Keyboards were clicking in the newsroom, so I tried to avoid disturbing Drew, Derby and Garrett. But you can’t tiptoe on terrazzo floors. My clicking heels caught Derby’s attention. Looking up, he asked, “How Jesup are you?”
That was like cranking a wrench on the top of a City of Jesup fire hydrant, letting memories gush out. Crossing his arms and leaning back, Derby listened—as I turned loose a stream.
 |
|
Towns have distinctive objects that are landmarks. During my boyhood, the “Welcome to Jesup Ga” was one of those landmarks on East Cherry Street. As I remember, it was taken down in the 1960s. Later, a replica of the arch was erected at the new city hall that was once the post office. Today, the arch is in its new home next to the recently renovated train depot.
|
Well, I remember:
• Herbert Dent: the new man at Jack’s Barber Shop
• The Jesup Bees playing baseball at Milikin field
• Peanut Strickland hawking goobers
• Dog-catcher Colvin Roberson with his horse and wagon
• Samek’s The Poor Man’s Friend on Walnut Street
• Ches McCartney, The Goat Man, visiting
• Howard Johnson’s 28 flavors of ice cream
• Scouts riding train to Gardi
• Waynline, second-largest employer
• Original Dairy Queen on Savannah Highway
• Wayne Hotel burning
• Arch over Cherry Street
• Harris Gin
• Rawhide Latson and the WCTS Tigers
• Big Dink as coroner, arresting the sheriff
• Watching color TVs in Cherry Street windows of Harper’s Hardware
• Cracker Williams Park’s log community center
• Band director P.D. Hester
• Sara Few’s music store and record shop
• Jailbirds hiding in old concrete water tower
• Student strike at new high school
• First time eating a Dairy Ranch French fry
• Lash LaRue cracking his whip at A&P Grocery on Southwest Broad
• Marion Broadhurst snapping photos
• Knight’s Drug Store’s soda fountain
• Drawdy’s Drug Store
• Billiard balls clicking in Elmer’s Pool Hall above the Strand Theater
• Mrs. Gladys Riggins selling tickets in the Strand’s booth
• Paul Anderson, world’s strongest man, lifting the Yellow Jacket football team
• Roy Breen wearing Bermuda shorts, long black socks and high-top shoes
• American National Bank, the only bank
• Selling Jesup Sentinels to ladies at Sea Island Shirt Factory shift change
• Rayonier, brand-new on Altamaha River’s bluff
• Walking to first grade at T.G. Ritch, where Lois Spence was principal
• My first fried shrimp at the Cherokee Motel’s restaurant on U.S. 301 North
• Gene Moody and Harvey Stuckey fixing our TVs
• Dr. Lanier Harrell making house calls
• Romance on The Pig Trail
• Thrill of going to Ashley’s Store
• Herman Yeomans putting bass in his Cherry Street cement pond
• Yeomans Shoe Store’s Nubbin Keith x-raying feet to see if new shoes fit
• Picking up roots with Bob Harrison Jr. on the bulldozed property that’s now Pinecrest Cemetery
• Coach Frank Hammond pairing boys—skins and shirts—to play basketball in the old gym
• Spook Light
• Sliding down, in a cardboard box, Goose Creek’s clay bluff
• Teacher Lynwood Paul dying
• Why McMillian Creek is also Sugar Creek
• Lunch at Smith’s Drug Store
• Sand Greens Golf Course
• 301 Café
• Chatter Box
• Gene’s Barbecue
• Moose Lodge
• Deer Lodge
• Alligators in pit at Mimosa Restaurant
• D’s Pool Room
• The Pig
• Wayne Freezer Locker
• Phelps Dairy delivering milk to your door
• Giant lollipop twirling atop Candyland
• Sunday lunch at the Bon Air with Barney and Eulalia Gilmore
• Dave Madray’s Corvette
• Al Aspinwall’s Thunderbird
• Ordinary Gordon Bishop’s John Hancock-like penmanship
• Keller’s Shoe Shop
• Wayne County Stockyard burning
• Dr. Joe McCrary building bowling alley
• Myra Bryant and the Depot Café
• Ritch-Leaphart Hospital downtown
• Gant shirts at S&R
• Nathan’s Department Store,
• Mooney’s Department Store
• Buying Hush Puppies from Harry Mathis at Maxwell’s
• Candy counter at Carter’s 5 & 10
• Charlie and Claudia Johnson at Stuckey’s
• Pecan log with a gasoline fill-up at Stuckey’s
• Building of the Holiday Inn
• Pizza at Rose’s Restaurant
• Tindall Littlefield regaling in bygone days of his hometown
Well, Derby, I tried to tiptoe and failed. Now, it’s your fault. I can’t shut off this flood of memories. That’s why I’ll give our readers their turn: “How Jesup are you?”
 |
|
And just as things become landmarks, so do people become distinctive signatures of a community. The Harris family is among those who have made their mark on Jesup and Wayne County. In this undated photo, brothers, from left, John Henry, Nick, Pierce and J.P. pose at a family reunion. The businessmen were entrepreneurs. Perhaps their most recognized brand was the Harris Gin Company. Years later, J.P.’s son, Raymond, launched Harris Ace Hardware in the old Wayne Freezer Locker building. Today, Raymond’s sons, Tim and Josh, along with other family members operate multiple locations of Harris Ace.
|
