Followers

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Making the List

My favorite memories of Niles Gayle Brown begin with the one and only season he played on the basketball team at CCHS. It was his senior year. Up until then he only played basketball on the FFA teams. Really, Niles loved to hunt more than anything, but he was also a fine baseball player. The one thing he did well on the basketball court was shoot free throws. For instance, the Mighty Bulldogs were entering the final week of January, 1973 recuperating from two losses they had suffered the week before to Cumberland County and Warren Central.

Three games were on the schedule this week, including the biennial road trip to Logan County to play Auburn and Lewisburg. But first, on Tuesday night, the 23rd, they faced what Clinton County News sportswriter Mike Reeves referred to as the "flying" Gamaliel Tigers, a tough opponent no matter where the the game was played. This game, played here at home, was a close one from start to finish. The Tigers had a two point lead going into the fourth quarter. With 19 seconds remaining, we were up by one when Niles Gayle was fouled. He stepped up to the free throw line and became the hero of the game by calmly cashing in on both attempts, ensuring a Bulldogs victory.

The next game, on Jan. 26th at Auburn, would be another close one. With 10 seconds to go, Clinton County led 75-to-73, but an Auburn player connected on a 50-foot bank shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. The extra period was intense. The Bulldogs were down by one with 30 seconds left, but Larry Hatfield's free throw sent the game into a second overtime period tied at 81-all. It was definitely a nail-biter. With five seconds left in the second overtime, and Clinton County leading 88-to-87, who would be fouled but Niles Gayle Brown and, just as he had done three nights earlier against Gamaliel, he once again made both free throws and became a hero for the second game in a row, as the Bulldogs defeated Auburn for the first time ever.

It was that last week of January 1973 that Niles Gayle and his teammates from that season were added to my list of all-time favorite CCHS basketball players. Other than Niles Gayle and Larry Hatfield, the '72-73 team consisted of Mike Tallent, Mark Shearer, Ronnie Neal, Doug Hatfield, Frank Alexander, Jeff Choate, Ricky Mercader, Darrell Butler, Floyd Mercer and Freddie Branham. They were coached by Jim DeForest, assisted by Bob Reneau.

Larry Hatfield had 38 rebounds in that Auburn game, which earned him a place in the KHSAA record book. He has been tied for 5th place with Russ Thompson of Fairview (vs. Louisa, 2-28-69) ever since.

By the way, in the third and final game that week, on the 27th, Clinton County wrapped up it's road trip to Logan County by beating the Lewisburg Rangers 61-to-48.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Grandma's Kitchen Table

Charles Spurgeon once said a holy life is rich in interest, full of wonders, checkered with many changes, yet as easily ordered by providence as the improvisor arranges the details of the story. "Our lives should be illustrations of heavenly goodness," he said, "parables of divine wisdom, poems of sacred thought, and records of infinite love; happy are we whose lives are such tales."

When I think back on my childhood, I am able to recall times I went to visit my grandmother. The most vivid of all memories is of her kitchen table. Her Bible would almost always be lying there and most of the time she would be sitting there reading it, out loud if anyone was there to listen. I heard the stories of David and Goliath, the den of lions, Noah and the flood, and about how on the third day Jesus arose from the grave and what it was all about. Somedays there would even be a verse and chorus from one of her favorite old hymns.

I am thankful for this memory that provides strength and comfort to me as I travel along through life. God definitely had a plan when he placed my grandmother in my path. She lived the sort of Christian life we should all desire to live, and set an example for myself and others to follow. Of all the things I inherited from her, the mere recollection of her is more dearest to me.

Singer/songwriter Willie Nelson's inspiration when he wrote 'Family Bible' came from his childhood when his grandmother would sing 'Rock of Ages' and read from the Bible after supper...a story that echoes the same wonderful memories I have of my own grandmother.

"In memory of Dimple Speck"

"There's a family Bible on the table
Each page is torn and hard to read
But the family Bible on the table
Will ever be my key to memories"


Thursday, February 4, 2021

Whack the Barber

My great, great-grandfather, John Alex Craig, was born in 1853. He grew up and became one of the town's barbers. Appropriately, he was given the nickname, "Whack." If I had been the one to give him that nickname I would have included an exclamation point at the end of it...Whack! to give it more character, not that he needed it probably. It is believed that the barbershop Whack operated from was located inside or near Huff Hotel, which was located where Campbell New Funeral Home is today. The New Era newspaper, in 1955, reported that one of Whack's best customers for a shave was 'Uncle' Jim Vincent, who operated a local water-powered mill. Since he was such a good customer, who came in every day for a shave, Whack agreed to give him a special rate -- only 5¢ per session. The special rate for Vincent continued for years and years, until one day, instead of a nickel, Whack kept a dime out of the coin Uncle Jim had handed him.

"Say," said Uncle Jim, "I thought you agreed to only charge me a nickel for a shave!" "I did," replied Whack "but when I told you that I didn't expect you to live forever!"

John Alex's family were members of the same church I belong to today, which is Clear Fork Baptist Church. His daughter, Della, my great-grandmother, professed faith in Jesus Christ in 1896, at the age of 13, and became of the church. The photo I included here is of the church and it's congregation. It is from 1901, as the church approached it's 100th anniversary. John Alex, or Whack, is the first man you see standing to the far left. He died in 1927. Nearly all of his family are buried at Peolia Cemetery in Clinton County, Kentucky.

Monday, February 1, 2021

I Need Thee Every Hour

Annie Sherwood Hawks began displaying a gift for writing verses at the early age of 14, contributing poems on a regular basis to a variety of newspapers. One morning in June of 1872, while doing her regular household tasks, she suddenly became filled with the sense of a nearness to God. Wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words were ushered into her mind:

"I need Thee every hour
most gracious Lord
no tender voice like Thine
can peace afford"

Annie was a member of Hanson Place Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Dr. Robert Lowry, a prominent writer of gospel songs, was her pastor. Having been encouraged at the gift he saw in her poetry, Hawks showed her verses to him. Lowry added a refrain as he wrote the music for the hymn.

"I need Thee, O I need Thee
every hour I need Thee
O bless me now, my Savior
I come to Thee"

When it was first published in 1873, this Bible verse was included underneath the title: “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Each of the first four stanzas dwells on a different facet of our dependence on God:

Verse one: Our need for His peace "I need Thee every hour most gracious Lord, No tender voice like Thine can peace afford."

Verse two: Our inability to resist temptation alone "I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby, Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh."

Verse three: Our need to find true meaning in life "I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain, Come quickly and abide, or life is vain."

and, verse four: Our desire to see God's promise "I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will, And Thy rich promises in me fulfill."

The fifth stanza is an intense plea for God's presence "I need Thee every hour, most Holy One, Oh make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son."

My 78 RPM Disks (1905-1924)

1. Albert Campbell - Dreaming (3701). Steve Porter - Flanagan At The Vocal Teacher's (3705). Standard Talking Machine Company 1907. 2. ...