PARKWAY DRIVE-IN. There were two theaters on North Parkway or should I say 231North. I am not sure if you recall, but the entrance had two driveways - they came together at the ticket booth. One came in from Highway 231 and the other came in from the Parkway. The screens were opposite of each other and they had only one concession stand and projector booth. One projector booth was on the west side and another on the east. They had different movies. I worked at the one of Parkway Drive-in. I was dating Sally Black and drove a white 1963 Chevrolet super sport. Sally would wait till the concession stand closed and then we would watch the movie. Later they closed down the 231 Drive in theater and kept the Parkway Drive-in. My supervisor was Tony Kennedy. He was not particularly fond of me because there I was a senior in high school and drove a better car than he did. He had a Dodge or Chrysler with the elliptical steering wheel. I worked with several guys from Buckhorn High School and since I deliberately failed one grade to get out of Huntsville High, and they had not finished Lee, they talked me into coming to Buckhorn and that is where I graduated. These guys were Bobby (Hoot) Gibson and Paul Elkins. They were super to work with.

DARWIN DOWNS. The reason it was called Darwin Downs is because Mr. Jeff Darwin owned the property and he sold it to Mr. Penhall (my cousin Ted Penhall's dad - C.E.) to sub-divide. Out of respect to Mr. Darwin, it was named "DARWIN DOWNS". Mr. Darwin lived where the church is now on Maysville road near the bridge and Rison Avenue. Mr. Darwin owned the property from Oakwood Avenue on the north side to McCullough Avenue on the south and to the mountain on the east.

NATURAL SPRING. Before the property was sold and improved, off Bankhead parkway, there was a natural spring and the opening was kinda "U" shaped with the open side of it was closest to the road. It had very cold water flowing from it. Sometimes in the summer, we would go there and have a picnic or just an outing. We would put a watermelon in the spring and it would get pretty cool. It was more commonly known as "horse shoe spring" because of the shape of the opening.

COTTON FIELDS. The property at the end of Oakwood avenue belonged to a Mr. James Bishop. We picked cotton on his property in the late 40's and early 50's. Mr. Bishop would come around in a pick up truck to pick us up on Rison Avenue and Stevens Avenue near Mr. Seaton's grocery store.

TELEPHONES. As far as the comments about phone books that Bobby Potts mentioned, I can remember that the phone numbers had only three numbers. The police department,s number was 303 and we had to talk to an operator to get that number. later we got a dial phone and the prefix was JEfferson. Our phone number was Je 3446XR. We didn't use the JE, we just used the 4 digit number such as 3446 the X implied it was a party line and the R implied the type of ring we were to answer. We answered on two rings and our party line companion answered one long ring. Later we got a private line and the phone number changed to 3446R. Later with the dial phone we had to use the prefix which if look at the dial phone face, you would see that the JE was converted to 53. Our phone number changed to 533-446R.

CHAPMAN FARMS. Farther north on Maysville Road, Mr. Chapman owned the property North of Oakwood Avenue and he had a large cattle farm. One day he caught me, Bobby and Thomas Earl Seaton walking back from the mountain through one of his pastures near the intersection of Oakwood and Maysville Road. He drove up and yelled at us because he thought we were hunting on his property. Thomas Earl Seaton fell down and loaded his shotgun and Bobby and I ran like hell. I was afraid of getting shot. I have never run so fast in all my life. Bobby was pretty fast because he was on the football team, but that day, I out ran him by 20 yards.

I was talking (electronically) with my Rison-Dallas Association friend the other day (Mrs. Ann Franklin) and she startled me with a comment about Mullin's Drive In. I had no idea that the corner at 5th street and Stevens Avenue was their second location; not the first. She told years before Mullin's had been across the street and south of the intersection by a hundred feet or so. The only thing I can think of is the building I knew as the "paper house" where all us neighborhood newspaper boyz (a little hip-hop, huh?) gathered to pick up our papers and fold them for delivery. Once a week we had to settle up with the "company man" there as well.

I enjoyed reading the article by Aaron Potts on old times. It was brought to my attention by my son, Kevin. However, I would like to add my comments, as I lived on the subject farm about ten years and was also the "Pickee" of some of that cotton:

My name is Lorene Bishop Rice. We moved to the subject farm area in l941. My dad farmed the acreage until the early 50's. It was later farmed by my brother, Clive Bishop. We nor my brother ever owned the property. Although, over the years, it acquired the nickname, Bishop's Hollow. We were "Sharecroppers". I remember Aaron, his brother and his mother, Minnie, well. In fact, during WWII the Rison school children helped immensely in picking our crop one year. They would come at noon and pick, be it 5 lbs. or 50 lbs. There was no other help available. Aaron was correct in our picking the hands up in a truck.

When we moved there, the property was owned by the Rodgers (sp?) family. It was sold to Mr. Jack Chambers, (the old, old, Mr. Jack) of the Coca Cola Co. After he died, it sold to (I think) the Giles. Hence the names of the streets in the subdivision, Rodgers, Chambers, Giles.

As a bit of history, when we moved there (Jan 10, 1941) we parked the car at what is now the 4-way stop at Maysville Road. We then boarded a wagon pulled by mules to travel the rest of the way. When Mr. Chambers bought the farm, he arranged for a right of way from Maysville Road to what is now Giles (which is where his property started) and put in a graveled road up to the farm house. I think the right of way was obtained from Mr. Chapman. We did not have electricity until late 1940's (again, thanks to Mr. Chambers).

I walked from my house to and from Rison School (approx 2 miles each way) from the 4th grade thru high school. I graduated in 1949 in a class of 28. I married Bill Rice who graduated from Rison in 1943. My children, Trena Rice Powers and Kevin Lee Rice both attended Rison, then Chapman and on to Lee. Both graduated from Lee: Trena 1968, Cheerleader and Kevin 1971, athlete.

Hope you enjoy this bit of reminiscing. Lorene Rice, Rison Class of '49.

PS - At the Rison Reunion, Leo Drake stood up and said, "I live in Lorene's cotton patch." I am that Lorene. We appreciate your support of the Rison Reunion and community.