Potts Camp News
By Dale Hollingsworth

Stone family celebrates birthdays

The family of Mr. and Mrs. T.M. Stone celebrated the birthdays of four family members, Pebble Gadd, Mitch Stone Jr., T.M. Stone and Jeanette Stone on Saturday, Jan. 22 with a birthday dinner at their home. Tommie and Gale Goode came home for the weekend and joined them. T.M. Stone’s birthday was the 24th, Jeanette’s was Jan. 30, Mitch Stone Jr’s was the 24th of Jan. and Pebble’s birthday was Dec. 31.

Doris Poole surprised her daughter-in-law, Wendy Poole, wife of Kevin Poole with a birthday party recently with many people attending.

Billie Margaret Benefield has returned home from visiting her sister, Mary Louise Howard in Ohio for almost a month. Mary Louise’s son drove her there, and also back home. It snowed two times while she was there; her daughter, Susan from Indiana, visited her twice at her sister’s home. (Her other daughter is Regina.)

I was happy to have my friend, Martha Fant of Holly Springs, visit me on Sunday, Jan. 23; her son Randy is my neighbor. She told me about the meeting of the Marshall County Genealogical Society at Marshall County Library on Saturday, Jan. 23; she is the new secretary of the Society. “Cemetery Preservation” was one of the topics discussed at the meeting; Mr. Renick was a guest speaker. He told of finding an old family cemetery with only two or three headstones; he kept digging and found many more graves, then scraped them clean of grass. He had four preachers in his family. I thought of Bro. Dennis Renick, pastor of the First Baptist Church here in the ’30s. He boarded with a Potts Camp Methodist merchant and family, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brownlee (they kept him rent free in the back of a Potts Camp store, located where our present post office is now located.

At that time the Baptist and Methodist Churches were attending services, one weekend at the Methodist and the next at the Baptist Churches.

Young people my age really enjoyed Brother Renick. He went on to preach in a Memphis church, but came back for funerals, homecoming, etc. We will never forget him. Martha Fant’s mother is Allene Teel, who writes for The South Reporter. Martha’s daughter, Amy, and her husband have a 1-year-old son. She is a nurse. I love that family!

Thoughts: 1) With the love of God in our hearts, there is no room for hate. Love is one of God’s greatest gifts. Without it, nothing else is important. I Corinthians 13:1 says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am become as a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.” God loves us.

2) We should only speak words that God approves of, no unkind remarks, gossips or disrespectful remarks using the Lord’s name. Our prayer should be the same as Psalm 19, David’s passionate prayer: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” God can enable us to speak words that build up others, and glorify His name.

3) God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Joyce Clayton’s daughter, Merion and David Hunsucker of Ashland, visited Joyce and Joel Clayton on Sunday, Jan. 23.

We send our love and sympathy to the large family of Chester Hutchens, age 87, of Cornersville in his recent death. Services were held at the Bethlehem Church of the Lord Jesus Christ on Tuesday with Bro. Steve Wilson officiating. He was buried in the church cemetery.

We also send our love and sympathy to the family of Sara Jane Wilkerson Evans, age 70, of Alabama, in her death. Services were held on Wednesday at Holly Springs Funeral Home with burial in Lebanon Cemetery. I remember her as a pretty, sweet girl in Potts Camp School.

Happy birthday to Lamar Day on Feb. 9, to Lauren Brook Potts on Feb. 10 and to Sank Owen on Feb. 12.

There are so many people, old and young, rich and poor, who need our prayers, in our country and also overseas. When we sit down to eat, we should remember to pray for the hungry people everywhere. Never stop praying for our troops overseas and their families; many of them will never come home alive.

Prayer list: Donna Marett, Lucille Hutchens, Larry Edwards, Roy Foote, Alan Taylor, Jean Derryberry, Ollie Mansel, Evelyn Bready, Maxine Potts, Annie Spears, Lena Fay Work, Jessie Pipkin, Juanita Howell, Willa Floyd, Hazel Cox, Martha Ross, Ladine Randolph, Dorothy Forester, Louise King, Mary Poole, Jene McCallum, Evelyn Hudson (West Memphis Home), Mary Jo McCallum, Ruthie St. John, Willie Thomas Wicker, Doris Goode, Henry Tutor, Ella Rea Whaley, Sue Whaley, Lillie Mae Ford.

Memories

One day I found an old letter my late mother, Mae Potts, had written to her son, Lindy, while he was an MP in the Air Force. It was dated 1951. She told him that when he returned a new teachers’ home would be located across the street from us.

The first old house with large concrete porches was owned by my friends’ (the Alvis girls) grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Alvis Sr.

After their deaths, the old house was sold to the school for a “teacher home.” Mr. and Mrs. Rex Burrow, principal and wife, were the first people who moved there; she was my eighth grade teacher (she gave us a hard way to go). Mr. and Mrs. R.A. Butler and children came next; he was liked by everyone. He was our math teacher; I ran across the street many times and asked him for help. He was kind and good to all of us. The children played with Ann and Lindy; Bobbie was a tomboy. She and Lindy got in trouble with their BB guns many times.

I remember the wonderful chapel programs we had at school. Everyone had their own song book. Sometimes a minister from the local churches would speak to us, and other times a class would be in charge of the Bible reading, prayers and singing. We sang “God Bless America” a lot.

In 1932 a new agriculture and home economics building was completed, also a new gym. We could have ball games indoors for the first time. Mr. Loyd Thomas was the coach; the boys sold chickens that had been donated to buy red and white suits. They were named the Potts Camp Cardinals for the first time. Mr. Thomas had good teams.

We also had a new commercial department. Mrs. Dunn was the first teacher; she helped us with our school paper “The Windy Waves.” Later she married the superintendent of education, Mr. Curd. He bought out “The South Reporter,” and she quit teaching and helped him with the county paper. Those were Depression years and we didn’t have much money but we enjoyed school. Miss Eason, music teacher, presented many programs with glee clubs and with Sarah Myers, tap dancing and expression teacher. I will always love Potts Camp School!

For many years, Worth Dunn, an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist in Florida, has been giving a full scholarship to a deserving Potts Camp High School senior who would not be able to attend otherwise. Dr. Dunn’s mother died young, and his dad had to work. All the children were in school, so Mr. Butler let Worth attend school at age 4 with the other children. Mr. Butler was a good man!

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Potts Camp News By Dale Hollingsworth

Stone family celebrates birthdays

Potts Camp News
By Dale Hollingsworth