I have been writing articles for about 12 years. I wrote for a few years for the Union County Shopper until it ceased publication after it was purchased by the Knoxville News-Sentinel and/or Scripps Howard.
Then my good friend Aaron Russell gave me the opportunity to write for Historic Union County, which is published weekly online at historicunioncounty.com and monthly as a free newspaper.
Occasionally I get feedback from readers. Sometimes the feedback comes in the form of a personal email or text message, and sometimes as a comment to historicunioncounty.com. Most of the time it comes face-to-face.
There was one time I was paid a personal visit from a reader. Most of the feedback is positive, though I had an “almost cousin” (he was actually a cousin to my half-brothers and -sisters) who told me, “Ronnie, some of the things you write are really good, and sometimes it’s not worth reading.”
It was by writing articles that I got to meet a cousin I didn’t know existed.
I received feedback from a phone call one time that worried me.
I had written an article about Florence Chesney’s years as teacher/principal at Wood Dale School in the Black Fox community in the 1940s. I came home and my wife told me she had talked to some man on the phone that sounded mad.
As fortune would have it, by some means the answering machine recorded her entire conversation with this gentleman. It went something like this:
MAN: This is Jake Haynes. I want to talk to Ronnie.
WIFE: He’s not here. Can I take a message?
MAN: No, I just want to tell him something about that “wonderful, sweet Florence Chesney.” You tell him if he wants to know the truth about her to talk to his brother-in-law Cecil McMurray, the one that married Madalene Mincey.
WIFE: I don’t think he’s gonna take back what he said.
MAN: I don’t want him to take nothing back. I just want to talk to him. Tell him to call me at ###-####.
I got to thinking, “I don’t know Jake Haynes. I bet he’s the kid that Florence Chesney put inside the stove jacket when he misbehaved, and he’s read that article and is mad about it. He’s probably going to ream me out.” That didn’t seem to measure up, though, as I seem to remember that that particular student’s last name was not Haynes.
I returned the call. It turns out that “Jake Haynes” was the man I’d known as Jacob Haynes for practically my entire life. He was not at all upset, he just had a very deep, gruff voice. Jacob Haynes and my oldest half-brother Fred married sisters, and I had gone to school with his son, Darrell.
Actually, Jacob called to tell me a story about Cecil McMurray which, though I’d heard it before, was most interesting to hear from another source.
It seems that Cecil, for whatever reason, had matches in his back pocket. Knowing Cecil, I’d assume it was to smoke, and I’m sure that smoking was not permitted at school even in the 1940s. Anyway, whatever the reason, Cecil got into trouble and Ms. Chesney was paddling him.
One of the terms to describe a good “whoopin’” in earlier times was, “Man, she set his britches on fire.” In the case of Cecil, this literally happened. The paddling caused the match heads to rub against each other, and they caught, literally setting Cecil’s britches on fire.
I don’t remember whether it was my brother J. C. or brother-in-law Cecil that first told me this tale, but Jacob Haynes was the third witness, so I’d say that tale can be bound in Heaven as the truth.
I would have liked to have seen Florence Chesney’s face when that back pocket lit up! I bet that put “the fear of God” in every kid in the school. I know for sure it caught the attention of at least three boys that probably benefitted from the experience.
Answer to question of the week # 30
How much did Long John Silver pay to get his ears pierced? Answer: a buccaneer.
Question of the week # 30
How much did a man tell me he enjoyed reading my articles? (see next week’s article in historicunioncounty.com for the answer.)
More food for thought:
Growing up, we knew Dad had had enough when we heard the recliner slam down. Kids these days will never know that fear.
Remember back when we were kids and every time it was below freezing outside they closed school? Yeah, me neither.