Dad was a peddler for Mr. Jabo Clements

Gravelly news by Glenna Goodson



A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly her husband broke into the kitchen. "Careful," he said "CAREFUL"! Put in some more butter!! Oh my Lord you're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY!!Turn them,!TURN THEM NOW!! We need more butter--Oh my Lord, where are we gong to get more butter? They're gong to stick!! Careful--CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You never listen to me when you're cooking!! Never! Turn them!Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you lost your mind?Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt!!THE SALT!!THE SALT!! The wife started at him. What in the world is wrong with you?You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?" The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving!!

I am so sad! The Gravelly store is closing. A landmark for Gravelly. The store has been here over 60 years--probably in that 60 years itwas not closed over a couple of days. In the '40's my Dad was a peddler for Mr. Jabo Clements, who ownedthe store back then. Some of us would get off the school bus there. I remember Lily Jean Clements, probably a senior at that time,. would go into the store and get herself peanut butter and crackers to eat. I would be thinking how I sure would like some of that peanut butter. Gee, the store did a booming business then. They had the peddling truck that went throughout Yell and Montgoimery County. Mr. Cody Hunnicutt mostly ran the store cause Mr. Jabo was very busy with his paper work and the peddling truck. And I cannot forget Junior Lewis, who later became Lily Jean's husband.There was plenty of work for Junior in the store too. Gee, things were different then. Not very many people had automobiles, so there was no going to Danville or Russellville to get groceries. At the Gravelly store was where my mother bought flour in the pretty sacks that she would use to make me dresses for school and church. Now people do not support the store, instead they go to Wal Mart and other places. It is a sad time for our community. No more running to the store to get bread and eggs and bacon for breakfast. Gale Damon tells me that this weekend they will probably close the store, do some repairs andthen try to sell it.

Loucinda Buford is involved in a family reunion that is meeting at Petit Jean.The Woolbright family will meet the 11th, 12th and 13th on the mountain. Loucinda, Scott, Michael and Sammy Turner will be there for the reunion. I know they will have a great time.

I was just devastated to hear that one of the exchange students, from Brazil, was killed in a car accident last week. He was a student at Dardanelle high school. Can you imagine the feelings of those parents that have to find out their son is dead by a long distance phoine call? The body was sent home Tuesday of last week. I pray for this family.

Cindy Moua, of the Nola store tells me her little 5 year old comes in from Waldron school, on the school bus so very tired. She has to leave home at 6:30 on the school bus. The bus ride home, which amounts to at least an hour, is so tiring for a child. She says her children are so tired, they do not feel like doing homework or playing--they just want to rest. I look at those children and think of how some crazy people in authority would love to close our small schools and our children ride the school bus for at least two hours to school. You can talk about a different curriculum all you want, I can tell you, even if the kids have more subjects, if they are tired and worn our physically, they can't learn. I will never forget when integration began in OKC when I was teaching there. That's when, for the first time, bussing began in OKC. Our white children, the 5th graders, were bussed to the N.E. part of town. The little blackchldren were bussed to our schools in the S.W.Those small black chldren had to catch a school bus whle it was still dark. They arrived at our schools, sleepy and worn out. I KNOW it doesn't work for the chidren. In OKC it was seen, after a few years, that it did not work and bussing mostly stopped.We might not have had the top quality curriculum in the 40's when I attended FV school, but if you would make a study of the graduates of FV school in the 40's and 50's,you would be surprised at the ones that graduated college, went on to get Master's and Doctor;'s degrees/.We have scientists, medical doctors, teachers and just all around good citizens--and we did this without a lot of required subjects.It is so much the teacher!! Having an English teacher like Miss Jessie Lofland prepared you for college or just to speak correctly.Because of Miss Jessie, I still cringe when I hear people not speak correctly or see their writing loaded with mistakes in grammar!! So a small school seemed to have graduated kids that did well without a lot of the requirements we see nowadays.

I will really miss teaching my Bible class at Wing, while I am n OKC. I will also really miss my Rover Baptist Church. I wanted to take part in a women's retreat in Little Rock but I had to miss that too. But it will be so wonderful to see my granddaughter graduate and to see my great-grandchildren.

Remember Life is a song, and God's love is the music.