Hot time in Tallapoosa

Few people had a greater influence on my adolescent years as Denver Morgan. Denver and I worked for G. B. Evans at the Red and White grocery store on Highway 78 at Alewine Avenue. I sacked groceries next to the magic fingers of Bea Hart who didn't "scan" items, they were keyed into the cash register manually. I stocked shelves and dreaded Wednesdays when the truck had to be unloaded from J. L. Lester and Sons wholesalers. I was taught about what to look for in fruits and vegetables at the tutelage of Forney Walker. I was paid sixty cents an hour and I saw every citizen of Tallapoosa as well as Muscadine and Fruithurst that summer in 1966. Denver was a student at Jacksonville State University who had a passion for Georgia Tech football, the music of Roy Orbison, and the Atlanta Braves. His knowledge of sports and contemporary music was unprecedented.

On the 4th of July of 1966 I saw the Atlanta Braves for the first time as Denver drove us over. I was almost 15 and I looked forward to the double-header that day. It was the biggest crowd I had ever been in. The biggest gathering I had seen up until that time was a football game with the Red Devils of Tallapoosa hosting our fiercest rival the Bremen Blue Devils. The tens of thousands at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium that day cheered when Rico Carty, Filipe Alou, and Hank Aaron took to the outfield or stood next to home plate waiting to crush the ball out of the park and into a neighborhood in West End. I can't think of the smell of roasted peanuts without remembering that magical day. Between the games of the twilight double header we took in the WSB TV "Salute to America" Parade. It was the first time I ever saw a movie star. Victor Jory who played the evil care taker of Tara in "Gone With The Wind" was on a float that day. Mr. Jory was a boxing and wrestling champion in the Coast Guard and in 1973 made hi s last movie in the Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman account of life in a hellish French Guiana prison "Papillion". He made countless appearance on television on shows like "Rawhide", "Gunsmoke" and "Your Show of Shows". I had the opportunity in 2001 of riding my Harley in the "Salute to America" parade down Peachtree Street as part of the Stone Mountain Harley Owner's Group. My motorcycle has a custom paint scheme that looks like old glory waving in the wind. It drew a lot of cheers from the thousands that lined the parade route. It is a shame that Channel 2 decided to stop the sponsorship of the decades long tradition this year.

I had a memorable 4th of July holiday this year as having the opportunity of being in the Tallapoosa parade. A tip of the hat to Tommy Allen who once again did a magnificent job of coordinating the event. I saw a lot of long time friends and I really got in the spirit of community as Highway 78,Head Avenue, and Robertson Avenue had a few thousand people lining the route. Presley and Callie got to ride on the float and aided in throwing the six jillion dollars in candy. I think the dentists of the county are loving the tradition of tossing candy in parades. My girls loved seeing the scores of folks running for office in the upcoming primary. I never knew the county had an elected surveyor and I have seen more signs for the Haralson County coroner's job than for the gig of President of the United States.

Tallapoosa's 4th of July celebration came to an end with a fireworks display that I could see from my front yard. I would have enjoyed it more had a building warehousing carpet and flooring had not caught fire and burned to the ground about a block from the house. I had not seen a fire of that magnitude since the town's largest structure housing the bus station and Bruno's Place aka Essie Mae's caught fire when I was about 11. The conflagration on the night of July 4th was contained by a great team of fire fighters who kept the blaze from spreading to neighboring buildings. State fire marshall John Oxendine's team of arson investigators were here in the early morning hours of July 5th and I was told persons of interest are already in the cross-hairs of justice. I understand that arsonists don't have a very pleasant time in prison or for the politically correct "correctional facility".

Please get out and vote in the upcoming primary. The future of the county surveyor's office is depending on you.

Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a member of the faculty and a director university development at Kennesaw State University. Comments are welcome at P.O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa, Ga. 30176 or via email at Rhubarbjones@aol.com