Community News
Potts Camp News
Dale Hollingsworth Smithwicks enjoy family reunion at Chewalla Two
sons of Bobby Smithwick, Sam and Shay Smithwick spent two happy weeks
with their dad and wife, Katie. They live at Kennebunk, Maine. On
Saturday, the enjoyed a family reunion at Chewalla Lake. (I have always
loved Bobby Smithwick and his family before him. They were special
friends.) The three churches on the Potts Camp
Methodist charge, Bethlehem Methodist, Cornersville Methodist and Potts
Camp Methodist, met Sunday at Cornersville Church for a singing. Rev.
Don Newton is pastor of the three churches. I was
happy to receive a letter from a special friend, Sylvia Akin of
Memphis. They had taken their grandson on a trip to Gatlinburg. They
stayed in a cabin in the mountains. Sylvia grew up in Potts Camp and
was my son Jimmy’s classmate. Friends from
Houston, Tx., Kathryn and Terry Scarbrough, visited me on Thursday and
then went on to Starkville to visit relatives. They had been to
Maryland earlier visiting Sarah Powell-McNealy, a friend from Potts
Camp. They celebrate their birthdays together. We
were sorry to hear about the recent death of Ann Babin, age 80, editor
of the Heritage News. I have been missing her newsletter. We hope her
daughter will take her place. Forty-five members
attended the Hollingsworth reunion on Saturday in Monroe County. My
family members who attended were Betty Greer, Jimmy and Martha
Hollingsworth and some of my grandchildren and their family. They
stopped in Amory to visit a favorite cousin, Sank Owen. He is in
assisted living, after falling and breaking a bone. Many
of you from Potts Camp might remember when Sank Owen was a young man.
He taught high school English in our school and later became principal
at Aberdeen and Amory School. We send get well
wishes and love to Sank! He attended my 90th birthday party at Potts
Camp School cafeteria. He enjoys The South Reporter. Thoughts The
Lord blesses each of us with unique gifts that can and should be used
to honor God. We all have the ability to serve others and praise the
Lord. The love of Jesus Christ gives us the desire to love each other. Poem God
bless your life with everything; a rich, rewarding life can bring a
joyful heart and love to share, family and friends who always care. God
bless your life with wisdom, too; and strength to see each problem
through. The happiness for which you strive, and faith to keep your
dreams alive. God’s blessing be with you! Happy
birthday to Dorothy Dickey, a dear friend, on Aug. 13; to a niece,
Carol Jean Potts, in Tupelo on Aug. 15; to Cherrie Shaw on Aug. 18. Congratulations
to Tommie and Gale Goode on their wedding anniversary on Aug. 20; also
Billy and Ann Edlin on their wedding anniversary on Aug. 20. Happy
birthday and get well prayers to Mary Jarrett on Aug. 22. I. Jesus asks us to “Go into the world and preach the gospel to all people.” Mark 16:15. Can we do less than Jesus calls us to do? Most of us are unable to go ourselves, but we can pay to send missionaries and Bibles to other countries. II. Taken from an old English prayer: Take
time to be friendly; it is the road to happiness. Take time to dream;
it is hitching your wagon to a star. Take time to love and be loved; it
is a special privilege. Take time to laugh; it is music of the soul.
Take time to pray and love God. It will make your life complete. III.
I have no hands but your hands to do my work today. I have no feet but
your feet to bring me to thy side. I have no tongue but your tongue to
tell men how I died. I have not help but your help to bring men to thy
side. Prayer list: Henry Tutor, Charles
Henderson, Mary Jarrett, Connie Work, Pauline Hutchens, Hazel Foote,
Diane Clayton, Gussie Davis of Hickory Flat, Doris Goode of Hickory
Flat. Pray for those who have lost loved ones. History of Potts Camp and Memories In
1912, Potts Camp was changed from a village to a town, making it
possible for a deep well to be put down in 1916, with water piped to
the homes. Dr. F.P. Boatner and A.Q. Greer were instrumental in
achieving this goal. Our town was one of the first this size on the
Frisco Railroad to have running water and concrete sidewalks. Before
1916, late every afternoon, you could see a line of wagons drawn by
horses waiting their turn to draw barrels of water from an overflowing
well, located near the railroad tracks on Front Street. A wooden trough
was built for the horses to drink water, also. We are thankful for our water department and fire department today! Dr.
Boatner was a great old timey doctor, who served two terms in the
Mississippi Senate in the ’20s. A.Q. Greer was one of the first
settlers of our town and the first banker. I knew Dr. Boatner well. He
came to our home and saved my dad, Benton Potts’s, life by staying all
night and keeping his nose packed; he was bleeding. Now we have vitamin
K for that. I remember him coming to see me when I was sick at home. We loved him!
Did you know?
Richard Simmons Determination and staying power Colonel
Henry Knox took on seemingly an impossible task of retrieving 42
cannons and mortars weighing over 120,000 lbs. and bringing them by
sled and oxen over land and across rivers a distance of some 300 miles.
The purpose was to get them to Cambridge and
General Washington to strengthen the American forces that faced the
overwhelming numbers of professional soldiers and cannon. The British
Army was well entrenched in Boston. Gen. Washington needed an advantage
in an offensive position and the cannons that were on the way would
hopefully be the solution. We left Henry Knox and
his party just as they were crossing the Hudson and the largest of the
cannons, an 18-pounder had fallen through the ice. Colonel Knox was not
defeated. He at once set about retrieving the cannon from the bottom of
the river. With the assistance of the people of Albany they succeeded,
although they lost a full day in the effort. The expedition pushed on
from the eastern shore of the Hudson, with more than a hundred miles
still to go. Snow was thick as needed but the mountains were steep and
the valleys narrow. Knox wrote of climbing peaks “from which we might
almost have seen all the kingdoms of the earth. It appears to me
almost a miracle that people with heavy loads should be able to get up
and down such hills.” To slow the descent of
the heavy loads down slopes as steep as a roof, check lines were
anchored to trees. Drag trains and brush were shoved beneath the
runners. Knox noted that some of his teamsters refused to go any
further, afraid of the risk. Knox argued and pleaded and finally they
agreed to head on. News of the advancing
procession raced ahead of the lead sleds, and people began turning out
along the route to see the guns from Ft. Ticonderoga. As they reached
the town of Westfield there was great curiosity over the armament. Many
of the inhabitants had not ever seen cannons. When the party reached
Springfield, Knox changed from oxen to horses to quicken the pace. The
number of onlookers grew day by day. At last about 20 miles west of
Boston at Framingham, the guns were unloaded. Knox rushed on to
Cambridge. Knox’s “noble train” had arrived intact. Not a single gun
had been lost. Hundreds of men had taken part and their labors and
resilience had been exceptional. But it was the daring and determination of Henry Knox that had counted above all. The
25-year-old Boston bookseller had ideas, the leadership, and the
staying power to carry through. General Washington immediately put Knox
in charge of the artillery. To all who had come out to see the guns, it
was clear that the stalemate at Boston was about to change. Can they
get the guns to Dorchester? Did You Know On Aug. 11, 1992 – The Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the United States, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota. Aug. 12, 1658 – The first police force was established in New Amsterdam (now New York). Aug. 13, 1860 – Anne Oakley was born in Darke County, Ohio. Aug. 14, 1945 – Japan surrendered unconditionally, ending WW II. Aug. 15, 1914 – The Panama Canal officially opened to traffic. Aug. 16, 1977 – Elvis Presley, age 42, died at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. Aug 17, 1969 – More than 250 people were killed when Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast. This Week’s Quiz What was the original name of the Purple Heart Medal? How many ships were involved when Christopher Columbus in 1492 sailed for the Indies? How many rivers in the United States exceed 1,000 miles in length? Who recommended the phrase E Pluribus Unum to Congress as part of the design for the seal of the new United States? Which president signed legislation ending lifetime Welfare benefits? Answers To Last Week’s Quiz President Polk signed legislation creating the Smithsonian Institute. The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan during WW II. President
Ronald Reagan appointed Lauro Cavaros as Secretary of Education, the
first Hispanic to serve in a president’s cabinet. The
reverse side of the $2 bill displays the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. The Missouri River is the longest river in the United
States, exceeding the Mississippi by 200 miles.
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