Officer in the Night

 

Parks Groover and Jackie Gaskin, about 2006, at my first Bell Reunion. As I type this I just it me that I think Parks and Jakie lived next door to each other on Roswell Street, near the Coke Company. Parks owned part of Maietta Lights, after it was Sears, and before it was Glover Park Brewing. Jackie owned a big chunk of land the giant sport complex near Adairsville. .

True Story: I joined the Naval Reserves in 1962. We had a two week book camp at NAS ATLANTA in Marietta in December, 1962. One night in the barracks while I was sleeping the watchguard woke me up by shining a light in my face. “You Ed Hunter?”

“Yeah.”

“An officer in the head wants to talk to you. I think you have a death in the family.”

I hopped up and went to the head (s.k.a. bathroom) and there stood Parks Groover, with sunglasses on, a dark blue raincoat and officer silver bars on his shoulders. He made sure the guard had left and reached into his raincoat and handed me a bottle of booze. He said, “I figure you might need this Rock.” Which I turned it up and had a nice swig.

Parks was in the Air Force, at one time a surveyor near Australia and another time stationed in Orlando. I don’t recall if this was during or after is Air Force time.

6Susan Coker, David Green and 4 others

All About Harvey Kusrtzman

 

I am almost finished reading HARVEY KURTZMAN THE MAN WHO CREATED MAD AND REVOLUTIONED HUMOR IN AMERICA by the late Bill Schelly.  This book has the most details ever of Harvey Kurtzman and things hat happened his wife and his associates, friends and enemies.  So much infinite minute details. There are so much it will be hard to retain it all.  It is not all positive Kurtzman, it also had some negative stuff but overall, just impartial books.  Excellent book! 

James Ephrah Kuykendall (1848-1915)

 This is James Ephrah Kuykendall (1848 - 1915) and his wife Eliza Frances "Fannie" Tyson (1844-1927) James is the son of John Kuykendall (1817-1890) and Matha "Mattie" Tate (b abt 1820).

James and Fannie are Anna's great great grand parents. Fannie is the daughter of Robert Cabel Tyson (1821-1864) and Sarah Moody (1815-1896), my great great grandparents. Small world!

The two young adults are Avis and Arch Kurykendall, their children.

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Petty Girls Double Dating

 LOOKING BACK: c1936/7. Courting. I think the tall chimney used to be in south Marietta, in "Butler Town" but not sure.

Left to right: Janie Petty (soon to be Janie Hunter), Ed Hunter (behind Janie), Unknown, Opal Petty, Unknown, and Lois Moon (Lois will marry Robert Toy Moon in 1938).

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Petty Brothers & One Brother-In-Law

 

Attn: My Petty Cousins: The first picture The Petty brothers, about 1937-1944. Left to right: Tom, Wallace, Osmo, and Leonard. Leonard was born in 1924 and looks to be teenager. Roy is not in the picture, he was either training for fighting, or fighting in WWII, a student in Athens, Georgia, or taking the picture.

The second picture of the Petty brothers (and brother-in-law) Left to right: Wallace Petty, Osmo Petty, Leonard Petty, Tom Petty, Roy Petty, and Ed Hunter.

Wallace and Thelma

 

My mother’s brother Wallace Charles Petty (1910-2007)  and his wife Thelma Jeannette Cox (1904-1994).  They were married in Whitfield County, Georgia, 10 July 1939).

When Wallace was a kid his family moved to Gillette, Wyoming, where my mother was born.  After a couple of years they decided they could not make a go of homesteading and moved back east.  Their mother, Viola, carried the young kids and the father, William Elijah Joseph Petty carried their belongings and the two oldest sons, Tom and Wallace back via horse and wagon.  Talk About Quality Time!

They had four daughters.

Wallace and Thelma were both educators but took on other enterprises like raising cattle and having an egg producing operation.

Because of Wallace’s education positions the family moved to Augusta and Milledgeville, Georgia.

I remember Wallace being a quiet and sincere man. 

Once I remember he was on a work-related trip to Atlanta and dropped by for a visit.  At that time, I recently acquired about 6 or 8 jars with picked snake heads.  Then, when carnivals left town, the Sunday morning afterwards we would go to the fairgrounds and look for change  and things dropped from rides.  There I found the snake heads jars  in a box.  In each jar was a huge snake head with its mouth pried open showing the fangs.  Mama told Wallace about them and he wanted to see them.   We carried him out to the  little shed to show him.  Mama would not let them in the house.  Mama told Wallace she was going to make me throw them away..  Wallace looked at each one and could identify some of the snake heads and pointed out things about each one.  He recommended that we not throw them away and donate them to a school for the students to study.  She never said yes or no.

As soon as Wallace drove out of the driveway, she had me throw them away.

Frolicking at Seaside Heights, NJ

Me as "Old Man of the Sea", off season

Nuns frolicking on the Boardwalk of Seaside Heights (off Season)

 

CBS SUNDAY MORNING NEWS briefly mentioned Coney Island.  Anna asked me if I ever went to Coney Island, which I was stationed not for from New York Ciity.  No.

However!  I have been to Seaside Heights, about 15 miles from our base.

Seaside Heights was about like Coney Island, I think.  There was a boardwalk which was opened only in the tourist season.  That had lots of rides and games to win teddy bears and Kewpie Dolls and things; and lot of food joints, some seasonal and some not.

Near was Murphy’s.  Murphy’s was an Italian Bar.  They had people who attended regularly,  probably were neighbors.  One regular attendee was Barney the Paper Boy. Barney was in his late 70s or so.  He cried during sing-a-longs.  He also had a paper route.  There was also an ageless Radio City  ex-Rockett who liked the sing-a-longs.

My co-worker went there often and impressed the females by telling them he was a Navy officer, a pilot.  Which worked impressing them  and  it was a riot when they introduced him to another Navy Pilot. The other pilot was in our Squadron and caught on immediately and went along with it. 

I forgot how we met a group of teachers who lived in New York City.  They chipped in and had a beach house.  We became regular visitors at the beach house.  Our division officer enjoyed hearing our snafus at the teachers’ beach house and wanted to get in on the action and went with us a few times.  As I mentioned, Don told the girls he was a Navy Officer, our division Officer told them he was enlisted.  Everybody was happy.

Off season, Seaside Heights was empty of people, music, and all, it was either sad or remorse, sort of, which was perfect for thinking.

I remember spending time with a few of us walking on the beach November 1963, wondering about JFK’s assignation, and what now?  Life goes on.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! TRUMP'S GIANT

 

This may be news for some, but back in the late 50s there was a satirical magazine named TRUMP.  It was before Donald Trump was a household name.  It looked a lot like MAD Magazine, and even had the same artists that originally made MAD.  It was published by Hugh Hefner of PLAYBOY.

This story mocks the movie GIANT.  Text by Harvey Kurtzman and art by Jack Davis.

My Cobb County Courthouse

 

This is the Cobb County Courthouse that I remember from my formative years.  There seems always to be men hanging out in front, some tipsy from brown paper bags they had on their person.    See the stairways to the left?  Those stairs led to a bonding company owned by Robert McEntyre and Bill Spinks.  My uncle Spencer Crain owned a bonding company out of sight  around the corner.

Commissioner Herbert McCollum wanted to replace it with a more modern one.  Old Cobb Countians were against it.  Then it “Just so happen” that bricks from the tower started toppling off down to the sidewalk below… and I think it caught on fire tool.

It had to be replaced!