|
| |
Kudos to the city's leadership on the successful 2010 edition of the
Tallapoosa Dogwood Festival. This weekend
Atlanta will do their version of the Dogwood Festival. I bet the folks at
Piedmont Park will not have a more fun time than we did last weekend.
Presley and Callie rode ponies,
played a game that cost me 3 bucks for them to win a toy worth about 50
cents. We visited our friends from WKNG as Dana and Bobbywere broadcasting from
Head Avenue. They invited listeners to come to our town and have a splendid day
of family fun. The weather was perfect. There were lots of hand shakes, neck
hugs, and smiles going on all day on Head Avenue. April 10, 2010 is a day I will
never forget, not because of the town's celebration, but because it would have
been Sue Allen's 78th birthday. Sue was born on April 10, 1932 and the world was
in the strangle hold of the Great Depression. She was born in Tallapoosa and she
loved her hometown and her hometown loved her. Sue Allen left a huge void in
many hearts with her passing
on Saturday. Sue always was lending a hand to people who needed her
advice on gardening and landscaping. Her green thumb was legendary. She could
make a rock sprout leaves. She was perhaps the most kind and gentle person I
ever met. She loved Christmas time and would get up before daylight during the
holidays and turn on her vast display of
Christmas lights so children riding the school bus could see them. I
first met Sue and
Ray Allen when their daughters Fay and Kay started Tallapoosa Elementary
School in first grade. Kay and I were in Mrs. Downey's room and Fay was in Mrs.
Wood's first grade class. I remember how Ray and Sue Allen were always involved
in the lives of their daughters. When the high school band needed transportation
for our instruments, Ray and Sue hauled them. The Allen Family was active at
First Baptist Church. As a
boy I remember Ray being a greeter. I recall Sue being one of the volunteers
during Vacation Bible School.
I don't remember a single covered dish supper at the church that Sue didn't
prepare some yummy casserole and served it up with her sweet smile. When Fay and
Kay played basketball on the girls team at Tallapoosa
High School, Ray and Sue
were always there. I was told by Fay's date to her first junior-senior prom
that Sue followed the young man's Pontiac
GTO to the Tallapoosa gym and sat outside to make sure Fay got home safe
and sound even though they lived just a mile and a half from the gym. Ray Allen
was a Ford man. I never saw the Allen's in any vehicle that wasn't a Ford. Ray
and Sue Allen bought their daughters a forest green Ford Torino their senior
year of high school and the girls shared the driving of the car that reminded me
of the Mustang Steve McQueen
drove in the movie "Bullitt".
Kay told me her sister had the lead foot in the family.
Cale Yarborough and
Richard Petty had nothing
on Fay Allen's. Fay never got a ticket, but she did win the pole position at the
Talladega 500 in 1969.
Sue and Ray Allen were soul
mates. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last December
surrounded by family and friends. It was a joyous time held at Fay's beautiful
home on Bowdon Street. I never saw any two people more devoted to one another
as Ray and Sue Allen were. I never saw two parents more devoted to their
children as they were. I never have met grandparents more loving and proud than
Ray and Sue. Just ask Holly Newman,
Sarah Carr, or Ray
McClendon how much their grandmother loved them. Holly recently graduated top of
her class in culinary arts school,
Sarah earned a master's degree in education in 2009, and Ray McClendon is a
veteran of the
United States Marine Corps and is currently working on his degree at the
University of West Georgia. The
Allen Family's Ford sedan proudly displays a bumper sticker that states "My
Grandson is a Marine". March of 2008 Carson Raymond Carr came into her life.
Sue simply adored her great grandson. Sue was a guiding force in so many lives.
Teresa Jackson told me that Sue was like a mother to her. Last year when I began
to spend more time at home in
Tallapoosa, she became like a surrogate mother to me and like a
grandmother to Presley and Callie. They loved "Miss Sue" and are wanting to
plant a tree in her honor. Sue Allen always had a project going on. She never
had one idle moment, a trait she passed on to her daughters. Sue had wonderful
skills at organizing and getting a task done. Her nephew Tommy Allen told me
about how she would aways pitch in during the month of November to help decorate
for the annual Thanksgiving
open house and how she'd spend hours and hours making sure that everything
displayed was perfect. I never saw Sue Allen not looking like she just left the
beauty shop. Her physical attractiveness was only exceeded by her spiritual
beauty. The visitation
on Sunday night at Miller Funeral was filled with her many friends and
family. Her going home celebration had one of her favorite voices Harold
McWhorter singing "Living On
The Mountain". Her nephew Tommy Allen delivered a stirring message and
shared many anecdotes about his "Aunt Susie" as he called her. Tommy McClendon
shared with the mourners Sue's deep commitment on being a
Christian. I was able to
remind those in attendance that Sue's 78th birthday was the best of all. Her
birthday gift was seeing her mother, father, and sister. On this special
birthday Sue was held in the arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am
going to miss Sue Allen. We were all blessed by her remarkable spirit and her
loving warmth.
| |
|
