1955 BHS Bearcats TC Champs

An old clipping that I was able to restore - kinda. However, the story can be remembered by those of you that were there and "pulled it off". The banners and signs "BEAT BOONEVILLE" that were seen everywhere must have worked! The final score of a 31 point spread testifies to the tenacity and determination of the 'cats against the arch rival Blue Devils.

Will anyone admit to painting "Go To He## Booneville" on their school building right before this game???

Also recognizable in the photo (other than the three listed in the text) is John Lampkin (L), Billy Wayne Houston, Melvin Duke, and others including cheerleader Faye Coggins (R). I think I have those correct and apologize if not.
____________________________

From the Tupelo Journal, sent by Betty Smith Massengill.

Click to enlarge.

Remember James Franks?

I remember James Franks only from the time I was very young, and lost track of him over my adult years.

I rode with him in a wagon and a 4 mule team from Baldwyn to Geeville once. He had brought a load of cotton to one of the gins and I helped him suction it up into the conveyor.

His "museum" building was still standing the last time I went by on US 145; I wish I could have checked it out when it was full of his collections.

There is a misspelling in the text: The old auto was a Jordan Playboy.
__________________________________

From the Tupelo Journal newspaper, date unknown, but a guess is about 1974. Sent by Robert Palmer.

Click on pics to enlarge.

Doc, Babe, and Country

A photo we ran across of the three coaches that quite a few of us had the opportunity to play for. A lot can be said for these men, but there is not enough room to put all of their accomplishments and accolades here.

They will be remembered for a long time.
____________________________

From an old copy of the "Tupelo Daily Journal". Click to enlarge photo.

Baldwyn vs. Nettleton, 1955

A program from an important game in 1955. Shown is all I have of the program; the front and half the inside - at least the important part showing the Bearcat players and stats.

Scanned in the best and largest resolution for you to print and save if desired.

__________________

Submitted by John Melvin Duke. Click on images to enlarge.

Ladies of BCR Battle 1964

Top: Mrs. Haddon Palmer gets a shoe lace retied by Walter Anderson. Watching is James Preston McWhorter, Left, and James Franks, right.

Center: A drab cannon can be made to look better by adding a couple of pretty ladies. Standing is Virginia Rice Tapp and on the cannon is Johnny Corbett McGee.

Beards were very prevalent on men who celebrated the reenactments. The lower photo and accompanying text may or may not be true. How about it, Sue? Did you ever let BW grow one?
_________________________________

From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, May 31, 1964. Submitted by Robert Palmer, Baldwyn.

What th' ###????

Have been wondering about these photos from the 1959 BHS annual. Notice these players are all Bearcats but wearing Pratt uniforms.

Does anyone know if this is a spoof or what?

I guess you know all those pictured. If not I'll add a comment with the names if one of you doesn't beat me to it.

Twentymile Bottom

This sign overlooks the area on the Natchez Trace Parkway (seen in the background) where the mighty Twentymile canal starts to divest itself of the huge amounts of water it drains from it's beginning at Lebanon Mountain.

We have long revered the canal for it's glorious swimming holes, most notably "Blue Mars" written about and remembered by many; the sun perch and bluegill that we caught and returned to the water to fight on a hook another day, and the many areas we would cool off in by wading on a hot Summer day.

The canal channel goes much further Southeast from here, but in doing so creates many smaller tributaries to shed the water.
_____________________

Photo by Carl Houston on 9-9-09.

Young Baldwyn Men from the 1950s

NEW pic... Harold sent this yearbook photo (above) to show the "other" Jerry Prather in the middle photo. Robert Johnson has the info on him in the comments section.



Young men from Baldwyn in about 1957-59 or so. Correct the year if you know.

The adult on the left is Dennis Meek. The one on the right we're not sure of.

Pictured is: (not in any order) Jackie Cole, Gary Norman, Ted Love, Mansel Pruitt, Tully Lindley, Tommy Palmer, Robert Johnson, Jim Greene, Bobby Burns, The McMillan brothers, Robin Arnold, Huse Woods, Lanny Outlaw, and a few others I have failed to remember. I see a Rowan and a Parker, but cannot recall first names of either.

Lower: Some Bearcat basketball players including Wyatt, Doug, Billy, Harold, David, Dewey, Don, Jerry, Harold Deen, and Joe.

_______________________________________________

Center and lower photos from Clarene Evans. Click to enlarge.

FFA Activities and Boy Scouts

Top: A photo of some Baldwyn Boy Scouts. This might be around 1959.

Adults are Charles Morris (R) and Thomas Lampkin (L). They were very committed scout leaders for a number of years. Scoutmaster (front right) is Bro. Byron Nowak.

Back row L-R: Butch McCarthy, Jerry Ozbirn, Tommy Gamble, Jerry Enis.

Front row L-R: Junior Christian, Larry Franklin, Gordon McCarley, Jimmy Joyner, Tony Hendrix, Kenneth Lauderdale, and Andy Enis.

Lower: Nobody we have talked to recalls what these models of farm structures were used for, or who may have built them. Any help on that will be appreciated.

Sitting is Herb Spivey (R) and Bobby Gene Gamble.

Standing L-R: Instructor C. Q. Hoover, James Robinson, Ted Roberts, and Bonnie Ray Whitehead. Taller boys are L-R: Billy Owen, Bill Hogue (?), Milford Gamble, Gibson Lee Billingsley, and Herman Blankfield.
______________________________

Photos and information submitted by an anonymous reader.

1959 BHS Football Homecoming

Players, cheerleaders and the homecoming queen and court from 1959.

L-R Martha Prather, Carolyn McCarley, Sandra Poole, Harold Deen Grissom, Peggy Jo Jones, Doug Pruitt, Queen Olivia Enis Pruitt, Deborah Morris, Joe Cunningham, Midge Stiles, and Judy Bryant.

____________________________

From the 1959 BHS yearbook. Click to enlarge.

Saturdays in Baldwyn 1930s-40s

By

James "Jimmy" Cunningham

Baldwyn was a lively town in the late 30's & early 40's. Mr. Audie Coggins owned the Ritz Theater on Main St., and he usually had something special going on Saturday afternoon and night. He had a stage in front of the screen, so he would have a stage show of some kind if possible. There were singing groups, boxing matches, or even movie stars. Tex Ritter came with his group, and Mr. Audie had him to draw the lucky ticket for the Saturday drawing at 3:00 p.m.

Top attractions were the boxing matches in an elevated ring in the center of town. Local boxers were Sam Patton, Ed Wallis, Johnny Conlee, Raymond Easterling, "Curly" Copeland, Hasten Joyner, "Pee Wee" White & his twin brother Loyd, Mike Richey, Johnny Agnew, and Jess McGee. Most were amateurs who had never trained, but were pretty good boxers. "Curly" Copeland was fairly well trained and could usually win his matches even though outweighed in most cases.

For the finale on boxing nights ten or twelve boxers would enter the ring at the same time, and the last three standing would get the prize money. This was called a "Battle Royal".

Aud's admission tickets were fifteen cents to everyone on movie nights, but when he brought in "Gone With the Wind" it had to be $1.20 each. This movie lasted four hours with a 30 minute intermission.

Claude Gentry's theater (the Lyric) at Main & Front St. brought in the Jessie James movie which showed all night until 4 o'clock the following morning. These tickets were eleven cents to everyone, which was regular price, but only lasted a little over two hours.

Cars were not owned by many rural people in those days, and around fifteen school buses would bring people in to town around 10 o'clock on Sat. morning. They would shop until after the town drawing, go home and milk their cows, and then come back to town to the movie and visiting until after midnight. The stores would remain open until that time. I have worked in the grocery store until 12:00 p.m. and then gone to the barber shop for a haircut.

Hope this enlightens you about early Baldwyn. Normally on a week night, the GM&O Rebel passenger train going North at 10:51 was my signal to head home.

____________________________

Images exerpted from "Around Town" film by Claude Gentry. Click to enlarge.

Thanks for the memories, Jimmy!

1942 BHS Senior Class

Some time ago, someone asked if we had a photo of the 1942 senior class.

I recently noticed this framed photo on a restaurant wall and took it with the best clarity as possible.

Hope you can make all the images out well enough. The ceiling lights are reflected and a glass over the photo makes it distorted somewhat.

______________________

Image used with permission of Lana Sue McVey Kesler and Agnew's Restaurant in Pratts, MS. Click to enlarge.

People and Places from Long Ago

TOP: A photo of a possible funeral procession with the casket on display in the center of town (M. Gorden's in the background). This is about 1944-45. Some have thought that it might be the funeral of Uncle George, the porter at the Home Hotel, but that would have been 1949. Any ideas from the more senior readers?

SECOND. The Ritz theater. How much of our time did we spend in there?

THIRD. Marie Evans takes a break from her duties at Tom's Drug Store.

FOURTH. "Hizzoner" the mayor of Baldwyn for many years and Mrs. Heflin at their home patio with homemade furniture.

LOWER. Jimmy Cunningham and Alton Wallis (Wallace?) and the grocery delivery truck from Cunningham's store. About 1954.
___________________________

Photo credits: Clips from "Around Town" video by Claude Gentry. Third and fourth photos courtesy of Clarene Evans and David Heflin. Lower photo courtesy of Jim Greene.

FFA Members Photo

Photo of mid 1950s FFA guys. Not sure of person on left, but others are L-R - Bobby Corbett, Bobby Nichols, Maxie Ramsey, and Frank Norman, Jr.

The FFA was a very good organization to belong to even if you weren't intending to be in farming as a vocation. I used my affiliation to learn to weld, some basic mechanical knowledge, and some other things I was able to use throughout the years.

As far as I know, from this group only Bobby Corbett actually had a career in farming. He is still owner of Corbett Farms in the Pratts area.
___________________________

Photo from the Betty Smith Massengill collection. Click to enlarge.

More Bearcats Football Clippings

-click to enlarge-

Some old clippings from the Baldwyn Weekly News we thought you might like to see. I restored them as best I could, getting the yellowed pages to black and white.

I would guess the dates at 1954-57.

________________________

Submitted by Betty Smith Massengill.

The Doors of Opportunity

-click on image to enlarge-

The above photo of the west (front) school doors from an old annual is representative of a golden opportunity we had when we last went through them. I recall going through them many times; to recess and then back to the "grind", streaking to the bike stand to get to my paper route in the afternoon, and the hurried exit to Summer vacation each year.

I had no idea when I last walked through them that 52 years later, looking at this photo, I would stop and think what magnitude the knowledge and learning I had gotten from the classes inside that building would have upon my life.

Many of us had only a few short years left after graduation. Some gave the ultimate sacrifice in the military, others went on to have distinguished public careers or just be public service workers with good homes and families. Without the desire of the teachers at BHS influencing us, it would have been much more difficult after we finished school.

To all of those whose devotion to teaching us necessary skills in language, math, science and the arts, and to the coaches who helped with our athletic abilities, we salute you.

1958 BHS Class History

-click on images to enlarge-

This is a very condensed history of the '58 class. Hilarious as it may be, it has some very great memories, especially to those mentioned by name.

I am sure there was quite a bit more that could be written about those years. Please add any other things you can remember to the comments!
_____________________________

Submitted by Cynthia Mink. I wish I knew who the author of this is in order to give he or she credit. This is an excerpt from the Baldwyn Weekly News, I assume.

Some Prominent Baldwynians of Long Ago

TOP: If you ever shopped at M. Gorden's department store, you will recall these friendly clerks who assisted you.

CENTER: Members of the Baldwyn Order of the Eastern Star. This probably is around the late 1950s or early 60s.

LOWER: Some of the local folks who have grown or started growing beards and wearing period clothing for one of the many centennials or reenactments in the Baldwyn area. Standing, L-R Jimmy Tapp, Haddon Palmer, Doug Boxx, Jim Weeks, Bernard Coggins.

Kneeling - Douglas Waters, Charles Weatherford. I think this is around 1964.
______________________________

Photo credits: center, Tom Shellnut. Others courtesy of Robert Palmer.

Click on images to enlarge.

BHS Class of '39

-click to enlarge-

Had a request to post this montage of the graduates of 1939, their associates and sponsors.

I apologize for cutting off some of the data at bottom; the article was larger than my scanner bed. I scanned it in 3 sections, but it absolutely would not stitch together, no matter how hard I tried.

Bet some of you have relatives in the photo, or can recall some of them.

Trivia: What was Armour Lee Gentry's nickname that he carried with him all his life?

______________________________

Courtesy of Betty Smith Massengill.

The "Shirt Factory" Ball Team

UPDATE: Names of players shown:

Front row - L to R: Sara Bell Prather Jordan, Hazel Murley, Margene Lewis, Jean Garret Ratliff, Louise Davis, Era Del Pettigrew; Back row, L to R: Anna Lee Davis Prather, Jean Prather Williams, Iva Sue Herring, Juanita Taylor, Pauline Duncan Murphy, Esther Foster Duncan, Frances (Speed) Adams, Maureen Hughes Young. (Thanks to Jo Ann Patton Wilroy)

This is a picture of the shirt factory basketball team--the shirt factory that was in town next to Al's Cafe. It was probably made in the early '50s.

I recognize most of the faces but I don't remember any names except #11 is a Murley. Helen? Surely some of them had attended school at Baldwyn so maybe they were big sisters of blog members.

I think it was called Prentiss Manufacturing before Blue Bell but I'm not sure of that. It was always just "the shirt factory" to me. Mother worked there at the time this picture was made. Al was my babysitter before and after school.

The shirt factory paid for a lot of kids' clothes and shoes and put food on the table back in those days.

Photo and text from Jo Carolyn Anderson Beebe

Click on photo to enlarge

____________________________________

I recognize most all of the faces also, Jo, but only one that I can attempt to put a name to -Anna Lee ?? Davis #1 (top left), hope that is correct. I believe she married Googe Prather.