by Garland O. Goodwin
Marvin Arledge always brought a long, wall-sized family tree to the annual Arledge reunions at the Silver Creek Church fellowship hall. It was both informative and meant to be updated. Fran and I always attended with my late first cousin Ann Holbert Harrill Woolf. And Fran had better bring her marinated asparagus.
Marvin, as “CEO” of the Green creek Heritage Festival in its early days, always gave the Columbus Lions a prime parking spot for our Vision Van.
He always drew a happy crowd when he came up to Hardee’s, and later McDonald’s, for breakfast of a Saturday morning.
Sometimes he and Dora welcomed me, or I often had the honor of welcoming them by getting there first.
Shortly after I returned here to live upon my early retirement, I eagerly strapped on my red MGB/GT sports car at every opportunity to race around on our wonderfully curving, hilly mountain roads.
MG drivers always wave to other MG drivers everywhere, so when I saw a man working under the bonnet of an MG in his driveway, I hastened to join him there. I climbed out, offering my hand and starting to introduce myself.
Lonnie Hall said, “I know who you are,” but I had to ask who he was.
He quickly filled me in about the Southern Woven Label mill and remembered that my Aunt Mildred Rippy had asked him to give me a tour. Lonnie was tuning up the MG for his son to take to college.
If you want to drive an MG during the week, you have to work on it every Saturday morning!
Lonnie always had a huge garden behind his house on Peak Street, and owned a tractor to work it. I asked him to break up an area on my empty lot in Holly Hill so I could have a garden, too. Not enough sun, so I later covered the area with a big house!
When I decided to write about the woven bookmark that the label mill made to commemorate the moon landing, I stopped in to get my facts straight from Lonnie. I had learned from Aunt Mildred to ask first rather than hear about the corrections later.
Lonnie was a gracious host and filled me in on his bringing the label mill here, hiring the superintendent (a Mr. Hedrick, who bought Mill Farm to be his home) and probably hiring Aunt Mildred as well to run the office. He also explained how they made the label with their Jacquard looms.
My two-hour visit to White Oak on a recent Sunday afternoon found some of my friends out and about! Some of them, who can no longer go out, get to have birthday parties brought in to them by their loving families. Such was the case for Ruth Taylor . . . they were just beginning to gather when I looked in on them, and Harold said to come on back later for birthday cake.
So I went on to see Bunny Beatson, Hazel Owens, Ed Weeks, Pete Gibson, Artie Hamilton, Paul Smith, Ray Foster and Julie Glinter (She was Julia Lankford when I was her classmate at Tryon High). Lula Burrell, Joe Wray and Gene Wycoff were among those out and about.
William the cat strolled back down the hall after having a snack in the nurses’ office to join Lion Ed in his room.
I told Pete that Ed had stolen his cat, and he agreed, but with a grin.
You can believe that I when I completed my rounds I re-joined the Taylors for some fruit bowl and birthday cake. Ruth unwrapped some beautiful presents, but all I had brought was myself. Even so, they insisted that I have another piece of birthday cake. Which I declined, I hope as graciously as it was offered.
There are a lot of nice people at White Oak, both staff and residents. Go down there and check them out. You’ll be glad you did.