Skip to main content

FALL HAYRIDE

 It was September 14, 1957, a beautiful early fall Saturday night.  I was so excited.  This would be my first date with Milan Hart. 


 My Grandma Dame was an active member of the local Rebekah Lodge and at this point in time, the Lodge had organized a  chapter of Theta Rho which was a girls’ club affiliated with the Independent Order of Oddfellows and our first big event was a hayride and I had invited Milan, whom I knew only from church, to go with me.  


He was very handsome, with dark brown hair and beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and we were so young.  I had turned 14 in August and he was still a month away from his 14th birthday in October.  His mother was having a hard time with this.  He was the oldest of her five children, but was always her “little boy” and she was not happy with the thought of sharing him with me.  But she had known my family for years.  The two families of “Hawks” and “Jennings” all grew up in the Flatwoods/Brice area, Brice being another name for Bennett Spring in the early days.  So that helped the situation.


The details of this hayride were printed in the Lebanon newspaper because even then I was writing for the church and social pages.  I kept the clipping because I have kept in a huge pile of scrapbooks everything I have ever written, and Milan, always the romantic one, eventually matted and framed it for me as a reminder of our first date.


According to the clipping we had a wiener roast at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Butler, then we all piled on to a truck donated by the T.H. Rogers Lumber Company, and driven by Orval Smart, for the hayride.  Mr. and Mrs. Butler and Mrs. Smart came  along as chaperones because we were such a wild bunch of kids as you can tell by the guest list below.


Boys attending included Donald and David Pearcy, Mike Brown, Ivan Eilenstine, “Sonny” Kelly, Bill Bauer, Dale Hite, Jerry O’Quinn, Jimmy Bohannon (yes THE Jim Bohannon, host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show on Westwood One) Jimmy McClure, and of course Milan Hart.


Theta Rho girls who attended were Martha Pickens, Mary Jones, Judy Jones, Wanda Stewart, Carol Fields, Wilma Stewart, Kay Aldridge, Donna Huitt, Diane Cowden, Billy Lopeman, Georgia Justice, Bonnie Eilenstine, Janet Davis, Pat Monnersmith, Betty Brown, and me.


I have purposely not paired them up as I did in the original column.  Even though it has been 61 years I would not want to fan the flames of jealousy just in case one of the attendees might say “I never knew you dated HIM” or “You never told  me you went to a hayride with HER.”


© Joan Rowden Hart 2017
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COMMUNION ON THE MOON

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie) Americans need a day dedicated to gratitude. I have noticed that in the lineup of most of our holidays that Thanksgiving is perhaps the one least given over to secularism - the one we still observe in a traditional fashion. We need it to keep our focus clear and to teach our children what it means to be thankful for family, friendship and faith. We need a time to gather around the table with extended family and enjoy turkey and dressing and gravy, two kinds of potatoes, cranberries, hot rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. We need it, not for the calories, but to create an awareness that there are those who don’t have those blessings, because in the hectic pace of our everyday lives we tend to forget those in need. Family and food are important, but above all else, Americans need a rededication to our faith. Faith brought the pilgrims to the ne...
Post a Comment
Read more

SIGNERS OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

  I wrote this for the newspaper several years ago. Not political. Just history about the signers of the Declaration of Independence but extremely interesting. Not because I wrote it, but because it is history we have either forgotten, or maybe never learned it in school to begin with. Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well ...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Facebook Message To Readers

 I posted this on my Facebook recently to let my Facebook friends know what to expect from my revamped page. A personal note for my special Facebook friends. No one is getting this but you! My Facebook posts have evolved through the years. I still like to make my friends laugh with a silly story or a joke or a cartoon, or get you caught up in a drama that seemingly could only happen to me, or just sharing a memory in a special photo, but more and more I am trying to post words that will inspire you or encourage you. I also like to post informational articles about subjects that might interest you - something you didn’t have time to read or watch. And you know of course that I love to read and especially write poetry so I will share lots of "rhyme and reason" with you, too. My days revolve around the computer, doing research on subjects in which I am interested and want to pass on to you, or surfing Facebook to keep up with my friends. I am not lazy. Unless you are pretty much...
Post a Comment
Read more