RRN Online Volume 561

March 03 '07

Volume 561

Pontotoc Progress A '57 Reflection

First National Is Expanding Downtown Pontotoc is changing. As few as fifty years ago, downtown Pontotoc was a beehive of activity every day of the week save Sunday. I would also note that most businesses closed on Wednesday afternoon as well. If one went to a bank it meant a trip to town. The Bank of Pontotoc and First National Bank did not have the multiple branch-bank locations one finds on Hwy. 15 bypass, today. If one needed to buy a John Deere tractor or purchase a Ford or Chevy, one went to downtown Pontotoc.

There were five grocery stores in downtown and one small supermarket about one mile west of downtown. Not far from downtown were a scattering of what might be considered convenience stores or neighborhood stores. These included G.C. Henry Grocery and Market, Cannon’s Grocery, and Carra Lyon's store, all of which were less than a mile from downtown.

Fifty years ago, in downtown Pontotoc, there were six gas stations, three drug stores, three barbershops, two ten-cent stores, five or more dry-goods or department stores, two or three hardware stores, three furniture stores, two appliance stores, two funeral homes, four churches, and a host of other businesses. Downtown also housed all the offices of lawyers, doctors, dentists, and optometrists.

I don’t recall the exact year the Hwy. 15 bypass was completed, but it had to have been after 1953, the year Dad moved our family back to my birthplace. However, ever since then businesses have followed the advice given by Horace Greeley in the mid eighteen-hundreds, "Go west young man. Go west," and merchants have sought to locate somewhere along the bypass, which is west of downtown.

Here’s a table comparing some of the types of businesses of downtown Pontotoc then and now.

Business Type 1957 2007

Automobile Dealership 2 0

Farm Equipment 1 0

Hardware Store 2 1

Furniture Store 3 1

Department/ Clothing Store 5 - 6 3

Appliance Store 2 1

Funeral Home 2 1

Service Gas Station 6 1

Barber/ Beauty Shop 5 1

Grocery Store 5 0

Wielding Shop 1 0

Movie Theater 1 0

Bank 2 2

Variety/ Dime Store 2 0

Totals 39 - 40 11

It’s not that there are a lot of empty buildings in downtown Pontotoc, but, today, many downtown businesses are quite different from fifty years ago, and the total number of businesses downtown is less. There are no dime stores, grocery stores, or movie theaters, but there is one new beauty shop.

Only one service station remains in business of the six that once lined Main Street, but there are plenty of convenience stores with gas pumps on the bypass. Five of the downtown buildings that once housed gas stations have been converted to serve a different purpose. Two serve as dental offices, one is occupied by a florist, one is empty at the moment having served previously as a windshield repair shop, and the fifth recently became something of an automobile detail shop.

Where grocery stores once served the food needs of the local population, now, one may find a real estate business, photography studio, pizzeria, coffee shop or shoe store. Of the three furniture stores in 1957, none remain. One was torn down and replaced with a parking lot, one renovated for county offices, and the other one was remodeled and, today, houses loan offices.

One of the most remarkable makeovers involves the section of main street beginning with the location of First National Bank and terminating at the corner of Main and Marion streets. In 1957, this block had six businesses fronting Main Street. Starting with First National Bank and moving south the remaining businesses were Kuhn’s 5-10 & 25 Cent Store, Graves Beauty and Barber Shop, Henderson Insurance, Gordon’s, Page’s Five Cent Store, and Bigham and Donaldson Hardware. Today, only two businesses stand where once there were six. First National Bank is expanding, and, when the work is done, will adjoin Michael’s, Pontotoc’s Finest department store.

I can’t imagine why First National is expanding, as they have two sizeable branch banks on the bypass. And while, no one has mentioned the need for a three story structure, I have the feeling they want to stand every bit as tall as the two-story Bank of Pontotoc exactly one block south and on a higher elevation.

Pontotoc is likely to experience a surge of growth in all types of businesses in the next decade. With the location of a new Toyota plant, less than fifteen miles away, that pledges to employ two thousand workers and draw an additional two thousand new jobs needed to staff the anticipated suppliers that will be needed by the Toyota facility, Pontotoc is sure to see a lot of progress.

While a lot of the anticipated business growth will be west and north of downtown, I imagine downtown Pontotoc will not be left out of the picture. If nothing else, downtown may fill up with apartments and offices. Changes are inevitable, and it will be interesting for some of us to watch, while others seek to manage, the changes that are coming.

Lane Snakes What Are They

When asked how she might associate the term, lane snakes, my wife responded, "Snakes make me shudder."

It was only after I supplied her a little background for the term did she admit that her early suppositions included something to do with shopping carts being returned in a serpentine fashion from the parking lot to the retail store.

I spent more than four hours of "windshield time" with my boss this week as we visited various retailers who are interested in rewarding customers by offering them discounts on gasoline, either at their own fuel center or that of a partnering convenience store nearby. As we neared the Military Road exit on Hwy. 82 in Columbus, I hesitated to pass the vehicle directly in front of me, simply because, I calculated I could barely get in front of it before I would need to exit the highway. Bob noted my apparent courtesy.

"I wasn't sure if you were going to try to get around him or not," he stated. "I'm promoting a term to apply to drivers who cut you off in traffic or weave in and out of lanes at high speed. The worst offenders are those who race past everyone lined up in one lane in advance of a lane closing and then want someone to let them merge into the line at the last minute. I call them lane snakes. Somebody may let them merge, but it won't be me!"

"Not without them peeling off your front fender or bumper, huh?"

"That's right. I’m not scared of an accident."

My attitude is similar concerning those motorists whom I describe as last-second mergers. I rarely oblige them, either, as I figure they read the same traffic warning signs I read. In fact, I equate their highway etiquette with that of grade school bullies who break into cafeteria lines, and often get away with it through intimidation.

"Lane snakes?" I quizzed, wanting to be sure I had understood what he said. "Did you come up with that on your own, or did you read it somewhere.

"I came up with it," he stated.

It sounded appropriate to me, so I made a mental note to add it to my dictionary of slang terms. Now, maybe I'll have some bumper stickers made up and sell them, labeled something on the order of "Eradicate Lane Snakes." Any takers?

Bodock Beau Male Beauty Product

Due to the climate of political correctness now pervading America, Kentuckians, Tennesseans and West Virginians will no longer be referred to as "hillbillies." you must now refer to them as Appalachian Americans.

And furthermore…

How to speak about women and be politically correct:

She is not a "babe" or a "chick" - she is a "breasted American."
She is not a "dumb blonde" - she is a "light-haired detour off the information superhighway."
She has not "been around" - she is a "previously-enjoyed companion."
She does not "nag" you - she becomes "verbally repetitive."
She is not a "two-bit hooker" - she is a "low cost provider."

How to speak about men and be politically correct:

He does not have a "beer gut" - he has developed a "liquid grain storage facility."
He is not a "bad dancer" - he is "overly Caucasian."
He does not "get lost all the time" - he "investigates alternative destinations."
He is not "balding" - he is in "follicle regression."
It's not his "crack" you see when he’s bent over - it's "rear cleavage."

Shared by H.P. Prewett, Jr.

Male Beauty Product

Attention All Men:

Do women call you Fatty?

Do women call you Baldy?

Do women call you Ugly?

Do you have bad breath?

Do women call you Shorty?

Do your ears have more hair than your head?

Do women call you Stupid?

Do women call you Loser?

Are you over 40, 50, 60, or even 70?

Worst of all, have the women completely lost interest in you?

Do not despair. Now there is a new "Male Beauty Product" on the market that will change all of that!

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Shared by Vickey Murphree

Jay Leno: The state of Virginia’s General Assembly has passed a resolution apologizing for slavery. Not a moment too soon. It’s good to nip these things in the bud before any hard feelings develop. Speaking of that, according to a new report by genealogists, Al Sharpton’s ancestors were slaves once owned by Strom Thurmond’s relatives. And now Al Sharpton wants a DNA test to see if they are related. And somehow you know this is going to end up that Strom is the father of Anna Nicole’s baby. You know that’s going to happen.