I left Rison School I think the year of 1958 to go and be merged with Lincoln School at Lee High School. My address coincidently was 1514 Rison Avenue. I can remember when Rison Avenue was paved from the gravel road it was and the city limits went only as far as The MiM's Court that was a cross the street from the Catholic Church. It was later extended to 5 Points and I'll bet most don't remember that where the banks is now, there was a funeral home. It had a bright blue clock outside. I can't remember the name but I think it was Spry before they moved to the Parkway. Across the street was a Texaco station, where Hardee's is now.
Me and my little dog entered a Christmas parade one year. I must have been 7 or 8. I had a little covered wagon that a guy made for me and he lived in a house almost across the triangle section on Clinton Street in front of the Catholic Church and I attached the front of the wagon to my dog and we won first place in the animal category. When they paid me in 5 silver dollars, I had no idea why I was given the money and how much I had got. It was my mother that had to explain the denominations. So she gave me paper dollars for them and then I understood.
We would go to Woody's Drive-in Theater and watch movies at night or on week-end outside the fence on the south side. We would stop by the store at the corner of the railroad tracks and Oakwood Avenue and get something to drink. Someone would go over the fence and turn up the speakers so we could hear the sound and while they were over there they would get us some popcorn. We would sometimes take a blanket to sit on because the ground got cool and damp. What was the name of that grocery store? Was it Steger? *
Gosh I wish I could remember but they have covered it up with a sign but it was etched in the concrete when the building was built.
*Editor's note (added November 9, 2005): I drove by the building to which Aaron asked, "Was it Steger?" and found that the name engraved on the front of the store (facing south) was "G.W. Stofle."
One of our friends, Collins Wynn, read the above article and had this to say:
"I was reading the memories of Aaron Potts the other day and I think I can answer his question about the store by the railroad tracks on Oakwood Avenue. I believe it was J.D. Honey's; the name was painted outside on the east wall of the store. My family and I lived across the tracks (eastward) on Lee High Drive about where the first Rison School was and we bought most all of our small grocery items at Mr. Honey's. It was common for our mom to send one of us 3 boys up to the store for sugar, or salt, or coffee, or something almost every day. Because everyone in the neighborhood were working people living from payday to payday (the same as some of us do now), Mr. Honey used a credit system whereby you got whatever you needed from him and he would write it in a ticket book that was paid up at the end of the week. I recall he had many boxes of these ticket books, I assume all arranged alphabetically. I don't believe he charged any interest - just the amount of the items purchased. The practice was a godsend for our family as well as many others I am sure."
"As a young adult, my brother Don happened to think one day that perhaps there might be an outstanding bill from years before at Mr. Honey's and stopped in as he was passing by that day just to check. Sure enough, Mr. Honey still had the payment book in his box and it was still active. I don't think I ever knew the exact amount due but I am sure it could not have been much. This act says a lot about Don's character."
Editor's note: So it appears that over time the store had two names: G.W. Stofle and J.D. Honey's. Perhaps Mr. Stofle was the original owner who either sold or leased the store to Mr. Honey. It's quite possible that the store has also had other names over the years.