Saturday, May 3, 2008

Dave Heflin's Baldwyn Trivia


Here are a few questions to ponder and see if you know the answers. If so, put your answers in the comments area. Dave will help in a couple of days - if you need it.

A. Name some tricks Joe Murray could perform?

B. Three Mayors in our generation?

C. Name the pets of Lloyd Heflin? Howard Walker? Bob Christian? Harold Murley? Betty Outlaw?

D. What professional team was hosted by a local semi-pro team? Who was the promoter and participant?

E. Describe the unusual behaviors of Fannie Bell Sloan? May Madison? Moon Mullins? Damon Williams? The Lewellen sisters? Brooks Prather?

F. Remember Pete West, a mechanic at Henderson’s Chevrolet? What unusual procedure did he practice?

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First Baldwyn Trivia Quiz Answers

A. Joe Murray could headbang everything. Remember the bowl-like Coke sign at Christine's? We watched him charge and flatten it one night. Basically, he could beat you in marbles, tops, yoyos, corn cob wars, cowboys and Indians, and especially, the knife game of "splits". Many traveling salesmen lost a few quarters in "snooker" at lunchtime to him.

B. Before Lloyd Heflin was Mayor, I remember ?? Green who lived across the road from the Heflin's. They may be the same Greens that lived on Water Street near Betty Smith?

C. Howard Walker's dog was Butch (?) and Betty Outlaw's horse (?) Help us Henry! Bob Christian had a dog that did tricks, name forgotten.

E. May Madison and I ran Do Do's Steak House for two summers. Vera Barber and Do Do were working days and left the place in our charge many nights. The basement was a "colored dinning room" with a dumb waiter connecting to May in the kitchen. Many times, I heard her screaming down the shaft and running down the steep embankment and brandishing a butcher knife. But, the one scene that I thought you would remember was the Saturday afternoon Slim Weldon and maybe, Odis Mink (?) were pulling a screaming May Madison toward town hall from Larry Johnson's direction with ropes attached , leading her to jail.

F. Moon Mullins mowed yards with his tiny mower, but he spent more time in the pool room due to charging $.50/hour.

The Lewellen sisters had a habit of leaving all their lights on all night, and occasionally, neighbors heard gunshots that the sisters denied hearing.

Damon did his cigarette trick for a coin or a cigarette, but he had a weird saying with "bee, bee, bumble bee..." (help, Henry).

This list of trivia questions is not reserved for Heflin or Houston. Please bring back your sightings and jar our memories. Wimp Nichols has some wonderful stories for all you sixty plusers. We might keep on pulling questions from the Reunion Quiz, but dare to step out.

Great Fun, Dave

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

F. Pete West could take warts off by a "magical" word and a stroke over the wart.
C. Lloyd dog was Scrappy. Harold had a snake named Henry.

Anonymous said...

Brooks Prather & Moon Mullins both had a pretty hot temper!

Anonymous said...

If you beat Mr. Prather in a pool game or made him mad somehow, he would throw his Wall Street Journal (that he picked up in the trash can at the post office) at you and yell, 'just don't talk about it!'.
Betty Outlaw had a horse I think but I don't know the name of it.

Anonymous said...

What can we say about Joe Murray? He was multi-talented. The only one thing that comes to mind right now is that he could drink a pepsi cola TWICE. Don't ask me for the details!
RB

Anonymous said...

In (E): May Madison would sing at the top of her voice when cooking, but when just preparing, she hummed. She could sure make a graet cheese burger.

Anonymous said...

I heard that once the Lewellen sisters had a chauffer but later when they had to drive the car by themselves, one learned to drive, and the other always sat in the back seat.
Is that right?

Carl Houston said...

Some tough ones, Dave... I have been banging my head against the wall (like Joe Murray would do) trying to remember Damon's unusual thing. The only thought that comes to mind is the cigarette trick. He would hold it in his hand and flip it and catch it in his mouth.

If that's not what you had in mind, I give.

Anonymous said...

Mayors were Lloyd Heflin, Sr, Bernard Coggins and I can only think of Merle Rowan, who was just a bit later.

Forest Grisham (or Grissom), Swede Johnson and Hugh Holliday played on the local semi-pro Baldwyn team which hosted the New York Celtics in 1930's. They later hosted the House of David, which included Johnny Stroud Sr, father of the John Stroud who played at Ole Miss in the 1980's.

Miss Fannie Bell has been referred to by Henry Earl as our Boo Radley, being a recluse. She was seldom seen by anyone. If she had to let anyone into her house for some reason, she locked the door behind them. Her sister Annie Bell across the street was a former school teacher (3rd grade). When she taught borrowing her exasperated correction was "if you borrow all the way to Guntown, you have to pay back". Even that was lost on some of her students.

Anonymous said...

Not sure of the mayors...there was a Coggins in office at some point. Was he before Merle Rowan or after?
Who is the mayor of Baldwyn now?

Anonymous said...

Didn't Bob Christian have a parrot or some kind of bird as a pet? And didn't Brenda Waters teach it some sentences?

Anonymous said...

Danny Horton is the current mayor , for you out-of -towners.

Anonymous said...

Ya'll this is playing right. I'll give it through the weekend for more answers. Thanks to Carl's great efforts to pull out some more stuff. He is getting them from our Reunion Trivia Quiz. If you want to participate get the test out and prepare.

Anonymous said...

Joe Murray did'nt really do tricks -he was a trick walking around. Never a dull minute when he was near - fun always!

Anonymous said...

P.S. I heard Joe Murray played college football but didn't attend college? Real?

Anonymous said...

I have the same memories of Joe Murray always being fun. You are right: he went to Itawamba Community College for part of one semester and was slated to be in high school while playing JC football. I think he left before school started, however.