Sports Center Saturday: Catahoula-Franklin Parish All-Star Basketball Team, 1932

The 1932 Catahoula-Franklin Parish Basketball All-Star team was comprised of former high school and college stars.

Team members included the following:

K. Brooks - Manifest
R. Swayze - Jonesville
Pat Gibson - Harrisonburg
S. Gibson - Harrisonburg
B. Trichel - Harrisonburg
S. Trichel - Harrisonburg
Ernest Foster - Wisner
Beverly Faulk - Wisner
A. L. Brooks - Sicily Island
Simon Meyers - Sicily Island
Sprague DeWitt - Sicily Island

The All-Star team was formed in November of 1932 in advance of meeting the Brown Paper Mill basketball team in the Sicily Island High School gymnasium on December 2.

Monroe News Star - 11/22/1932

The Brown Paper Mill basketball team, known as the Safety Firsts, was comprised of players employed at the paper mill in West Monroe, Louisiana.   They were part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) which was a non-profit, multi-sport organization founded in 1888.

The 1932 team manager and player, Cary Phillips, later went on to coach basketball at the Northeast Center in Monroe. Other Safety Firsts team members were Lindy Hood, Ray Roden, Stone, Lawson, Evans, McNeely, Broom and Dowden.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate any articles references the outcome of the December 2, 1932 game.  If anyone has more information on members of either team or the outcome of the 1932 game, please leave a comment below or email me at rootsfromthebayou@gmail.com.

1953 Campaign to Raise Highway 15

The following article appeared in the September 6, 1953 edition of the Monroe Morning World:

Transcription:

Campaign Begun To Raise Hwy. 15

JONESVILLE, Sept. 5 (Special)
A campaign to raise highway 15 southeast of Sicily Island is being started by the Sicily Island Rotary Club with assistance of the Catahoula parish school board and police jury.

Official bodies and civic groups throughout northeast Louisiana will be invited to participate in the campaign because of the importance of the highway as the most direct route to Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  Highway 15, as presently constructed, is frequently made impassable by backwater, necessitating miles of detours.  It is the route of buses operating between Little Rock, Ark., and New Orleans.

Wednesday morning, at the suggestion of William Peck, police juror and president of the Sicily Island Rotary Club, the police jury passed a resolution asking the state department of highways to raise the level of the road.  The jury also voted to write other police juries in the northeastern section of the state, seeking their help in the campaign.

Aubrey Brooks, superintendent of schools and a member of the Sicily Island Rotary Club, said he anticipates similar action by the parish school board and that he will write to other school boards in the area urging that they help.

Approximately 3.5 miles of road between Sicily Island and Foules has been flooded numerous times in the past several years.  Brooks said completion of drainage projects north of the area has aggravated the condition.

Wedding Wednesday - Pearson 50th Wedding Anniversary

Abbott and Bertha Pearson -  April 13, 1980
Courtesy of Karen Barron Egloff

Pearsons Celebrate Golden Anniversary

Mr. and Mrs. Abbott Pearson were honored April 13 with a reception by their children, Mr. and Mrs. Carey Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Cater and Mr. and Mrs. Larry Barron.

Courtesy of Karen Barron Egloff

Approximately 115 guests were present to help the honorees celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Out-of-town guests were:  Mr. and Mrs. Herbert McKay, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Cowart, Johnny and Kelly and Mr. and Mrs. Gene Brasher, Bradley and Misty Partin of Baton Rouge.

Also:  Mr. and Mrs. Robert McKay of Columbia; Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Sarville Purvis, Mrs. Mattie Hall, Mrs. Wilma McCarver of Jonesville.

Also:  Mr. and Mrs. Horace Blair, Mrs. Mable Brooks of Wisner; Mrs. Gladys Opely, Gene Pearson of Winnsboro; Mr. and Mrs. Gene Egloff, Angel and Onice [Aimee] of Monroe; Mrs. Helen Kent, Mr. and Mrs. Laverne Bryant, Lucy and Corina of Pollock and Mr. and Mrs. Carey Pearson, Page and Dan of Bossier City.

Courtesy of Karen Barron Egloff

Abbott and Bertha McKay Pearson had the following children:

Barbara Jean
Dora Virginia
Carey W.

Sicily Island Music Recital, 1954

The following article appeared in the May 13, 1954 edition of the Monroe News Star:


Transcription:

Sicily Island Music Recital Is Planned
SICILY ISLAND, May 13.  

(Special)---Music and voice students in this area will present a recital at the high school auditorium here Thursday, May 13, at 8 p.m.

Students who will participate in the recital are Betty Peck, Charlotte Stutson, Martha Knotts, Pat Brooks, Tressie Mae Alexander, Mary Knotts. Sharon Flaherty, Martha Franks, Olivia Hinton, Beverly Coney, Delorah Goode and Louise Bingham.

Wednesday's Child - John Ferris Brooks, Jr.

John Ferris Brooks, Jr.

Born on February 3, 1966

Son of

John Ferris Brooks, Sr. and Lucille McCarty

Died on February 5, 1966

Buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery

Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

Friday's Faces From the Past - Aubrey L. Brooks

Aubrey Leonidas Brooks

(1908-1980)

Son of

Rev. Leonidas Hill Brooks and Lillie Eloise Randall

Brother to

Kerfoot Graves, Ann Hasseltine, John Madison, Julian Dodd,

Richard Shadrack and Paul Elkins Brooks

Husband of

Thelma Mitchell

Father to

Pat, Craig and Nan Brooks

Aubrey Brooks served the Catahoula Parish school system for forty-two years.  His first ten years of service were spent as a teacher, principal, coach and supervisor.   He served as the Catahoula Parish Superintendent of Education for the remaining thirty-two years. 

Other areas of service included membership on the AASA Executive Council of Louisiana Teachers Association, two terms as president of the Fifth District School Superintendents Association, and membership in the Sicily Island Rotary Club.

Sports Center Saturday ~ Coach W. C. Speights, 1927-2014

Rest in Peace, Coach

Seated:  Shepard; Standing (LtoR):  Edmonds, Speights, Peace, Brooks

Military Monday ~ The Ultimate Sacrifice

Memorial located in front of the Catahoula Parish Courthouse in Harrisonburg

In Memory of those who gave their lives in

 World War I, II, Korean Action and the Vietnam War

World War I

Perry D. Alexander

Fred D. Baker

John W. Blair

Lewis Brooks

Silas W. Book

Benjamin Burrell

John G. Chevallier

Albert N. Dorsey

Lathere Finnis

Jimmie Gordon

Willie Jordan

James M. Knapp

William E. Lee, Jr.

Perry Little

Joseph E. Montpelier

Curtis Mosley

Wesley B. Paulk

Cleveland Ray

James B. Smith

Robert H. Smith

James F. Trichel

Wash Whitehead, Jr.

Tollie R. Womack

Will Woods

William Young

World War II

William J. Adroin

Elious Bass, Jr.

Raymond C. Bell

Oscar F. Blair

Johnnie F. Bourke

Charles E. Boyd, Jr.

Theodore P. Bradford

Robert L. Bruster

Wallace O. Cloy

Shelton T. Cockerham

Burton Collins

Charlie Cooper

Murele Dalton

Alton Davis

Ervin N. Denny

David C. Dixon

Kaga A. Doughty

Charlie Drumgoole

Lloyd G. Ellis

W. A. Esterling

Marcy M. Francis, Jr.

Herman Franklin

Sherman Franklin

William F. Gardner

James A. Golman, Jr.

Elton E. Gorham

Stanley W. Hailey

William M. Hawkins

Bobby Ray Hawthorne

Henry C. Hooter

Garlin Huff

David E. Jeter

Ray Jones

Joseph A. Jenkins, Jr.

Alex Johnson

George W. Johnson

William W. Kendrick

Spencer Kennedy

Hillory Laffon

John W. Rayl

Joseph C. Lawrence

Robert E. Lee, Jr.

Clint Littleton

Mack Littin

Henry C. Mann

Laster Mills

Johnnie Newsom

Paul A. Newton

Clyde W. Ogden

Lincoln C. Parker

James R. Randall

Roy D. Robertson

Sam W. Rutledge

Dewey C. Sanson

Willie E. Sikes

Earl L. Slaughter

Sammy R. Smith

Leonard Straward

Robert L. Taylor

Wilbur Tidwell

Fredrick M. Washburne

Charlie W. Watson

Charles Watson

Odis White

James Williams

Earl W. Yancey

Sullivan Wilson

Korean Action

John W. Johnson

Robert V. McHale

Thomas Milton Tradewell

Vietnam War

Budrow Bass, Jr.

Roger E. Denny

Howard Lee Early

Hubert Aaron Erwin

Jerry Roy Long

Dave Mayes, Jr.

Jimmy Ronald Walton

James Hardy White

Amanuensis Monday ~ The Stories That Should Be Told, Part 34

The following transcription is from a series of recordings my father made in the early 1990s:

Late 1930s...

Charles “Moe” Bourke was sitting on that ole Knight Store porch.  The porch used to be way up off the ground.  The store was close to the railroad.  Moe was sitting up on that porch with his back up against the wall.  He was running the ice house for somebody.  Blocks of ice would be brought in and stored in an ice house. 

Knight Store

Charles “Blue” Cloy came by in his daddy’s A-model car smoking a cigarette.  As Blue passed by the store, Moe hollered, “Hey, throw me that.”  Blue thumped the cigarette about thirty feet towards Moe and it landed in his mouth.  They later told how Blue and Moe acted like it was nothing out of the ordinary when it happened. 

Blue got down the road and had to pull over because he was laughing so hard.  Moe almost fell off the porch from laughing.  They both swore that it happened.

The Bourke boys lived up there close to the railroad depot on land where Carey Fairbanks’ house sits today. 

Ford-Bourke House

Carey Fairbanks House

The Bourke boys were Louis, Johnnie, and Charles.  They had a sister named Rosemary.  For years and years, the Bourke boys delivered the newspapers.  Buck Smith used to tell the story about Charles “Moe” Bourke and how he loved the orange drink, Sunspot.  Buck said Moe would go down the street and sell a paper then run back with a nickel and buy a Sunspot in his store.  He’d go sell another paper and come back for another Sunspot.  Buck nicknamed him Sunspot. 

Charles “Moe” Bourke married Ouida Seal.  They visit here from time to time.  I don’t know where the nickname Moe came from.  I’ll have to ask him the next time I see him. 

Charles Cloy got his nickname from giving the same book report over and over in Miss Lillie Mae Seal’s class.  Every time he had to do a book report, he would report on the book, ‘Bears from Blue River’.   The boys started calling him “Blue”. 

I never knew Mr. [Elijah] Bourke.  He died when I was just a couple of years old.  I knew Mrs. Bourke and her children.  

If I’m remembering correctly, Mrs. Ida Bourke was the postmaster at one time.  The post office was in a little building in the corner of her yard. 

Right next door to where the Bourkes lived were the Garners.  The Garner house was later bought by Aubrey Brooks.  Mrs. [Ida Mae Ford] Bourke was a sister to Mrs. [Lula Grace Ford] Garner.   Mr. and Mrs. [Booker] Garner had two sons, Hubert “Bud” and Edgar “Ed”. 

Ed married Thelma Stubbs who was a sister to Perry Stubbs.  They lived in Baton Rouge for years.  I remember when Ed was a clerk in the post office here in the village back in the 1930s.  Another of Perry’s sisters, Anna, married Dorsey Smith’s son, Edward. 

Bud [married Kathryn Virginia Bruce] made his home down around Foules near Lee Bayou.  He farmed down there and was a School Board member in Ward 1 for a good many years.  

The first post office I remember was in the back of the old Coan store.  The post office sat on the corner of the street that led to the railroad depot.  If you turned right off the main drag [Newman Avenue], it was on the right. 

Site of old Coan store

I don’t remember this post office when it was in operation but I do remember when they were transferring the mail boxes to the new location.  John Fairbanks and I would go over to the old location at Coan’s store and play with the boxes that remained there in the back. 

The new location of the post office was on the main drag near where the library sits today.  I remember when they built this post office because the carpenters built my parents’ house in February and March of 1931.  Once the carpenters finished our house, they went straight over and began building the post office.  So this post office was built in April and May of 1931. 

Library - former site of second Post Office

The current post office is on the road to the railroad depot.  Carey Fairbanks was the postmaster and he got the lease or contract to build a new brick post office.  This post office sits beside the old Fred Chambless house and has been there for at least twenty-five years.

Current Post Office

My mother bought the old building on the main drag that housed the earlier post office.  She moved it over here behind my house and rented it out.  When it came into my possession after my mother’s death, I sold the old building to Rose Council and they moved it out on the old Cane Road. 

The original Sicily Island State Bank building had a sign on the front of it that said 1918.  I don’t know when it was organized but the original building was built in 1918.  It has been renovated and added onto several times through the years but it remains in the same location. 

Sicily Island State Bank

The Sicily Island business area has had a couple of fires in the past.  The one I remember hearing my mother and my aunt tell about took place in 1912 or 1913.  The fire started in Mr. John Knight’s store and sparks came out of the top through the smoke stack and set the wood shingled roof on fire.  Starting from that store, the fire sprang over to Owen’s store which sat where the bank is today.  The fire burned several more businesses. 

Some of the old colored folks who were there in town that day have told me that what really happened was a whirlwind came over the top of the Knight store and sucked that fire up through that smoke stack and sprinkled those hot coals of fire down on top of the roof. 

I remember some of the older folks saying the town had burned once before the 1912-1913 fire. 

A lot of things I mention on these tapes go back to Mr. Buck Smith and the things that happened around his old store.  A lot of men hung out on the streets and they would go up in Mr. Buck’s store.

Tom Watson was Buck Smith’s first cousin.  One day Tom was in the store and got to drinking and passed out.  While he was passed out, Buck and some other men got some black shoe polish and painted his glasses.  When he got up, he couldn’t see.  He thought it was night time and borrowed Buck’s flashlight so he could walk home.  He left the store staggering around and bumping into everything.

Another time when Tom was in Buck’s store he went to sleep after drinking a few beers.  Buck and some others took some mecuricome and put red dots all over his face.  I imagine when he got home and his wife saw him he looked like he had the measles.

This was just a town of pranksters.  Apparently it always has been.  

Note:  Parts 1-33 of 'The Stories That Should Be Told' can be found in the Tags List on the right-hand side of the blog.

Elias W. and Sarah Ann Mathis Watson Family

Elias W. Watson and Sarah Ann Mathis were married in Marion County, Georgia on December 28, 1854.

By 1860, Elias, Sarah and three of their six children were living in Jefferson County, Alabama.  Also, note that Elias' brother, Wilson Watson, is listed as living in the same household.

The 1870 U.S. Census shows Elias, Sarah and four of their children living in Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Elias and Sarah Mathis Watson died prior to 1880 and after the birth of their sixth child, Charles William in 1872.

The 1880 U.S. Census shows their three youngest children living in Ward 8 of Catahoula Parish with Elias' brother, Wilson Watson and his wife Nettie Sherwood Watson.

The dates of death and burial locations for Elias W. Watson and Sarah Ann Mathis Watson are unknown at this time.

The following children were born to the marriage of Elias and Sarah Watson:

Julieta, 1856-before 1870; location of burial is unknown at this time.

Thomas Napoleon, 1857-1933 (m. Fannie L. Morris, 1861-1921); both are buried in the Nolley Memorial Cemetery in Jena, LaSalle Parish, Louisiana.  Tombstone photographs were taken by FindAGrave member, Chiquita Richison Thompson.

Children born to the marriage of Thomas Napolean Watson and Fannie L. Morris:

Henry Elias, 1878-1946 (m. Mary Lena Higgins, 1880-1976)
Mollie O., 1884-1961 (m. John Dunlap, 1880-1944)
Carrie Alice, 1888-1957 (m. 1. F. F. Henry, 1880-1956; 2. P.W. Kennedy, 1878-1952)
Frances Lea, 1890-1979 (m. Stephen Leonard Richey, 1886-1935)
Wade Eldon, 1893-1974 (m. Cora M. Kirby, 1894-1974)
Zenobia, 1895-1985 (m. George C. Coleman, 1887-1949)
Thomas Owen, 1900-1975 (m. Willie Howell, 1902-1990)

Terridell Lee, 1859-1898 (m. Edward Farris Keenan, 1849-1926); both are buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery near Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Children born to the marriage of Terridell Lee Watson and Edward Farris Keenan:

Joel Elias, 1877-1966 (m. 1. Roxanna Summers, 1875-1902; 2. Merzie Harmon, 1882-1957)
Lizzie Lee, 1880-before 1900, (m. Charles W. Mann)
Eugene Seymore, 1883-1893
Margaret "Maggie" B., 1887-1972 (m. Wilson A. Squyres, 1887-1961)
Charlie E., 1890-1894
Anna Pearl, 1892-1993 (m. John Friley Brooks, 1886-1942)

Wade Lampkins, 1860-1918 (m. Emma L. Hardin, 1868-after 1920); location of burials is unknown at this time.

Children born to the marriage of Wade Lampkins Watson and Emma L. Hardin:

Jessie C., 1887-1950
Willie H., 1889
Sarah Ann "Annie", 1891-1969 (m. Robert Leo McCarty, 1890-1962)
Thomas Napoleon, 1893-1959 (m.1. Lydia; 2. Minnie; 3. Permelia Tarver, 1873-1935)
Ida M., 1895-?
Roy H., 1897-? (m. Eola A., 1904-?)
Mary, 1900-?
Chester W. "Jack", 1901-1988 (m. Charlcy M. Ellis, 1906-1975)
Velda H., 1903-1986 (m. Broadus)

Nettie, 1868-1946 (m. Francis "Frank" Marion Smith, 1867-1953); both are buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery near Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

Children born to the marriage of Nettie Watson and Francis "Frank" Marion Smith:

Isom James, 1887-1972 (m. Otis McNair, 1891-1976)
Jennie Smith, 1888-1963 (m. Shelleah Polk Cantrell, 1885-1937)
Mollie Blackmon, 1890-1970 (m. Fredrick Timothy Chambless, 1888-1975)
Jessie, 1892-1988 (m. Thomas Jefferson Peniston, 1889-1977)
Clayton Francis, 1894-1970 (m. Willie Mae Sapp, 1900-1972)
William Edward "Buck", 1896-1964 (m. Mildred M. Harris, 1898-1975)
Sadye, 1898-1957 (m. Marvin Bishop Nolen, Sr., 1894-1976)
Sidney, 1898-1968 (m. Lillian Vic, 1900-1963)

Charles William, 1872-1953 (m. 1. A. Carriece Kirby, 1867-1912; 2. Sallie B. Cotton, 1888-1976); all are buried in the Harrisonburg Cemetery in Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.  Tombstone photographs were taken by FindAGrave member, Eve Merryman.

Children born to the marriage of Charles William Watson and Addie Carriece Kirby:

Vera, 1895-1956 (m. Meredith)
Edith, 1895-1974 (m. Earl H. Bland)
Rowena, 1897-1905
Hoover Monroe, 1899-1953 (m. Daisy Bland)
Mirva Blanche, 1906-1987 (m. James A. Lindsey, 1906-1979)

Children born to the marriage of Charles William Watson and Sallie Cotton:

Doris, 1915-1979 (m. Simon Meyers, 1912-1980)
Inez, 1916-? (m. Suarez)
Fannie T., 1917-before 1953
Charles William, Jr., 1919-?
Sallie D., 1922-?

Friday's Faces From the Past ~ Thelma Mitchell Brooks

Thelma Mitchell Brooks

1908-1995

Wife of Aubrey L. Brooks

Mother of 

Pat, Craig and Nan Brooks

Amanuensis Monday ~ The Stories That Should Be Told, Part 29

The following transcription is from a series of recordings my father made in the early 1990s:

The ladies here in the village started a little Bridge club in the early to mid-1930s.  There were about twelve women in the club.  They would play every week at somebody's house.  

Allye Steele Edmonds playing Bridge

There would be a first prize for the one who made the highest score. The booby prize went to the one who came in second.  The lady who was the hostess for the day gave out the prizes.  My mother was a great Bridge player.  The other ladies said she was one of the best.

I went with my mother everywhere.  Wherever you saw Allye, you saw Little Bruce.  She took me to all the Bridge games.  I especially liked going to the Bridge games because they always had refreshments.  I made sure I got in on all the refreshments.

The ladies in the Bridge club were Kathryn Benedict [Charlie] Smith, Wardie Reeves [Gus] Krause, my mother, Birdie Talbert [Oscar] Krause, Georgia Westbrook [Henry] Peniston, Willie Woodward, Isabel Enright [Melvin] Foster, Lela Tarver [Enos] Jackson, Earle York [Henry] Krause, Henry Brown [Zeb, Jr.] York, Thelia Huff [Albert Earl] Krause, Dorothy Gordon, Lilla Sorg [Tom] Enright and I believe Katie Harris [Cameron] Coney.

In playing Bridge, one of the players would bid.  If another player didn't think that player could make it, they would double the bid.  The player making the original bid could re-double the bid. That made the score higher. 

Mrs. Wardie Krause was known for doubling.  They called her Doubling Dora.  I think my mother gave her that name.

Playing Bridge

I watched them play many a day for hours and hours. Later on, in the early 1940s, my mother started playing Bridge up at Uncle Tom Enright's house with Uncle Tom and Mrs. Lilla and sometimes their daughter, Isabel Foster.  Other times, old man Zeb York would play with them.

I never got to play Bridge on a regular basis.  If somebody was late or didn't show up, they would let me play.

The men played checkers and dominoes.

Mr. Buck Smith had a checker board on a bench in front of his store.  Mr. Buck loved to play checkers.  Mr. Willie Benge was a great checker player.  The colored people liked to play checkers but they called it pool checkers.  You could jump all the way across the board, back and forth.  

Little Harry Jenkins, who we called "old folks", was the mail carrier.  He carried the mail in the mornings and in the evenings.  He would hang around town between those times.  Sometimes he helped Mr. Buck in his store.  He was always there on the street and would play pool checkers. Willie Cooper, who we called "Blue", would play pool checkers with Little Harry Jenkins.

There was a domino table right beside Mr. Whitlock's barbershop.  From early morning until dark, there would be men sitting out there playing dominoes.  John Fairbanks, Vernon Whitlock and I would sit out there and watch them play.  We got to be good domino players.  

John Fairbanks and I watched them for hours.  If we caught the table empty with no grown men there, we would play.  If the men showed up, we'd have to quit playing and let the men play. Every once in a while they would let us play. 

I've got to tell this story.

One day, John and I wandered up town barefooted and were playing dominoes and here came Mr. Willie Benge to town.  Mr. Rufus Knight was across the street at the filing station.  They both headed to the domino table.  I guess they felt bad about breaking up our game so they suggested that John and I play them in a game.  I can just see Mr. Willie Benge laughing now.

John and I were partners against Mr. Willie Benge and Mr. Rufus Knight.  Mr. Rufus was a great domino player.  Mr. Willie was one of those who studied and concentrated on the game.  Players got seven dominoes a piece and after two or three plays or rounds, Mr. Willie would almost know what was in everybody's hand; who had what and who didn't have what.

In this game, Mr. Willie was playing ahead of me.  He had already figured out the dominoes that I didn't have and he knew I didn't have the 5x4 by the way we had played the first two or three rounds.  He played me wide open to a count knowing I didn't have the 5x4.  I'd show up with the 5x4 and score 15 or 20 points.  

Mr. Rufus was also keeping up with who had what.  He knew John Fairbanks didn't have the 6x4 because he had been opened to that play before and didn't play it.  John would show up with the 6x4 and score.

The game went on and on.  Mr. Whitlock caught up with his barbering and came out to watch. Other domino players began to show up.  They were all anxious to get the table but that game was going on and John and I were beating Mr. Willie and Mr. Rufus.  

Carey Fairbanks

Those other men were whooping and laughing.  Boy, Mr. Willie never cracked a smile.  He never quit studying and humming.  Mr. Rufus was just desperate.  He was mad.  We were just tearing them up.  All those men knew that John and I were pretty good players.

After a while, here came one of John's older brothers, Carey Fairbanks.  He was about four years older than us.  Carey stood there and watched us play. All of a sudden, Carey yelled, "Them suckers are passing the dominoes under the table!"  He had caught us.

What was happening was John wasn't supposed to have the 6x4.  Mr. Rufus played him safe for that, he thought.  I had the 6x4 and put it between my toes and passed it to John under the table.  John did the same for me on the 5x4.

We'd been playing for an hour or more.  I'll never forget the looks on the faces of Mr. Willie Benge and Mr. Rufus Knight as we played.  They had the darnedest looks on their faces.  They just couldn't figure out how two little boys were beating them.

Later on, the men had domino parties.  They would invite different people to their houses and usually played late in the evenings or at night.  

After I got grown, I started playing dominoes with the older men.  We didn't have a domino table up town anymore but at least once a week someone had a domino party at their house.  

One night, Mr. Claude Enright was having a domino party at his house and somebody at the last minute told him they couldn't come that evening.  Mr. Claude asked me to play.  He knew I played.  After that, when they needed a fill-in, they would call me.  I got to be a regular at only twenty-five years old; playing with men who were sixty-five and seventy years old.  We would start at about six in the evening and play until ten or eleven at night.

Cameron Coney

I played with Price Wilkinson, Claude Enright, Cameron Coney, Aubrey Brooks, T. J. Peniston, Ed Stephens and Simon Meyers.  Goodness, they enjoyed those games!  I know that Mr. T. J., Mr. Price and Mr. Claude would have rather played dominoes than eat!  They thoroughly enjoyed it. They didn't enjoy it any more than I did.  I'd hear we were going to play that evening and I would just be excited.

Several years ago, Mr. Price Wilkinson who was in his early 90s had been playing with Mr. Brooks, Mr. Dent and Mr. Garland Furr.  Mr. Dent died and Simon Meyers started back playing with them then quit.  Mr. Price asked me to start playing with them again.  

Price Wilkinson

Every Thursday night we'd meet up at Mr. Price's house and play dominoes.  It ended up with me and Mr. Price playing Mr. Garland Furr and Little Zeb York, old man Zeb York's grandson.  We played just like we had in the past.  There would be some hot competition.  We'd laugh at each other, argue with each other, complain and make excuses.

I remember one night Mr. Price and I were beating them real bad.  We must have played fifteen games that night and we had won about twelve of the games.  Mr. Price was just a laughing.  He would get almost hysterical.  I can just see him rubbing his hands together, clapping and laughing.  

As everybody got ready to leave, I called out to Little Zeb to tell him he had left his hat.  He came back in the house and said he didn't wear a hat.  Oh man, Mr. Price Wilkinson laughed!  I had made Little Zeb come back inside for his hat and he hadn't even worn one.

Aubrey Brooks

Mr. Brooks and Mr. Coney told me about the time they had been out at Mr. Price Wilkinson's house some years before to play dominoes.  Mr. Price was on the losing end of the game.  Of course, that wasn't funny to him. He didn't like to lose.  

They got to the door, getting ready to go home and Mr. Price almost pushed them out the door. Just as the door closed a huge down pour of rain began.  They said it was like he just pushed them out in the rain because they had beaten him at dominoes.

I wouldn't give a flip for playing dominoes with just anybody.  Playing with that bunch of men who were all older than me was just something I really enjoyed.  I miss them.  

Mr. Price Wilkinson would have been 100 years old on July 3rd.  He died last winter [1990] and didn't quite make the 100.

All of them are gone now.  I miss my old domino partners.  I sure do.

Note:  Parts 1-28 of 'The Stories That Should Be Told' can be found in the Tags List on the right-hand side of the blog.