Happy Hollow
Floyd McCullough Remembers
I would be interested in knowing how a part of the City of Pontotoc
came to be known as Happy Hollow, but I suppose the name was derived from
the folks who lived there being close-knit and fun loving. In my growing
up years, everybody I knew called the place Happy Holler, which is how I
pronounce it even today.
In a recent issue of Ridge Rider New, I shared that Floyd McCullough had
read his memory of once living in Happy Hollow at a meeting of the Pontotoc
Historical Society. Believing readers familiar with Pontotoc would enjoy
Floyd’s story, I asked him for permission to print it in its entirety.
Happy Hollow
By Floyd McCullough
My life of crime began when I was quite small. Mother sent me to Ferguson-Harris
Grocery to buy a small item. For my efforts she gave me a penny to buy something
for myself. Instead of buying a Baby Ruth or an all-day sucker, I bought
a penny box of matches. I started back down the hill. A pasture full of dry,
knee-high grass caught my eye. Using the matches, I fired it off, throwing
one after another until the whole pasture was ablaze, and everyone in Happy
Hollow was out fighting fire. To top it off, this episode influenced my friend,
Malvin Baldwin, who did the same thing on his side of the street some time
later.
Speaking of Malvin reminds me of the time he was visiting me and noticed
my mother’s ornamental pepper plant. It was so pretty; I told him the
peppers were good to eat, so he tried one. The last I saw of him that day
he was running home screaming for water.
I paid for those two incidents later while I was exploring around a vacant
house across the street. First, I climbed up on a chair and stuck my finger
into the empty socket on a drop cord, which, unfortunately, was still hot
with electricity. Then I wandered out into the backyard, climbed a tree that
was covered with poison ivy. I was one sad, suffering little boy that night.
Early on in my school years, I was walking home through the woods and found
a plug of tobacco on the ground. This was a worn path from my house to the
school in the area where today there is a paved street, the baseball field,
Scout Hut, and fence as well. Anyway, I picked up the tobacco and began to
chew on it. Pretty soon I was so sick I thought I’d die, and pretty
soon after that, I was hoping I would!
One summer night, sometime later, the aforementioned Malvin and I were out
catching lightning bugs. That’s some of the things that kids did in
those days, chase and catch lightning bugs and put them in a jar. We put
ours in a quart jar with holes punched in the lid. We watched them light
up in the jar a while; then we got tired of the game. We quietly slipped
up to a neighbor’s door, took the lid off the jar, pushed the door open
(Back then, nobody ever locked their doors at night.) and slid the jar with
the lightning bugs still in it, over into the living room. By the time the
neighbors noticed the lightning bugs flitting all inside their house, we
were innocently playing kick-the-can, Hop Scotch, May I, or some other harmless
game with other neighborhood children.
During the years of the late 1920’s my dad took our family to a lot
of all-day singings. Singing was not my cup of tea, but it was fun to go
because the other boys and I could always slip out and find more interesting
things to do than sitting inside listening to a lot of folks singing.
One Sunday at New Salem Presbyterian Church, I was standing in the back doorway
contemplating my course of action when my cousin, Junior Floyd, slipped up
behind me and pushed me out of the door, breaking my arm. My parents took
me to Dr. Donaldson’s office, and he kept asking me questions while
giving me ether. The last question I remember him asking was did I have a
blue pig. I told him that I did. The next thing I remember was waking up
and looking down. I was sporting a big white cast on my arm.
My mother must have been a saint to have put up with me all of my growing
up years. I know that she was a very remarkable lady as my last family story
will show. Daddy began to have some bad back problems. They finally had to
put him in the hospital in Tupelo.
Mother wanted to go to the hospital to see Daddy, but she didn’t have
anyone to take her. Now we had a car, but she had never driven a car in her
life. She must have been determined to go. She called in one of the neighbors
and got him to show her some things about the car and how to work the shift.
She got my brother J.B. and me ready. She put us in the backseat of the car.
She crawled in the front seat and she drove that car to the hospital in Tupelo.
We visited with Daddy; then we went back and got in the car, and she drove
us back home, but she never drove that one or any other car again
as long as she lived.
My story of Happy Hollow would not be complete without mentioning other neighbors
that I remember from those years. In addition to the Baldwins, there were
the Abernathys, DeKays, Rogers, the Longs (Mr. Short Long), and my Uncle
Vaughn Floyd’s family.
People will remember other families on the hill toward town – the Gilmores,
Gates (Mr. Gates was a crippled man and rode in a child’s wagon. He
served several terms as Circuit Clerk), and the E.E. Phillips (Town Marshall).
One long-time resident at the top of the hill going east was Mrs. Icie Moor
and daughter Martha.
Through the years others have enjoyed this wonderful neighborhood. Some were
the Hicks sisters, the Franklins, Crausbys, Prewitts, Balls, and Hueys. Three
were also Boucchillons, Branhams, and Jones families.
Though I didn’t even know her then, my wife Ruth often played with the
Abernathy girls. Their first cousin was Robert DeKay. Ruth’s mother
said that John (Ruth’s brother) wanted her to sew patches on the knees
of his overalls because Bobby DeKay had patches on his overalls.
In recent years our football and baseball fields have been known simply as
"The Hollow." During my growing up years, countless children knew "The Hollow"
as a wonderful brick sidewalk that went from our old school building, that
burned down, into the hollow across the western end of the football field,
then up the hill to Liberty Street. I think the brick walk was a WPA project.
(Works Project Administration was founded in 1935.) This was a magical place,
completely enclosed overhead, and on both sides with trees, honeysuckle,
and other vines. Filled with the laughter of children from school, this was
indeed, a "Happy Hollow."
When my own children were growing up, we had several really big snows. Along
with many other families, my family spent many happy hours on the big hill
in Happy Hollow with our sleds. Once again, I was having fun in Happy Hollow.
By Floyd McCullough
Cathedral Of St.
John By Sarah C. Brown
On Monday morning of our last full day in New York, Uncle Lamar served as
our guide to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Having toured the National
Cathedral in Washington in 2003, I had put St. John the Divine on my "must-see"
list.
Although the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is the largest cathedral in
the world, much of the structure was closed because of repairs being conducted.
In December, 2001, a fire destroyed the North Transept and caused extensive
smoke damage to the interior of the cathedral.
In order to fully appreciate the cathedral, a bit of its history is useful.
Initial discussion for the building of the cathedral began in 1828, but it
was not until 1873 that the plans proceeded with the granting of the charter
by the state of New York. The ensuing financial panic of 1873 placed such
a financial hardship on the Diocese of New York, along with every corporate
body, that the Board of Trustees did not meet again until 1886.
Along with the immense undertaking of selecting appropriate designs, the
site for the cathedral was no small undertaking. In 1887, a devoted layman,
George Macculoch Miller, suggested the site finally chosen. At that time
the site contained the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum and had 117 trees. Miller
family tradition has it Mr. Miller, himself, paid the down payment out of
his own pocket.
Originally, Mr. Miller and the Bishop envisioned the cathedral running north
and south from this lofty promontory. All competitive designs were drawn
with such a position in mind. However, such a scheme could not withstand
the popular demand that the cathedral maintain the traditional east-west
placement, and in 1897, the Trustees "turned" the building so that the entrance
is on the west and the High Altar is on the east.
On St. John’s Day (December 27), 1892, the cornerstone was laid.
Construction soon ran into problems. It took more than two years until the
diggings went down 72 feet to bedrock. Finally, the huge undertaking of setting
the foundations for a building of such a tremendous weight began. Rafael
Guastavino and his son, referred to as "the Younger," are credited with solving
the problem of the interior dome and with the tile work in the building.
By laminating their tile, cantilever style, they could cover almost anything
with a light, but solid vault or dome roof. "Bridges" of Guastavino tile
support the entire floor (the choir, crossing and nave) and the entire overhead
vaulting is of the same tile technique.
All the construction was financed, and continues to be financed, without
borrowing. The result means periods of time when construction is forced to
cease. From 1922 to 1938, the structure consisted of the choir and a temporary
structure within the four arches of the crossing. The crossing would accommodate
close to 1700 people.
In 1941, the Cathedral unveiled its 601-foot length for dedication only one
week before Pearl Harbor. Construction stopped because of the war and did
not resume until 1979 with work on the South Tower. The fire in 2001 set
back construction with the need for cleaning and restoration of the existing
building.
Upon entering, the sheer size of the building was the first thing, which
struck me. From one end to the other is the length of two football fields.
The vaulted ceiling rose 126 feet above us. The building is constructed only
of stone, tile, and brick. Steel beams hold up a concrete roof above the
vaulting in the nave, however this roof is considered a replaceable covering
and is not actually a permanent part of the building. I read that the height
of the dome over the Crossing is such that the Statue of Liberty could stand
under the dome.
The Pilgrim’s Pavement is within the three inner aisles of the Nave
and is a statement of the important role cathedrals played as shrines and
holy places on pilgrimage routes in Medieval Europe. In the pavement are
medallions made of black granite and marble with bronze symbols. The center
aisle shows events from Christ’s earthly life. The south aisle depicts
major shrines in Great Britain. The north aisle depicts major shrines in
mainland Europe and ecclesiastical landmarks in the United States.
When we stood in the Crossing and looked to the West Portal, the huge rose
window over the entrance was magnificent. The figure of Christ in the smaller
rose window directly above the entrance is five feet, seven inches, almost
life-size. The Nave has a majesty all its own. The piers are alternately
wide (16 feet) and slender (six feet) and rise to a height of 100 feet. Each
pier is made up of one stone, the weight of which is four tons, and there
are fifty-three courses of them.
Basically, what the visitor sees is masonry supporting masonry. The huge
stained-glass windows in each of the fourteen themed bays are so high and
so immense that I was scarcely able to take in more than the colors. I needed
binoculars to study the images in the windows. I was able to ascertain which
were the Military, Medical, Education, Arts, Crusaders, and Sports bays.
I cannot remember the other eight bays. The day we attended the exhibit of
modern art, "Apostles" was prominently displayed and possibly my interest
in these inhibited the strategic viewing of the bays.
We were able to see modern sculpture by Frederick Franke. Uncle Lamar told
us he knew Franke. Barbara and I spent some time viewing his work, "The
Resurrection." The piece was a figure of a man cut from a rectangle of sheet
metal. The figure lay at the front with the cut-out standing behind. The
effect was one of positive-negative imagery. I was taken with the image being
the same form but of different composition. It called to mind the Biblical
concept that we shall be changed, but that we will know each other. I was
also impressed that a simple medium of sheet metal could have such an impact,
until I remembered the impact of a wooden cross through the last 2000 years.
The Choir and High Altar were screened off to us because of the restoration
project. I was disappointed because the restoration kept from us so much
of what I wanted to view. We were unable to see the two painted enamel vases
near the high altar, which were given by Emperor Hirohito in 1926 and the
gilded teak prayer chests donated by the King of Siam in 1930. Those pieces
were of interest to me since Hirohito chose to attack our country fourteen
years later and our country was embroiled in Vietnam, once known as Siam.
Because we missed so much this time, I have determined to return once the
restoration is complete, if I live long enough, and of course if it is in
cool weather.
Sarah is the editor’s sister and occasionally contributes articles to
RRN.
Bodock Beau No
Taillight
Redneck jokes keep showing up with or without Jeff Foxworthy’s stamp
on them. The first of the following humor is not described as a redneck joke,
but it sounds like one.
No Taillight
"How long have you been driving without a tail light?" asked the policeman
after pulling over a motorist.
The driver jumped out, ran to the rear of his car and gave a long, painful
groan and put his face in his hands. He seemed so upset that the cop was
moved to ease up on him a bit.
"Come on, now," he said, "you don't have to take it so hard. It isn't that
serious."
"It isn't?" cried the motorist. "Then you know what happened to my boat and
trailer?"
Shared by Cheryl Radford
You Might Be A Redneck If…
-
You trim your beard and find a French fry.
-
You use a piece of bread as a napkin.
-
You wear overalls to save on the cost of shirts and underwear.
-
Your car alarm eats dog food.
-
Your car burns more oil than gas.
-
Your flashlight holds more than four batteries.
-
Your horse can count higher than you.
-
You have a very special baseball cap, just for formal occasions.
-
Red Man sends you a Christmas card.
-
The Salvation Army declines your mattress.
-
You bought a VCR so you could tape wrestling while you are at work.
-
Your wife has a beer belly and you find it attractive.
-
Your house doesn't have curtains, but your truck does.
Jay Leno.... The New York Post reported that three years ago
Osama bin Laden tried to buy massive amounts of cocaine in order to poison
it and then sell it here in America. Tainted cocaine -- as opposed to the
normal healthy cocaine most Americans enjoy. .... So remember when
you buy cocaine, if the safety seal is already broken -- just return it.
Always keep your receipt just in case you need to return it. ....
A Washington think tank has concluded that the job of finding and removing
all illegal immigrants from the United States would cost over 200 billion
dollars, and take over five years. That is, unless we hire illegal immigrants
to do it, then it would cost us a tenth of the normal price. ....
Did you see John Kerry in France? He was over there to meet with Lance Armstrong
after his victory. Do you know why? John Kerry at one point...wanted to be
a professional bike rider but they could never find a helmet that would fit
his head. .... A federal judge has ordered O.J. Simpson to pay $25,000
in damages for pirating satellite television signals from Direct TV. What's
next? Are we going to get Robert Blake for downloading music?! ....
O.J. insists he's innocent and said he will continue to look for the real
pirates. .... A group of U.S. Muslim scholars announced...they have
forbidden terrorism. Well that's nipping it in the bud. I'm glad they came
out with this so soon, before things got out of hand.
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