1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,490 >> Okay. And we are rolling. 2 00:00:02,490 --> 00:00:05,680 >> I am James Moon here with Sarah Strickland. 3 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:09,560 We're interviewing Mr. George Hayes at the Sans Souci 4 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:14,845 clubhouse in Adairsville Georgia on October 8th, 2018. 5 00:00:14,845 --> 00:00:16,260 Good afternoon, Mr. Hayes. 6 00:00:16,260 --> 00:00:17,565 Thank you for meeting with us. 7 00:00:17,565 --> 00:00:19,300 >> Good afternoon. 8 00:00:19,550 --> 00:00:21,900 >> Would you start out by telling 9 00:00:21,900 --> 00:00:23,755 us your name and where you were born? 10 00:00:23,755 --> 00:00:27,520 >> My name is George Hayes Junior. 11 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:32,690 And I grew up in the house that I'm living in now, 12 00:00:32,690 --> 00:00:34,790 at 1:05 Park Street, 13 00:00:34,790 --> 00:00:41,340 which is just half a block from Sans Souci. 14 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,600 >> What's your occupation? 15 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,180 >> I'm retired. I spent most of my work in 16 00:00:48,180 --> 00:00:52,620 life working for the City of Seattle. 17 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:56,970 >> What did you do for the City of Seattle? 18 00:00:56,970 --> 00:00:58,455 >> I was a budget person. 19 00:00:58,455 --> 00:01:00,880 A paid bureaucrat. 20 00:01:02,750 --> 00:01:06,240 >> So the house you grew up in, 21 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,800 you said it was your parents who lived there as well. 22 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,400 Did the house exist before they lived there? 23 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:18,620 >> No. My dad contracted to have the house built, 24 00:01:18,620 --> 00:01:21,425 and with my mother's input. 25 00:01:21,425 --> 00:01:27,990 And then in 1939, they started building. 26 00:01:27,990 --> 00:01:31,890 And as soon as it was built in 1940, 27 00:01:31,890 --> 00:01:34,570 they got married, moved into the house, 28 00:01:34,570 --> 00:01:37,450 and lived there their entire lives. 29 00:01:37,450 --> 00:01:40,200 Both of them actually died in the house. 30 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:45,240 My dad was 90, my mother was in her late 80s. 31 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,415 >> So were you born in the house? 32 00:01:47,415 --> 00:01:49,080 >> Not born in the house, 33 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,630 but born in a hospital in Rome. 34 00:01:52,700 --> 00:01:56,130 They took me home to 35 00:01:56,130 --> 00:02:00,150 the 105 Park Street when I was an infant. 36 00:02:00,150 --> 00:02:04,290 So I spent my entire childhood growing up there. 37 00:02:06,650 --> 00:02:09,975 >> Why did your parents choose Adairsville? 38 00:02:09,975 --> 00:02:12,660 >> They both had history. 39 00:02:12,660 --> 00:02:17,625 My mother had lived in Adairsville, 40 00:02:17,625 --> 00:02:19,755 as well as Shannon, 41 00:02:19,755 --> 00:02:27,600 and my dad had grown up in [inaudible] in Adairsville. 42 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:33,400 So we have a lot of history in Adairsville. 43 00:02:35,660 --> 00:02:39,080 >> Does living in the house that you grew up in make 44 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,605 you feel a little more connected to Adairsville? 45 00:02:42,605 --> 00:02:45,600 >> Well, sure. 46 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:50,660 I mean, it's a place that I feel very comfortable in, 47 00:02:50,660 --> 00:02:55,370 obviously, the towns great. 48 00:02:55,460 --> 00:03:00,080 The way I ended up here was 49 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,440 that I was married for a second time back 10 years ago, 50 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:11,845 and my new wife was living in Dallas, Texas. 51 00:03:11,845 --> 00:03:14,805 And I talked a lot about Adairsville, 52 00:03:14,805 --> 00:03:17,250 and we visited Adairsville, 53 00:03:17,250 --> 00:03:21,520 and she said, "Wow, this place is pretty cool. 54 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,110 You know, we could live it." 55 00:03:23,110 --> 00:03:25,620 Because I kept my childhood home, 56 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:27,180 I was renting it out. 57 00:03:27,180 --> 00:03:29,620 So we remodeled the house and 58 00:03:29,620 --> 00:03:33,250 and moved in and we've been happy. 59 00:03:33,310 --> 00:03:36,110 >> So speaking about remodeling, 60 00:03:36,110 --> 00:03:39,110 I know that you have someone who's very famous 61 00:03:39,110 --> 00:03:44,440 for a lot of the building that took place in Adairsville. 62 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,210 Can you tell us what you know about. 63 00:03:48,210 --> 00:03:49,440 >> John Smith. 64 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:58,860 He was in Adairsville at the turn of the century, 65 00:03:58,860 --> 00:04:04,300 1900, and lived there for a few years after that. 66 00:04:04,300 --> 00:04:07,120 And he was an architect and builder and 67 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,980 built a lot of the houses on Park Street 68 00:04:11,980 --> 00:04:17,100 and built the Maggie [inaudible] tea house 69 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:20,955 or the 1902 stock exchange on the public square. 70 00:04:20,955 --> 00:04:26,940 And so his signature trademark of these houses, 71 00:04:26,940 --> 00:04:29,310 all of them would have it 72 00:04:29,310 --> 00:04:32,210 in the attic or the second floor, 73 00:04:32,210 --> 00:04:38,070 they would have colored glass in the window. 74 00:04:38,070 --> 00:04:41,330 So if you go around and look for houses in Adairsville, 75 00:04:41,330 --> 00:04:46,510 that have a second story window that's stained glass, 76 00:04:46,510 --> 00:04:48,890 it's in all likelihood it was 77 00:04:48,890 --> 00:04:52,490 designed and built by my great grandfather. 78 00:04:53,380 --> 00:04:56,670 >> Didn't he design and build 79 00:04:56,670 --> 00:05:01,000 the first school house in the Adairsville? 80 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,760 >> I don't believe so. 81 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:11,040 That building was in the original. 82 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,055 I think it was already there when he moved here. 83 00:05:14,055 --> 00:05:16,700 >> Okay. Somewhere I had read that 84 00:05:16,700 --> 00:05:21,045 he built that building right after he got here. 85 00:05:21,045 --> 00:05:25,265 >> Not that I know of. It's possible. 86 00:05:25,265 --> 00:05:27,940 >> And what can you tell 87 00:05:27,940 --> 00:05:31,040 us about some of the structures that you do know of? 88 00:05:34,030 --> 00:05:39,380 >> Besides that? 89 00:05:39,380 --> 00:05:45,570 Well, they turned the century houses of [inaudible]. 90 00:05:45,570 --> 00:05:51,340 They had high ceilings. 91 00:05:52,310 --> 00:05:58,305 All of them would have been heated by 92 00:05:58,305 --> 00:06:02,360 either coal or wood so they would they 93 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:07,460 would have had wood stoves and fireplaces. 94 00:06:08,050 --> 00:06:14,300 One of the things that I was told to me by my father, 95 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:16,595 I mean, it was his grandfather, 96 00:06:16,595 --> 00:06:24,350 was that John Smith's motto or words to live 97 00:06:24,350 --> 00:06:27,490 by was that if something was worth doing, 98 00:06:27,490 --> 00:06:29,210 it was worth doing well. 99 00:06:29,210 --> 00:06:31,730 And all of his houses are 100 00:06:31,730 --> 00:06:34,510 really well built and put together. 101 00:06:34,510 --> 00:06:39,320 I still have a desk that he put together, 102 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,010 and it's put together with pegs. 103 00:06:43,010 --> 00:06:47,050 And so there are no mails in the desk. 104 00:06:47,050 --> 00:06:50,170 And so it's upstairs in my office now, 105 00:06:50,170 --> 00:06:53,650 it's a nice solid piece of furniture 106 00:06:53,650 --> 00:06:57,995 that I'm very happy to have in my possession. 107 00:06:57,995 --> 00:06:59,190 >> Definitely. 108 00:06:59,190 --> 00:07:05,250 So are there are a lot of the houses still 109 00:07:05,250 --> 00:07:07,800 standing in Adairsville or do you know? 110 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:18,700 >> Yeah. Eight, probably 10, possibly. 111 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,460 I think there's information on 112 00:07:23,460 --> 00:07:27,615 those houses at the Depot Museum, 113 00:07:27,615 --> 00:07:34,500 and several of them are going to be on the home tour that 114 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:37,830 the Sans Souci and historic society 115 00:07:37,830 --> 00:07:42,330 are putting on in November of this year. 116 00:07:42,330 --> 00:07:45,090 So if you want to see one of those houses, 117 00:07:45,090 --> 00:07:47,910 the two houses at the top of 118 00:07:47,910 --> 00:07:49,740 the Public Square were 119 00:07:49,740 --> 00:07:53,280 both designed and built by my great grandfather, 120 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,800 so you can go look at those. 121 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,180 Hopefully, you'll have an opportunity. 122 00:07:59,780 --> 00:08:02,160 >> In 1917, 123 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,270 when your great grandfather left Adairsville, 124 00:08:06,270 --> 00:08:08,790 did someone in your family stay 125 00:08:08,790 --> 00:08:12,030 behind or did they come back later? 126 00:08:12,030 --> 00:08:15,180 >> His daughter who was 127 00:08:15,180 --> 00:08:18,960 my grandmother stayed in Adairsville. 128 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,620 She married a Hayes, and stayed here. 129 00:08:22,620 --> 00:08:28,320 So she had come down shortly 130 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,290 after John Smith had moved down 131 00:08:31,290 --> 00:08:35,145 here and had looked after him. 132 00:08:35,145 --> 00:08:38,590 So she she stayed here. 133 00:08:40,130 --> 00:08:44,050 >> What was it like growing up in Adairsville. 134 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,825 >> It was during the '50s, 135 00:08:48,825 --> 00:08:54,015 and it was in ideally time, 136 00:08:54,015 --> 00:08:57,285 at least at least for us, 137 00:08:57,285 --> 00:09:00,345 that Sans Souci was 138 00:09:00,345 --> 00:09:03,540 the building library in town at the time. 139 00:09:03,540 --> 00:09:07,035 And from as early as I can remember, 140 00:09:07,035 --> 00:09:09,105 which would have been four, 141 00:09:09,105 --> 00:09:14,460 I think, I would come down here to the library, 142 00:09:14,460 --> 00:09:17,340 I mean, it's half a block from my house. 143 00:09:17,340 --> 00:09:22,455 And Ms. Topsy was the librarian, 144 00:09:22,455 --> 00:09:26,625 and I would sit on her lap and she would read to me. 145 00:09:26,625 --> 00:09:30,495 I mean, way before I could read myself. 146 00:09:30,495 --> 00:09:33,540 And so those are my earliest memories. 147 00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:41,390 And the Public Square downtown looks to me, 148 00:09:41,390 --> 00:09:43,400 I mean, very similar to the way 149 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,870 it was when I was growing up. 150 00:09:46,870 --> 00:09:51,555 The buildings that they're standing there now, 151 00:09:51,555 --> 00:09:53,100 date from the turn of the century, 152 00:09:53,100 --> 00:09:57,420 and so they were all there when I was growing up. 153 00:09:57,420 --> 00:10:00,075 I was born in 1946. 154 00:10:00,075 --> 00:10:03,690 And so the early '50s, 155 00:10:03,690 --> 00:10:06,390 there were three mom and 156 00:10:06,390 --> 00:10:09,285 pap grocery stores in the Public Square. 157 00:10:09,285 --> 00:10:12,360 And growing up, 158 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:16,710 my mother would tell me quite often to run to 159 00:10:16,710 --> 00:10:20,325 the store to pick up a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk 160 00:10:20,325 --> 00:10:24,990 or a pack of flour or whatever it was that she needed. 161 00:10:24,990 --> 00:10:28,980 And of course, the shopkeepers knew me, 162 00:10:28,980 --> 00:10:32,370 and they would just write down the charge. 163 00:10:32,370 --> 00:10:35,310 So I never had to take any money and pay for anything. 164 00:10:35,310 --> 00:10:38,595 They kept it on a book there. 165 00:10:38,595 --> 00:10:41,910 And my parents would settle up at the end of the month. 166 00:10:41,910 --> 00:10:46,690 So that was a very fun time to grow up. 167 00:10:47,630 --> 00:10:49,800 >> Sounds good. Can you tell us 168 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:51,510 anything else about Ms. Topsy, 169 00:10:51,510 --> 00:10:54,070 other than she worked at the library? 170 00:10:59,540 --> 00:11:03,090 >> Ms. Topsy was the town historian, 171 00:11:03,090 --> 00:11:07,035 and she wrote for the newspapers around. 172 00:11:07,035 --> 00:11:13,020 And she wrote the first account 173 00:11:13,020 --> 00:11:14,970 of the Great Locomotive Chase that shows up 174 00:11:14,970 --> 00:11:17,100 in the semaphore which 175 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:21,945 is the newspaper that comes out every 176 00:11:21,945 --> 00:11:23,430 year at the same time 177 00:11:23,430 --> 00:11:28,140 the Great Locomotive Chase Festival happens. 178 00:11:28,140 --> 00:11:32,670 She was historian, she was a poet. 179 00:11:32,670 --> 00:11:35,470 She published a couple of books. 180 00:11:36,890 --> 00:11:40,920 She was very literate. 181 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,905 She'd been a teacher for for a while, 182 00:11:43,905 --> 00:11:47,580 that's before I was in school. 183 00:11:49,070 --> 00:11:54,300 But mostly Ms. Topsy was my close friend, 184 00:11:54,300 --> 00:11:59,055 and I did stay close with her until she died. 185 00:11:59,055 --> 00:12:02,055 And she lived to be in her 90s, 186 00:12:02,055 --> 00:12:05,325 but she would tell stories 187 00:12:05,325 --> 00:12:11,090 about things that happened to her growing up. 188 00:12:11,090 --> 00:12:15,800 She talked about her house where she grew up, 189 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:23,370 which is the Northwest side 190 00:12:23,370 --> 00:12:26,625 of what's now the new elementary school, 191 00:12:26,625 --> 00:12:31,785 but that's where the school was that I attended. 192 00:12:31,785 --> 00:12:37,680 And that house, she was growing up, 193 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:39,840 it was during the depression 194 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,180 and she talked about 195 00:12:42,180 --> 00:12:44,910 how people would come to the back door, 196 00:12:44,910 --> 00:12:47,370 and because they knew 197 00:12:47,370 --> 00:12:50,115 that there was always food available. 198 00:12:50,115 --> 00:12:53,715 And there were certain houses 199 00:12:53,715 --> 00:12:56,295 in all the small towns everywhere 200 00:12:56,295 --> 00:12:59,865 where hobos or people traveling 201 00:12:59,865 --> 00:13:04,020 would be able to go and get something to eat, 202 00:13:04,020 --> 00:13:07,810 because things were very tough. 203 00:13:08,660 --> 00:13:13,725 My dad had left 204 00:13:13,725 --> 00:13:17,640 Adairsville after we graduated from high school. 205 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,830 I would spend a year in Berry College, 206 00:13:19,830 --> 00:13:22,485 but he had gone to Florida, 207 00:13:22,485 --> 00:13:27,315 and was part owner of an orange growth, 208 00:13:27,315 --> 00:13:30,090 but he would talk about driving a truck load 209 00:13:30,090 --> 00:13:33,705 of citrus to New York City, 210 00:13:33,705 --> 00:13:37,530 and then coming back with an empty truck, 211 00:13:37,530 --> 00:13:40,920 and how by the time he got back to Adairsville, 212 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,110 it would be full of people 213 00:13:43,110 --> 00:13:47,370 or hobos that were trying to go to 214 00:13:47,370 --> 00:13:51,450 Florida to work just like the migrant workers went 215 00:13:51,450 --> 00:13:56,650 to California from Oklahoma and the Midwest. 216 00:13:59,330 --> 00:14:02,370 >> So did your father move out of 217 00:14:02,370 --> 00:14:05,740 Adairsville; is that correct? 218 00:14:08,900 --> 00:14:12,060 >> He did. My grandmother, 219 00:14:12,060 --> 00:14:13,845 his mother was still living here. 220 00:14:13,845 --> 00:14:16,605 So he lived in Florida for a number of years, 221 00:14:16,605 --> 00:14:20,640 and made enough money 222 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,910 to be able to build the house on Public Square, 223 00:14:23,910 --> 00:14:27,600 which was his goal and he wanted to marry my mother. 224 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,155 And so that's exactly what he did. 225 00:14:30,155 --> 00:14:34,450 He made enough money to actually build the house, 226 00:14:34,450 --> 00:14:39,130 and they moved in in 1940 as soon as they were married. 227 00:14:40,610 --> 00:14:44,070 >> Besides coming to the library, 228 00:14:44,070 --> 00:14:46,410 what did you do for fun? 229 00:14:48,860 --> 00:14:52,240 >> One of the things that we did, 230 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,370 we would ride our bicycles all over town. 231 00:14:55,370 --> 00:15:00,420 And a few times, 232 00:15:00,420 --> 00:15:04,990 we rode our bicycles out to Barnsley Garden, 233 00:15:04,990 --> 00:15:07,580 which at that time was just a room, 234 00:15:07,580 --> 00:15:09,320 and it was overgrown, 235 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:15,030 and the rumor was that it was haunted house. 236 00:15:15,070 --> 00:15:17,380 That there were ghosts there. 237 00:15:17,380 --> 00:15:19,475 Of course, there was a murder there. 238 00:15:19,475 --> 00:15:22,610 And you'll find out all about that when you 239 00:15:22,610 --> 00:15:26,875 talked to Mr. Coker. 240 00:15:26,875 --> 00:15:30,120 But the other thing, 241 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,200 my mother was a cub scout leader, 242 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,115 and so I was in the cub scouts. 243 00:15:36,115 --> 00:15:39,880 And then when I grew a little older, 244 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,740 I became a boy scout, 245 00:15:43,740 --> 00:15:47,830 and we would go up once a month and 246 00:15:47,830 --> 00:15:54,300 have camp out at Lonesome, 247 00:15:54,300 --> 00:15:55,935 the top of Boyd Mountain, 248 00:15:55,935 --> 00:16:01,740 and Chief Willis Boyd was my scoutmaster. 249 00:16:01,740 --> 00:16:03,600 And at that time, 250 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:08,075 in the late '50s and early '60s, 251 00:16:08,075 --> 00:16:10,490 he was proud of the fact that he was 252 00:16:10,490 --> 00:16:13,990 the oldest living active 253 00:16:13,990 --> 00:16:16,130 scoutmaster in the United States. 254 00:16:16,130 --> 00:16:21,000 He was in his late 80s at that time. 255 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:29,270 And my father had been a scout with chief as well. 256 00:16:29,270 --> 00:16:32,950 And my dad was the first eagle scout, 257 00:16:32,950 --> 00:16:36,130 the Chiefs troop 12. 258 00:16:36,130 --> 00:16:41,450 And well, 40 years later, 259 00:16:41,450 --> 00:16:46,510 then I became chief's last eagle scout. 260 00:16:49,010 --> 00:16:53,170 But we would walk up Boyd Mountain. 261 00:16:53,170 --> 00:16:57,460 It was a dirt road at that time. It wasn't paved. 262 00:16:57,460 --> 00:17:00,890 And sometimes we meet 263 00:17:00,890 --> 00:17:04,005 chief at his house at High Lonesome, 264 00:17:04,005 --> 00:17:09,110 and the chief was a pianist among other things. 265 00:17:09,110 --> 00:17:11,790 He was an educator and a school teacher. 266 00:17:11,790 --> 00:17:14,570 And he had a baby grand piano 267 00:17:14,570 --> 00:17:16,875 in his house at High Lonesome, 268 00:17:16,875 --> 00:17:21,135 and I distinctly remember him playing Moonlight Sonata. 269 00:17:21,135 --> 00:17:25,490 And my mother was also a pianist. 270 00:17:25,490 --> 00:17:28,890 So so they were good friends. 271 00:17:28,890 --> 00:17:36,615 Of course, my dad idolized chief, and so did I. 272 00:17:36,615 --> 00:17:39,890 Chief was a moral force. 273 00:17:39,890 --> 00:17:43,390 He was one of the most moral 274 00:17:43,390 --> 00:17:46,935 people that I have ever known. 275 00:17:46,935 --> 00:17:49,850 He fought in World War I. 276 00:17:49,850 --> 00:17:56,540 And he would talk about how disappointed he was that 277 00:17:56,540 --> 00:17:59,000 the United States had not ended up 278 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,620 joining the league of nations at the end of World War I, 279 00:18:03,620 --> 00:18:06,910 because that war to 280 00:18:06,910 --> 00:18:10,630 chief's generation was towards to end all Wars. 281 00:18:10,630 --> 00:18:13,025 That was going to be the last one. 282 00:18:13,025 --> 00:18:17,110 So he was disappointed for the rest of his life had 283 00:18:17,110 --> 00:18:22,000 he not been to end all world wars. 284 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:33,220 >> Did you play fox and hounds up on Boyd Mountain? 285 00:18:34,310 --> 00:18:36,570 >> We would play fox and hounds, 286 00:18:36,570 --> 00:18:40,240 and the hounds would be chasing the foxes. 287 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,840 And it's whenever the person 288 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:45,080 that was a fox was caught 289 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,580 and that person would turn into a hound. 290 00:18:47,580 --> 00:18:50,320 And so you would play 291 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,080 the game until there was only one fox left, 292 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,130 and everybody else was a hound, 293 00:18:55,130 --> 00:19:00,350 and eventually we would catch the fox. 294 00:19:04,740 --> 00:19:07,450 >> So can you tell us what all 295 00:19:07,450 --> 00:19:10,180 actually goes into becoming an Eagle Scout, 296 00:19:10,180 --> 00:19:12,400 at least when you did it? 297 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:20,515 >> Well, a person has to earn 21 merit badges and 298 00:19:20,515 --> 00:19:25,240 a merit badge is awarded when you've taken a test 299 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:30,820 in a particular subject matter or area of skill. 300 00:19:30,820 --> 00:19:37,795 And when you pass that test and you're awarded a badge, 301 00:19:37,795 --> 00:19:40,300 which is a cloth badge, 302 00:19:40,300 --> 00:19:42,055 which is put on a sash. 303 00:19:42,055 --> 00:19:44,530 And when you have 21 of those then 304 00:19:44,530 --> 00:19:51,020 you're awarded an eagle Eagle Scout badge. 305 00:19:53,250 --> 00:19:58,640 The merit badges for such things as 306 00:19:58,950 --> 00:20:07,570 lifesaving citizenship and history, 307 00:20:07,570 --> 00:20:09,820 and camping skills like 308 00:20:09,820 --> 00:20:14,750 fire building and ability to pitch tents. 309 00:20:15,390 --> 00:20:22,000 It's something that Eagle Scouts are proud 310 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,480 and often put that on 311 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,400 their resume and it follows 312 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,770 them around for the rest of their life. 313 00:20:29,770 --> 00:20:32,320 It's an honor and something 314 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,620 that people are proud to have and to be. 315 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,570 >> Which was the most difficult to earn which badge? 316 00:20:47,070 --> 00:20:49,915 >> [LAUGHTER] I was lucky, 317 00:20:49,915 --> 00:20:56,800 because my father who 318 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,530 was an Eagle Scout 319 00:20:59,530 --> 00:21:02,110 was one of the people that would give the tests, 320 00:21:02,110 --> 00:21:05,080 and so he would help me 321 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:09,070 as I was learning the skills necessary. 322 00:21:09,070 --> 00:21:13,480 Probably the most difficult for me is 323 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:23,425 the fire building and the actual woodcraft skills. 324 00:21:23,425 --> 00:21:28,930 I think that was because one of the things about Chief 325 00:21:28,930 --> 00:21:32,290 was as wonderful a person 326 00:21:32,290 --> 00:21:34,900 as he was and as great a scout leader he was. 327 00:21:34,900 --> 00:21:37,810 And as I said, he was a moral person man, 328 00:21:37,810 --> 00:21:40,360 he instructed us particular in 329 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,735 the scout pledge and 330 00:21:43,735 --> 00:21:47,960 things like to do your duty to God and your country. 331 00:21:48,260 --> 00:21:52,240 But at least by the time I knew him, 332 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:57,790 he was not as big on the scout crafting. 333 00:21:57,790 --> 00:22:01,930 So he wouldn't spend much time teaching us how to 334 00:22:01,930 --> 00:22:06,130 tie knots and how to build fires. 335 00:22:06,130 --> 00:22:10,660 But he ended up instructing 336 00:22:10,660 --> 00:22:15,250 us in how to live life and how to be good human beings, 337 00:22:15,250 --> 00:22:19,060 which is stayed with all of his scouts, 338 00:22:19,060 --> 00:22:21,235 I believe, certainly with me. 339 00:22:21,235 --> 00:22:24,325 >> Do you think that might be because 340 00:22:24,325 --> 00:22:27,820 of his views on the war not ending all the wars. 341 00:22:27,820 --> 00:22:29,470 He wanted to make sure 342 00:22:29,470 --> 00:22:32,500 at least the kids he was in charge of grew up good? 343 00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:33,970 [OVERLAPPING] 344 00:22:33,970 --> 00:22:36,775 >> Certainly he was. 345 00:22:36,775 --> 00:22:44,905 And whenever he would speak of the World War. 346 00:22:44,905 --> 00:22:47,140 He wouldn't talk about 347 00:22:47,140 --> 00:22:52,060 the actual battles nor would he talk 348 00:22:52,060 --> 00:22:59,545 about the millions of people who were killed in the war. 349 00:22:59,545 --> 00:23:02,650 But that's not something 350 00:23:02,650 --> 00:23:04,435 that he dwelt on or talked about. 351 00:23:04,435 --> 00:23:06,910 And those were not the lessons that he thought 352 00:23:06,910 --> 00:23:12,620 no humanity should learn from the Great War. 353 00:23:15,060 --> 00:23:17,140 >> What would you say is the most 354 00:23:17,140 --> 00:23:19,610 important thing that he taught you? 355 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:30,445 >> Respect for other human beings 356 00:23:30,445 --> 00:23:35,875 for humanity and in general. 357 00:23:35,875 --> 00:23:46,180 And it started with his approach and he loved 358 00:23:46,180 --> 00:23:53,890 his scouts and he was very proud of his scouts and wanted 359 00:23:53,890 --> 00:24:01,540 them to honor their parents and their neighbors. 360 00:24:01,540 --> 00:24:07,210 >> Are you still 361 00:24:07,210 --> 00:24:11,960 friends with any of the scouts in the Garrison? 362 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:18,320 >> I am still friends with 363 00:24:21,330 --> 00:24:26,260 Chiefs grand nephew who lives in 364 00:24:26,260 --> 00:24:32,650 [inaudible] in his Chief's house. 365 00:24:32,650 --> 00:24:35,095 So I'm still friends with him. 366 00:24:35,095 --> 00:24:37,000 Said he was a scout at 367 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,930 the same time that I was Jimmy Boy. 368 00:24:44,610 --> 00:24:47,980 >> You mentioned that people would put 369 00:24:47,980 --> 00:24:50,950 the Eagle Scout on their resumes and things. 370 00:24:50,950 --> 00:24:52,690 Did being Eagle Scout 371 00:24:52,690 --> 00:24:55,940 ever open any opportunities for you? 372 00:24:56,820 --> 00:25:02,395 >> I'm sure that it didn't hurt. 373 00:25:02,395 --> 00:25:06,175 I'm not aware of any specific job or anything 374 00:25:06,175 --> 00:25:07,720 that they got specifically 375 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,330 because I was as an Eagle Scout. 376 00:25:10,330 --> 00:25:15,070 But people take that 377 00:25:15,070 --> 00:25:18,235 into account and it is a positive thing. 378 00:25:18,235 --> 00:25:21,800 It takes discipline and 379 00:25:23,790 --> 00:25:29,770 it shows that you've been able to follow 380 00:25:29,770 --> 00:25:35,870 through with tasks that were said to you growing up. 381 00:25:38,820 --> 00:25:42,610 >> What is it about Troop 12 in 382 00:25:42,610 --> 00:25:44,290 Adair's deal in general that 383 00:25:44,290 --> 00:25:46,825 produced so many Eagle Scouts. 384 00:25:46,825 --> 00:25:49,760 What do you think the key to that was? 385 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:54,340 >> Well, I don't think there 386 00:25:54,340 --> 00:25:59,380 were quite as many as legend had it. 387 00:25:59,380 --> 00:26:05,320 But that was a tribute to Chief, certainly. 388 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:10,150 He was encouraging all 389 00:26:10,150 --> 00:26:13,570 of the scouts to go as far as they could. 390 00:26:13,570 --> 00:26:19,285 There's levels the way up to becoming an Eagle Scout. 391 00:26:19,285 --> 00:26:24,985 So people can end up getting 392 00:26:24,985 --> 00:26:28,000 five mirrored badges or ten mirrored badges 393 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:31,510 and even if they don't get the 21, 394 00:26:31,510 --> 00:26:33,190 it's necessary to becoming an Eagle Scout. 395 00:26:33,190 --> 00:26:36,250 They still learned a lot of skills 396 00:26:36,250 --> 00:26:41,600 and chief was always pushing the scouts to do that. 397 00:26:44,340 --> 00:26:46,750 >> Sounds like he had a real impact 398 00:26:46,750 --> 00:26:48,010 on the community as a whole. 399 00:26:48,010 --> 00:26:52,660 >> He did. Chief for 400 00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:54,280 years and years was the organist 401 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,710 at the Desflle Methodist Church. 402 00:26:56,710 --> 00:27:01,480 And the pipe organ that they had there when he 403 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:06,685 was the organist was manually operated. 404 00:27:06,685 --> 00:27:10,270 And so there were bellows that somebody had 405 00:27:10,270 --> 00:27:14,770 to push to build 406 00:27:14,770 --> 00:27:18,850 up the pressure that would enable him to play the organ. 407 00:27:18,850 --> 00:27:24,175 And that's one of the things that my dad would do. 408 00:27:24,175 --> 00:27:26,425 It would take a couple of them would be 409 00:27:26,425 --> 00:27:29,740 manning the bellows for the organ. 410 00:27:29,740 --> 00:27:34,015 And then after chief 411 00:27:34,015 --> 00:27:36,715 retired from being the organist 412 00:27:36,715 --> 00:27:39,760 and the pianist at the church, 413 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,340 my mother took over and she was 414 00:27:42,340 --> 00:27:46,335 the organist for years and years and pianist. 415 00:27:46,335 --> 00:27:48,390 So the Methodist Church is 416 00:27:48,390 --> 00:27:54,460 still the end of the plain square. 417 00:27:54,990 --> 00:28:02,875 So Chief was a factor in my growing up in all ways. 418 00:28:02,875 --> 00:28:04,630 And as I mentioned, 419 00:28:04,630 --> 00:28:09,265 he would play Moonlight Sonata classical music 420 00:28:09,265 --> 00:28:12,835 in his house and high loans at top of Boy. 421 00:28:12,835 --> 00:28:18,880 And his love of classical music was something he 422 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,550 shared with all of the scouts and with me and 423 00:28:21,550 --> 00:28:24,925 with my mother and my dad. 424 00:28:24,925 --> 00:28:31,750 And Certainly, I'm sure that was one of 425 00:28:31,750 --> 00:28:33,250 the real reasons that 426 00:28:33,250 --> 00:28:40,070 my mother played the piano and not her entire life. 427 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,000 >> You mentioned the Methodist Church. 428 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,885 Is that the church that you went to as a child? 429 00:28:48,885 --> 00:28:50,340 >> Yes. [OVERLAPPING] 430 00:28:50,340 --> 00:28:51,815 >> Are you still a member? 431 00:28:51,815 --> 00:28:54,160 >> I am still a member 432 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,400 [LAUGHTER] 433 00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,275 because unless you 434 00:28:59,275 --> 00:29:02,065 consciously move your membership, 435 00:29:02,065 --> 00:29:08,575 I believe that you're member for the rest of your life. 436 00:29:08,575 --> 00:29:12,170 Yes. I'm still on the ropes. 437 00:29:15,740 --> 00:29:18,465 >> What can you tell us about 438 00:29:18,465 --> 00:29:21,915 being a child and going to the Methodist Church? 439 00:29:21,915 --> 00:29:24,460 Any activities or? 440 00:29:27,410 --> 00:29:30,960 >> Not much. I mean we had 441 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,720 vacation bible school every summer. 442 00:29:36,470 --> 00:29:40,695 That was something that we did. 443 00:29:40,695 --> 00:29:43,050 As a matter of course, we went to church. 444 00:29:43,050 --> 00:29:46,305 On Sunday morning we would go to Sunday School, 445 00:29:46,305 --> 00:29:48,870 it started at 10:00 and 11:00 we 446 00:29:48,870 --> 00:29:52,155 always had the main service, the sermon. 447 00:29:52,155 --> 00:29:56,265 And so Saturday nights, 448 00:29:56,265 --> 00:29:58,350 that was the night that we had 449 00:29:58,350 --> 00:30:02,010 the boys campouts on Boyd Mountain. 450 00:30:02,010 --> 00:30:06,210 So every Sunday morning after we'd been camping, 451 00:30:06,210 --> 00:30:07,710 we would walk down the mountain 452 00:30:07,710 --> 00:30:12,330 and have to get ready and go to go to church 453 00:30:12,330 --> 00:30:15,220 because certainly there was 454 00:30:15,950 --> 00:30:20,880 no thought of not attending church. 455 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:25,950 >> I don't think the chief would've let you stay at home. 456 00:30:25,950 --> 00:30:28,455 He might have pointed a gun maybe. 457 00:30:28,455 --> 00:30:31,800 >> He might have. Of course, he would come down 458 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:37,300 the mountain and be there as well. 459 00:30:37,490 --> 00:30:41,400 I know for years, 460 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:45,120 the bell in the bell title of 461 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:50,655 the Methodist Church is not had not been run. 462 00:30:50,655 --> 00:30:54,960 And it's because they 463 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,170 were worried about the stability of the bell, 464 00:30:58,170 --> 00:31:00,390 and they had tutors, 465 00:31:00,390 --> 00:31:03,970 that is from the 1880s, I believe. 466 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,490 But the one thing that he wanted to do was 467 00:31:08,490 --> 00:31:15,670 his funeral to [inaudible] and it was. 468 00:31:15,890 --> 00:31:20,880 And I mean, he went to Columbia in 469 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:26,445 New York and received his master's degree. 470 00:31:26,445 --> 00:31:30,690 And he was a very illiterate person 471 00:31:30,690 --> 00:31:32,280 and one of the things that 472 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:37,920 he wanted to have read at his funeral was [inaudible]. 473 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:39,735 Of course. 474 00:31:39,735 --> 00:31:42,570 John Dunn supports home. 475 00:31:42,570 --> 00:31:48,720 >> You mentioned that he was an educator? 476 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:50,865 Did he teach in Adairsville? 477 00:31:50,865 --> 00:31:56,430 >> He did. He was a history teacher, as I recall. 478 00:31:56,430 --> 00:32:00,130 That was before I started school. 479 00:32:00,650 --> 00:32:04,275 As I said, at the time I was in 480 00:32:04,275 --> 00:32:07,800 middle school of early high school, 481 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,840 he was already in his late 80s. 482 00:32:12,020 --> 00:32:15,040 He had retired. 483 00:32:15,620 --> 00:32:18,030 >> Would you care to 484 00:32:18,030 --> 00:32:21,040 expand a little bit on your time in school? 485 00:32:23,210 --> 00:32:29,530 >> There were 26 people in my graduating class. 486 00:32:30,410 --> 00:32:34,410 The school, and there 487 00:32:34,410 --> 00:32:38,535 were a few more of us when we started in the first grade. 488 00:32:38,535 --> 00:32:41,220 But we started in the first grade in 489 00:32:41,220 --> 00:32:49,545 the same attached building and spent 12 years there, 490 00:32:49,545 --> 00:32:54,300 and along with the same people. 491 00:32:54,300 --> 00:32:57,495 And there was no kindergarten. 492 00:32:57,495 --> 00:33:06,510 And by the time I graduated, 493 00:33:06,510 --> 00:33:09,855 I think there were 700 people in the entire school. 494 00:33:09,855 --> 00:33:17,340 So there's a picture of the entire group from '64, 495 00:33:17,340 --> 00:33:19,815 which was when I when I graduated. 496 00:33:19,815 --> 00:33:29,025 I thought the school was really good. 497 00:33:29,025 --> 00:33:32,655 The I had the same English teacher, 498 00:33:32,655 --> 00:33:37,260 Ms. [inaudible] for all four years 499 00:33:37,260 --> 00:33:41,640 and the same math teacher largely. 500 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,605 It was Marion Lacey, 501 00:33:43,605 --> 00:33:47,470 the founder of the Great Locomotive Chase Festival. 502 00:33:49,100 --> 00:33:54,075 And it was quite possible to get 503 00:33:54,075 --> 00:33:56,850 a very good education even though 504 00:33:56,850 --> 00:33:59,490 the school was just as small as it was, 505 00:33:59,490 --> 00:34:02,760 and we only had a few teachers. 506 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:07,530 I did not consider myself, 507 00:34:07,530 --> 00:34:11,350 nor did anybody that I graduated with, 508 00:34:11,630 --> 00:34:13,890 we did not consider ourselves 509 00:34:13,890 --> 00:34:16,050 as any disadvantaged whatsoever, 510 00:34:16,050 --> 00:34:17,400 having attended 511 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,270 Adairsville high school and grammar school. 512 00:34:21,270 --> 00:34:22,950 [LAUGHTER]. 513 00:34:22,950 --> 00:34:24,870 [inaudible] elementary school. 514 00:34:24,870 --> 00:34:28,290 We thought it was an advantage. 515 00:34:28,290 --> 00:34:30,480 And of course, there was 516 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,765 such a small number of people in our classes. 517 00:34:33,765 --> 00:34:37,050 And we had the same teachers year after year, 518 00:34:37,050 --> 00:34:38,730 they got to know us very well. 519 00:34:38,730 --> 00:34:42,120 And they knew what our strengths and 520 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:46,035 weaknesses was and was able to build on us. 521 00:34:46,035 --> 00:34:51,870 >> It's almost like having a personal tutor. 522 00:34:51,870 --> 00:34:58,330 >> Indeed. Now, it was quite a bit like that. 523 00:34:59,930 --> 00:35:06,345 >> Did you do any extracurricular activities at school? 524 00:35:06,345 --> 00:35:08,805 >> When I was growing up 525 00:35:08,805 --> 00:35:14,820 and the small number of people that were in high school, 526 00:35:14,820 --> 00:35:19,480 all of us that played sports played every sport. 527 00:35:21,350 --> 00:35:23,580 In the school year, 528 00:35:23,580 --> 00:35:26,115 we would start off the football season. 529 00:35:26,115 --> 00:35:28,740 And then as soon as football season was over, 530 00:35:28,740 --> 00:35:31,845 we'd pick up the basketball and start playing basketball. 531 00:35:31,845 --> 00:35:34,200 And the first year 532 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:36,855 that I was in high school in the 9th grade, 533 00:35:36,855 --> 00:35:38,475 we had a baseball team. 534 00:35:38,475 --> 00:35:41,490 And so we would pick up our baseball gloves 535 00:35:41,490 --> 00:35:44,625 as soon as basketball season was over. 536 00:35:44,625 --> 00:35:48,465 But baseball costs money 537 00:35:48,465 --> 00:35:55,170 and the school decided that they would 538 00:35:55,170 --> 00:36:00,255 be better served to have track and field team rather than 539 00:36:00,255 --> 00:36:03,420 a baseball field and they didn't have to 540 00:36:03,420 --> 00:36:07,020 pay for the gloves and bats and the baseballs. 541 00:36:07,020 --> 00:36:10,725 So the last three years, 542 00:36:10,725 --> 00:36:16,290 I would put down the basketball and put on 543 00:36:16,290 --> 00:36:22,200 my track shoes and start running track. 544 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,680 And because we were a small school, 545 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,635 and we were part of 546 00:36:28,635 --> 00:36:32,595 the lowest classification in the State of Georgia, 547 00:36:32,595 --> 00:36:35,550 class C at the time of the class As and Bs 548 00:36:35,550 --> 00:36:38,865 and Cs, smallest schools. 549 00:36:38,865 --> 00:36:41,070 So that meant that 550 00:36:41,070 --> 00:36:45,810 there weren't thousands of 551 00:36:45,810 --> 00:36:47,310 people that we were competing 552 00:36:47,310 --> 00:36:49,380 against like the other students. 553 00:36:49,380 --> 00:36:54,195 So they were able to have success, 554 00:36:54,195 --> 00:37:01,480 at least in that limited small area, the small pond. 555 00:37:03,980 --> 00:37:07,440 >> What position did you play on the football team? 556 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:15,720 >> I was a quarterback. And I was a point guard, 557 00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:19,000 and that was a half miler. 558 00:37:23,990 --> 00:37:30,510 So as I said, we had some success. 559 00:37:30,510 --> 00:37:34,125 I actually won the state track meeting 560 00:37:34,125 --> 00:37:38,175 so I was a state champion in the half mile, 561 00:37:38,175 --> 00:37:40,560 which we were in a half mile instead 562 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:45,490 of the 880 back in those days. 563 00:37:48,590 --> 00:37:55,470 The other thing was big and small [inaudible]. 564 00:37:55,470 --> 00:37:56,865 We got to do everything. 565 00:37:56,865 --> 00:37:58,575 Anything we wanted to do. 566 00:37:58,575 --> 00:38:00,915 If I wanted to, I could have been in the band. 567 00:38:00,915 --> 00:38:05,145 But I was I was playing sports, that instead. 568 00:38:05,145 --> 00:38:09,330 But I was I was on the debate team 569 00:38:09,330 --> 00:38:16,770 and there was something called declamation, 570 00:38:16,770 --> 00:38:21,900 at the time where somebody stood up and declined, 571 00:38:21,900 --> 00:38:25,030 who gave a [inaudible] speech. 572 00:38:31,330 --> 00:38:36,700 I It was a great time to go to school. 573 00:38:38,510 --> 00:38:42,280 >> Did sports help you get into college? 574 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,870 >> It did. I went to Stetson University on 575 00:38:45,870 --> 00:38:51,400 a basketball scholarship. So indeed. 576 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:57,610 As I said, most of our parents in Adairsville, 577 00:38:58,220 --> 00:39:02,565 virtually nobody had very much money. 578 00:39:02,565 --> 00:39:10,140 So those of us that went to college, we got scholarships, 579 00:39:10,140 --> 00:39:16,360 either academic scholarships or sports scholarships, 580 00:39:16,460 --> 00:39:19,800 or we had to pretty much find a way 581 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:23,325 to pay the tuition ourselves. 582 00:39:23,325 --> 00:39:27,205 But there was never a question 583 00:39:27,205 --> 00:39:31,910 in my family that I was going to college. 584 00:39:31,910 --> 00:39:34,665 Had an older sister, 585 00:39:34,665 --> 00:39:38,790 she was four years older and she went to college. 586 00:39:38,790 --> 00:39:40,410 And then my younger sister, 587 00:39:40,410 --> 00:39:46,900 she went to college and so that's what we did. 588 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:51,255 >> Had your parents have gone to college? 589 00:39:51,255 --> 00:39:53,760 >> My mother went to college and it 590 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,465 was during the depression. 591 00:39:57,465 --> 00:40:02,700 And she went for two years to Merryville College. 592 00:40:02,700 --> 00:40:07,695 And at that time, 593 00:40:07,695 --> 00:40:10,395 she was able to get a job as a school teacher 594 00:40:10,395 --> 00:40:13,845 with only two years of college. 595 00:40:13,845 --> 00:40:18,105 And after I graduated from high school, 596 00:40:18,105 --> 00:40:20,820 she went back to school and went back to 597 00:40:20,820 --> 00:40:27,015 Shorter College in Rome and picked up her degree. 598 00:40:27,015 --> 00:40:32,340 My dad had gone for a year in Berry College, 599 00:40:32,340 --> 00:40:37,780 which was free tuition at the time. 600 00:40:38,180 --> 00:40:42,930 But he only stayed for one year because he wanted 601 00:40:42,930 --> 00:40:45,450 to go out and make 602 00:40:45,450 --> 00:40:48,375 enough money so he could build a house and marry my mom, 603 00:40:48,375 --> 00:40:50,865 and they had grown up in the same town. 604 00:40:50,865 --> 00:40:54,640 So they were childhood sweethearts. 605 00:40:57,670 --> 00:41:00,350 >> When you left here to go to college, 606 00:41:00,350 --> 00:41:02,300 did you ever have it in your mind that you would end 607 00:41:02,300 --> 00:41:04,790 up back in the Adairsville or did you think? 608 00:41:04,790 --> 00:41:10,880 >> No. I never thought I would come back to Adairsville. 609 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:18,260 But I could not bear 610 00:41:18,260 --> 00:41:21,320 to get rid of the house that my parents had 611 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,740 built and lived in and died in. 612 00:41:24,740 --> 00:41:27,035 So I kept the house with 613 00:41:27,035 --> 00:41:29,570 no intention of ever moving back there, 614 00:41:29,570 --> 00:41:33,725 but I just kept it for sentimental reasons. 615 00:41:33,725 --> 00:41:38,630 I was actually renting it out to some people 616 00:41:38,630 --> 00:41:45,440 when I brought my newly married wife to Adairsville. 617 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:50,340 She had fallen in love with the town and we moved here. 618 00:41:52,270 --> 00:41:54,860 >> How long ago was that? 619 00:41:54,860 --> 00:41:57,210 >> It was nine years ago. 620 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,380 >> It was a small town when you were growing up here. 621 00:42:03,380 --> 00:42:04,670 Do you remember what the population 622 00:42:04,670 --> 00:42:06,480 was when you left roughly? 623 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:08,860 >> Yeah. It was around a thousand people. 624 00:42:08,860 --> 00:42:09,850 >> A thousand people. 625 00:42:09,850 --> 00:42:11,530 So when you came back, 626 00:42:11,530 --> 00:42:13,360 were there people still here 627 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:15,855 who you had known growing up? 628 00:42:15,855 --> 00:42:22,990 >> Sure. [LAUGHTER] Half the town was 629 00:42:22,990 --> 00:42:26,530 acquaintances of mine and so 630 00:42:26,530 --> 00:42:34,800 people knew me that I frankly didn't remember. 631 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:38,940 Of course, my parents lived their entire life here. 632 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,765 I'm George Chase Jr, 633 00:42:41,765 --> 00:42:50,100 and so my dad is known by everybody in Adair and my mom. 634 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:56,495 >> Go ahead. 635 00:42:56,495 --> 00:42:59,630 >> Did you guys have a reunion recently? 636 00:42:59,630 --> 00:43:08,210 >> We did. It would've been the 50th reunion. 637 00:43:08,210 --> 00:43:13,070 So I guess that would have been 2014, 638 00:43:13,070 --> 00:43:15,180 I guess it was nine years ago. 639 00:43:16,390 --> 00:43:23,160 >> Do you know how many people were at the reunion? 640 00:43:25,770 --> 00:43:28,990 >> Maybe you can talk to [inaudible]. 641 00:43:28,990 --> 00:43:31,060 She was one of the organizers. 642 00:43:31,060 --> 00:43:32,800 She could get more information 643 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:34,900 about how many people were actually there. 644 00:43:34,900 --> 00:43:38,300 She would be more precise. 645 00:43:38,490 --> 00:43:43,850 But a lot, a good percentage 646 00:43:43,850 --> 00:43:49,140 of the 26 people that had graduated. 647 00:43:50,230 --> 00:43:52,460 >> Did you come back to 648 00:43:52,460 --> 00:43:55,370 Adairsville after you graduated college? 649 00:43:55,370 --> 00:43:57,860 >> I actually did come back for 650 00:43:57,860 --> 00:43:59,660 one year right after college, 651 00:43:59,660 --> 00:44:06,230 and I taught in the middle school, 652 00:44:06,230 --> 00:44:10,430 I taught the sixth and seventh grades. 653 00:44:10,430 --> 00:44:16,430 And we were basically teaching all 654 00:44:16,430 --> 00:44:19,370 of the subjects or most of 655 00:44:19,370 --> 00:44:20,630 the subjects in heaven had 656 00:44:20,630 --> 00:44:24,330 one class and teach everything. 657 00:44:26,050 --> 00:44:31,010 So I have students around. 658 00:44:31,010 --> 00:44:33,200 And at that time, 659 00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:36,380 my mother was a second grade teacher and so 660 00:44:36,380 --> 00:44:39,905 she was teaching at the same time that I was. 661 00:44:39,905 --> 00:44:42,500 So there's still quite a few people that 662 00:44:42,500 --> 00:44:46,640 were in her second grade. 663 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:50,270 And she was certainly 664 00:44:50,270 --> 00:44:53,640 a much more memorable teacher than I was. 665 00:44:54,070 --> 00:44:58,025 Numerous people told me 666 00:44:58,025 --> 00:45:03,480 that she was their favorite teacher in school growing up. 667 00:45:05,980 --> 00:45:08,510 >> Before you went off to college, 668 00:45:08,510 --> 00:45:09,950 what did you guys do as 669 00:45:09,950 --> 00:45:12,840 teenagers? What did you do for fun? 670 00:45:13,060 --> 00:45:17,910 >> [LAUGHTER] We played sports. We rode our bicycles. 671 00:45:18,190 --> 00:45:22,415 We went camping. 672 00:45:22,415 --> 00:45:25,950 We were boy scouts. 673 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:37,460 Growing up my parents were mostly bridge players 674 00:45:37,460 --> 00:45:47,315 and we would play cards to play bridge. 675 00:45:47,315 --> 00:45:53,090 And one of the Methodist preachers 676 00:45:53,090 --> 00:45:57,395 that was here when I was growing up, 677 00:45:57,395 --> 00:46:00,410 came home, it seemed like almost on 678 00:46:00,410 --> 00:46:03,980 a daily basis and play 679 00:46:03,980 --> 00:46:07,670 cards with my mother because 680 00:46:07,670 --> 00:46:12,065 my dad was working at Salamis, 681 00:46:12,065 --> 00:46:16,855 which is a textile meal and that was in Rome. 682 00:46:16,855 --> 00:46:20,710 And they would do shift work. 683 00:46:20,710 --> 00:46:23,665 So he would work 684 00:46:23,665 --> 00:46:30,680 three different shifts and over a period of time, 685 00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:34,790 he'd work a week working the the early morning shift, 686 00:46:34,790 --> 00:46:36,125 which would start at 687 00:46:36,125 --> 00:46:38,000 seven o'clock in the morning, I believe, 688 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:39,905 and then there would be the afternoon shift, 689 00:46:39,905 --> 00:46:42,230 which is then the next week he would work. 690 00:46:42,230 --> 00:46:45,410 And then there would be the graveyard shift which he 691 00:46:45,410 --> 00:46:50,075 would work at night. 692 00:46:50,075 --> 00:46:54,395 So a lot of the time he was off working. 693 00:46:54,395 --> 00:47:00,530 He would either show up late after 694 00:47:00,530 --> 00:47:03,650 the afternoon shift or he would show 695 00:47:03,650 --> 00:47:08,700 up early in the morning after the graveyard shift. 696 00:47:11,890 --> 00:47:13,910 >> Did you ever gather at 697 00:47:13,910 --> 00:47:17,640 the square with the other teenage guys? 698 00:47:21,250 --> 00:47:23,795 >> [LAUGHTER] Not that I recall. 699 00:47:23,795 --> 00:47:28,865 We would play baseball in the lot. 700 00:47:28,865 --> 00:47:35,000 It was just west of where I'm sitting right now. 701 00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:37,490 It was that vacant lot that was 702 00:47:37,490 --> 00:47:44,820 a place that we used for playing ball. 703 00:47:49,210 --> 00:47:51,110 >> When you were in school, 704 00:47:51,110 --> 00:47:52,865 the school system was segregated. 705 00:47:52,865 --> 00:47:56,480 Do you remember very much about race relations 706 00:47:56,480 --> 00:48:00,995 during your childhood in Adairsville? 707 00:48:00,995 --> 00:48:06,080 >> Sadly, no. The town 708 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:13,940 was very segregated as the school was totally segregated. 709 00:48:13,940 --> 00:48:23,090 And we had virtually no contact 710 00:48:23,090 --> 00:48:26,225 with any African Americans at all. 711 00:48:26,225 --> 00:48:32,240 And so in those terms 712 00:48:32,240 --> 00:48:39,770 that until I was in high school, I was oblivious. 713 00:48:39,770 --> 00:48:47,570 And the period I was in high school, 714 00:48:47,570 --> 00:48:51,455 things started happening and 715 00:48:51,455 --> 00:48:54,920 people started protesting and 716 00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:59,810 so I became conscious 717 00:48:59,810 --> 00:49:05,820 of what was going on in our society that, 718 00:49:05,980 --> 00:49:10,025 the Brown versus education in 719 00:49:10,025 --> 00:49:16,190 1955 had no effect upon me and we didn't even 720 00:49:16,190 --> 00:49:21,260 know that it happened and Georgia didn't get around 721 00:49:21,260 --> 00:49:24,740 to implementing until actually 722 00:49:24,740 --> 00:49:26,630 a year after I graduated from high school, 723 00:49:26,630 --> 00:49:30,365 there were no African Americans that attended 724 00:49:30,365 --> 00:49:32,000 Adairsville High School and 725 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:36,515 the entire time I was there, the early '60s. 726 00:49:36,515 --> 00:49:41,525 So I didn't have any classmate 727 00:49:41,525 --> 00:49:44,850 until I went off to college. 728 00:49:44,850 --> 00:49:47,440 >> Was there protesting in Adairsville? 729 00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:49,300 Do you remember? 730 00:49:49,300 --> 00:49:50,365 >> Was there what? 731 00:49:50,365 --> 00:49:53,575 >> Was there any protesting that happened in Adairsville? 732 00:49:53,575 --> 00:49:56,055 >> None that I'm conscious of. 733 00:49:56,055 --> 00:49:59,180 >> So then when you 734 00:49:59,180 --> 00:50:01,565 came back after college and taught for a year, 735 00:50:01,565 --> 00:50:04,710 the school was integrated at that point? 736 00:50:14,010 --> 00:50:17,290 >> It was partially integrated. 737 00:50:17,290 --> 00:50:23,920 I don't remember having 738 00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:29,780 any African American students in my grade. 739 00:50:30,140 --> 00:50:34,980 And they may have, 740 00:50:34,980 --> 00:50:37,545 gosh, I may really have to 741 00:50:37,545 --> 00:50:40,590 talk to Linda Bass about that as well. 742 00:50:40,590 --> 00:50:43,130 She was a teacher. 743 00:50:43,130 --> 00:50:46,780 She and her husband, Kenny, 744 00:50:46,780 --> 00:50:50,215 started teaching right after they 745 00:50:50,215 --> 00:50:52,090 graduated from college and taught 746 00:50:52,090 --> 00:50:54,370 here their entire lives for, 747 00:50:54,370 --> 00:50:56,980 working on us, obviously still alive. 748 00:50:56,980 --> 00:51:05,300 >> Do you have any final questions? 749 00:51:05,430 --> 00:51:09,460 >> Do you have anything else that you would 750 00:51:09,460 --> 00:51:13,760 like to mention? Can you think of anything? 751 00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:24,655 >> My grandfather who was my mother's father, 752 00:51:24,655 --> 00:51:33,235 Hogan, had run a store for a while on the Public Square. 753 00:51:33,235 --> 00:51:35,800 But the other thing that he had done, 754 00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:38,425 he had worked for the railroad, 755 00:51:38,425 --> 00:51:41,860 and he was a telegraph operator. 756 00:51:41,860 --> 00:51:46,660 And if you go to the Depot Museum, 757 00:51:46,660 --> 00:51:51,055 there you'll see the desk where the telegraph operator, 758 00:51:51,055 --> 00:51:53,245 the station master sat, 759 00:51:53,245 --> 00:51:56,650 where the telegraph was. 760 00:51:56,650 --> 00:52:02,260 And the people would send telegraph messages to him, 761 00:52:02,260 --> 00:52:04,450 telling him when the next train was 762 00:52:04,450 --> 00:52:06,940 coming by and how big train it was, 763 00:52:06,940 --> 00:52:14,860 and tell him to get ready because at that time they 764 00:52:14,860 --> 00:52:17,380 would stop but not always stop if he had, 765 00:52:17,380 --> 00:52:18,520 and so they had to find out whether or 766 00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:19,870 not there were any passengers, 767 00:52:19,870 --> 00:52:22,360 because there was some passengers out there as well 768 00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:25,750 as freight trains running. 769 00:52:25,750 --> 00:52:29,240 And when he was the telegraph operator, 770 00:52:29,240 --> 00:52:34,135 the story is, as I always heard growing up, 771 00:52:34,135 --> 00:52:37,450 was that there's a special code for 772 00:52:37,450 --> 00:52:41,275 every station along the railroad line. 773 00:52:41,275 --> 00:52:44,590 So every every telegraph operator, 774 00:52:44,590 --> 00:52:47,470 there was a certain code that they would start 775 00:52:47,470 --> 00:52:51,200 off each telegraph message that was directed to him, 776 00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:54,810 or it was directed to the Adairsville Depot. 777 00:52:54,810 --> 00:52:56,970 And if it was going to 778 00:52:56,970 --> 00:53:00,130 the Rissaca Depot or Chattanooga Depot, 779 00:53:00,130 --> 00:53:02,065 then it would start off with a different code. 780 00:53:02,065 --> 00:53:06,055 And the story was always that my grandfather 781 00:53:06,055 --> 00:53:10,345 would sleep until he heard the code. 782 00:53:10,345 --> 00:53:13,345 And whenever his code came on, 783 00:53:13,345 --> 00:53:18,130 he would immediately awaken and answer 784 00:53:18,130 --> 00:53:24,565 the telegraph as to what they had wanted to know. 785 00:53:24,565 --> 00:53:29,035 >> So he had conditioned himself to recognize that code? 786 00:53:29,035 --> 00:53:31,705 >> That code that code would wake him up. 787 00:53:31,705 --> 00:53:33,775 >> This alarm to wake him up. 788 00:53:33,775 --> 00:53:39,175 >> Did you ever take any trips on train from the depot? 789 00:53:39,175 --> 00:53:44,770 >> I did not. By that time, 790 00:53:44,770 --> 00:53:49,345 I was growing up. 791 00:53:49,345 --> 00:53:52,990 The passenger service was not 792 00:53:52,990 --> 00:53:58,750 quite finished until early '60s, 793 00:53:58,750 --> 00:54:01,120 I believe, it was the last passenger train 794 00:54:01,120 --> 00:54:04,160 that ran through here. 795 00:54:04,650 --> 00:54:09,940 We were part of the generation that grew up with 796 00:54:09,940 --> 00:54:11,800 the automobile and it 797 00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:16,060 was part of the Sid USA and your Chevrolet. 798 00:54:16,060 --> 00:54:18,475 It was that kind of story. 799 00:54:18,475 --> 00:54:23,350 Every summer, the five of us, 800 00:54:23,350 --> 00:54:25,210 my mom and my dad, 801 00:54:25,210 --> 00:54:30,370 and my two sisters would take off for vacation, 802 00:54:30,370 --> 00:54:32,620 driving across the country much of the time. 803 00:54:32,620 --> 00:54:37,450 So we drove across to California a couple of times. 804 00:54:37,450 --> 00:54:40,255 Drove to Florida, and drove to New York, 805 00:54:40,255 --> 00:54:42,860 drove to Canada and that's 806 00:54:42,860 --> 00:54:48,280 that was part of my growing up. 807 00:54:51,380 --> 00:54:54,300 >> How would you describe Adairsville 808 00:54:54,300 --> 00:54:56,590 to a complete stranger? 809 00:55:04,770 --> 00:55:07,210 >> [LAUGHTER] It was like maydear. 810 00:55:07,210 --> 00:55:09,910 It was like growing up 811 00:55:09,910 --> 00:55:16,130 with Sheriff Taylor or Andy Griffith. 812 00:55:23,640 --> 00:55:27,280 We only had a couple of 813 00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:32,270 police officers who we seldom saw. 814 00:55:32,730 --> 00:55:40,215 And I thought it was routine. 815 00:55:40,215 --> 00:55:43,845 I thought it was life was like Father Knows Best and 816 00:55:43,845 --> 00:55:48,730 leave it to Beaver and the Andy Griffith show. 817 00:55:48,730 --> 00:55:53,750 And that's the way it was. 818 00:55:54,930 --> 00:55:58,090 >> Were you shocked when you left in there 819 00:55:58,090 --> 00:56:01,250 and you only got out there in the world? 820 00:56:02,430 --> 00:56:08,510 >> No, not at all. 821 00:56:09,930 --> 00:56:15,740 It's much of a small town as it was. 822 00:56:17,010 --> 00:56:23,260 It was not provincial in terms of the education 823 00:56:23,260 --> 00:56:30,835 with chief and with my parents and with Topsy. 824 00:56:30,835 --> 00:56:33,700 All of those people were 825 00:56:33,700 --> 00:56:37,990 very literate and very well read and 826 00:56:37,990 --> 00:56:48,430 very politically aware and and sad. 827 00:56:48,430 --> 00:56:51,670 Most of the people that of 828 00:56:51,670 --> 00:56:55,900 my parents' generation were Roosevelt Democrats. 829 00:56:55,900 --> 00:57:01,390 And the biggest shock to 830 00:57:01,390 --> 00:57:07,825 me was after I had grown up, 831 00:57:07,825 --> 00:57:13,075 gone to college and was coming back and finding out that 832 00:57:13,075 --> 00:57:16,330 a great percentage of the population 833 00:57:16,330 --> 00:57:18,670 suddenly become Republican while 834 00:57:18,670 --> 00:57:21,290 I wasn't paying attention. 835 00:57:22,890 --> 00:57:25,340 >> Anything else? 836 00:57:27,330 --> 00:57:29,965 >> I think that will do it. 837 00:57:29,965 --> 00:57:31,240 Thank you very much. 838 00:57:31,240 --> 00:57:32,005 Thank you. 839 00:57:32,005 --> 00:57:37,120 >> I enjoyed recollecting the past. 840 00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:38,830 >> Thank you so much. 841 00:57:38,830 --> 00:57:41,270 >> My pleasure, certainly.