack!” causing the dog to bark a little louder and run faster. The duck, now terrorized, continued straight up into the loft, hit the wall with another loud ruckus, and rolled under the couch.

We stared at one another and recognized a similar look of disbelief. A few seconds passed as we tried to grasp the reality of what had just happened. Yet, there on the wall was the evidence: A large, imprinted soot mark.

Wordlessly the men knew what to do.

The younger ran upstairs to locate the duck as my father proceeded to the two French doors in the kitchen that opened up to the backyard.

“We have to get him outside,” he said.

“See if you can’t scare him out from underneath the couch and down through the doors.”

My brother was already curiously

column by Leah Lewis photo by Judson Alphin

peering underneath the furniture, but now with a little more caution. Panicked and disoriented, the animal needed no prompting. With determination it abruptly flew out from hiding, swooped down and made its breakaway. Miraculously and in an instant, the bird headed straight through the open doors and successfully into familiar surroundings — with no other disturbances or collisions.

Again, the four of us looked at each other. What a surprising whirlwind of events!

Was it really only minutes before when the house was quiet and the day ordinary?

Astonishment hung in the air, and in the distance a bulky, bewildered, and still very-covered-in-soot silhouette flew into the sunset, never to be seen again.

It is with this story I offer a word of caution: as you make preparations for the coming colder months, as you retrieve coats from the attic and put away summer items in the garage, as you gather blankets and heaters from the closet, and as you close windows and sweep chimneys — take heed. Sometimes there are creatures simply wanting to escape and adventures just waiting to happen.

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