
Thursday, March 26, 2009
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Community News

Potts Camp News
Dale Hollingsworth

Bill and Terri Kitchens celebrate wedding anniversary March 28

We welcome Tommie Ann and Gale Goode back to Potts Camp; they have lived in Greenwood for many years. She is the oldest child of Annie Ruth and the late T.M. Stone. Gale was one of the famous Potts Camp Cardinals who won the overall State Tournament back in 1961, for the first and only time, under coach Stone. It was a happy day for our town!

Connie Work had emergency foot surgery recently at Tupelo Hospital. Say a special prayer for her.

Spring break was held at Potts Camp last week. We hope they had a safe and happy week. I miss them across the street when school is out. I look forward to sitting on my front porch this summer.

Recently, I was so happy to see the great-grandchild of my late brother, Lindy and Joann Potts, when Joann of Olive Branch and her friend, Ann Busby, stopped to see me. They had attended a funeral for a friend, Jim Kirby, in Hickory Flat. The sweet baby, 6-month-old James Tucker (Tusk) is the son of Lindy and Jo’s granddaughter, Lauren and David Wilson. When I saw him my mind raced back over the years to the Christmas program long ago at our Methodist church when Lindy, age 6 months, was Baby Jesus and I was his mother, Mary, age 13. What happy memories!

Thoughts

1. The world is full of beauty when the heart is full of love! There’s nothing in life that love cannot change.

2. Becoming a Christian is one of the most important decisions anyone can ever make! Praise the Lord!

3. To know your love, open your heart to Jesus; to show love, open your heart to others. God is love!

Poem

By feeding on your blessed word, dear Lord, I will no longer weak and childish be; as I listen to your spirit’s voice, may Christlike love and grace be seen in me. Amen.

Betty put spring flowers on the family graves on Sunday.

Thoughts

Poem

I Said a Prayer for You Today

I said a prayer for you today, and I know God must have heard, I felt the answer in my heart, although He spoke not a word. I didn’t ask for wealth or fame; I knew you wouldn’t mind. I asked Him to send treasures of a far more lasting kind. I asked that He be near you at the start of each new day, to grant you health and blessings and friends to share your way. I asked for happiness for you in all things great and small; but is was for His loving care I prayed most of all. —Lindy’s newsletter

Thoughts

Children learn what they live

1. As a mother, one of the most important assignments you will ever be given is encouraging and mentoring character in your children while they are young.

2. When you have patience, a seed of patience is planted into the heart of your child.

3. When you do your best to right a wrong, or stand for fairness, a silent witness is listening with trusting little ears.

When you choose honesty over dishonesty, your child will remember it.

4. Encourage your child to do the best, hold fast to their dreams and behold the hands of God in which our lives are held. This will sustain them for a lifetime.

Happy birthday to Charles Henderson on March 28.

Happy wedding anniversary to Bill and Terri Kitchens on March 28.

Happy birthday to Jeremy Humpreys on March 28; to Julia Mayer Elliott on March 29.

Prayer list: Jamie Smith, Connie Work, Mary Jarrett, Diane Clayton, Henry Tutor, Mary Jo Whaley, Charles Henderson. Pray for others who are sick and lonely. God answers prayers! Pray for the family of Thomas Skelton Jr., in his recent death; his mother, Pauline Hutchens, is my friend; also his sister, Sue Erwin. Pray for our country, our new leaders and those who have lost their jobs.

Memories and History

Who is there old enough who hasn’t thrilled to the cry, “The train is coming!”

Railroads have always been a part of our town, since Col. Potts’ daughter, Mary Potts Reid, gave the land for a right-of-way and the first depot was built in 1886, and named Potts Camp. It was two years before the first board meeting in 1888.

In earlier years, trains were very important and the most popular Christmas gift for young boys was a toy train set. Railroads seemed to get into a man’s system during the early days. Until my father’s death, the sound of an approaching train was music to his ear, also to Harry Jones, who was once a brakeman.

We here in Potts Camp were sad when the old railroad system was demolished. Many people told about working in Memphis during the week and riding home on the train for the weekend. Betty Fincher had a job at the old, huge Sears store. My sister, Ann, also worked in Memphis with many friends; they all rode the train home on weekends. They stayed at a boarding place for young women in Memphis during the week.

The late Frank Johnson (we called him “Lighten”) worked on the railroad for so long and loved it so much that he kept on coming back to work after retirement age.

Everyone loved the old man, so they gave him the job of hanging the mail and bringing the sack of mail for Potts Camp back to the old post office. He lived to be about 100 years old; he always smiled and talked to everyone.

I remember seeing the old T-Model and A-Model cars and the old wagons at the depot; it seemed like everyone was waiting for the train. During the winter months, they were standing near the pot-bellied stove.

We would watch down the tracks and run in to tell the others, “The train is coming!” Everyone rushed outside; my brother Lindy would close his eyes until the engine passed. Before the 1950s, when they used the steam engine, as the train rolled in, you could hear the chuff, chuff, chuff of the air pumps and rattling of the wheels against the tracks, then sizzling, whistling sounds as the steam leaked out.

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