Memories.html

"Sunshine" studies an old yearbook at the January meeting at the Somerset Library.

Ferguson School

Memories

Nancy Atchley, Moderator

"Hometown Girl" shows "Scarlett" a 1940 graduation program, as behind her "Knowitall9" (left) and "Ferguson Proud" try to figure out who the mysterious "Redd Ryder" really is.

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Sharing another Howard Moore story are 1968 Ferguson Grad (orange sweater), Knows Little (in blue), QVC Gal (far right), Hometown Girl, Scarlett(white collar), and IRemember. These meetings are held in The History Center, a beautiful facility with work tables, large windows, easy chairs, a fireplace, microfilm reader, wireless access for computers and plenty of electrical outlets. Meetings are held once a month. Participants are asked to bring any old photos and annuals they have, plus any other items. School newspapers, programs, basketball schedules, homework papers, anything at all can be scanned into the computer and displayed.

Below is the original Topix thread that started the whole Ferguson revival. When Nancy Atchley ("I Remember") posted this simple question on September 16, 2008, she mever dreamed it would elicit 5600 replies and inspire a web site and an organization.

I Remember

Does anyone remember their days at Ferguson School. And does anyone miss those days as much as I do?

Looking Back

My sister went there and if I remember she had Mr. Moore for a principal for awhile, then it was Mr. Overby

3	Former Student	I went there, but I can't remember if Mr Overby was the principal before or after Mr.Higgins.
4	I Remember	Mr Overby was after Mr. Higgins
5	Looking Back	Does anyone remember Joetta Whitaker, Nancy Atchley and Linda Burton who all hung together all through school? I never see any of them at the Ferguson reunions.
6	I Remember	Does anyone remember Judy Burton, Charlotte Wood and Carolyn Carr They all ran togeather way back then
7	Wish	I remember all 3 Judy was my neighbor.They were a grade behind me.
8	I Remember	I knew all the above mentioned girls. Gosh we were all poor. Judy and Margaret Tucker probably had the most. But it didn't seem to matter back then. I couldn't wait to get out of Ferguson, but I look back now and wish I was that young girl again, I wish I could go back to my raggedy old home and my mama still be there. Those were the best times of my life and I didn't know it. There were no drugs or guns or alcohol in our school. If you got in trouble you got your behind whipped. We were good kids. I remember being in Mr.Young’s music class and John Gallagher took all the swiches out of the breaker box and all the power went out...Things like that was the only kind of trouble anyone ever got in. And they were harmless. I don't know if anyone else misses those days,but I sure do.
9	Crossroads	That story is so funny I hope more people post their stories from their days at Ferguson High
10	Me Too	Me, too. This was at least decent to read.
11	Somerset	Yes I remember Mr.Moore and Miss Greenly also and Mr.Overby was my Algebra teacher. Good years but times were hard at our house. I remember every other night Mom would wash out my one pair of good jeans. I did not care for Mr. Moore but really liked Mr.Overby. But I quit early and enlisted in the service so I had to get a GED later on. But life has treated me fair and no regrets here.

12	Frontrunner	I remember a girl named Sylvia but can't remember her last name. She had the biggest crush on a boy and I think his name was Eddie Bill. She was so pretty but afraid to ever let Eddie Bill know how she felt. That was the big drama back then, who had a crush on who. Looking back, wasn't life so simple ?
13	I Remember	That girl was Sylvia Hamm and she did have a crush on Eddie Bill Ping ---I hadn't thought about Eddie Bill in years. Life was indeed simple. I used to say my mom I can't wait to grow up and she would always say "Don't wish your life away." I wish now I could go back to those simple times.
14	Gosh	I had forgotten about Ms. Greenly. She was the Librarian. Times were bad at my house, too. We didn't have an inside bathroom until I was 10 years old. Heck, I don't know any one of us who had a whole lot. I know I owned two pair of shoes, one for school and one for church. There were no sneakers for girls back then, either. I'm glad life has been good to you and I hope it stays that way.
15	Frontrunner	Didn't Eddie Bill play ball for Ferguson. Charlie and Larry Tucker played, too, didn't they?
16	Wish	Eddie Bill and Charlie played but I don't remember a Larry. Do you remember Malcolm Luttrell? He was about 6 ft. 7 inches tall.
17	Memories	Thanks for all the memories. I was there until the 8th grade, then went to Pulaski County. Ah, those Ferguson Warhorses. Wasn't nothing like them. Ms. Corder, Ms. Hamilton, and Ms. Bolton, those were the good teachers. We didn't have much, but I am very thankful for what I had and for my family.
18	Somerset	I played basketball for a while for Ferguson but not long enough. I remember trying to guard Galen Jasper, who played for Pulaski), and he was good and quick as lightning. Oh, for the good old days and thanks, as I have had a pretty good life but now am starting to deteriorate. LOL. Oh, well, we all are not quite as young as we once were. God Bless.
19	To Know	Nope. You're right. We're not young anymore, but our memories will always be young, and in them we will always be young. That was the best time of my life. I was just too dumb to know it. Remember Mr. Higgins. He sounded just like a frog when he talked. Remember the Fall Festivals in the gym ?
20	Crossroads	I remember the Fall Festivals, all the games, and the baked goods and candy you could buy while you were there. We would decorate the gym for days before the Big Event. I don't know if kids today would have fun at something like that. It was so simple. But it was sooo fun.
21	To Know	I remember the haunted house that was upstairs in the gym. I remember one year they used a calf liver and put it on the person's head who was in the wood coffin they made. If I remember right the guy in the coffin was Bobby Cundiff. The kids were terrified. Such silly fun. Do you remember they always had a queen and king and we would put jars with our pictures on it all over town and people would drop pennies in them. I doubt schools do such things any more. One thing about it --- there was never any trouble, no drugs, no alcohol, no guns. It was just good old fashioned fun. And I only remember one girl ever getting pregnant.
22	RememberWhen	I had class with Judy, Charlotte and Carolyn. One would start to laugh about something and then they all 3 would start to laugh. I can remember Carolyn was always the one who would say something and Charlotte would start laughing. Judy always tried so hard to be the good one of the 3, but it never worked out. She would get called down, too. They were separated a lot. They were so fun, all 3 of them.
23	Memories	Do you remember they would have the crowning of the king and queen and prince and princess during the Fall Festival? My mom would work for days, sewing endlessly, on my little dress to wear. Lord Have Mercy, girls today would not wear a homemade dress. Come to think of it, I never had a storebought dress. I can almost remember the smell of that old gym during Fall Festival. It was just so much fun. Recess in the front yard where everyone played softball was fun, too. If you weren't good it didn't much matter, because you could get someone to bat for you on your third strike, and if they got a hit you still got to run. Does anybody remember the auditorium and the plays, talent contests, speeches, etc., they put on?
24	I Remember	I remember all this. Does anyone remember skipping rope on the walk in back of the school? School lunch was a quarter. Remember the home ec teacher named Glenda Flanagan? She married Johnny Waters and then died not long after. The Fall Festival was the best. My mom was a member of the PTA and she used to bake for days for the festival. I also remember pie suppers and chili suppers. What has happened to all the good times in school these days? It makes me lonely to remember all those bygone days. How I wish I could go back for just one more Fall Festival.
25	I Remember	Mr. Garner was my 7th grade homeroom teacher. Homeroom was downstairs by the boys bath room and the boiler room. Mr. Garner used to stand out by the home room door and smoke. We all loved him
26	Knowitall	Correct spelling of the breaker thief's name was Gallagher. I don't recall that incident, BUT he and Raymond Farmer (now deceased) used to pee on the old steam radiators in the class rooms. John and Darrell Marcum broke into the school one weekend and stole all the paddles in the entire building. On Monday morning Coach David Cowan had to drive to Marcum's house to get a paddle so Howard Moore could use it on them.
27	Wondering	Just wondering if anybody knows where I could get a copy of any of the old high school yearbooks? My mom had several friends who went to Ferguson and she said she would enjoy looking at some of the old photos. Especially in 1958-62. I checked at the library in the historical society and they didn't have any Ferguson ones, just a bunch from Somerset and Eubank. But they said they would appreciate copies if anybody had any to donate.
28	Funny	John Gallagher was a trip. John was infamous for putting gum on the seat of Mr. Young's chair. So funny. David Cowan was a great coach and man. It was sad for many people the day he died. It is great to relive these memories. Such good days.
29	Knowitall	I have so many memories of Ferguson and the school and I could start telling all of them on here because we do not have to identify ourselves. Someone asked about a dark haired girl named Diane Ennis. I just about recall everyone, either by name, car, job or their participation in some activity, sometimes unmentionable. I personally remember Howard Moore and actually saw Mrs. Greenley sitting on his lap. He drove the school's 1960 Ford station wagon and she drove a '59 four door Pontiac Catalina.
30	Back in Time	I went to Ferguson from first grade through 12th grade and honestly never heard of anything bad happening. Of course my memory is going. The name Diane Ennis is familiar but I'll have to call a friend and ask her.
31	LiverLoaf	Anybody remember Geneva Smith? That was her maiden name. Haven't seen her in years. What's she up to ?
32	Just Wondering	Anyone remember any Isaacs or Adkinses?
33	Memories	I remember Frances Adkins but not a Geneva Smith or any Adkinses.
34	Just Wondering	What do you remember about her ?
35	Memories	She was just a classmate.
36	Nicole	Charlotte Wood is my aunt. She is still beautiful and a very awesome lady. She now lives in Tennessee.
37	Remembering	Did she marry Kay Casada ?
38	Nicole	No. She married Charlie Tucker. He played ball for Ferguson and majored in Engineering at the University of Cincinnati .
39	Classmate	I graduated with Charlie. He was a pistol in high school.
40	Remembering	How many people remember these ballplayers for the Warhorses : Harry Cummins, Paul Stevens, Howard Hunt, Bobby Cundiff, Malcolm Luttrell, David Carr, Jimmy Cundiff, Ray Kasada ?
41	Remember When	I haven't seen Charlotte in years. Do you talk to her often. Maybe you could call her and tell her about this thread.
42	Hmmm	What do they do with the school now ?
43	Knowitall	They use the old home ec & office building for community and family functions. They just recently finished a new shelter (really outstanding). The old school and auditorium was burned to the ground in 1995, tremendous fire monitored by the Ferguson Fire Department. Any memories of Herb Childers, Ms. Margaret Cowan, Mrs. Stogsdill, Phillip and Mary Baker, or Lindsey Calhoun? And speaking of ballplayers, anybody remember Don Minton, Larry Duncan, Jackie Linville, and Cecil Phelps ?
44	I Do	I remember Mrs. Margaret, Mrs. Stogsdill, and Mr. and Mrs. Baker. I don't remember the others. Do you recall a Christmas play put on in the auditorium called "The Littlest Angel" ? And as far as ballplayers, remember Mike Richardson, Donnie Gibson, Gerald Phelps, Buzzie Strunk, Kerry Cowan and Bobby Cundiff ?
45	Remember	Who remembers Margaret Cowen when she was Margaret Mason? I am 58. She was my third grade teacher and before that she had taught my Mom and my uncles. Mrs. Margaret was The BEST !!! Does anyone recall Farmers Hill, where we would take cardboard boxes and old tires in the Winter time, after a snow, and slide down. Not one of us could afford a sled, but we had more fun !
46	Knowitall	Are you talking about Newton Street Hill or the hill that went down toward Reddish Street---the one that wasn't gravelled or paved? By the way, I just happen to have a copy of a 1966 Ferguson yearbook at my fingertips. Who remembers waiting for the schoolbus at Hydens Store and putting 90 to 100 kids on that 55 passenger bus with 3 and 4 to a seat and everybody else standing?? By the time we got to school EVERYBODY was very good friends. But now I don't rermember that "Littlest Angel" Christmas play. At the time my thoughts and interests were misdirected to other events.
47	Yup	I remember a big white house at the top of the hill. The people who lived there were named Farmer. Thus it became Farmers Hill. I'm thinking it wasn't the one that went down to Reddish Avenue. However, I could be wrong. You could see the Farmer house from where I lived. Did you go there, too ?
48	Remember	I was 16 years old in that yearbook. I think that is the yearbook that has the picture in back of our first Journalism Class taught by Mr. Omlor. I was one of the few who took that class. Jackie Linville is also in that picture.
49	Knowitall	1966 was the year the book was dedicated to the memory of Jack Richardson. That teacher you mention was Dan Omlor. He was a teacher/coach, drove a blue Mustang convertible and loved JBoys from Jerry's. That street you're talking about was Catron Street. It came down by the Baptist Church and on out to Jacksboro. I know every street, alley, driveway and sidewalk in Ferguson.
50	Remember	Sorry he got the name wrong. I remember he told about living in Harlem back in the day when it was all black. Damn your memory is good. Wish mine was half as good. How did he ever end up in Ferguson anyway? He wasn't there very long. Was Jack Richardson Mike's brother ? I was born and raised in Ferguson and knew every street, but I left and was gone for 25 years before returning to care for my Mom. Things have changed so much I don't recognize anything anymore. My best friend lives in her childhood home, but has remodelled a lot. My childhood home is gone.
51	Margaret	Was Charlie Anderson the bus driver on that overcrowded bus you talked about ?
52	Anyone	Does anyone remember any Isaacs or Adkinses?
53	Knowitall	Jack was Mike's uncle or cousin. Omlor originated out of Pennsylvania. I also remember Mr. Hayden (who had a fight with Bill Brannon), Woodrow Gosser, and Mr. Ward (who lived on Murphy where Carol Sexton owns now). I also have a sad memory. I was at David Cowan's house just five minutes after he shot himself and I had the unpleasant task of helping load him in the hearse.
54	Remember	Did anyone ever have a clue about why David Cowen shot himself? He was my 8th grade PE teacher and I remember having the biggest crush on him. I also remember him having a great sense of humor and being very, very kind.
55	Knowitall	Yes, that bus driver you were asking about was Charlie Anderson. He was also a custodian. There was also Mitch Miller, Ed Gallagher, Mr. Ward and Mr. Wilson. All these men drove buses and worked as custodians but Gallagher and Wilson were part time.
56	Remember	Did you ever hear the rumor that Charlie had a married girlfriend who lived the next street over from Spencer. I can't remember the name of the street, but it was the same one Dummy Hutchinson lived on. Is Dummy still alive? I have to call him that because I don't remember ever hearing his real name.
57	Knowitall	There were several rumors about David. He was sitting in a recliner, a .22 caliber rifle between his legs, one hole in the center of his forehead, head off to one side. His wife found him. Very sad.
58	Remember	When I left Somerset, David wasn't married. Who did he marry and did he have children ?
59	Knowitall	Charlie for a while had a very good friend named Betty Jones Sadler while she was separated from Elmer Jones. She and Elmer are now very happily married and attend Ferguson Methodist Church. Dummy is still alive but very old. His name is Charles Hutcherson. David married a very nice lady named Dorothy. They had two sons, John and Sam, and one daughter.
60	Remember	Elmer was away in the army. Does Betty Lou still live in the same house? And does Lois Fisher still live on Spencer? Do you still see a lot of people we went to school with ? As for David, you never know what is going on in a person's life. It seems they have everything going for them, and then they end up like him. That is very sad because I remember him being a happy go lucky person who was always so kind to others.
61	Knowitall	I forgot about Elmer being in the army. He and Betty still live there. Lois Ann should still be living in the same little house. Since I don't know who you are, I can't say if I know who you went to school with. However, yes, I still see a lot of folks I went to school with.
62	Anyone	I hate to get on anyone's nerves because this is the only topic I have seen without cussing and bashing in it, but I would like to know if anyone has any memories of any Isaacs.
63	Knowitall	There used to be a famly of Isaacs that lived on the corner of Brandon and Jacksboro. They had one boy named Matthew, one named Vernon, and several others whose names escape me. That's all I know. Sorry.
64	Remember	There were no Isaacs that went to Ferguson School that I remember.
65	Rusty Nail	I went to Ferguson in the eartly 70s. I remember twins, Jack and John Richardson, Regina Ramsey (who I still know), Janice Simpson, Chuck Wood, Jack Strong, Jane Begley, Beth somebody and Junior somebody.
66	Knowitall	The Isaacs I knew had at least three boys : Mark, Vernon and Matthew. Ferguson High closed in 1968. Anything beyond that I don't know. Who remembers when Mrs. Margaret, her Mom, Mrs. Mason and Kerry lived in the small house where the Baptist Church parking lot is now? I don't remember any serious trouble. Drugs were confined to a very few. As far as alcohol, I do recall one big incident. Larry Duncan was the designated driver in his Mom's Blue Olds wagon. They had two pints of Heaven Hill. Up on the hill where the Tecumseh Building is now, Don Minton, John Gallagher, and Darrell Marcum got roaring drunk. John about died. Took him two days to sober up. Larry caught Hell. Those were the days.
67	Remember	I remember. I can just see that little house. Across from it was where a mother and daughter lived. The Mom named the girl Lovie and their last name was Love. Lovie Love. I always thought that was strange. Do you remember the Wilsons? There were nine kids lived in a two bedroom house where Lois Fisher lives now. It's across from LaDora Atchley, but it's not the same house. The one the Wilsons lived in burned. Sye Soard was living there at the time. Do you remember Stevie and Lawrence Abbott? I don't remember Darrell Marcum. I seriously have a bad memory. But I remember all the rest of the guys. Did Darrell always go to Ferguson?
68	Knowitall	Lawrence is at Krogers now. Steve is at BB&T. Larry is a dean at SCC. The Wilsons got scattered over the years but some are still around. Darrell came from Naomi in the early 60s. The Marcums had Patty, Lois, Wendell, Beverly, Lloyd, Darrell, Jolene, Gladys, Lisa, Leslie amd Phyllis, not necessarily in that order.
69	I Remember	For the life of me I can't remember them. I probably see people I went to school with all the time and don't know their faces. I went to the last 67-68 reunion and I guess I was looking for the faces to be the same as back in school days. I worked on the reunion with Joetta, Sandra Denney, and Barbara Sanders. It was my job to give out name tags at the door and I had to ask some of the people their names. I felt so stupid, but I didn't recognize them. I think Donnie Gibson still looked the same. Brenda New hasn't changed much either, and Joetta hasn't changed a whole lot.
70	Knowitall	The last class reunion I attended was many years ago, held at the Holiday Inn Banquet Room. Great people, good time. I would suggest extending the period between school get togethers to a minimum of 2-3 years and maybe the attendance would increase. More people, less hair, fewer teeth, more gossip, better time.
71	School Days	Remember when it seemed like it was just our little bunch? You went out with her boyfriend and swore to keep it a secret? Then she married him! Whoops !!
72	Remember	That one is over my head. Maybe Knowitall knows who or what you are talking about. As for class reunions, the only one I ever went to was in '96 or '97 and it was at The Landmark banquet room. Graduating classes from 1967-68 were combined. Still not a whole lot of people showed up.
73	Knowitall	Believe it or not, I'm totally lost on what she was talking about. The reunion you're talking about must have been around the time I moved to Lexington for three years. Bet I missed a lot.
74	Remember	Knowitall, do you know David Mosley, Mark Purcell or Dr. Howard Lynd. They are all members of the Masonic Lodge, some in Somerset and one in Burnside.
75	Knowitall	I personally know David Mosley from many years back. Mark Purcell is the Senior Deacon at Somerset # 111, and has started attending Burnside #634 recently. Howard Lynd is a mystery. Why would you assume I would know about the Masonic Lodge. If someone is trying to uncover my real identity, have a ball. I will fess up when it happens. My pseudo stems from the fact I am a patron of the literary arts. Every day produces new items of info to be absorbed into certain areas of the cranium. As to questions about the Masonic Lodge, as I understand, they are very open and public. However, as I may or not be a male, this info is readily available to the public. I love these forums. Let's keep them decent and open to all. Thanks.
76	Remember	Oh, No. I thought I recognized you from another thread. I have personally enjoyed the back and forth about Ferguson. The other thread was about the Masonic Lodge. Both David and Mark are personal friends of mine. Dr. Lynd was a student of David's three years ago. I just wondered if he was still a member.
77	Knowitall	As I now remember, I may have been there. My husband and I sat next to a very funny man named Lonnie Girdler. Barbara Sanders also had her little skinny man there. As my memory allows, it was nice. Being somewhat of a homebody, I like to scan the different Topix threads and barge into the conversations. I guess you could call me a professional senior citizen student. World economic affairs, state and local politics, and the effects of global warming as it applies locally are my favorites. Ask Mark what he drove to the picnic on Saturday.
78	Remember	I remember Lonnie and he was funny that night. Barbara was self appointed Master of Ceremonies but I don't remember her husband. Sharon Dennywas there, too. She lives in Florida and rarely comes home, according to Sandi. I can't remember everyone there, but like I said before I worked the door,giving out name tags, and I did not recognize a lot of people. Do you go to the reunions at the school? Joetta said this last one had a lot of people she and I went to school with.
79	Knowitall	I haven't made it for the last couple of years but I inspected the new shelter three weeks ago. It's outstanding. My favorite (and only) grand baby was trying to find my picture in the hallway the other day and wanted to know which was me but I'll never tell.
80	I Remember	You only have one grandchild? I have eight grandchildren and one great grand child. I have four children, but only two live here. I remember in high school everyone was saying what they wanted to do after graduation. The only great goal I ever had was to marry someone who would be good to me and have a houseful of kids. I being an only child was lonely as a kid. I married very well, led a privileged life, had 4 kids, drove a Mercedes and got my behind beat every day. I lived all over the world, and look where I ended up : back in Kentucky. And my fondest memories being my days at Ferguson School, not the days of living with a ton of money. I have really enjoyed this thread. You have helped me relive the days that mean the most to me. Thank You.
81	Knowitall	First, ask Mark what he drove to the picnic Saturday, and how much it costs to drive from Bronston. I, too, married, had kids, travelled the world, made much money, drove BIG, drive small, including a Jag, and have put a lot of false info in these messages, not to mislead but to conceal my ID, am well known, loved, respected, but I have a lot of fun.
82	Man O War	That boyfriend - girlfriend scenerio that poster was talking about, Heck, that wasn't no secret, he told all the boys back then. We knew who the bad girls were.
83	Knowitall	Bad girls at Ferguson? Surely Not. I never heard of such.
84	I Remember	You asked what Mark drove to the picnic. It was a 38 ft. RV.
85	Knowitall	You are correct.
86	I Remember	Those bad girls they're talking about must have happened before my time. I simply do not remember any loose legged girls. I remember people talking about one of the older Duncan girls because she was seen kissing Carl Minton, who was supposed to be Laura Schaffer's squeeze. Carl's mother's name was Carrie. Isn't he the one who was killed in a car wreck ?
87	Knowitall	Carl Henry Minton was not the one killed. It could have been Joe Carl Minton. He lived on the corner of Jacksboro and Sherman or Spencer. Up on a small hill. Carrie Minton did live on Murphy in one of Tom Boone's apartments. She may have died also. In reference to the Holiday Inn / Landmark reunion, my wife and I did attend. We sat next to Lonnie. I had earlier inquired of Barbara Sanders about a loan from her bank. She said my credit was so bad I had to have a house for collateral. At that dinner I won a door prize, a wooden bird house. I then told her since I now owned a house, I wanted my loan. She denied me again. She still has her skinny little husband Steve. As for Laura, she married Benny Hudson. They lived or still live on a street off Newton. As for the Duncan girls, all have done extremely well. I believe their success is due to great parents. Kathy originally married Lloyd Marcum, who died recently. Beverly became a nurse. Pam married a good fellow and still lives across the street from her Mom. Darlene and Sue still live locally. I also still see Larry occasionally.
88	I Remember	That would be the Carl I'm talking about. Do you remember Marla Cooper? She lived one house up from Mr. and Mrs. Buck. Marla never wanted to go to school. I remember Mrs. Cooper would walk her to school, holding her arm while Marla tried to get loose. Happened every day. One person I see that I remember is Reba Phelps. She really hasn't changed in looks, just gotten older. I think a good idea, since you remember everyone, would be another reunion that you put together. You should really think about it.
89	Knowitall	I really appreciate the compliment that I could organize such an event. But unless I could get some of my former friends from Fayette County to come down and help out, I think I'd be in over my head. And some of my ideas on entertainment might not be too appreciated. It would resemble a tryout for the Jerry Springer Show. One more item or my lovely wife of 35 years won't take me to our Myrtle Beach hangout. Many years ago, Mike Galloway, Gerald Phelps, John Gallagher and Tommy Holsomback were riding down Muprhy on a Wednesday night. The Baptist Church was letting out. People were standing along the street. Gerald, now deceased, in all his infinite wisdom, decided to MOON them. As they passed the church, Gerald put his big naked butt out the window. Mike blew the horn and pulled the car close to the people. Gerald's mother was standing closer than anyone else. Everybody screamed, but Ruby Phelps screamed the loudest : "Omigod, That's Gerald's Butt!!" Such a prank might be asinine today, but it was one Helluva hoot back then.
90	Annuals	I have my Dad's annual from 1964. His name was Lester Haynes Jr. My grandma didn't want to send him to school by himself, so she held him back a year, until my aunt, Shirley, was old enough to go to school, and then they walked together. My Dad's picture is still on the wall at Ferguson. He played basketball for David Cowen. Unfortunately, he died a while back.
91	For Knowitall	Can you clarify something? Wasn't there a store downtown that used to have escalators?
92	Murph	As far as those loose legged women, the boys from PC always knew who they were.
93	Knowsmore	The escalator was in the United Department Store. It was on the southeast side of the fountain.
94	Knowitall	Is it possible for more than one person to post with a screen name? Someone else seems to be using the name Knowitall.
95	Enlightened At Last	I remember Carolyn Carr from hearing her on a local radio station years ago. Several years after that, about 20 years ago, I actually met her. David Carr is her brother. He is Brother David who founded Temple Christian Academy where my daughter attended from 1984-86. Carolyn seems like a very nice person, and if she's anything like David, she would have to be a saint!
96	Knowitall	Who remembers Prince Albert, who used to work at the Virginia Cinema? Blind John Redmon, who sold pencils and gum in front of the old Newtonian Hotel? The lighthouse on Fountain Square? City bus service in the 1950s? The two door buses, with the bell cord you pulled at your stop? Bunny Bread that came out in 1956 or '57? The ice cream truck that sold 10 cent Snow Birds? When Porter Hopkins new school first opened? The OLD Parker School? The White Street gang ? Bourne Avenue gang? Griffin Avenue gang? The Gregory boys? Red Wilson? Artis Stargle? Robert Brassfield?
97	I Remember	Did you ever hear of an old Tuberculosis sanitarium in Ferguson? It was supposed to sit on Unity Hill. I never heard of it. Rumor says it was called Unity Hill Sanitarium, then changed to Watson Sanitarium and lastly was Somerset Business School. Where IS Unity Hill ?
98	Knowitall	The old Sanitarium was on Shopman Lane at the end of Maguire Street, where Wheelers and Sexton Street come in. Three houses on that section. The last house was Todd's. Second or third house was Hardwick's (David, Lana, Michael, Terry). First house belonged to Ray Cowan, David's dad. Middle house was the sanitarium. It connected by tunnel to the last house. The old Indian doctor lived in Todd's house. Several articles have been written about this in the Commonwealth Journal. Unity Hill is the area from Hall Street in Somerset (between Walnut and Eckstein). It encompasses the area including Harris Hills Apartments and covers that knob over into Ferguson by Shoopman Lane and McGuire Street.
99	I Remember	Was that house there when we were kids? Damn. I lived on Spencer and I don't remember it at all. I assume it isn't there anymore. Do you remember Neek Calhoun? She was Judy Burton's grandmother and I recall hearing my grandparents say all the time that she was a witch. Also Mrs. Hickey who lived down by the rr tracks and by the old Indian graveyard. Is that graveyard still there?
100	Hardwick	Does anyone remember a focus group from a major soda pop distribution company camer to the school and conducted a taste test for Big Red and Mountain Dew in 1963? What a happy event that was !!
101	Redfox	Does anyone remember Paris Valenture ?
102	SHS Grad	I have spent the last half hour reading all of your posts. I am not that familiar with Ferguson but I so loved reading all of your memories. Life was simpler then. We all took it for granted.
103	Knowitall	Paris Velenture was Mike Galloway's brother in law.
104	Ooohmygosh	I remember bothof them but if you remember Mrs. Hamilton the seat of your britches would still be hottt.
105	Redfox	Whatever happened to Paris? Last I heard he was up around Covington.
106	Knowitall	Mrs. Calhoun was not a witch -- just an old woman who loaded her shotgun shells with chopped up pennies. She frequently shot at Larry Duncan's blue 1957 Plymouth with the straightest, loudest pipes in Ferguson. Mrs. Hickey was found dead, after several days, and rats had nibbled her toes and fingers off. That graveyard is still behind Jerry Sue Copenhaver's house. It was not an Indian graveyard. The only marked graves were for infants. Indians didn't mark graves with headstones or rocks. I only met Paris Valenture once in '63 or '64. I heard he married Mike Galloway's sister. Many years ago I think they were in Norwood, Ohio. I haven't heard anything after that. On the Mountain Dew - Big Red taste testing, does anybody else remember Pomac ? Tasted like weak Ginger Ale. Or Kickapoo Joy Juice, named after the drink brewed in Dogpatch, the Al Capp cartoon. It tasted like Mountain Dew. Several have mentioned Mollie Hamilton. I remember her on a personal level, but never had her as a teacher. I came to Ferguson from 6th grade at Parker. I came into J V Garner's class. His cousin was at my house just last night for a visit.
107	I Remember	Mollie Hamilton was my 6th grade teacher. Do you remember her at the reunion we spoke about? She still looked great.
108	Knowitall9	I'm slightly changing my screen name, adding the 9 to differentiate myself from that other person using my original screen name. I believe I did see Mollie Hamilton then but have also seen her elsewhere. How different things look when you have kids older now than we were then. Kids today live so much more dangerously. Bikes, for instance. Three years ago I lost a nephew in that tremendous accident at Shopville. I Remember : I'll bet you don't know how "Neek" Calhoun got that nickname.
109	ANanny	I remember Kickapoo Joy Juice but I hadn't thought of it til you mentioned it.
110	Anyone	Remember any Isaacs ?
111	Knowitall9	I have searched my memory fromend to end and the only Isaacs I recall are Matthew, Mark and Vernon. Kenny Isaacs from Oak Hill may be a source. He's a Magistrate on Pulaski Fiscal Court. Hope this helps.
112	Christian Ardoin	Mom I love you more than anything in this world. I just want you to know that.
113	Knowitall9	By the way, I Remember, since you lived on Spencer, did your home sit sideways to the street? Not being nosy. Just trying to put things into place.
114	I Remember	Christian : I love you, too, more than anything. Knowitall9 : I don't know. I remember she would walk up and down Reddish and Spencer making some loud noise, sounding kinda like Sueeeeeaa. Remember that ?
115	Hardwick	Thank You. I was beginning to think I was slipping. it's so much fun to recollect !!
116	I Remember	It's strange what we remember from when we were kids. I remember not having a whole lot. I remember my mother, as well as yours, working her butt off. I wasn't lucky being an only child. I was lonely. I think I was born lonely. You had a bunch of siblings and I always envied that. You were always the class clown. Some loved you and some despised you, but one thing I always admired about you was you were always just you. You have certainly entertained me this week and I thank you for that. I have a terminal illness and I seldom go anywhere. You have taken me home again. I say thank you for all the memories. And yes, I lived kittycornered on Spencer.
117	Fergie	When you people mention names on here, would you keep in mind how that affects their present family members. A witch ? Rats ate her feet and fingers off ? Not meaning any disrespect to you.
118	Went To Ferguson	Barbara Sanders' "skinny little man's" name is Steve. He worked under me at Tecumseh.
119	I Remember	Sorry if anyone has been offended. That was certainly not the intention. This has been a fun and memorable thread. We don't anyone to start bashing on here. Just curious, though : who in the world is still around that is kin to Mrs. Hickey ?
120	Knowitall9	That sound was her calling for Sue or Judy. More than once, I heard people say she was mean as Nicodemus (old name for The Devil). This got shortened to Nick, then to Neek. But she was always kind to me. Fergie : Sorry, but no family members survive. As for the facts, they were the facts. There are some grotesque moments in life. Life is not always easy, and we cannot always close our minds to what goes on.
121	Jake	Does anybody remember the old funeral home up near Harris Hills Apartments.
122	Knowitall9	Went To Ferguson : Steve Sanders always presentedf himself to me as a respectable businessman and a gentle man, considerate toward his friends and loving to his wife and family. Jake : Watkins Funeral Home. Black owned and operated. Closed years ago. Old hearse sat there for many years. I remember the one gentleman who owned it always spoke to us kids.
123	I Remember	I remember my grandparents talking about how mean she was. I also remember her keeping a shotgun by her front door. I'm a thinkin her first name was Moneeka. I don't remember her being kind or not, mostly stayed to herself. Do you remember Pete and Bessie Burton, Linda Burton's mom and dad (actually they were her grand parents, but growing up she thought they were her parents). Remember Bess preaching on Sunday, and she would break out singing The Great Speckled Bird at any given time. My mom and dad bought the house where I grew up from them. Pete and Bess actually built it themselves. I'm surprised it stood as long as it did. It's been fun on this thread, with no bashing, just truth telling and laughing at ourselves.
124	Knowitall9	Thank you,Ma'm, I, too, have had a lion's share of problems. No one's fault but my own : twisted spine, shot twice, seizures, ruptured stomach, broken bones, two possible strokes, bone spurs on spine, minor paralysis, several ruptured discs, probably got Parkinson's Disease in one arm and hand, and worst of all, a sense of humor. I just keep going. If you envied me because of all my siblings, I would have been happy to send them all to you. The one next younger than me is terminal also. I have been a stem cell donor twice in the last few years. She says that's what is keeping her alive.
125	Redfox	Does anyone remember teachers Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Norfleet? Mr. Lawrence lived in Russell Springs. Mr. Norfleet lived in Windsor. This was in the late 1950s.
126	Knowitall9	I think that would be Curtis Norfleet. He taught 7th grade and had gone to Union College.
127	I Remember	Mr. Norfleet was a tall thin man with a balding head. His shoes always looked spit shined. He was only at Ferguson one or two years.
128	Hardwick	How many of you remember walking the railroad tracks home after school, picking up pop bottles to trade for candy at the old store / post office ? That was the highlight of the day, just that lazy laid back walk to stop at the store. Simple. But how many also remember sneaking off from school, crossing the road and over the hill, down to the creek? But we'd still sneak back to catch the bus home.
129	I Remember	Knowitall9 : I talked to your sister who lost her son in the bike accident about two months ago at Dr. Stephens' office and again that same day at the lab. I thought she looked great, certainly didn't look her age, and it was great to talk to her. I never knew who she was married to until I read in the paper about the accident. The bike accident was terrible and her son was very handsome. I feel really bad for her. Sorry to hear about your young sister. What is wrong with her? Is it the one who lives at the end of Murphy? Man...she and her husband do great things for their kids.
130	Knowitall9	Hardwick : How about when some of the guys got out for lunch, ran all the way to the Elihu store, got a pop, had time to smoke, then ran all the way back to school in time for the next class? I Remember : The sister that is sick is in Florida. She has multiplemyaloma cancer. She's been through it all ---chemo, radical surgery, etc. The only thing that helps besides her family on both sides and her faith is me and my 110% pure blood, according to the doctors. The one that lives on Jacksboro is the youngest. Can you believe she and her hubby have EIGHT urchins ??
131	I Remember	Who owned that store? I remember ice cream sandwiches were a nickel, and suckers were two cents. Who remembers Fishers' store? Nasty inside, but had the best bologna sandwiches in the world. I remember Mr. Fisher when he still had one leg, then I remember when he had them both removed. I can just see him rolling down Murphy, doing 90 mph. Whatever happened to Paul Stephens? I see Harry Cummins every once in a while. Harry hasn't changed much beyond growing a beard. Do you remember when he and Joetta were dating and Joetta's dad hit Harry in the head with a baseball bat, in front of her house. I thought Harry was going to kill Lawrence. Linda, Joetta's sister, is in bad shape. She had a five way heart bypass done last year, then had a stroke, and now has really bad heart problems again. I'm surprised every one of us who went to Ferguson isn't dead because of the amount of asbestos in the school.
132	Knowitall9	Floyd Hyden owned the store when it was in the post office building. Then he built the building two doors up the street. I had the displeasure of watching Fishers' store burn down. I also remember Herbert Muncey's store at the end of Murphy. He turned his living room into a store. As for Paul Stephens, I still see him occasionally. He married a girl named Emma who lived on Broadway.

133	I Remember	Harry was and still is a giant. There's been no shrinkage with age. Harry was and is one of my favorite people in the world. My Mama thought the sun rose and sat with Harry. He was very good to her. By the way, on that store down in Elihu : Betty and Barbara's grandparents owned that store. Anyone ever see them ?
134	Hardwick	The store which was in the same building as the post office was run by the Muncies. Then they moved 200 feet up the sidewalk and built a new little store, which is still there. I remember Fisher's Store very well. Mr. Fisher had no legs. I have MANY times walked into that store and seen him asleep on top of the Saltine boxes on the bottom shelf. We never bought them anymore after that. I lived in a small place called White City, a kind of suburb of Ferguson, where Coach David Cowan also lived. I also recall a guy with a wooden leg named Zalmer Todd. Anybody else remember him ?
135	Knowitall9	Zelmer Todd owned the last house on Shoopman Lane, to the left, at the dead end where Unity Hill comes across. Munceys did not own the store in the post office. It was Floyd Hyden and wife and daughter. Munceys were at the little house at the Murphy and Grovers Lane section. That house is gone now. It was a very small place. Hydens ran the old store for years. After retiring, they sold the new store to Dick Wheeler and family. Later, Wheelers sold it at auction to Jack Crawford, who owns it now. But it's a church now. But even further back, who remembers when the post office and a store were at the corner of Jacksboro and Catron. Now, that's the big ole lot at 510 Jacksboro.
136	I Remember	I don't remember that far back, but wasn't the town called something else then ?

Knowitall9, restauranteur (retired), prominent officer in the Masonic Lodge, and humorist and historian on this Topix thread.

137	Knowitall9	None of this generation would remember that. Luretha was the name of the town. The Post Office and a store were in front of the building. A now deceased Ferguson resident had a small repair shop to the rear close to the back of the Baptist Church, where the biggest walnut tree is now. Some time ago, I saw a set of pictures made when they were initially paving Jacksboro Street. The houses from 500 down to 527 were visible. The scenes looked similar to today. One close friend of ours, now 95, still lives in one of the houses today. The pictures showed the area from Newton Street north toward the curve past the Fisher store property. Somewhere I also have a photo, taken in 1957, at the train depot on South Main, showing the 3rd grade class from Parker School, boarding the Royal Palm Express Passenger Train for a field trip ride to Burnside. We got off at the Burnside Depot, close to where the tracks cross East French Avenue. Claude Shadoan, brother in law to Norman Gover, was the conductor, and I can remember him saying, "Tickets, Please." 1957 ain't that far back, but I guess it's still history.
138	Hatfield	My mother went there and graduated in 1962. Her name was Reba Phelps then. She still lives in the same house on Railroad Street, right beside the school.
139	Knowitall9	Reba and Bunt will always be prominent figures around Ferguson, along with Tooter keeping them straight. And let me add that Theo was a giant in his own right.
140	I Remember	Do you remember Denny Waddle who lived across from the Baptist Church? He only had one arm and looked like a turkey gobbler in the face. Beside that he was meaner than heck. Mike Galloway's Mom, Helen, and my Mom were best friends. I remember Helen was at my house one day and Mr. Waddle had pulled Mikie in his house and beat the crap out of him, accusing him of trashing his flower garden. Mikie was about eight years old. The incident was brought to light that Sunday in church and Mr. Waddle was asked to step down from the deaconship. I also remember Reba very well. She was quite a bit older than me but I remember she had the prettiest hair. Wasn't she a cheerleader ? Oh, and, are you talking about Tooter Hickenbottom?
141	Knowslittle	The town of Ferguson was never called Luretha. It was only the post office that was Luretha. There was already another post office named Ferguson, so the post office was named after the postmaster's daughter (who still lives in Louisville) and when the original Ferguson post office closed, then the Luretha Post Office was allowed to be called Ferguson.
142	Knowitall9	I stand corrected. And, no, not Tooter Hickenbottom but Hatfield's Aunt Tooter.
143	Old Been There	I thought Tooter's last name was Higgenbottom.
144	Knowitall9	Different Tooter
145	Knowslittle	Knowitall9, your memory is very good. I enjoy reminiscing about those times when people were kinder to each other and neighbors were friendly to each other. On Tooter's last name, I believe it's Higgenbotham.
146	Knowitall9	Sorry, but the one I mentioned is a different lady.
147	I Remember	Who remembers Godby's Market? You could call on the phone and give your order and a guy named Joe would deeliver the groceries. That's how I got caught smoking. I called and added a pack of cigs to the order my mom had placed before she went to work. Because of the cigs being ordered late they were not included with the first order, which came before my mom came home. Mr. Godby personally delivered them on his way home after closing the store. I was busted...in more ways than one.
148	Knowitall9	...And Mr. Waddle rightly SHOULD have stepped down from the deaconship. I cannot imagine Mike harming anyone else's property. I remember Gody's Market, old and new. Elwood Godby and Tom Anderson ran the store and Joe Burton was custodian and delivery man. He drove a 1950 Chevy panel truck. Tom Anderson went on to open a store at Langdon & Monticello Streets. Elwood's son, Mike, Godby's Store til it closed. Tom Anderson's son was Tommy Wayne, class of 1966. He's now deceased.
149	RedFox	The only store I remember on Monticello and Langdon Streets was Corrells Grocery. They tore it down and built a church there.
150	Knowitall9	Corrells Store used to be where the service station is now. The Nazarene Church is in the building where the Oak Hill Chapel of Morris & Hislope used to be. Tom Anderson's store was where the parking lot is now for the Langdon Street Church. Corrells Store was at Monticello Street and Oak Hill. It's now Amanda's, the Somerset Oil Place.
151	Memories	I remember Mr. Godbey would bring the church at Christmas brown paper bags for each kid with fruit and a peppermint stick in each one. Every one was so happy with that back then. Now, some kids would probably just throw that away. He was a good man. He went to church at Ferguson Baptist. He would run a charge list for quite some time to help people out. They could pay when they could.
152	Knowitall9	We were so poor at Christmas, when we got that candy and fruit, I'd have to save the fruit til July and then pretend I'd got it for my birthday.
153	I Remember	I always thought the church provided those bags. it was great to get them at Christmas. We never had oranges at my house. I always thought that was one of the best things about the holidays. My mom and dad had a charge account at Godby's as long as I remember. I guarantee I only charged cigarettes on it once, though. LOL.
154	Knowitall9	Speaking of hard times. Where my Dad worked, at Christmas, each employee got a box filled with a ham, sausages, bacon and turkey. Other than that, Mon-Tues-Thurs-Fri it was beans, corn bread and some kind of spuds. Wednesday was payday, so we had hamburger, ice cream and cookies. Saturday was breakfast and then sandwiches. Sunday was home killed chicken. or cube steak (the cheap kind) and left overs for supper. Our menu was constant for years. To this day most of my family avoids beans like the plague. I love 'em, because there were always plenty. My urchins were raised on them, too. However, my wife never ate a bean til she moved to Kentucky in 1970 --- can you believe that?
155	RedFox	The old Ford tire recapping place was a good place to buy tires. We couldn't afford new ones. Also the restaurant on Jacksboro was a hangout. Phelpses had it. I think it was just down the street from the post office.
156	Knowitall9	Phelps Restaurant was in the building that's now Coy Cox's Apartments. The old Ford tire recapping place was before my time but we had Bryan Morrow at G & B Tire. Bryan was a savior for me and others for tires.
157	Sunshine	I also grew up in Ferguson and attended school there. I remember most everyone that has been mentioned so far. Concerning the houses on Shoopman Lane. There was another house that was occupied by DeWayne (who I think was deaf) and Nancy Woodall. They were cousins of Peggy Sears, who lived on the South End of Reddish Street. Does anyone remember the Merritts who ran the gas station on Murphy during the late 60s and 70s? Whatever happened to them?
158	Knowitall9	The Woodall name is familiar. I remember back in the late 50s and early 60s there were some smaller houses in that area. Did Halls and Girdlers live there? As for the Merritts, that would be Gay, his wife Judy and son Ricky. I still see Gay and Ricky occasionally. I think there has been a tragedy in their family lately.
159	Sunshine	Earlier you were talking about Mintons and Yahnigs. There were three Minton boys : Harvey, Joe Frank, and Carl Wayne. Joe and Harvey were both great ball players. Carl Henry Yahnig is a coach at Hopkinsville in Western Kentucky.
160	Knowitall9	I remember all the names but they were several years ahead of me. You are correct, though, they were all great ball players.
161	RedFox	I knew the Woodalls. The one that was deaf was Doug. Dwayne was younger. He's been dead for several years.
162	I Remember	My uncles played ball at Ferguson. Their last name was Buck. These names you mention are people my uncles used to talk about. Another one in that group was Max Flynn.
163	I Remember	This all reminds me of the meanest but funniest prank we ever played. Mr. and Mrs. Cy Soard lived across the street from me. They went to Cotter Avenue Church of God. Every Wednesday night they had a prayer meeting at their house. It always got very loud and involved a lot of speaking in tongues. My best friend was at my house one of those nights. Service was in full swing. We decided with all the shouting going on everyone attending was probably hungry. So we called Finleys and ordered about 50 bucks worth of Finleyburgers. Then we called a cab and had the driver pick up the food and deliver it to the Soards. if you recall, a cab driver would pay for things and then collect the money when it was delivered. When the cab arrived with the food the Soards wouldn't of course accept it. The driver had already paid for it and demanded money from Mr. Soard. There was a lot of talking in tongues but it was from the cab driver. Service was adjourned pretty quickly and the cab driver left with all those burgers.
164	Knowitall9	Rocker Girl way back there was asking if anyone remembered Casey Bell. I knew Casey. I also knew Sammy and Mack Bell. Sammy was the quietest. Casey was always 100% in whatever he did. Mack was into anything to have fun and was always up for a dare. Which one was your Dad?
165	I Remember	Knowitall9, do you remember all the times you put gum in Mr. Young's chair in the new music room? I will never forget how mad he would get. He knew it was you, but no one ever told. It was too funny. Then one time Mr. Young had gone to the office to tell Mr. Higgins that you had put gum in his chair AGAIN, and when he left the room that was when you took all the fuses out of the fuse box that was located right outside the music room door. When he got back all the lights were out and Mr. Young was just furious!!!
166	Knowitall9	I do sort of remember something like that but I was just an innocent bystander. However, in my defense, I should tell you that in 1968, when I was stationed in Germany, I came across several 33 1/3 albums of the best classical music I ever heard. I had them shipped to Mr. Young at the school. He even sent me a thank you card. I hoped that made up for the alleged gum and breaker incidents. However, having been in the taxi business myself after returning to civilian life, that Finleys prank you pulled was really mean. Shame on you. That was almost as bad as me wearing the same socks for six years without washing them. By the way, I still see Joe Flynn occasionally. Years ago, when I had my trucks, I hauled Joe a lot of gravel to his new home in Eagles Nest. Max Flynn, who sold my Dad all his cars, now works for the State Department.
167	I Remember	I'm glad we could start a thread as simple as this one and bring back so many good memories for everyone, myself included, without any negative things posted. I think this is a first for Topix.
168	Knowitall9	You were talking about prayer meetings at the Soards. There was also Della Bray and husband Joe. Della started preaching on Jacksboro in her garage. Sometimes, depending on how the spirit led her, it could go on for a whole week. Not much of that around anymore.
169	I Remember	I remember Della Bray, but I never had the pleasure of attending her services. Does anybody remember the Gossetts that lived down from the Hutchinsons? Who remembers Buck Gossett's alleged profession ?
170	Knowitall9	I never knew Buck, but Sonny followed right in his footsteps in more ways than one. His hobby helped a lot of us. Nuff Said. Was Carl your uncle or great uncle? I knew him years ago shortly after he retired from delivering mail. He talked about being involved with Tom's vending machine company.
171	RedFox	I remember the Gossetts when they lived on North Langdon Street. Buck lived over by the hospital.
172	Know More	Somebody way back there was asking about Isaacs. At one time Sam Isaacs lived in Ferguson with his wife and two daughters. I don't remember their names but I have a picture of us as kids going trick or treating. They lived off Brandon Street left up the hill behind Dexter Burton's house. I am from the Mullinix family. There were two families of Mullinixes in Ferguson. My grandparents were Macie and Matthew. We are having a family reunion next Saturday at Ferguson School and I would love to hear some more memories about them and Ferguson. Knowitall9's mom wrote the Ferguson news, and she and my grandma were good friends.
173	I Remember	Carl was my great uncle. He and his wife lived in my old house after my mom moved to Lexington to work at St. Joseph's Hospital. The person that owned Tom's was Howard Conley. Howard was my grandfather's youngest sister's son. Howard is now at Sunrise Manor. He is 86 years old and his memory is as good as yours. I go and visit when I can. Today would have been my mom's 90th birthday. She has been dead for 10 years. It doesn't seem that long.
174	Knowitall9	My mother was killed on Murphy, at the North edge of the Baptist Church parking lot on March 3, 1980. She was 88, I think. Then my Dad died in 1994.
175	Red Fox	Does anyone remember the Ramp Rodders Car Club? In the late 1950s they met at the old coal temple. They had nice cars. They helped people with car troubles out a lot.
176	Knowitall9	I knew some of the Mullinex family. Marion used to live next door to my Dad. The elderly Mrs. Mullinex lived at the corner of Waddle and Catron, in the big grey house where Larry Stringer lives now. My youngest sister had a friend Jenny Mullinex.
177	Little Rock	I'm Jed.
178	Knowitall9	There is still a coal tipple on Crane Road. There used to be a coal yard or something connected with coal in the curve at the Woods crossing tracks. Vernon Carr's family (David-Carolyn) lived very close. Roy Garner owns it now. I think that car club was the Ram Rodders. Ronnie Durham, Ervil Bray, Jimmy Young, Ersie Baker and J P Kennedy were some of the members. That brings back memories of old cars. Malcolm Luttrell had a Studebaker. HH had a '55 Buick with a truck 4 speed bulldog tranny. Lester Haynes had a black 40 something Chevy. He stuck two radio antennas in the fenders where they bolted to the car. BY had a Studebaker Lark. LM or LD had a white 59 Impala. JP had the sharpest 59 Impala R/W. He also had a 50 Merc. We pushed the Merc half way to Omega Park Road from Alcalde. JPK had a 57 Nomad. LD had a 48 Ford p/u with a 383 in it and then maybe a Caddy motor.
179	Red Fox	Does anybody know what happened to Peggy Sears? Last I knew she was in Corbin.
180	Sunshine	There were two Tooters. One lived on Jacksboro. Married to Frank Higginbotham. Tooter (Bunt's wife) was a Ping. Also a cheerleader. Now a Phelps.
181	Knowitall9	I knew three Sears families in Ferguson. One family at the top of Grovers Lane. Callie Sears family on Reddish Street. Grey house where Jody and Ollie McGlothin own now. Another Sears family on Reddish Street towards Maguire.
182	Red Fox	Peggy lived in the grey house above you. She married Mile Wilson.
183	I Remember	I wish our kids could go back to our days and live life like we did. I guarantee they would appreciate life a whole lot more. At least we weren't doing drugs. No one went to jail for armed robbery and I never heard of a DUI. Stealing fuses does not count. That was done for a laugh, like gum in the teacher's chair. There were no kids bringing guns to school and killing people. My kids, like most of yours, lived a privileged life compared to what we grew up with. They had a life I never had and was better off not having. My kids didn't turn out anywhere near as good as we did. Maybe because we weren't allowed to beat them.
184	Knowitall9	At that age I was still trying to figure out what girls were created for. Still don't know all of it. Does anyone remember the saw mill on Crane Road that was next to the junk yard, where the power sub station is now?
185	Sunshine	I have a 1959 yearbook with a pic of Curtis Borfleet in it. I remember having him in Kentucky History class.
186	Knowitall9	Maybe you didn't beat your kids but many times I put a boot in my boys' rear ends for talking back to their mother.
187	I Remember	Don't you have a daughter? When I first moved back here in 1994, my youngest daughter was 12. She went to Southern Middle. She made friends with your daughter. They were great friends but you all moved.
188	Knowitall9	One night me, BW and LD were racing a 58 Ford against LD's 58 Chevy from Jerrys to Finleys. A state cop was behind us. We kept going South. Me and BW in the Ford turned on Parker Mill Road and ran back into Ferguson, parked at BW's house, I ran home, crawled in the window, hid in bed. LD turned on Slate Branch and got caught. Later, someone knocked on my door. My Dad made me answer the door. The trooper had picked up both LD and BW. He wrote all of us tickets. In court, John W. Garner was Judge then. Out in the hallway, we told the Judge the story. He said if we paid $30 each, he would dismiss the tickets. That was in 1966. I still owe that fine.
190	Sunshine	I remember Reba Phelps. She was a cheerleader and good dancer with a great personality.
191	Knowitall9	I Remember : My third child is Ann Marie, now 25, living in Jasper, Missouri, a federal corrections officer. The move you mention was in 1999 when we moved to Lexington. Ann graduated from Tates Creek. She now has two crotch rockets, a Chevy Pickup and a fairly decent boy friend who can mow grass pretty well but doesn't drink beer. Sunshine : Theo was a very kind hearted man. His passing was a loss to everyone. But he never would sell me that 66 Chevy.
192	I Remember	That's her. My daughter Casey is also 25. She graduated here from Southerwestern, was nominated for Homecoming and Prom Queen, had everything paid for at Transylvania. But she got mixed up with the wrong friends. I wish she had stayed friends with kids like yours.
193	Knowitall9	Ann had that problem in Lexington. She let things slip, but thanks to Summer School and some good teachers she made it. I finished my own schooling in the Army. By the way, do I see a new house where your old house stood?
194	I Remember	Yes. My Mom wasn't thinking real clearly in her last few years and one of the neighbors talked her into selling it for way below market value. That property had been paid up for 40 years. So Midway Plumbing bought it, tore our house down, and put five new ones on it.
195	Knowitall9	When we were growing up there were some kind of trucks out in the field there. Maybe a drilling rig? Was your Dad a driller?
196	Blondie	I remember hanging out at Gays Service Station. I think Doug Strunk worked there some.
197	Knowitall9	Doug was working for Gay when I got out of the army and went to Indiana for a year. It was around 1970. I somehow got in a fight in the back of Gays Garage with Jimmy Denney. He was a tough little feller. We beat each other up pretty good. Surgeon had to rebreak my right thumb twice, reset it, and second time put a pin in it for 16 weeks.
198	Classmate	Betty sings in a gospel group called Unlimited. They appear on the Beattyville station WLJC. Barbars lives in Shopville.
199	I Remember	My daddy was a core driller. Owned his own business, "Standard Core Drilling."
200	Murphy	Doug played on that Ferguson 7th grade team that made it to the state championship game. I think he was a reserve.
201	I Remember	The girlfriend of the man hit with the shovel was at my house last night. When the shovel handler came out of his house the receiver of the shovel was leaned up against the bank, directly across the street, singing in a very loud clear voice, "In The Pines...In The Pines." Both were quite intoxicated. The shovel handler was always more than a little bit off. My friend and I used to say that he and LaDora should have been together. Not being disrespectful, but that is more than the Truth.
202	Knowitall9	In Lexington we lived at The Mansion. I was on the porch, cleaning and reloading my 30-30 when it went off and blowed a hole in the porch. Five of Lexington's finest showed up. Seems there's an ordnance in Fayette County against shooting. I had just graduated from Chief Larry Walsh's Advanced Policy Academy. My shooting the gun didn't go over well. Thus ended my chances for a career in law enforcement.
203	I Remember	One time I was driving down Tates Creek Road in Lexington with David and he pulled a gun from under the seat, held it out the window and started shooting. He still has a very large gun collection. It's in his garage. He has a vault loaded with every kind of gun imaginable. He'd make a dangerous enemy.
204	Blondie	Whatever happened to Larry and Brent Ford? And what was Thelma Nixon's son's name?
205	Knowitall9	Larry is still around and a fine person.
206	Red Fox	Larry is still involved in music. Thelma Nixon's son was always called CB.
207	Blondie	Did David Mounce work at Gay's Station?
208	Knowitall9	There was a Mounce that lived in the apartment there. Eventually Gay sold out to Wheeler & Muse.
209	Sunshine	I know for sure who Knowitall9 is and I'm pretty sure I know who I Remember is. There weren't too many only children in Ferguson. Both your mothers were great ladies. I have enjoyed reading this thread and remembering all the good and bad times. I thought I knew a lot about Ferguson but have learned a few things I didn't know. Thanks for keeping it clean.
210	Knowitall9	Appreciate the good words about my mother. Sometimes we should all stop and remember our parents.
211	Sunshine	Does anybody remember when Mr. Nixon died? I was very small. CB had to have been very young. They had his casket in the living room and Thelma sat right beside it and refused to move. If I remember, he was shot, accidentally.
212	Blondie	I didn't live in Ferguson too many years but all the people I knew were fine people. I remember Raymond Farmer. I think he was an only child and I think he is also deceased.
213	Knowitall9	Ray was my best friend for many years and, sadly, he did pass several months ago. Buried at Mill Springs. Yes, he was an only child.
214	Blondie	Life has gone so fast it doesn't seem possible we're now the older generation.
215	I Remember	Thank you for the kind words about my Mom. Any kids who came to my house loved her. She could be a real meanie at times but I would give anything in the world to talk to her one more time. Yes, Blondie, I never dreamed how lonely I would be when everyone is gone. No one to ask questions about the old days. No one to be there when you need a real family. I wish I could have had just one sibling. These posts have made such a difference in my life. Going back to yesterday helps me remember there was time when I wasn't sick, had good friends, and had no worries. My kids say to me, why do you spend so much time on this Ferguson website. They don't understand that remembering when I was a kid helps me forget that I am old. All your posts havge made me remember times I simply would not have remembered. I have a terminal heart condition. My time is short, but this has really helped. Sunshine : His name was Jim Nixon. he and my Dad were best friends, both in the same business. Thelma was devastated when he died. I was a little bitty girl but I remember my Mom and Dad talking about his death often. Wasn't Thelma's Mom named Bertha Sears? Does anyone remember our junior senior banquet? Raymond was my date. Do you remember when Larry Ford was in a band? Larry sings now with the Bill Gathier trio, has for years. Whatever happened to Gerald Phelps?
216	Knowitall9	Sorry to hear about your condition. I was diagnosed with a heart ailment a few years ago. A person with my age, weight, etc., should have a heart rhythmn of 75 beats a minute. Mine is 45. If I get mad, it shoots up to 125. A pacemaker was suggested but I told them unless it was a 36 bolt model it wouldn't help. And my sisters are too busy or disapproving to come around much.
217	I Remember	I have no idea why family ends up being too busy or doesn't speak because of some former incident. I hagve two children who treat me the same way. They just say they're busy. I was never too busy for them.
218	Sunshine	Bertha's name wasn't Sears. Clark maybe. They lived across the street from the post office until they built the house right next to the post office. Knowitall9 said he remembers sitting in the p.o. with Thelma. so do I.
219	I Remember	You're right. It was Clark.
220	Sunshine	Backing up to the post office/store discussion, I remember that store. Whenever my Mom would send me and my girlfriend to the store, even though there were two closer, we would always go to the post office store because a cute guy worked there. I think his name was Guy. He was older than us. I think the property was finally bought by John Minton. Does anyone remember the small store that Evanses ran on Garrett Street?
221	Knowitall9	Clay Evans and his wife had a store on Garrett Store. There was a store on the 200 block of Jacksboro Street right where you mentioned. I think Hamms ran it.
222	Sunshine	"Former Student" : You were asking about Mr. Moore. I left Ferguson in 1961 and he was still there. Apparently things got a bit wilder after I left.
223	Knowitall9	Oh, I don't think it ever got too wild. It waqs just that all the kids found out they actually had individual identities and wanted to express themselves. I did some expressing myself. Of course we figured out much later that 75% of our expressing was very misguided. But that's the difference in being 16 and 47.
224	Sunshine	Does anyone remember the Monticello Dips? Saturday night would not have been complete without making a couple of trips over the Dips. I remember a guy from Eubank with a l955 red Chevy with Creeper painted on the side. His car was really fast and I always liked to ride the Dips with him.
225	I Remember	I remember those dips. My best friend had a boyfriend who also had a 57 Chevy. His was turquoise and white. They ujsed to let me tag along with them on Saturday nights and we would always go over those dips. I swear it felt like he was doing 100 mph. Our heads would hit the roof. We would also make frequent trips to what is now known as Rain Tree Bed & Breakfast. Back then it was just called The Old Haunted House. We imagined we saw strange lights moving back and forth. Does anyone know about that house?
226	Sunshine	I know the house you're talking about. I was never in it, though. I seem to remember they filmed part of the movie Raintree County there.
227	I Remember	You're right. It starred Elizabeth Taylor. That place has been for sale for a long time. I called the number on the for sale sign and they want $650,000 for it and will not take a penny less. I guess that's why it never sold.
228	Sunshine	Whoa! I guess that would be a problem. Some of the kids used to go inside and spend the night. I would love to go inside but not sure I would want to spend the night there.
229	Blondie	Does anybody know anything about the late 1960s and early 70s when the kids had to go to high school at Pulaski County. I remember when they waited on the bus at Gay's Gas Station.
229	Knowsalittle	The Larry Ford that sings with Gaithers is not the Larry Ford from Ferguson. The Ferguson Larry Ford teaches music lessons to several people for various instruments and is very active at East Somerset Baptist Church in their orchestra.
230	Sunshine	Speaking of haunted houses, does anybody remember the old house down below Ferguson School? I think Mrs. Nelson lived there. She worked in the lunch room at school. It actually belonged to Mrs. Taylor. She had been a teacher a long time ago. A baby was supposed to have fallen out of the upstairs window and the house was supposed to be haunted. It was all boarded up by the time we were in high school. There was supposed to be a Confederate cemetary out back.
231	I Remember	I know that house. It sits back on the hill. When I was a kid I wished I lived in a house like that. We never had an indoor toilet until I was 13. Who remembers when we would turn over outhouses on Devils Night?
232	Skeezix	Devils Nights are some of my most vivid memories of growing up. We would turn over at least half a dozen outhouses every year. Then once we pushed one over the hill and it rolled and rolled down the hill and it turned out there was somebody in it. We got in so much trouble the next year I wasn't allowed out all Halloween evening.
233	I Remember	Who remembers when Ferguson School would have a cleaning day. High school students would go all over Ferguson knocking on doors and asking if thehy could clean their house for a donation. Can you imagine what the kids in school now a days would think about that? I couldn't get my kids to clean their own rooms much less someone else's whole house.
234	Sunshine	Do you remember a little Soda Shoppe between the store and the post office? They had a juke box and little tables. They only had ice cream and cokes. We were all thrilled for about a week and then adults complained about something and they closed it.
235	I Remember	I moved away in 1968 and was gone for 25 years. Why did Ferguson close the school?
236	Sunshine	I'm not sure. They built Southern Elementary in 1981 and Southern Middle a few years later. They allowed the school to deteriorate and inspectors founr asbestos. They probably figured since they had the other schools nearby it was cheaper and easier to send the kids there than to restore the building and clean out the asbestos. Does anybody remember the railroad tunnels. They used to be scary as heck, but we went in them a few times. And does anybody remember dragging on Parker Mill Road?
237	Knowslittle	I Remember : No. He lives in Somerset. He's remarried (his first wife died a long time ago) and she works for the city of Somerset. He has taught a lot of people music. He's very talented. Every year he has a recital of his students. The last I heard of his brother Brent, he was in Texas, and I believe he became a preacher. Their mother lives south of Somerset on Boat Dock Road.

238	Red Fox	I remember those tunnels and the dragging on Parkers Mill Road. We sure had a lot of fun on our Saturday night gatherings. I've never forgotten it.
239	Sunshine	Yeah, a little dangerous but a lot of fun. Never got caught. Don't know where all the police were. Probably didn't have but three or four.
240	I Remember	Sunshine : I always wondered why Ferguson wasn't allowed to have dances of any kind like the other schools. We weren't even allowed to have junior/senior proms. Anyone have any idea why?
241	Blondie	You're right about Larry Ford. he is at East Somerset Baptist Church. My kids are members there.
242	Red Fox	Sunshine, do you remember all the cars would gather at Denzil Trimble's house? There would be eight or 10 cars. We would drag about every weekend. There was an Owens from Nancy, a Flotter Robinson, Denzil, a Ward, and a lot more.
243	Sunshine	Red Fox :I dated a boy who went. I remember Denzil. He was a few years older than me. Do you remember the time they closed the road and let everyone drag. The guy I dated was out of town that weekend and missed it. He was really mad. I Remember : No, I don't remember why not. Probably too many Baptists and Methodists. Do you remember a place over the old Virginia Theatre that had sock hops? Chicken Criswell was in charge of it. We used to like to go there so we could meet the Somerset guys. It was open every Saturday.
244	Red Fox	I don't remember the sock hops. I do remember a skating rink on Market Street. I used to go there a lot. It was a good place to have fun. We used to circle Finleys a lot, get a hamburger and half order of fries. That was about all I could afford. Does anybody remember Tom's Drive In at Oak Hill Road and 27?
245	Sunshine	I just barely remember it. There was also a Sonny's. And there were Finleys, Burnside Finleys, and the Dinner Belle. We probably used $1.00 worth of gas and circled those joints all night. Gas was 25 cents a gallon.
246	Knowsmore	I remember when Wheelers, Cowans, Nicholases and Youngs played for the Ferguson Warhorses. Late 50s early 60s.
247	Sunshine	I didn't go the skating rink much. I could hardly stand up on skates. I learned how later, though. Was '57 the only year you went to Ferguson? I was there then. Mr. Norfleet's picture was in the 1959 annual. I'm not sure how many years he was there. You mentioned Peggy Sears and who she married. I remember Miss Smith, the home ec teacher trying to talk her out of getting married. I haven't heard anything about her for years. We used to attend Bible School and birthday parties together when we were little. Knowsmore : Yeah! One of the best teams Ferguson ever had! I loved it when they played Somerset and Burnside. Did you ever ride the school bus to any of the away games? And how about the cheerleaders? Sandra and Barbara Meece, Lida Jones, Carolyn Love? I Remember : I remember we always had a class trip at the end of school. We took the school bus. One year we went to Joyland Park in Lexington and one year we went to Cumberland Falls. Jimmy Young almost drowned. I'm surprised they let us go anywhere. My graduating class went to Florida but I didn't get to go with them. I didn't get my diploma from Ferguson but I wish I had.
248	Red Fox	I didn't ride the bus but I remember it would stop at Phelps Restaurant across from Palm Beach Company on Bourne Avenue. Wheelers are all gone except Glen and D.R and Bill, all good ball players. Those were good times. What ever happened to Donnie Cowan, also a good ball player. I used to take my car to their Dad's to get it worked on.
249	Knowitall9	The dragging started at 27 and went toward Ferguson. One car could cross the cross tie bridge, the other had to hit the creek.
250	Red Fox	When we used to drag down there we would stop at the top of the hill.
251	Knowitall9	I remember going to Joyland Park one year. Mammoth Cave another year.
252	Sunshine	Red Fox : I don't know where Donnie Cowan is. He had two sisters, Mickey and Maria Joe and I think an older brother. The last I heard, they all moved to California after their Dad died.
253	Red Fox	David was the older brother.
254	I Remember	I see Barbara Meece every once in a while. I swear she hasn't aged a day. Does anybody remember Buddy Phillips she went with?
255	Blondie	I went to Burnside School. I worked for Tom Baker when he ran Sonny Boy about a year and when he moved on the corner of Oak Hill Road I worked one night and my boyfriend made me quit. I also worked at Brown Bluff and Macks on Highway West 80 one night. Then I went to Palm Beach and worked eight years. Then I quit and wernt to Fort Lee, Virginia with my husband. I also worked in Prathers Grocery on Highway 90 four years, and went back to Palm Beach and worked seven more years. I lived in Ferguson 11 years. My son went there. I know Barbara and Sandra Meece, and Jim Williams.
256	Was There	Barbara is married to Eddie Schoolcraft and Sandra and Buddy are both dead.
257	I Remember	How long has Buddy been dead? Do you remember that terrible car accident he was in with the two Blevins brothers? Alan was killed. I remember that like it was yesterday. Alan would come to my house and hang out. Sometimes Buddy was with him. Alan's Dad was a preacher. I think that was the first time I realized death came to the young as well as the old. Buddy's leg was messed up really bad. He was never the same after that.
258	Sunshine	Red Fox : The older brother's name was Ray. Graduated in '56. Also played ball.
259	Was There	Buddy wrecked out at Nancy about two years ago. It killed him instantly. He and I used to date sisters out at Faubush about 40 years ago.
260	Sunshine	I remember Barbara had a crush on Charlie Durham way back when. Does anybody remember him and what happened to him?
261	Red Fox	I remember Charlie. He had an older brother Ronnie who got killed in service. I never knew what happened to Charlie. They lived across from Fred Clark. Remember the Sharpe Brothers? Their Dad was preacher at the Methodist church.
262	Sunshine	I think Ronnie married a Shelton girl. Their mother ran a restaurant on the corner of 90 and 27. As for the Sharpe brothers, I only remember J.D. He was older than me. And I remember Fred & Myrtle. They were related to a good friend of mine.
263	Red Fox	Mary Eva was the mother's name. She married Bill Simpson. They were fine people.
264	Knowitall9	Ronnie was killed in Vietnam. Erval Bray was killed there in July /67.
265	Red Fox	Remember Norman Gover across from church. Shadoans lived there by the Govers.
266	Knowitall9	Bill & Mary Eva lived at either 519 or 515 Jacksboro. Either Charlie or Ronnie had a '63 or '64 red Ford Galaxie or Fairlane. It took a curve past the Lier Siegler Building too fast, rode the bank a long way, centered a stump, took out front cross member oil pan and the transmission and doubled the drive shaft. It was a beautiful car but that wreck tore it to pieces.
267	Blondie	I went to school with Bill and Bonnie Simpson. They used to live around Bronston in their early years. Their Dad's name was Jessie. I believe Mary Eva had a daughter who married a Hislope. They lived in Jerry and Wilma's rent house on Murphy. Didn't Bill Simpson's Dad run The Shamrock at one tme?
268	Sunshine	I don't know about Ronnie, but Charlie drove crazy. He had a black or dark blue Chevy with very loud pipes. I remember when his Dad got killed. I remember the adults talking about how bad the car was tore up. They were related to Mke and Norma Galloway. I think that daughter you mentioned was named Trulane.
269	Knowitall9	Bill, for a time, had the Chevron station where you turn into the hospital.
270	Red Fox	Bill's dad ran The Shamrock, then Bill took it over in latter years. I worked for them. It was located on Monticello just before you turn to go to Walmart across from the storage buildings. It used to be a big hangout. There was a restaurant and truck stop.
271	Remember When	Who remembers the Sugar Shack?
272	Red Fox	Trulane married James Hislope from Slate Branch. He used to run around with Leroy Hartgrove.
273	Blondie	It was Truelane, and she had a son named willie. He ran with my son when they were about 12. The Shamrock was on the old 27 across from Somerset Village Apartments. It really was a hangout like the old Greyhound Inn.
274	Knowitall9	Ain't got nothin to do with Ferguson, but who remembers the concrete igloo that used to sit on 27 where Lee's Famous Recipe is now?
275	Sunshine	Red Fox : I remember both families. Good people. I remember Norman walking his dog down the street to the post office and store. Does anyone remember the Family Drive In theatre on 27? As for the igloo, what was in it?
276	Red Fox	I remember the igloo. We used to go over there and buy ice cream. Then it changed to a fish place. How about the A & W Root Beer down on the corner by Cumberland Appliance? Big cold mug of Root Beer for 25 cents.
277	I Remember	Some of this must have been before my time. Or I'm losing my memory. Does anyone remember David Hall when he would sell Christmas trees each year for 50 cents. David would come around and take orders. They were always cedar trees and smelled so good. And who remembers the Jewel Tea Man? And the Charlie Chip Man? And the Blanket Man?
278	Red Fox	Remember Harry W. having a barber shop on top of the hill. Used to cut my hair for 50 cents.
279	Blondie	I remember Harry. He never cut my hair but I have seen people who did get a hair cut from him and you talk about cussing they did it. Does anybody remember the old Peggy Ann Restaurant and motel? Located on old 27 on the corner where you turn down to go to Waitsboro Park. I think it burned.
280	Sunshine	People who lived around that drive in complained the lights kept them awake. I remember Harry, too. Is he still alive? Must be 90 or more. One year he raised his price due to the increase in the price of peanut butter and pinto beans. When Harry cut your hair you didn't need another haircut for about six months. He cut my father in law's hair. Does anyone remember Mr. Dill? Wore overalls and sold "Grit" newspapers. Lived on Jacksboro. Had a wreath on the door all the time. I thought someone died. My Mom would buy a paper from him every week and if she didn't get one, bright and early on Sunday morning, he would be banging on the door to bring it to her. One day, he yelled at her from across the street and everyone was looking and I ducked in a store.
281	Knowitall9	I remember very well David selling trees. I can't recall the Jewel Tea man's name---maybe Burton? The Charlies Chips man was Hamp Kelley. His Mom lived in front of mine. I think the blanket man's name was Shelton. He sold blankets, pillows, sheets and pillow cases. He'd collect weekly or monthly. The Somerset Oil Station was on the south bound side of 27 and 90. Ed Holsomback worked there for years. He's dead now. I told Tommy they should have buried his Dad in his green work clothes because nobody ever saw him in a suit. There was also a restaurant across the intersection, the 27-90-1247 junction.
282	Blondie	Bob Grider ran that restaurant but I don't know if he owned it. Bob also ran the restaurant at the corner of Oak Hill Road across from where Tom's Drive In went in, but tom's Drive In wasn't there when Bob ran that restaurant.
283	Knowitall9	Harry is still very much alive. He finally got a newer car two years ago. The last time he cut my hair there came a lightning storm and halfway through my haircut he said he had to turn the clippers off. I paid him a dollar and went to Homer Campbell to get it finished.
284	Red Fox	Homer Campbell used to cut my hair.
285	Knowitall9	Back then you got a real good hair cut for $1.50.
286	Red Fox	I seem to remember a Flynn and a Godby that cut hair also.
287	Knowsmore	Bob Garner had a barber shop by Dottie's restaurant. He was also a preacher.
288	Sunshine	Who ran Dottie's Restaurant? Was it Dottie Roney?
289	Red Fox	Yes, it was Dottie Roney. She used to have a ball park at Norwood.
290	Blondie	Does anyone remember Helen Ford working down there? I think she worked there for a long time.
291	Sunshine	I remember Helen and her kids Dickie, Bill Ed and Betty. She lived by the garage on the corner that was a gas station at one time.
292	Knowitall9	Helen also had a son named Bobby. He retired from the Ky Department of Highways. He could drink more beer than I could even think about. He's dead now.
293	Blondie	I think Helen had another daughter named Dreda. I think she married Jim Groves or maybe it was Jim Gross.
294	Red Fox	Blondie you are right. Dreda was a real pretty black haired girl. Anybody know whatever happened to Marcus Cheney on Gover Lane?
295	Knowslittle	He's a veterinarian in Florida.
296	Knowitall9	Dreda did marry Jim Gross. She's dead now, too.
297	Thanks	It is so nice to be able to drop in here and eavesdrop on the memories. Please keep this thread going. Thank you.
298	Interested	I agree. I didn't go to Ferguson but remember many of the people and places that have been mentioned. I enjoyed the good times.
299	Knowitall9	We haven't even scratched the surface. Especially if some new people join us.
230	Red Fox	Does anyone remember going sled riding out on Gover Lane? I believe it was on the old Haney Farm.
231	Sunshine	I rermember the farm and Marsha but I never went sledriding there. The only place I ever went sledriding was on Newton. We would start at the top and cross Murphy and end up on Jacksboro. Also we used to go tubing over on Fred Clark's farm by the graveyard. We burnt so many tires and it made such a mess he made us quit.
232	Red Fox	Is anyone going to the 100th year celebration at the Baptist Church?
233	Blondie	Is that tomorrow? I used to go there when Glen Singleton was pastor. Does anybody remember him?
234	I Remember	I remember Brother Prather. I think he was right before Brother Singleton. Brother Prather would say the benediction than make a bee line outside to smoke. Some of the men would stay after church just talking to Brother Prather. I remember he was there for a long time. Does anyone remember the Cheneys? Vivian Cheney played the piano at the Baptist Church. They were somehow connected to the Fords. I saw Barbara Meece today. We were talking about this Topix thread. Barbara is four years older than me but I have to tell you she looks great. Wish I looked half as good.
235	Knowslittle	I didn't go to church there, but I remember the Cheneys. Vivian worked at the post office some, and I remember seeing her ride a bicycle. Her posture was straight as an arrow. She was a real lady. Her maiden name was Ford. She and Bob Ford were brother and sister. She has been dead for several years now, but as far as I know, Bob still plays the organ at Ferguson when he's able. He has had some health problems the past few years.
236	Blondie	I remember Vivian Cheney. She was related to the Fords. Very nice lady. She always dressed nice and her hair always looked nice.
237	Sunshine	For some unknown reason, I started dating at 14, and started car dating at 15. I did have a curfew. It was 11. One night we had two flat tires and it was midnight. I was in big trouble.
238	Knowitall9	Who in the world hasn't used that old flat tire excuse or the run out of gas excuse?
239	Red Fox	I remember the Prathers. Ardith married Margaret Sexton. I remember Dwight's 1956 Olds rolling into the lake.
240	Sunshine	I went to church when the Prathers were there. I remember when Ardith and Margaret got married. I went to their household shower. I loved Mrs. Prathers. She was my Sunday School teacher.
241	Knowslittle	I went to the Baptist Church 10 Year Celebration.
242	Sunshine	Me, too. I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time. Lots of food, too. Larry Ford was there. I found out Helen Smith, the home ec teacher, passed away last week. Reba said she was at the annual school reunion just last month.
243	I Remember	In my opinion the reason there was no trouble in school or at home when we were growing up was because we knew we'd get beat. My Mom used a switch on my legs and after a couple of those times I didn't want any more. Also at school you knew you'd get your hind end beat off. We were good kids and most of us turned out to be decent human beings. I say bring back the paddles and switches. Sorry for rambling on but I'm mad because my grandson has just been missing for three days and it turns out he was at his girlfriend's house all that time. I was at the Baptist Church too.
244	Sunshine	I didn't see you. Or maybe it's been so long I didn't recognize you.
245	I Remember	I didn't stay long. I have a heart condition. When I get in public my heart rate and blood pressure go sky high. I didn't stay for dinner. I went to my best friend's house. She lives just up from the church on Jacksboro Street. I couldn't believe all the people there. I remember going to potluck dinners and they would be in the basement. Yesterday they had tents outside. My maiden name was Atchley.
246	Sunshine	Sorry about your heart condition. I have a pic of you at one of your birthday parties. I think you're around six.
247	I Remember	I remember that!! That was the only birthday party I ever had. I remember one girl who had a little white hat on. Was that you? I remember Beverly Ard. I haven't seen her in years. I wonder whatever happened to her. I remember getting modelling clay for a present at that party and not knowing what it was. I took a bite of it and discovered it was not edible. My Mom took it away and never would give it back.
248	Sunshine	I think the girl in the white hat was Beverly Ard. I don't know whatever happened to her. I don't know who took this pic. I had several birthday parties but cameras must not have been invented because I don't have any pics. There were some boys at one of them. Someone got me panties and all the boys laughed and I was embarassed.
249	I Remember	The girls I think are in that picture are Margaret Tucker, Judy Burton, Bevery Ard, Patty Muse, Peggy Lovins and my cousin DeeDee. There were 13 girls including me.
250	Sunshine	I have two pics. In one of them, back row : Sandra Denney, Margaret Tucker, Joyce Godby, Jennie Beasley, Peggy Lovins, Brenda Haney, Marla Cooper. Front row : Beverly Ard (with white hat), Gay Haney, Cheryl, don't know next girl, Nancy Atchley, Judy Burton, don't know girl on end, little blonde haired girl, and a baby. There are 17 counting the baby. The other pic has Margaret on one end and Gay is beside Beverly. There are 14.
251	I Remember	I don't remember Brenda Haney or Gay Haney or Jeannie Beasley. The girl with the curly hair and black vest was Lamonta Sewell. She lived across from Margaret, next to Hunts. I only have one pic and there's no baby in it. This is so strange you have more pictures of my birthday party 52 years ago than I do. I'm looking at this picture and wondering how many of us would like to go back to that very day and start life over from there. I would be first in line.
252	Sunshine	Does anyone remember where the girls locker room was next to the lunchroom? Then it became the teacher's lounge, and eventually a classroom. One time me and a friend decided to cut class and we hid out in a little space off that room. You had to crawl into a little space. Well, it was the last time we did that. We didn't realize it was right under the gym and the boys were practicing ball. Talk about a headache!
253	I Remember	My best friend still lives in the same house she grew up in, although it's been remodelled. She asked me if I remembered doing silly things on Halloween. She was talking about soaping people's windows and turning over outhouses. I was not involved in it, but I remember kids egging people's cars, putting sugar in gas tanks and stuffing potatoes in car mufflers. Anybody else remember any of this?
254	Sunshine	Brenda and Gay Haney lived next door from Marla Cooper. Jeannie Marie Beasley lived up by Sharlene Barnes on the north end of Waddle Street. As a matter of fact, she and her husband still live there with her mother, who is 91. I think it was my mother who took those birthday party pics.
255	I Remember	Sometimes my memory is totally gone. I have Mitral Valve Stenosis and Dilated Cardiomyopathy and I think it must affect my memory. Were your Mom and my Mom friends? Is your Mom still alive?
256	Sunshine	I'm so sorry about your heart condition. Yes, our Moms were friends, but no, my Mom isn't still alive.
257	Knowitall9	I have stuffed many, many taters in tail pipes. The next to last outhouse we turned over was poor old Mrs. Anderson's up behind your homeplace. The very last outhouse we turned over was down in Parnell. It was a trap. It was wrapped in primer cord and had a quarter stick of 40% dynamite rigged inside it. Obviously we weren't too bright not to notice something looked suspicious. It sure did blow up. After that we were too scared to ever turn over another outhouse. We also toilet papered some houses and cars and borrowed a few hubcaps. But never once and I or any of the guys I ran around with ever do the sugar/gas thing. We liked cars too much for that.
258	Sunshine	One year about eight of us jammed into one car and drove around trying to find something mean to do. We cut down some trees across the road. I love Halloween! It lets me be someone I'm not. I used to always love parties and hayrides. It's still lots of fun.
259	Blondie	Does anybody remember Pete and Thelma Waddle? I know Pete died but have no idea where Thelma is. One time we went to Florida with them and Sonny and Jimmy Denney. It was so cold down there we had to go out and buy long johns for the men to go fishing.
260	Sunshine	I remember both of them. I don't know what happened to Thelma. I saw Travis in Russell Springs back in July. Jerry Lee was working at Air Flo and Terry was driving a semi truck.
261	Blondie	Does anyone remember who ran that ice cream joint upon the west end of Murphy Avenue? I think they also sold hamburgers and chili.
262	Knowitall9	At that time it was Paul and Joyce Noble. Then maybe a Winchester lady had a restaurant there, then an elderly man and son Steve had a pizza joint there. Now it's a computer shop. I can still visualize every building from the square to the Crane plant. City Lumber, Chevron Station, Bulk Plant, Old Weddles Market, Dottie's, Leroys junk store, R C Plant, Godby's Market, Nobles Ice Cream, Sextons Salvage, Campbells Store, Gays Gas Station, Bryans Tire Shop, Junk Yard, Coal Yard, Doxall Gas, Rutherfords Car Lot, Duncan and Goff Monuments.
263	Sunshine	Dang! You got a photographic memory! I sometimes miss the road to my house.
264	Red Fox	Tom Wheeler had a junk store by the Chevron Station. A Texaco station on the other side toward Ferguson was run by Millard Muse.
265	Good Times	Does anyone remember a guy named Walt Fulcher?
266	Red Fox	He may have been older than us, but does anybody remember a boy in Ferguson drove a 1950 black Ford? Seems like he dated someone down there in 1957 and 1958. I think he ran around with Stanley Cooper.
267	Knowitall9	Erval Bray had a 49-51 Ford, black, fender skirts, fake tear drops. He died in Vietnam in July '67. But Ersie Baker and Frank Cooper also had 49-51 Fords. Those were popular cars.

268	I Remember	I'm trying to remember my Mom's friends. Her best friend was Helen Galloway. Margie Lovins, Aleen Ard, and Willena Whitaker. I saw Willena yesterday. She is 82 and still gets around good. Still drives.
269	Big Sister	I have a bunch of pictures if I could figure out how to get them to you.
270	I Remember	Knowitall9, was you one of us who on Devils Night 1965 went down somewhere off Cabin Hollow Road, everyone used to go down there turn off on a side road and cross a wooden bridge and park on the other side. Don Minton had a chain saw and he sawed through the planks on the bridge so none of us could get back across. I remember Larry Duncan, Margaret Tucker, Sharon Denny, Malcolm Luttrell, John Gallagher and a few others. We all had to hike home along the train tracks. There were a lot of curfews broken that night. I got the Ultimate Ass Beating From Hell. That was the last time I was ever allowed to go out on Devils Night.
271	Knowitall9	There's a real possibility I was there.
272	Sunshine	How did you eventually get the cars home?
273	Knowitall9	By 1966 Roses was open over in Tradewinds. A bunch of idiots drove through there at midnight and stole a four column bubble gum machine. There were four guys in a Corvair, one of them quite tall. Somehow we got that big machine into that little car and took it to a creekbed in Elihu, where we broke it open. But it had no money. Just a heck of a lot of gum. We should have taken a machine that was almost empty. Less gum, more money. The police were sitting there the whole time and never caught on.
274	Sunshine	I'm getting addicted to this Topix thread. I find myself checking the computer everytime I pass through the house to see if anyone has written anything.
275	Knowitall9	There was another little bridge that crossed the creek and hit Parkers Mill Road. We set it on fire once. It's amazing how many things we did back then were so funny and now they seem incredibly stupid.
276	Red Fox	I used to go down beside the bridge on Parkers Mill and wash my car. Something in the water really made it shine.
277	Blondie	Does anybody remember Manuel, the boy who used to ride his bike in Ferguson who was crippled and couldn't talk plain. I don't think they ever did find out who hit him over on 27 by Quality Court Motel.
278	Red Fox	Remember where we used to go skinny dipping in Pitman Creek? I don't think the girls ever went.
279	I Remember	There wasn't any upper class among any of us in Ferguson. We were all poor. Margaret Tucker appeared to have more than the rest of us because her Mom could sew anything. Most of Margaret's clothes were homemade but you couldn't tell. I have worn many of her hand me downs. I'm not sure who all the people are on here, but I think the ones around our age all turned out fairly well. I haven't heard of anyone that grew up in Ferguson back in our time getting in any trouble. Times were way different then. We were taught manners, responsibility, and to appreciate what little we had. I have really enjoyed this thread. I had taken me back home for a time. I really appreciate the fact there has been no ugly stuff posted. I'll bet this is a first for Topix.
280	Sunshine	We used to wash our cars down there, too. Whatever boy I was dating at the time would take his car down there Sunday afternoons. I was always told the refinery emptied into it and the oil made the cars shine.
281	Knowitall9	My sisters also wore all homemade clothes. I was very proud of my two pair of pants. When I went to the army, they gave me two pair of boots, one pair of pants, four pair of socks and four t shirts. That was more clothes than I'd ever had at one time.
282	Sunshine	Cecil and Russell Goff lived out past that bridge. I went to a party out there once a long time ago.
283	Knowitall9	Red Fox --- Bert Ping took us guys skinny dipping down on Pitman Creek after weight training. Girls would have been welcome but none ever came.
284	Red Fox	Does any one remember the robinsons who lived in Ferguson? They lived on a street across from Hunts. There was a mother and three daughters.
285	Blondie	I believe Red Fox is Larry Duncan.
286	Sunshine	I don't think so. Larry is younger than me. Red Fox seems to know more about the older crowd.
287	Red Fox	Do you remember riding the buses? I remember the drivers being Garner Rash, Herman Hudson, Cecil Burton, Ed Girdler, Wormy Phelps, John Gallagher's father, R. T. Ard and Dewey Baker. They ran out of Legrande Garage.
288	Knowitall9	Dewey lived on the 300 block of Jacksboro. the little house that sits back on a rise behind the Paul and Larry Stephens homeplace. Dewey always had a Buick.
289	Blondie	Do you all remember when Lonnie Harness got hurt?
290	Knowitall9	My Dad drove a bus for Short Way Lines. He drove to somewhere in Tennessee and hauled a lot of recruits to Fort Knox.
291	Red Fox	Whatever happened to Dottie Cowan and her kids?
292	Knowslittle	Dottie sold her home in Ferguson and bought a condo on north 1247, possibly Saddlebrook. One of her daughters is in Somerset, one child is in Georgia, one may be in Louisville, not sure about the others.
293	Red Fox	Does anybody know the Hamms : Bill, Jack, Bobby, Barbara?
294	Sunshine	I remember all of them. Bill, Jack and Bob (all deceased). I know Barbara married a Cox boy and moved away. Do you remember when Bill was dating Shirley Colyer? And do you remember Betty Vaughn and Tooter Ping?
295	Red Fox	Yes, I remember Bill and Shirley. I can remember Betty but not Tooter.
296	Knowslittle	Tooter is married to Bunt Phelps, Betty is married to Charles Wallace.
297	Sunshine	I think they graduated in 57. Also Bill Hamm and Stanley Cooper. Does anybody remember Red Sears? Played ball for a while. I think he married Sammy and Casey Bell's sister, but I think they are divorced. I don't know what happened to him.
298	Red Fox	Do you remember Glen Canada and Max Lay?
299	Sunshine	I remember Max Lay. I can't place Glen Canada but the name seems familiar. Did he have a sister? Do you remember Phillip Hancock? He didn't graduate. He moved to Ohio. He went with Peggy Cope for a while.
300	Red Fox	Glen had some sisters but I don't remember their names. I remember Phillip and Peggy Cope.
301	Sunshine	In my '59 yearbook there's a pic of typing class with Peggy Sears, Darlene Malden, Lida Jones and Carolyn Jones. Do you remember Bobby Sears? He passed away a couple of weeks ago. I think he drove a truck.
302	Red Fox	I don't remember him but I do remember those girls. Do you remember Pearl Hardwick? I used to see her sister Mary once in a while but now I haven't seen her in several years.
303	Sunshine	Yes, I remember them. Pearl didn't live here. I saw her a few years ago at the Dollar Store. I think she comes in and visits Mary. I haven't seen Mary for a while either. She did run the Dollar Store by the Food Lion. I think she married a Tucker the last time.
304	Red Fox	What good old days we had. I just love to talk about them.
305	Sunshine	Yes. Have you been to any of the reunions at Ferguson? I haven't been in years, but this thread makes me want to go again.
306	Red Fox	I have never been to a reunion.
307	I Remember	Sunshine : I received the photos you sent . Thank you very much. I would never have known who you were if you had not written the last line. I laughed as I remembered those days. I've been at the hospital all week. My friend had a knee replacement. Who on here remembers the Marrow sisters? There was Mary and Mattie and a third one whose name I forget. Redfox : Do you have a sister who graduated in 1968?
308	Sunshine	Since you hadn't been on here lately, I was beginning to worry. Hope your friend is doing well. When I told my daughter was I was going to write, she said, "Mom! Everyone on there will know who you are!" LOL. That's true! Glad you got them. It is so hard to imagine that so much time has gone by. Yes, I remember Mary and Mattie. Mary got killed in a car wreck several years ago. Mattie has had breast cancer, but I saw her not long ago at a gospel singing. I don't remember the other one's name, either.
309	Blondie9	Well, we were in Lexington today. It was our anniversary, so I wanted to eat there, but we ended up at the Stanford Dairy Queen. Now he wants to go to Golden Corral here in Somerset. I'm not going. I wanted to eat in Lexington.
310	Knowitall9	Blondie : Correction. He was in the class of 1961.
311	I Remember	When we were in school, who would have thought that someone would invent the computer and we would spend our golden years talking back and forth on it. I never dreamed of such a machine and I would have no way believed I would have been using it. I barely passed typing. It's great that we can carry on this conversation. I wonder if we were in the same room if it would this easy.
312	Knowitall9	Well, this could be a sincere and monumental reunion, with a good pot of coffee, a pack of smokes, a comfortable chair, and a lot of great memories. But --- here, between posts, we have the chance to look up photos, browse through yearbooks, find old newspaper clippings, and think on things overnight. So in a way this is a more in depth conversation than we could have in one long afternoon in the same room.
313	Red Fox	No, I didn't have a sister graduate in 1968.
314	Knowslittle	You are right. I'm only on here at night. I work during the day and can't get on. Like I said, I didn't go to Ferguson, but I have several friends who did. I love hearing the stories about Ferguson as I know quite a few people from there.
315	Red Fox	We'll have to have a guessing game to figure out who is who on here.
316	Knowslittle	Red Fox, are you a Ferguson Warhorse? What year?
317	Sunshine	Knowslittle, did your husband loan his Chevy pickup to a group of teens to go to Barrn River sometimes in the early 1980s?
318	I Remember	Redfox, do you have a brother named Eddie?
319	Redfox	No brother named Eddie. What is a Warhorse?
320	Sunshine	Do you remember a girl named Linda Sue Tarter? Lived on Garrett Street where Carrie Baker lived across from the Denneys? Blondie9 : Happy Anniversary! No, I hardly ever read my emails anymore. I don't have time. This thread takes up all my spare time. As far as I know, Saturday night is on. Might need to take your umbrella and overcoat. Redfox : Are you SURE you went to Ferguson?
321	Knowsmore	Redfox, if you went to Ferguson School you should be ashamed if you do not know what a Warhorse is.
322	Go Somerset	Remember Carrie Baker?
323	Knowslittle	Sunshine : No, my husband would never have loaned his pickup to a family member, much less a group of teens. I don't know what you're talking about.
324	Sunshine	Go Somerset : Yes, I do, and her brothers Harold and Billy. She used to work for a doctor. Used to see her, but haven't seen her for a while. Knowslittle : Sorry I wasn't too clear on that. It wasn't just to a group of teens. It was to a church group.
325	Knowslittle	His brother might have loaned the truck. He and his brother did not go to Ferguson either. Are you talking about someone who went to Ferguson School? Carrie still works for the doctor, and her sister in law (Billy's wife) works there, too.
326	Sunshine	It was back in 1981. A local church took a group of teens to Barren River for a camping trip. They took two vans and a maroon Chevy truck with the tents and supplies and I drove it. I thought it might have been your husband's. Guess not. I didn't realize Billy lived here now. It's amazing how many people live here and I never see them out anywhere. I go to Walmart or somewhere and never see anyone I know. It's like I live in a strange town.
327	Knowslittle	Was that the Baptist Church? I know there are people living here that I graduated with that I never seen. I did see Carrie not long ago at Cracker Barrel
328	Sunshine	Yes! It was the Baptist Church.
329	Knowslittle	I'll have to think about that. We didn't have a maroon truck that I remember. I don't recall that particular trip, either.
330	Sunshine	Well, I know I went and drove that truck. With about 20 teenagers. It was a trip I will never forget. Like about 2 a.m. the boys were mooning the girls. Some church group.
331	Knowslittle	I bet I could name some of those boys. Sounds like a blast.
332	Knowitall9	A full moon ? Was the Big Dipper or Uranus anywhere to be seen?
333	I Remember	I don't remember Linda Sue Tarter. But then I don't remember girls in my own birthday photo. I swear my memory is really bad.
334	Sunshine	I saw her just the other day. It was the first time I'd seen her in years and she lives here. She has had two heart attacks. She said her memory was bad, too. I told her about you and she said "tell her to hang in there." She had a brother named Eddie. She said he passed away with Cancer a few years ago.
335	Redfox	Was that the same Bakers that the older girl was Shirley? I remember she had a brother named Harold.
336	Redd Ryder	Wow. Can't believe I found this board. I typed in "Ferguson School" and Google brought this up. What a neat trip down memory lane. I've read through all the posts. All of you seem to have been just a few years ahead of me in school. I was one of the last basketball players at Ferguson before the state closed the school. We never even got to finish our careers at Ferguson. On my team were me, Billy Brewster, Vernon Norris, Gene Burton, Dennis Whitaker, Eddie Tucker, Larry Burton, Jerry Holsonbach and Ronnie Yanders. One year ahead of us were David Carr, Doug Goff, Jimmy Strunk, Billy Denny, Darwin Minton, Larry Whitaker, and Shannon Hardwick. The varsity above that was seniors Larry Duncan, Jerry Peters and Don Minton, and juniors Eddie Bill Ping, Charlie Tucker, Jackie Linville and Mike Richardson. David Cowan saw the school was going to be closed so he left when his eight seniors (Malcolm Luttrell and that bunch) graduated. Our coach was Dan Omlor. He was a good coach who got there too late. None of the varsity players that 66-67 season had played varsity the year before and they were all too small and slow and couldn't shoot, so they had a poor season. But my team went undefeated and won the regional and got to the State Tournament championship game before Vernon got sick and we lost by 13. David Carr and his bunch went 22-5, won the region and got beat in the state tournament by Meyzeek, which was the junior high for Louisville Male. So for the next several years we were going to have some of the best teams in Ferguson history. Then the state shut us down. Vernon Norris and Billy Denny each had two older sisters. Barbara Flynn was editor of the school newspaper. Brenda New was the yearbook editor. I remember Nancy Atchley, an adorable redhead, Laura Shafer, who dropped out at the beginning of her senior year, Pam Duncan, and Eddie Tucker's older sister Margaret.
337	Sunshine	Thank Goodness you found this thread because we have just about exhausted all of our resources. Maybe you can bring us back to life. Tell us some interesting events that happened during your time at Ferguson.
338	I Remember	Welcome Aboard! Sounds like you are just full of information. Please please share with us. Knowitall9 is the most informed on here and I think he has now resorted to making stuff up. My memory is to bad I don't know if Knowitall9 is telling the truth or not. You and he should be able to share some great stories about Mr. Omlor. LOL. As I remember he and the coach had a lot to talk about. LOL.
339	Redd Ryder	I've been fortunate since leaving Ferguson in that I've been lots of places and seen and done lots of things, but when thinking back to those days my memories always center around two things. The first is how none of us really had anything. We were all really poor. But since we were all about equal, we didn't know it. The Tuckers, Burtons and Duncans had a little more than the rest of us, but not enough to make them wealthy. So all we had was each other, and we had a great time. We all pretty much got along. The girls would argue over some guy, or the guys would fight over some girl, but that was about it, and those blew over pretty quick. Otherwise, we had a great time doing basically nothing with nothing. We rode our bikes everywhere: all over Somerset, down to the lake, out to fishing holes and camping spots and anywhere else. Most of our bikes were hand me downs, stripped down, with no fenders or chain covers. They weren't fancy narrow tire bikes like Somerset kids had. Ours had old balloon tires, fat seats, no gears. In the Summers we'd go swimming every day down at the Car Top. Remember the Car Top? It was a car that had somehow got down into the creek, which we never did figure out because there were trees and big rocks in its way. But there it was. We could jump off the roof of the car into the big swimming hole. We'd mostly just go skinny dippin. We didn't have money for fancy swim trunks. One day Vernon and I were going down for a swim and we heard some splashin and screamin and got quiet and snuk down real slow and peeked around some bushes and there was three girls down there skinny dippin. It was the first time we'd seen any girls except our own sisters totally naked. It was real educational. We knew if they saw us it would be trouble for the rest of our lives. How could we sit next to them in school or church ever again? So we kept real quiet and snuk back out of there. I still remember who it was, but it might be some of the people posting on here, so I won't ever tell.
340	Knowitall9	Those older sisters were Nancy and Olive Norris. Sandy and Sharon Denny. Welcome to this thread. You've named just about everyone I'm familiar with, so we must be close in age. By the way, did you say "gorgeous red head" ? Never heard her called a Red Head.
341	Redd Ryder	My grandfaher was buddies with Herbert T. Higgins. I didn't like Mr. Higgins. I liked Mr.Overby a lot better. I always thought Mr. Higgins was more of an old fashioned politician, but Mr. Overby was more of an educator. I never thought Higgins even liked kids. My Dad was buddies with Ralph Duncan, who was then school board chairman and ran the tombstone company over on the bypass. So when David Cowan resigned after his eight seniors graduated and he saw a couple of losing seasons coming up, Mr. Higgins and Mr. Duncan told my grandfather and my Dad they wanted to use the opportunity to bring in a real topnotch coach. So they wrote Adolph Rupp at UK and asked him to send them someone. I thought this was just more Higgins talk. He was always talking about what he was going to do and never did most of it. But then one day Dad came home and said they had some guy who drove down for an interview and they thought they might be able to hire him. He was about to be drafted into the Army. So Higgins said he would write the draft board and tell them he needed this guy more than they did. Then one day Dad came home and said Mr. Duncan had told him the guy had sent his contract back signed and was coming June 1. A real UK guy. How could this be? I come to learn he'd actually torn his ACL after a few years and finished out as a student manager, but what did that matter? He was a UK guy and he was coming to Ferguson. All us kids down in the grades couldn't wait to go watch him hold high school practices. Imagine our shock when he showed up on our front porches. John Gallagher was showing him where each of us lived. David Cowan always ignored us except for letting us hang around. This new coach said he was starting a seventh grade team and an eighth grade team. We'd have our own practices and play our own separate schedule. Oh, My God. And he showed up driving this blue Mustang Convertible. Man, we knew things was about to get interesting.
342	I Remember	OMG. I had forgotten all about those sisters. I was dating Autry Stephens (Stephens Bakery) and my Mom didn't know it. He was much older than I was. She found out, I got grounded, and he started dating Nancy Norris. He married her. They didn't stay married long. Where did the Norrises come from? They were only in Ferguson for a while.
343	Blondie9	I didn't even go to Ferguson and I know almost all the kids mentioned on here. I think Knowitall9 is playing Redfox, too. Otherwise, I don't have a clue who Redfox is.
344	I Remember	Here's a clue to the hidden identity of Knowitall9: He was the class clown, loved gum, and Coach Omlor was his most memorable teacher. LOL.
345	Knowsmore	I used to have a crush on Carrie Baker.
346	I Remember	Redd Ryder, when Coach Omlor came to Ferguson I was a sophomore. If you were only in 7th grade then, we may not remember you. But I do remember a jeweler who lived in Ferguson who was friends with Mr. Higgins. Are you the grandson of that jeweler? If I'm right then you and Knowitall9 have a very mutual friend. If I'm wrong, just chalk it up to old age. LOL.
347	Spider	As well as Redd Ryder likes to write he should put out a book.
348	Redd Ryder	Actually I described her as Adorable. Every guy in my grade had a crush on Nancy but of course she was four years ahead of us so we just had to watch and dream. There was a spark between Nancy and Coach Omlor. She had a real crush on him. Us guys knew it, and we kept telling him to ask her out. But he told us it was not allowed for coaches and teachers to date students. We knew of other coaches and teachers at other schools in the county who did it, so we told him not to worry about it. But he was always real professional and kept his distance. I didn't realize until a lot later that there were laws about that sort of thing. We were all so clueless. But we had a great group of girls in Ferguson and Nancy was the best of the bunch. She was so incredibly attractive, but also smart, and classy, and still real sexy. Coach Omlor came back for one of our reunions a while back, and Nancy was there, and he gave her a big hug. It was the first time I'd seen her in 35 years. I thought she was even better looking than she had been in high school. She was beautiful.
349	Knowslittle	Sunshine, where are you tonight?
350	Sunshine	I just got in. I took a look at the photos. The truck could have been red. I don't know if any of those kids are still around. I know several are not. Did you have a good day?
351	Knowslittle	The day got better after the phones and internet came back up. I stayed up too late last night and have been sleepy all day. What about you?
352	Sunshine	Yeah. We were up past midnight. Of course I don't get up until about 8:30. I imagine you get up much earlier. Today was really nice. Much prettier than I expected. I don't like Winter and I really dread it. I don't get out as much then.
353	Redd Ryder	Does anyone remember Bunt Phelps? I remember him as our school custodian. He drove that old black pickup truck that would rattle and clang going down the driveway. There were holes in the floorboard so you could look down and see the road below. He also drove our team bus on road trips. Bunt taught us kids the fine art of using Bondo and Duct Tape. I never used either one before Bunt taught us all how. Since him, I've used them for all sorts of things. And all my life, every time I use a piece of Duct Tape or a wad of Bondo, I think of Bunt back at Ferguson.
354	Sunshine	Maybe that's where my husband learned about Duct Tape and Bondo. If it's broke, that's his solution. He did hang out with Bunt back in the day.
355	Redfox	Not many years ago we liked cold weather and snow so we could play in it. Don't seem like it's been that long ago, but it has.
356	Knowslittle	I don't really hate Winter. I hate the cold, and the long nights. But it's pretty in Winter when snow is on the ground. I know Bunt, too. He can fix just about anything. I remember when he was the town Marshall. Didn't he also drive the school bus every morning and afternoon?
357	Redfox	Yes.
358	Redd Ryder	Kentucky doesn't get the Winters it used to. We used to have really long, cold, snowy Winters. Driving was pretty risky. I remember on some of those January and February basketball trips we'd be spinning our wheels up the hills and inching down the other side. Sometimes Bunt would drive with the right wheels off the pavement so they could get traction in the mud or gravel along the side. Most of those schools are gone now : Nancy, Eubank, Burnside, Mt. Victory, Shopville, Pine Knot, Waynesburg, Crab Orchard, McKinney, Jabez, Brodhead, Stanford, London, Lily, Bush, Hazelgreen, Liberty, Williamsburg, etc. I think the Winter trips to Bush, Williamsburg, Pine Knot and McCreary Central were the scariest. God was looking over us. I remember sliding all over the road sometimes, Bunt up there double shifting, grinding the gears, us hanging on. The cheerleaders and scorekeepers would ride in the bus with us and they'd all be sitting up front. Sometimes one of them would scream. Love to go back and do it all again.
359	Sunshine	I remember sled riding. And going tubing with a big innertube from Southern Tire where Billy Fisher worked. Remember him? Dad ran Fisher's store on Jacksboro. I retired from snow sports several years ago when our inner tube plowed into a concrete culvert and I broke my wrist. I decided it wasn't worth any more broken bones. I just sit by the fire now. I don't remember Bunt driving a bus. When I rode Charlie Anderson drove, and before that it had been Terrell Muse.
360	Knowitall9	Blondie9 : I am NOT Redfox. I am not, nor have been, anyone other than Knowitall or Knowitall9. I swear this on my old pickup --- til death or scrap metal yard do us part. Speaking of Bunt, however, I recall the '53 Buick Higgins drove and one day Bunt painted it green with a brush. In 1989, Lonnie King bought that same car from Doug Mitchell. It was still the same color green --- although faded and rusted --- and had a small tree growing up through the floor. We had to cut out the tree and use my winch hauling it out of there to take it home. But the Straight 8 Engine was seized up. We never could get it running. So we junked it.
361	Blondie9	Does anybody remember when Bunt went into the Back Hoe business? He wrote on his truck "Back Hole." He and Tooter are good people.
362	Redfox	Who are the pastors at the churches now? I remember Reverend Vance at Baptist and Reverend Reeves at Methodist.
363	Redd Ryder	Does anybody remember the time Jackie Linville shot himself in the foot? It was his junior year in the middle of basketball season, January or February. I don't remember if he did it while cleaning his gun or actually out hunting. I do remember he was lucky it was a perfectly clean wound --- the bullet went straight through without hitting a tendon or ligament or bone or anything --- so he was only on crutches for a week. But he was the point guard on the varsity, and he missed two games, one over at Russell County and one at home against Burnside. It really hurt the team. Jackie was good. He was a slasher --- he could get to the basket against almost any defense. Since then, every time I hear that old saying about "not shooting yourself in the foot" I think of Jackie Linville.
364	Redfox	Yes, I remember Bunt being in the back hoe business. I don't think he is in good health now.
365	I Remember	Who remembers Bert Ping. He lived on Jacksboro, by the Fishers. He played in a band after high school. Sunshine : Just when I thought things couldn't get any stranger, I get those photos I hadn't seen for 55 years.
366	Knowsmore	It sounds like you're talking about Bert Young.
367	Knowitall9	That was Bert Young. Bert Ping lived down by Woods Crossing. He had a weight lifting studio. At one time, he held the Mr. Kentucky title in weight lifting. Last I heard, he was driving a truck in Indiana.

368	Last Horseman	This is a real discovery. A friend of mine from Somerset saw me today and told me to check out this forum. I never heard of Topix before. What a great way to get back in touch with the Good Old Days. And you people have been busy!! So many posts!! Wow. I was one of the last guys to play ball for Ferguson before we all had to go to PC. Before I post anything, I'm going to take about two hours and read through all the previous posts to see who I might know. I'll get back to you in a while.
369	Knowitall9	Redfox : Bobby Sexton is the Methodist pastor. The Baptist pastor's first name is Jason.
370	Sunshine	I Remember : I'd love to meet you somewhere for a coke or coffee. Bring your friend who lives on Jacksboro. I think I know her too. Isn't she a beautician? If so, she used to do my hair. Redfox : Did you live in Ferguson in 1966?
371	I Remember	She was a beautician but has worked in finance for years. Coffee sounds great. I would love to talk to you. I rarely go anywhere. One reason is I don't know anyone anymore. I started this thread hoping old friends would reconnect. I certainly haven't been disappointed. One of the first posts I made was about Knowitall9, never thinking he would read it. I'm very glad he did. How many children do you have? Are any still at home? When I first moved back here from Louisiana my youngest daughter was good friends with Knowitall9's daughter, but I didn't know at first he was her Dad. Now I look back and think how our lives seem to lead us back to where we began and the people we started out being friends with. This thread is a perfect example. I hope we keep it going for a long time. I know him and you. The rest are a complete mystery. I thought Redfox was Margaret Tucker but I guess not. I think somebody on here is good friends with David Mosley.
372	Blondie9	I lived in Ferguson in 1966 and had a business pretty close. I remember everyone between 1966 and 1977.
373	I Remember	Do you remember Lyle that married Linda Lay, works at Lowes, and used to hang out with Bert Ping? I bet you didn't know that at one time he lifted weights with Mark and Blaine Purcell and competed with them in weight lifting events. They all were very good friends. Ask Mark about Lyle. He has pictures of the three of them together.
374	Knowitall9	David Mosley and I are very close.
375	Sunshine	Maybe we can make it on Saturday. I have two children and they both live here. I have six grandkids, three girls and three boys.
376	Redd Ryder	Do any of you older folk on here remember The Big Trains? By the time I was growing up, the Big Train era was over. But lots of the guys had worked on the Southern Railroad. Ferguson was the midpoint between Cincinnati and Atlanta, and this was where they changed crews. Engineers, conductors, brakemen, firemen, they all got on and off at Ferguson. And just South of us, the trains had to go up the longest and steepest hill on the whole Southern Railroad. So hauling coal north they put on extra engines. They'd drop those engines off at Ferguson. Then the next train heading South would hook those engines back up to pull them over the hill. I remember the old passenger station, old freight station, some sidings, railroad offices and the old servicing yard, but of course they had been abandoned by the 1960s and were just sitting there. We had been the headquarters. So when the railroad was really big, they paid lots of money to Ferguson in taxes, and that was why the town had once been a lot nicer and the school had been a lot bigger. By the time we came along it was all in decline. Men weren't working on the railroad any more, the big money wasn't coming in and all we had left was those old guys sitting around telling stories.
377	Knowitall9	I worked out down there as a flea weight in '61 and '62. Lyle was already well on his way. He and Linda sure made a good pair.
378	I Remember	Are they still married? I worked at Penneys before I became really sick and they used to come in all the time with their grandson. I've seen one or the other of them since but never together.
379	Sunshine	Yes, they're still married. Just go to Cracker Barrel any afternoon and they'll be there. I think she meets him on his supper break.
380	Last Horseman	This is just like going to a school reunion at Halloween. You don't know exactly who anybody is, but it seems like the gang's all here. I've really enjoyed reading through all these posts. Redd, you and I had to know each other well since we apparently played together on the seventh grade team. Your mention of Nancy Atchley was right on. She was the fantasy of our lives. I've thought about her a lot over the years. She was our local version of the girls in those movies like Sandlot and American Graffiti : the unattainable beauty queen a few years older. Guys growing up in the rest of America were dreaming about Sandra Dee or Annette Funicello, but we had our own hometown dream girl and she lived just a few blocks away. Even though she was out of our reach, she did us a couple of huge favors. First, I've always heard about how intimidated guys are by girls their own age, but that never bothered us. We compared everyone to Nancy, and since none of them measured up, we felt perfectly comfortable on first dates. Second, she gave us such high expectations that none of us were going to settle for any trashy girls. And those other girls were great, too : Linda Burton, Pam Duncan, the Norris sisters, Brenda New, Joetta Whitaker, Margaret Tucker. Quite a collection for us guys to grow up admiring. We were lucky. I agree with your comparison of Higgins and Overby. I wish they had kept the school open and made Overby Superintendant and Mr. Young Principal. One odd thing about Ferguson : Except for that one 11th grade kid who was always picking on us little kids, everyone got along. After we all had to transfer, I was amazed to see how kids did NOT get along. They were always fighting. We never had those problems at Ferguson.
381	Knowslittle	That's Jason Moore at the Baptist Church. Is Bert Ping Tooter's brother?
382	Redfox	No. Bert Ping was a brother to Chester that lives on Murphy.
383	Sunshine	Does anyone remember Herbert Ping? He might have been a relative to Bert. He used to work at Clayton Mobile Homes. He is an older brother to Eddie Bill and Brad. Redfox : Is Chester's daughter married to Danny Cline?
384	Knowslittle	Yes, she is. And I remember Herbert Ping. I don't know where he is now, or what he's doing. His daughter, Samantha Stevens, is running for school board in the second district.
385	Sunshine	I know. I saw her the other day. She is a beautiful girl and really friendly. She said her Dad had just got back from the Outer Banks but I didn't ask her where he lived now.
386	Redd Ryder	Halloween's coming. Every year about this time I get to thinking about Halloweens at Ferguson. Remember that Festival we always had at school? I guess it was a combination Fall Fair and Halloween Party. The balcony was cleaned out and used for a fun house. I guess kids today would think the whole thing was pretty tame but we always had a good time. It was away from school that things got wild. Remember the cutting down of trees across roads, the burning of bonfires, the pushing over of outhouses, and the soaping of windows. I remember that year we were in seventh grade that a bunch of kids were out at the old bridge on Golf Road in Cabin Hollow, near Elihu. I recall Malcolm Luttrell, Nancy Atchley, Don Minton, Larry Dunca, Margaret RTucker, Sharon Denny, Brenda New, Joetta Whitaker and Jackie Linville were there, and I may have forgotten a few. I think they lit a bonfire and were celebrating. But Don Minton and Jackie Linville decided to do some Halloween prankstering and took Don's chain saw out of his trunk and cut out the floor of the bridge. Except they forgot that everybody's cars were on the other side from town and the road deadended out there, so they had no way to get home. By the time they all straggled back to town, as I recall, there were girls grounded and boys with their car keys taken. These modern day Halloweens don't hold a candle to the ones in Ferguson.
387	Looking	The last I heard Herb Ping was still selling mobile homes in Knoxville, Tenn. But that was 10 years ago.
388	Jacksboro	We need to figure out a way to post pictures online. I'll bet each of us has a few great old photos, and if we put them all together we'd have quite a collection.
389	Knowitall9	You said you had visions of a certain girl emblazoned on your mind. You weren't alone. Wonder how she would feel now, knowing all the guys thought this way? Good Lord have mercy and hand me a side order of help me Jesus. As for that older kid picking on you seventh graders, it was probably a juvenile attempt to be included in the stream of happenings. If somebody from some other school had started picking on any of you, he would have probably been the first one to come to your defense. You know how brothers and sisters pick at each other all the time. At Ferguson we all considered ourselves a big family, so we treated each other like brothers and sisters.
390	Just Saw This	I just saw this about Ferguson School. I went to school there just before they closed with a girl named Kathy Smith. Does anyone know if she is still around?
391	Last Horseman	One of my funniest Ferguson memories is of the time Herbert T. Higgins chased the girl outside around the tree. I know a bunch of you remember it, because it was during school and a lot of kids saw it. Higgins had requested that this girl be brought to his office, right there off the parking lot between the gym and the school. She had been late too many times, so he informed her she would have to take a paddling. I had been sent down by the math teacher to get some more staples and I just got there when Higgins was picking up the paddle and the girl about knocked me over running out the door. She was in maybe eighth or ninth grade, sort of tall, lived down at the bottom of the hill from school, but I can't remember her name. "You come back here," Higgins ordered in that frog voice of his. "You're gonna take your paddling." "I ain't, neither," she was telling him, running out across the parking lot. He came out of the office carrying the paddle and she ran to that big tree across from the gym, right where the baseball field began. "You're defying me!" Higgins yelled after her. "That'll be more licks!" By now she was peeking out from behind the tree. "You ain't paddlin me," she told him. "Lemme alone!" "Stop defyin me!" He was yelling. "You been defyin me and defyin me all this while and I'm not gonna have it!" He would start one direction around the tree and she would duck the other way, then he would reverse and she would reverse, all the while them shouting at each other. "You crazy ole Ichabod Crane man," she yelled at him. "I ain't never comin back here!" And she ran down the driveway and across the road, with Higgins coming around the corner of the gym, waving his paddle over his head in the air, yelling, "Defyin me! Still defyin me! It'll be the day when I let a young whippersnapper defy me!" But she never did come back. For 40 years, my lasting image of Mr. Higgins has been him waving that paddle demanding that she stop defying him, and her calling him an old Ichabod Crane man. This happened sometime near the end of the school year, in early May. Anybody else remember seeing this and remember who that girl was?
392	Nancy Atchley	Well, I will tell you guys that I am simply amazed. Never have I ever looked in a mirror and seen anything special. When I was growing up and when I was married for 25 years I was always told I was worthless. So I am shocked to think that someone saw me in the way described here. Never in my 58 years has anyone ever said anything like this to me. When I read these posts I started to cry because I just couldn't imagine anyone ever thinking I was special. All I can say is thank you. I don't know who you are but you have made me very happy. And from an old gal, you have made me feel young again.
393	Knowslittle	I graduated in 1970 from PC. I remember some of the Ferguson girls coming to PC for their senior year only. The ones I recall were Carolyn Carr, Judy Burton, Charlotte Wood and Sylvia Hamm.
394	Last Horseman	Redd : Do you still have your copy of The Picture?
395	Redd Ryder	Absolutely. I'm betting not one of us guys from back then ever intentionally threw out The Picture. Maybe a few got destroyed in fires or got lost when people were moving, but not on purpose. How about you?
396	Last Horseman	Absolutely. I keep mine tucked inside the front cover of my 66-67 Ferguson yearbook. Every time I look at the yearbook I sit there and look at The Picture for a minute. I have another, totally different, picture. It's that one someone took from down at the road, looking up at the buildings through the trees. It makes the school look like the greatest school in the world. Every once in a while I'll show it to someone and they'll say, "Wow, that's impressive, where is it?" And I tell them the state closed it down. And they'll ask "Why??? It looks better than the schools that are running now. This is really classy looking."
397	Knowitall9	OK. OK. What is The Picture?
398	Redd Ryder	I keep my copy of The Picture with all our basketball clippings in an old sweater box from that United Department Store in down town Somerset so it doesn't get wrinkled or scratched. Looking at that picture all these years later confirms to me that WE WERE RIGHT. A lot of times, thinking back, people exaggerate things from when they were kids. But when I look at The Picture, WE WERE RIGHT. Aboutone thing in the world, WE WERE RIGHT. Nancy Atchley really was the most beautiful girl in the world.
399	Last Horseman	Knowitall9: Remember that upstairs English/Journalism classroom that opened out to the fire escape? In good weather, kids just walked down the fire escape after the last class of the day. Higgins wanted some really good color photos of the school so he hired the Commonwealth Journal photographer to come out for a few hours and take a bunch. It was October. The leaves were all red, orange and yellow. The photographer wandered all around the school. He was down along the north side, where the drive comes up from the road to the parking lot, when the final bell rang. He looked up and Nancy Atchley was walking down the fire escape. He just aimed his camera and snapped the photo. The sun was shining through the red-yellow-orange leaves of that big tree. The sun was glinting off the roof so the top of the photo disappears into a whitish light. So it looks like the stairs are coming down from the clouds. Nancy is holding her books in her left hand with her right hand on the railing. The breeze is blowing her hair and her skirt. The sun glinting off her hair gives it a reddish tinge (which is why guys remember her as a redhead). Somebody from the parking lot has called to her, so she's looking out over and past the photographer with a half smile and her eyes wide. In that photo Nancy Atchley is Miss America. The Commonwealth Journal ran it in the paper a few days later, but they ran it in black and white. But remember Higgins had ordered the photos for the yearbook, so the whole pack of them came back to school about a week later. Brenda New was working on the yearbook, going through the pictures, and went to the girls room or something, and Vernon Norris snitched the picture. He collected a bunch of pop bottles to raise $10 and went downtown and paid the photographer the $10 to make a big bunch of copies. Vernon sold them for $1.00 apiece. Almost every guy in Ferguson bought a copy and hung it on their wall. So that's the story behind The Picture.
400	I Remember	I think either Ryder or Horseman is D.B. Am I right about that? I need to see a copy of The Picture. I would think I would remember if a photo of me was taken and appeared on the front page of the Commonwealth Journal. My memory must be worse than I thought. Sunshine : I have my three year old grandson today, but let's plan on next Saturday or even during the week. I'm looking forward to it.
401	Redfox	I agree with I Remember about how some of these details just don't ring a bell. However, these guys were in the seventh grade, meaning they were about 12, when we were 16 or older and driving, running around and working either full or part time. They're telling us what life looked like through the eyes of a 12 year old. They may have paid attention to things we were too busy to pay attention to.
402	I Remember	One detail is that Omlor was not the last coach at Ferguson. Jim Wilson was. Nobody ever mentions him.
403	Knowitall9	My wife thinks I'm becoming addicted to this topix thread.
404	Redd Ryder	How many of you remember Woody Gosser, the baseball coach, assistant basketball coach, and math teacher the last two years of Ferguson High School? Mr. Gosser came from Russell County. He had been a catcher at Russell County High School, at Eastern Kentucky University, and in the minor leagues. Everybody says he was just about to get called up to the majors when he tore his ACL, which ended his career. So he came home to Russell County to run the family farm and teach and coach. He was only at Ferguson until a job opened up at Russell County. I always thought it was funny Gosser lived on Gosser Road on Gosser Ridge. He'd had his front teeth knocked out by some baseball player sliding into home plate so he had false teeth up there. When he got mad he'd use his tongue to push the false teeth up and out. It looked bizarre but you'd better not laugh. He was a great baseball coach. Ferguson hadn't had a baseball team for a while and he restarted it. We played home games behind the school. He was doing the same thing in baseball that Omlor was doing in basketball : building a younger program and developing a really good team for 3-4 years in the future. Unfortunately, the school was closed before he could complete the building process. But we all learned a lot about baseball from him. Gosser was another reason it was sad the school closed.
405	Last Horseman	I Remember : You're right, but it got real confusing there at the end, because they didn't just one day close the school. They phased it out. At the end of 1966-67 the state announced they were closing the high school but would leave the grade school 1-8 there. Since closing a school is a big complicated process, they would take a year to close the high school. So anyone who was going to be a senior the next year could stay, but the other kids might as well transfer so they could get started somewhere else. So there was a big exodus of kids, transferring to PC or one of the other county schools. We always had kids coming to Ferguson who did not live inside the Ferguson boundary, so those kids quit coming. Enrollment dropped way down, which meant they needed fewer teachers. Omlor and Gosser had been the last two hired, so they would be the first to leave. Omlor went ahead and took a coaching job elsewhere. Gosser was looking around, but another teacher decided to go ahead and retire early, opening up a spot, so the school asked Gosser to stay one more year as basketball and baseball coach and math teacher. But then in July somebody in his family had a heart attack, so Gosser told Higgins he just couldn't stay after every day and coach. He stayed as a teacher, but Higgins hired Jimmy Wilson to coach for that one last year. The school cut the varsity schedule back but still didn't win a game. Our group became the eighth grade team and David Carr and his bunch became the JV team, but neither Wilson nor Gosser were as good as Omlor had been, and neither of our teams did very well. That 1967-68 year was it for us. We all moved to other schools after that year. So, yes, technically, 1967-68 was the final year. But it seemed the air began draining out of the balloon once the state announced we were closing, so I always considered 1966-67 the last year for the full scale high school.
406	Redd Ryder	I think I'll drive over and knock on Gosser's door. He still lives on the same farm, just off 80. It would be nice if he would come on this board and post. Would anybody like to drive out and look up Mr. Overby? I'd love to read his views on everything. And we ought to be able to find Omlor. We know he's in Lexington.
407	Sunshine	I've been puny for the last few days. Fever, headache, achey muscles. Must have picked up some kind of bug. I had to help my granddaughter and her husband get ready for a masquerade party yesterday. They went as Elvis and Priscilla.
408	I Remember	I love Halloween, my favorite holiday. For one day a year you can be anyone you want. I hope you're feeling better. My doctor told me the Center for Disease Control is expecting the worst season of influenza since 1918. I get a flue shot every year but last year I was still sick all Winter. I hope they get the vaccine right this year.
409	Sunshine	I love Halloween too. I guess I like to pretend I'm someone I'm not. My friend and I are looking for a party to go to but so far haven't found one. I already got my flue shot, a couple of weeks ago. I think most of my problems are allergies. Sounds like you have a lot of admirers. I know some of the people they're talking about but at that time I already had kids.
410	Blondie9	Maybe we should all get together and have our own Halloween Party. We could call it Ferguson Unmasked. Everyone could come with the name tag they go by on here and at the end we could have a guessing contest and then we could all unmask.
411	Redd Ryder	Does anybody remember Coach Omlor's dog? The Dennys had German Shepherds, and they had a litter. They offered him his pick of the litter. (Billy played on the eighth grade team and Jimmy on the seventh.) So he chose one, and the cheerleaders adopted it. Margaret Tucker (or maybe her mother) sewed a purple and white sweater for it, and they trained it to take part in a few of their cheers. So for the last month of the season, our cheerleaders had a canine addition. When the season was over, Coach took the dog home to Pennsylvania and left it with his parents on their farm. I asked him about the dog at the reunion and alumni game. He said it finally died at age 15 and was the best and smartest dog his family ever had.
412	I Remember	I spoke to three of the cheerleaders from that year and not one of them remembered a dog. They also don't remember Jackie Linville shooting himself in the foot. And the Denneys don't remember having German Shepherds. At least I'm not the only one on here with a poor memory.
413	Was There	Well, I Remember, we all appreciate you for starting this topix thread. We have all enjoyed it and hope it continues for years so we can keep reminiscing about the good old days. Please never take anything I say as critical. Apparently different people remember different things from the exact same experience. However, that said, you need to go back and prod the memories of the people you spoke to a little further. I'm a Denney. My brother and I played for Coach O. He did a lot for both of us. We wanted to do something in return. But, as everyone on here has openly admitted, we were all poor. What could we give him? Well, the whole time we were growing up, our family raised German Shepherds. We took great pride in them. They were thoroughbred, pedigreed and certified. When we had a litter, we could sell each pup for a lot of money. That December, we had a litter. Once they were six weeks old, we offered him his choice of the litter. We thought it was a perfect gift. He was single and lived alone in that garage apartment. The dog could keep him company and also guard the place. We were really pleased at how much he treasured the pup and took it home to his family farm, where it lived a long and happy life. Yes, the cheerleaders really did "adopt" the dog and yes, Margaret or her mother really did sew a purple and white wool sweater for it with a big "F" on the back. As a side note, Billy and Eugene Hill wanted one and came to look and the mother dog chased them back to their car about to eat them up so they decided they didn't want one after all. As for Jackie Linville, I do remember he shot himself in the foot and missed a few games. I remember it because that was when Coach O pulled David Carr up to the varsity. Oh, and by the way, I agree that Nancy was hot!!! We all had crushes on her.
414	I Remember	Knowitall9, I have a great idea. Let's talk to Mark, find out who his publisher is, and use all the posts on here to write a book.
415	Last Horseman	Does anybody know what Mr. Young is doing now or if he's still OK and in the area? I always liked hin. I never had a lick of musical talent --- couldn't sing or play any instrument --- but he taught me a lot about music and tried to get me to where I could carry a tune and tell one note from the next. Every time his name comes up, it seems someone knows him, and everybody says he was the best music teacher any Pulaski County school ever had. I've never heard one person say one bad thing about him. He was another one who could easily have gone somewhere else and we were lucky to have him at Ferguson.
416	I Remember	Do Ryder and Horseman remember when Nancy stopped being a cheerleader and became scorekeeper for the team? If you do remember, do you also remember the arguments it caused?
417	Redd Ryder	I do remember that incident. Remember Nancy and the cheerleaders were in high school and we were in 7th grade and had our own cheerleaders so were not directly involved, so my memory may be a bit fuzzy. But what I remember is that Nancy had been a cheerleader for a couple of years previous, and Coach had asked her to not try out that year and instead be our scorekeeper. He was putting together a really good schedule for our 7th and 8th grade teams, and adding some big time teams to the high school schedule, and wanted a very reliable scorekeeper. He had her in class and apparently thought she was pretty intelligent. Looking back on it, he also probably had a crush on her (like all of us did), and apart from that, probably wanted someone to talk to on long bus rides besides a bunch of 12 year olds.
418	Nancy Atchley	I was really naive. I did not then or now ever consider that Coach Omlor had a crush on me. Reading these threads about me and Coach was very enlightening. On cheerleading tryout day, I was in the gym waiting to try out when Coach Omlor approached and asked me not to but instead to become basketball scorekeeper. It made sense to me. I would get to go to all the games and have a really important job. I never thought Coach O might try to put a move on me...and he never did. He was always very professional. But a guy had been keeping the scorebook at home games for years, and his brother was on the school board, and he pitched a huge fit about it. He summoned Coach O in front of the board and accused him of trying to change the system. Coach O stood up to him and told him he had previously talked to the brother, that Coach had looked at last year's book and noticed it didn't follow standard scorekeeping format, and he needed the brother to change what he was doing, and the brother refused. So Coach was determined to find someone he could train to do it correctly. So I remained scorekeeper, using the official format, the brothers remained pissed, and Coach O remained a gentleman.
419	Last Horseman	I agree about Coach Gosser. I learned more baseball in one year under Gosser than all my other years combined. He reminded me of Coach Omlor in his attention to tiny details. He taught us how to place our feet, how to run and stop and turn and a million things about batting. The teams we played would be out there doing everything wrong and we never made any errors. We never beat ourselves. We had a few seniors and juniors and a bunch of seventh and eighth graders, so sometimes teams were just so much older and bigger that they beat us, but they had to do it, because we never beat ourselves. So we'd be playing the top teams in the region, with their all senior lineups, and they'd be undefeated, and beat us by one run. If the school had stayed, in two or three years we would have been the best team in the region and made a run at state.
420	Redd Ryder	Do you remember the time we played Burnside and their big star George Bryant who was first team all state and averaging 45 points a game and would be named Mr. Basketball at the end of the year, and we were giving them a really good game, and Bryant fell and hurt his knee right in the middle of the floor. And the Burnside coach wouldn't call time out because he didn't want to waste a time out, so Omlor called one of ours so the refs could help the injured player off the floor. After the game his parents came over to Coach Omlor and thanked him for his consideration. But the Burnside coach followed us down to the dressing room and started yelling at Omlor that he had tried to embarrass the Burnside coach and make him look bad. Omlor just looked at him like he was a child pitching a temper tantrum. Gosser picked up the Burnside coach by the armpits and carried him up the stairs and deposited him on the floor, pointing to the Burnside dressing room. After Burnside got dressed the coach came back to our locker room and apologized. Bryant ended up going to Eastern Kentucky University and made second team All American.
421	Was There	Yeh, I liked Mr. Gosser a lot. And I remember Bryant. He was quite a player.
422	Knowitall9	Nancy, these guys really had you up on a pedestal. Too bad some of them weren't old enough to ask you out. Sounds like you'd have had quite a busy social life.
423	Nancy Atchley	Well, the big lesson in all of this is that everyone needed to communicate more openly. Who knows what might have happened? At the age of 17, a guy four years younger would have been too young, but by the time I was 26, a guy 22 might not have been. As it turned out, at the age of 50 I met someone who was 11 years younger then me, and if I had not gotten terminally ill I would gladly have married him. Age doesn't matter.
424	Last Horseman	Terminally ill?
425	Nancy Atchley	Yes. I have a terminal illness.
426	Last Horseman	If I'm not being too nosy, with what?
427	Nancy Atchley	I have a heart condition. Mitral Valve Stenosis and Dilated Cardiomyopathy.
428	Last Horseman	But neither of those conditions is fatal. Mitral Valve Stenosis can be corrected through various means, and if needed, surgery. Nobody dies from it. Dilated Cardiomyopathy requires surgery and then usually a lifetime of going 3-5 days a week to cardio rehab and exercising in a prescribed program to gradually bring the heart and system back up to strength. I would assume you're on Coumadin (or some other form of Warfarin), Toprol, maybe an aspirin a day, and perhaps some form of Benazapril. But 58's not old. You should be around another 40 years.
429	Nancy Atchley	My heart is three times larger than it should be. My mitral valve functions at 25%, which is better than two years ago when it was at 15%. I've been to Central Baptist and Jewish Hospital in Louisville. I was put on Coreg and Altace which work to make the heart stronger. I was on a waiting list for a heart transplant but then my heart became stronger so I said I'd just take medications, so they have me on 17 different pills a day. Two years ago they gave me a year, but I'm not doing too bad. Social Security sent me to one of their doctors and he said my condition was still terminal so they granted me Disability. No doctor can figure out what caused this, how I recovered from it, or how long my recovery will last. So I just live with it.
430	Last Horseman	Well, we'll all be grateful you're doing well and maybe if we all give you enough support you'll amaze the doctors and outlive them. I know somebody they gave six months to live 30 years ago and now he's running marathons in the over 70 division. It's been my experience God pretty well evens out the cards over time. Some of us get good hands one time and not so good hands another time. After I left Ferguson, I played ball at another high school, and was good enough to win a college scholarship. I always felt cheated that I wasn't bigger and heavier so I could have been a star. Now, when we get together for reunions, I walk in upright and all those guys I envied so much come in with canes or walkers. Their knees are shot from jumping with all that weight on all those hardwood floors. Some of the guys I envied have died. So those guys enjoyed their glory days early and it looks like I've got good health now. Things even out. We never dreamed you were lonely growing up, but then you married well, and then you had this bout of poor health, but maybe now good luck will swing back your way again. At least now you know you have a bunch of good friends on here cheering for you. Maybe that counts for something.
431	Nancy Atchley	"Married well" is a relative term. I did marry a man with a lot of money, not because of the money but simply to get away from home. No one knows what a child endures when they're lonely and afraid. But I married a man who was exactly like my Mom. I went from bad to worse. I drove a 450SL Mercedes, lived in big fancy houses, owned mink coats and diamond rings, and ate dinner with the rich and famous. But then every night when we were alone he would beat my ass for whatever I had done that day to annoy him, and every single day he found something. I didn't leave because I didn't have anywhere to go. I didn't think anyone would have me. I had always been told I was unattractive, unintelligent and without any particular skill. You have no idea what I would have given to have met someone who told me the sorts of things you guys have said to me on this board. I finally did leave him, with nothing but the clothes on my back. I didn't even get child support. Today I have very little but I'm happier than I've ever been. All of you guys on here may have waited a long time to say these nice things to me, but for the first time in my life I feel like a girl who is beautiful. So Thank You!
432	Redd Ryder	If what you say is true, all us guys in Ferguson and Pulaski County owe you a huge, huge apology. I know teenage guys are kind of clueless, but there is no way we should have allowed you to grow up without fully realizing how special you were to so many guys. Reading your last post I felt sick to my stomach. I don't know how we could have summoned the courage to walk up to you and say something. But maybe we could have left you anonymous notes, or sent you letters, or Christmas cards, or birthday cards, or anonymously had roses delivered to you on Valentine's Day. Something.
433	Last Horseman	I remember you at that get together when they rededicated the gym as a community rec center, and Coach Omlor and Gosser came back, and we staged a game. I remember Coach Omlor giving you a big hug. Let me tell you, you looked pretty darned desirable then. You were the best looking 35 year old in Pulaski County, even though you were actually 50 something.
434	Redd Ryder	Speaking of Omlor, I'm sitting here reading the Sunday paper, and in Parade Magazine there were pictures of Daniel Craig, the actor who plays James Bond. I swear, the guy is an identical twin of Coach Omlor. Everything about them is identical : hair, eyes, body build, everything.
435	Last Horseman	I know. Last time I saw Omlor he looked younger than I do. He doesn't age. You know he still plays basketball, skiis, surfs, bicycles, canoes, white water rafts, and rides roller coasters. He has to be in his 60s, doesn't he? I know you can turn back the odometer on a car, but can you do it on a person?
436	I Remember	If you find out what he takes, does or drinks, please let everyone on here know.
437	Knowitall9	Maybe his secret is J-Boys. He did love a good J-Boy.
438	Redfox	The Horseman should write a book about Medicine. Ryder should write one on Omlor.
439	Looking	I agree Horseman must be involved in the medical field. He seems pretty knowledgeable.
440	Knowitall9	I considered a career in either Gynecology or Mammography. But when I met my wife, she ruled it out.
441	Last Horseman	I went off to college and played ball. Not knowing what else to major in, I chose Biology since studying animals seemed pretty cool. After my playing career was over, my advisor said they were opening a new research lab in Louisville and were looking for graduate assistants. I would be paid $6000 a year and earn a Masters Degree in Biology in two years. So I went. As I finished my research director called me in and said UK was looking for graduate assistants and I could keep going to school. So I came to Lexington and took a lot of the same courses as doctors, but instead of becoming a doctor I became a researcher. After graduation they hired me full time and I'm still here. So I know the vocabulary and the technicalities and the medicines. But I'm not a medical doctor.
442	Nancy Atchley	I left Ferguson, got married, and finally finished high school at East Detroit High School. I then went to Michigan State for four years and earned a B.A. in Journalism. We moved to California. I then earned a Masters Degree in Journalism from the University of Calfornia at Berkeley. I have really wasted that degree, never using it once. I'm proud to learn that you've done well. It's always nice to know someone I once knew did well.
443	Last Horseman	Why don't you use that Journalism degree now? Call Somerset Community College and offer to teach Journalism. Or call the UK Independent Studies Program and offer to teach Journalism over the internet. Or go down to the Somerset Commonwealth Journal and apply for a job, either as a regular reporter or feature writer, or at least as a part time correspondent.
444	Nancy Atchley	I'm afraid my skills have become pretty rusty and the specific details I learned have been forgotten. My husband was small in stature but big on ego and he believed I should stay home and take care of him. He was a big time jockey. A successful jockey's wife does not work. It implies that the jockey can't win enough to provide for her. Then I had the kids to raise, and then when I first came back here, Mom to take care of. So now I'm alone and free, but my skills have eroded. I write poetry. I read a lot. It's a little late in life to try and create a new career.
445	ThoseWereTheDays	Does anyone remember the Hardwick guys? Howard and Ronnie? Do you know what happened to them? They both had the prettiest blonde hair. Oh, and whatever happened to Bobby Cundiff and Richard Dykes?
446	I Remember	Bobby lives on Murphy Avenue in Ferguson. He always has thousands of Christmas lights on his house. I haven't seen Richard Dykes since the 2000 reunion. His brother married Peggy Lovins. I believe he is a minister. Now I have3 a few questions. What happened to Mike Richardson, Donnie Gibson, David Phillips, Lana Hardwick, Patricia Girdler and Diane Minton?
447	Was There	There was also a Shannon Hardwick. He was a reserve on the eighth grade team in 66-67.
448	Knowitall9	Mike married Nellie Goff and went to work for the railroad. They live in Danville. Donnie and wife still live here. Lana is now a Cooper. I don't know about Patricia Girdler. Lonnie is still around -- I see him about once a week. Diane Minton married Gary Dalton. I worked with him in '74.
449	Looking	Richard Dykes just retired from the telephone company and lives on Thurman Road here in Somerset.
450	ThoseWereTheDays	Mike and Nellie have two children---one daughter and one son. They have five granddaughters. Mike had brothers Jimmy, Joe Ed, Glenn and Jack. They're all gone now but Mike. They all had heart problems except him. Jimmy died very young.
451	Sunshine	Glenn was a great basketball player for Ferguson in the late 1950s. Jimmy married my cousin and they were only married a few weeks when he died. It was really sad. They just got back from their honeymoon and were getting settled in and he had a heart attack.
452	Last Horseman	How many of you remember the time Larry Conley and his father Senator George Conley refereed our game? Coach Omlor had been teammates with Larry up at UK and wanted to create a lot of interest in Ferguson basketball, so Larry, who had graduated and was in law school, and his father, Senator George Conley, agreed to come down and call the opening game against Willisburg. They both had their referees licenses and called games as a hobby. The Lexington Herald sent down a reporter and photographer and we got a picture and article about the game, and a day later a feature article and two pictures about the program, in the Herald. The game picture had Larry Duncan leaping high for a rebound with Don Minton and Jerry Peters in the background. The feature article pictures had Coaches Omlor and Gosser in one picture with Jackie Linville and Eddie Bill Ping, and Herbert Higgins and Ralph Duncan with Mike Richardson in the other. Russell Rice wrote both articles. He went on a couple of years later to become Sports Information Director for Uk and wrote five books about UK basketball.
453	Redd Ryder	UK had lost to Texas Western in the national championship game the previous March and everybody in the state loved that team, so we had a HUGE crowd. They weren't coming to see Ferguson. They came to see Larry. People from all over Pulaski County brought their cameras and autograph books. Cars were parked all over the baseball field, down both driveways and up and down the road. The balcony was jammed, people were sitting on windowsills and standing along the walls in both end zones. After the game Larry was nice enough to stay for about an hour and sign autographs and let people takes pictures with him. After they ran the pictures in the Herald, they sent copies of the pictures down to Ferguson. Higgins had the one framed and it was on his desk until he retired. Higgins gave Larry Duncan the photo of him rebounding.
454	Looking	I remember that. I was a huge Larry Conley fan and after the game he posed for a picture with his arm around me. I treasured that picture. I still have it tucked away in my old school stuff.
456	Redd Ryder	Knowitall9 : What year did you graduate from Ferguson? Or did you graduate from there? Did you have to transfer to PC?
457	Knowitall9	I left Ferguson after the 66-67 school year. All Summer the talk was no one knew if the school would last out the 67-68 year or not. So I just left and enlisted in the Army. I was in Germany during what was the high school's last year. But they kept the grade school open for a long time because after I got home from the Army and got married, my oldest son went there. As far as graduation, I finished my credits at Fort Campbell. When I got home, I transferred them to PC and so my diploma reads Pulaski County 1971.
458	Redd Ryder	Well, thanks for serving our country. In 1967, we were in Vietnam, so those were tough times. You had to know you could have been sent to 'Nam at any time. Whatever we paid you, it was not enough. We all owe all you guys a huge debt.
459	Knowitall9	I was paid $97.50 a week to start and $137.50 a week by the time I finished. I don't deserve any praise because I spent my time in supply and mechanics. The real heroes were the guys over there in combat.
460	Last Horseman	So, Nancy, what exactly happened with your leaving Ferguson? That next year we were in the eighth grade, and you would have been a senior, and all of a sudden, we woke up one day and you were just...gone. Then no one knew anything for a while, and then one day we heard you were getting married.
461	Nancy Atchley	All my best friends were a year ahead of me. Joetta, Margaret, etc., graduated in May 1967. There was that talk of the school maybe not lasting a full year. Omlor was gone so I probably wasn't going to be a scorekeeper anymore. There wasn't going to be a Journalism class. So I had no reason to stick around. Meanwhile, my Mom had moved to Lexington, where she had found a job at St. Joseph. I started out the school year living with my grandparents, so I moved up there with her. We both figured I would enroll in one of the Lexington high schools and finish, but I just never got around to it. Then this jockey from Keeneland started asking me out, and we went together for a while, and he asked me to marry him, and I didn't see any other options. He was a very successful jockey, earning lots of money, and I'd never had anything, so it looked like he was offering me a great life, so I said yes.
462	Sunshine	Does anyone want to get together for lunch and coffee this week and talk about old times?
463	Redd Ryder	I tracked down Coach Omlor and invited him to join us. He went back to Pennsylvania from Ferguson and coached another high school. He came back to Kentucky after that and coached at three other high schools, then was a defensive coordinator at three colleges. He's retired from coaching now and teaches at UK.
464	Ferguson Girl	That lady you were talking about who kept a shotgun by her front door was my great grandmother. Her name was Monica Calhoun. She wasn't a witch and she wasn't even really mean. She was just feisty. When she yelled "Sueee" she wasn't calling pigs, she was calling for Sue or Judy to come to her house. They lived on top of Waddle Street and she would yell across the valley. The reason she got a reputation for being mean was you guys kept playing pranks on her and tormenting her and she wasn't going to put up with it.
465	I Remember	I had no idea Coach Omlor taught at UK. I thought he went back to Pennsylvania and just stayed there. What does anybody remember about Jimmy Wilson, who was the coach that very last year of the high school?
466	Was There	Wilson was coach that last year but he really only worked with the varsity. We had those great 7th and 8th grade teams coming up to be the 8th and 9th grade teams, but neither Wilson nor Gosser cared about that. Wilson pulled up the 8th grade team to be on the varsity along with Eddie Bill Ping, Charlie Tucker and Larry Tucker. Jackie Linville quit school and Mike Richardson got married and got a job instead of playing. So Wilson played Eddie Bill and Larry Tucker plus David Carr, Doug Goff and Larry Whitaker as his varsity starters, with Billy Denney, Larry Burton and Charlie Tucker as the reserves. All the rest of us were the JV team. It was awful. Eddie Tucker had gone to Somerset. Dennis Whitaker and Vernon Norris had also transferred somewhere. We were in way over our heads, freshmen against seniors and 8th graders against juniors. We had no chance. David was the varsity's only scorer. What they should have done was cancel the high school season and just coach us as 8th and 9th grade teams. We could have made runs at both the 8th and 9th grade state championships and given the school something to be proud of that final year. Instead, they just embarrassed the school in its final year. Sad. Poor judgement. I don't know why Wilson accepted the job. He should have said, look, you can't have a varsity. I'll coach the younger kids. If the Ferguson Board said no, he should not have come. Omlor was able to apply for another job and explain how the Ferguson varsity didn't do well the year he was here but his 7th grade team lost in state finals and his 8th grade team lost in state semifinals. Wilson was a head coach for one year and his one team lost every game so he was never able to get another high school job.
467	Knowitall9	Wilson came from Burnside. He was an assistant at Burnside High School for a few years before coming to Ferguson. I think he went to Somerset after Ferguson closed, maybe as coach of the junior high.
468	Sunshine	There was a Jim Wilson at Southern Middle in the 1980s. Then he went to Burnside as Elementary School Principal.

469	Blondie9	Jimmy Wilson played at Burnside. I think he went to EKU but just as a student. His father was Elmer Wilson. I knew most of his family back when we were growing up.
469	Was There	He was another Ferguson coach who had a crush on Nancy. She was way too young for David Cowan and a little too young for Coach Omlor but Wilson did take her out once or twice. Us guys were watching that real carefully but then suddenly she was gone so that was the end of it.
470	Sunshine	Last time I saw him, his hair was totally white and he had put on weight. He's been married twice. Between school jobs, he worked at The Highlands for a few years. Since retiring from Burnside, he works at the YMCA.
471	Was There	Larry Tucker played for Burnside that year Omlor was our coach. But he was having a hard time getting much playing time. When Wilson came to Ferguson, he brought Tucker with him to help fill out the lineup. He was able to promise Tucker he'd start.
472	Knows Little	Jimmy Wilson was also Principal at Nancy Elementary before he went to Burnside. I think he ran for and got elected to the Pulaski County School Board that Fall after he retired from Burnside. From what I always heard, he was a pretty good elementary school administrator.
473	Nancy Atchley	You guys seem to know every tiny detail of my lovelife. So who was the first guy I ever dated? And who was the player I had a crush on that year Omlor was there?
474	Redd Ryder	Your first romance was with Autrey Stephens. We were at the gas station the night you told him your mother had found out and thought he was too old for you and had grounded you so you could never go out with him again. He came down to the gas station all depressed and told us all about it. So then he started dating one of the Norris sisters and married her.
475	Was There	The player you had a crush on was David Carr. And he had a crush on you. Watching the two of you try to dance around it was entertaining. He was only in the eighth grade and figured he had no chance. Furthermore, he was probably the most honorable guy to ever come out of Ferguson. So the two of you felt very fond of each other and neither of you would do anything about it.
476	ThoseWereTheDays	Do any of you girls remember Malcolm Luttrell standing on your toes? He used to do that all the time. I was about 5' and he was 6-7' and when he stood on my toes I couldn't move until he stepped off. Oh, and whatever happened to Carol Waddle after she married Larry Smith? Are they still married and where do they live? And what about Josephine Abner? She married James Brumbly.
477	Last Horseman	One of the problems back then was Nancy never came home. Once she left, we never saw her again. So there was no closure. We never got a chance to say goodbye or wish her good luck or tell her that when we were younger she was the high school girl we all looked up to, nothing.
478	Nancy Atchley	For one thing, my Mom didn't come back to Ferguson for a long time. She stayed in Lexington. And even if she had, Glen and I would probably not have come to see her, because she made it quite clear she despised him. She told me one time how much she hated to see me bearing his children. Made me feel real good. Of course, eventually I did come back, but by then everyone I had ever known except Joetta and David were long gone.
479	Was There	But when your Mom eventually did move back, even though you weren't around, David would visit your mother. We'd see him cutting her grass or taking care of little things around the house.
480	Nancy Atchley	Yes. David is one of world's Great People. He became a minister because he lives to help others. When Mom moved back, they somehow reconnected, whether through church or a chance meeting I don't know. David took care of her yard and would run errands for her. When she died, the first person I called was David. He was by my side through the whole ordeal. I wouldn't have gotten through it without him. I will always be grateful to him for that. Mom kept trying to tell me David had always had a crush on me but I refused to believe it.
481	Crockett	When they called me and asked me to get on here and join the discussion I expected you kids had maybe a couple pages. I never dreamed of anything like this. I've spent a day reading my way through all these posts. You're all younger than I am, except for a few of the girls. I grew up in Ferguson in the 1950s. I graduated just as Herb Childers and Orv Swearingen were leaving. The school was bigger then, and the town more prosperous. Our basketball team ran over everyone including Somerset and we had kids winning every kind of competition. We didn't even consider the other county schools our competition. We saw ourselves as rivals with Somerset, Danville, Harrodsburg, Corbin, Richmond and Middlesboro. When our kids went off to science fair, drama, speech or debate competitions, those were the schools we had to beat. The little Pulaski County schools didn't even show up at those competitions.
482	Former Student	I am sorry to report that Leona Hamm lost her battle with Cancer yesterday. She was a dear friend of mine in school and remained upbeat and optimistic her whole life until the end. She was so beautiful both in appearance and at heart.
483	I Remember	Welcome, Crockett. We're excited to hear your stories about your time period. It may help clarify some of the things about our own time. Sadly, by the mid 1960s, we didn't enter any of those competitions you're talking about.
484	Julia Ward Cox	I loved Leona Hamm too. She was such a wonderful person. Ferguson has lost one of its finest.
485	Crockett	We were so fortunate. We had the world greatest school superintendant, Orville Swearingen. We loved him. He made it a point to speak to every single kid every single day by his or her first name. It might be in the hall, library, gym, cafeteria, parking lot, on the bus, in a science lab, but somewhere during the day he would speak to you. He knew exacrly what we were doing and he backed us 110%. He made sure we knew he believed in us and he always asked if there was anything we needed. We had the best school in Kentucky because he made it that way.
486	Knowitall9	I cannot imagine. Not in my wildest dreams.
487	Last Horseman	I went to school there for eight years and Higgins never spoke to me once. And we made it to the state championship game.The school never even gave us a pep rally. Ralph Duncan came and spoke to us several times, telling us how proud he and the Board were. But Higgins never came. He didn't even come to our games.
486	Crockett	But we also had such good teachers. Margaret Cowan loomed over the school like a giant mother hen. You had her in grade school but you really had her until you graduated because she kept up with you year by year. If you weren't fulfilling your potential she'd look you up and fuss at you until she got you back in line. She refused to let any of her kids --- we were all her kids---under achieve.
487	I Remember	We did still have Margaret Cowan. But she was a little older by our years and maybe not able to keep up with us quite so well.
488	Crockett	I read where a lot of you guys in the 1960s thought the Atchley girl was the prettiest girl to ever come out of Ferguson. I'm sure she was a cutie. But the prettiest girl to ever come out of Ferguson was Shirley Colyer. She won every beauty pageant she ever entered. When she walked into a room time stopped. And we had Peggy Cope, Edie Caldwell and a bunch of other good looking wonderful girls, too. It was a fantasy time to be going to Ferguson.
489	Knowitall9	So when you were there, how old were we? Seems like we ought to remember the people from your era.
490	Crockett	I'd say you were 7-8-9 maybe. What would that be --- 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade. I doubt you were paying attention. Eisenhower was President.
491	Looking	Did you actually put plays on in the big auditorium? I'd like to have seen that.
492	Crockett	Yes. I wasn't in any of them. I was no actor. But I had classmates who were really good. They would select a play, work on it for a month or so, put it on here for us and in the evenings for the town, and then take it up to UK or EKSC or Centre and put it on for judges in big competitions. They brought home a lot of trophies. That big trophy case you remember, a lot of those came from our years.
493	Former Student	Uh-oh. Wait a minute. I don't remember any big trophy case. Anybody remember a big trophy case?
494	Knowitall9	I remember several trophies sitting around on bookshelves in the library. I don't remember a big trophy case.
495	Crockett	I have to tell you honestly, Ferguson today is not the same place. When I come home I can't even find my way around. Where we had woods and fields and dirt roads now they have houses and highways and for Heaven's Sake an airport. We spent most of our time out in the woods. We just walked out our back doors and headed for the woods. Now, the true woods is a long way from Ferguson. I feel bad for the boys growing up there today. I loved Ferguson. I'd go back and do it again in a heartbeat. I went on to Eastern Kentucky State College, ended up with a masters degree in Wildlife Biology, and spent a career working for the state. Between the woods around Ferguson and the great science classes in school, I got all the college preparation I needed. It was the greatest school in the world and I had the greatest classmates in the world. I hate it that the school's gone.
496	Was There	Does anyone remember the night during the game when for some reason --- I don't know if he was drunk or what --- John was yelling stuff at Coach Omlor and being generally obnoxious and Sue Vaught went over and sat him down and just as she did there was a free throw and the gym got real quiet so her voice could be heard all over and she told John if he didn't sit down and shut up and behave she was going to open a whole can of whoop ass on him?
497	ThoseWereTheDays	I'd forgotten all about that but now that you remind us I remember it. It was right in front of a bunch of us John was carrying on and we about died laughing when Vaught told him that.
498	Knowitall9	I vaguely remember something like that. I wasn't drunk. I never went to games drunk. But I loved to aggravate Omlor. Who in the heck was that lady anyway? She wasn't a teacher but she sure acted like she was in charge.
499	Was There	She was Billy and Jimmy Denney's aunt. She always came to their games. She was a big basketball fan, a big fan of their teams, and a big fan of Omlor's. And she didn't put up with any crap. To her, John was disrespecting the players trying to become the center of attention when THEY were supposed to be the center of attention. If he'd have given her any sass, she WOULD have opened that can of whoop ass on him. But he had enough sense to sit down and shut up so she calmed down. It was hilarious.
500	Sunshine	That's an expression I haven't heard in 50 years : "Open a can of whoop ass on you."
501	Was There	Nancy, don't I remember your family sold strawberries and stuff?
502	Nancy Atchley	That was my grandfather Lee Buck. He grew strawberries, apples and cherries and sold them. If kids came by and didn't have any money, which was pretty common, he'd give them an apple, or a handful of cherries or strawberries. He was a good man.
503	I Remember	Sunshine, Yes, I'd love to get together for lunch and talk. I have my grandson today and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. After that, I'm free any time. Phone me. I can't phone you. I don't know your married name.
504	CoachO	I feel like I should knock on the door or ring the doorbell. You kids are enjoying quite a party here and I feel like an intruder. I was invited to join you to help fill in some history but it looks like you've filled in all the history already. It's been 40 years but I still look back fondly on my year in your town and your school. What a great group of kids to teach and coach.
505	Sunshine	Do any of the older people on here remember Harold Tate or Herb Childers? They were the coaches when I was there.
506	ThoseWereTheDays	I really like the fact that this thread doesn't have people on here saying bad things about people like most of the other Topix threads do. I wish we could get even more people on here talking about things that happened back in the days at Ferguson School. The fact that we don't really know who's doing the writing makes it more fun trying to guess.
507	I Remember	Does anybody remember the Muses that lived toward the end of Murphy Avenue? I think the Dad was named Jim. I remember back in grade school he did something at the school but I forget what it was.
508	ThoseWereTheDays	I remember Mike Muse. I Remember, I was in your class for three years. I once spent the night at your house.
509	Redfox	Harold Tate was the Physical Education teacher. I know the Muses. Fine people. Mr. Tate was the assistant coach under Herb Childers.
510	Sunshine	All the girls were crazy about Harold Tate. He had pretty blue eyes. Going further back, do you remember Ray Stines when he was Coach? He had a sister named Janie. Back in the 50s, when there were rumors of nuclear fallout, their Dad built a shelter underground in their yard. So did Harry Whitaker. The rest of us thought they were nuts!
511	I Remember	TWTD : Does your name start with a D?
512	Sunshine	Does anybody remember Judy and Sandy Muse? They were Mike's sisters. Their Dad drove the school bus for years. He drove to all the away ball games. Back then, anyone was allowed to go. The bus would stop in front of the Ferguson Post Office.
513	I Remember	I remember Judy. I hadn't thought about her in years. I remember Mr. Muse doing something at school. Now I remember him driving the bus. I always thought he looked like the Captain on Gilligan's Island. Had the same smile, too.
514	Knowitall9	Paul Stines did in fact build an underground shelter. But it only about the size of a fruit cellar. It was over on Garrett Street.
515	ThoseWereTheDays	I Remember : No. It doesn't.
516	Knowitall9	Judy and Sandy were cousins. They are still together.
517	Redfox	John and Mary were the parents of three kids : Ray, Lida Lee and Janie. They did build a cellar.
518	Just Looking Back	Do any of you remember teachers named Bill Hyden and Mr. Ward? Do you remember when Mr. Hyden got into a fight with a Pence boy? I think we were in eighth grade.
519	CoachO	Where is Margaret Tucker now?
520	JustLookingBack	Margaret married Jeff Littrell. They still live here in Somerset. She is working at Danville Nursing and Rehab Center.
521	Geezer	Crockett, you and I must be classmates. You're right about so many things and the names you mention are the ones I knew. One of the things I never realized until I got off to college was how kids from other schools considered us the "rich kids." We had the biggest school building, biggest auditorium and biggest gym. Other schools took their big trips by school bus to Mammoth Cave and Gatlinburg and we took the train to Washington DC and Florida. Of course, when we were playing ball and went to other schools a lot of them still had outdoor privies and we had indoor restrooms. I remember how disgusting the gyms were at Shopville and Pine Knot. Remember how we had to dress in the bus at some of those places because their gyms didn't have dressing rooms. I remember going to schools for speech tournaments and they didn't even have libraries. So it's ironic to see the posts about how kids in the 1960s felt their school had so many problems when we felt we were lucky and it was all the other schools with the problems. I especially agree with you on Doc Swearingen. Surely he had to be the greatest educator in the history of Pulaski County. If he had stayed at Ferguson it would never haver gotten into the troubles it did, and it would still be there today. He was brilliant.
522	Julia Cox Ward	I hope everybody who came to the Ferguson School Reunion last Saturday really enjoyed yourselves. I thought it was a good turnout. More came this year and before.
523	Knowitall9	Yes, I hated to miss it. I had to work. Glad they had a crowd. I'm sure I would have enjoyed myself.
524	Crockett	Hi Geezer. Looks like you and I and Sunshine are the only 1950s grads on here. We need to educate these young kids on how life was back in the Golden Age.
525	Geezer	For all the talk about the school and the town, we had most of our greatest adventures out in the woods. We felt like we lived on the edge of the wilderness. Remember how we'd wrap our equipment in blankets, tie it over our shoulders and hike miles out beyond Cabin Hollow, out around Cannonball road, out toward Mt. Victory or Bee Rock, and camp out?
526	Knowitall9	Who remembers the concrete igloo out on route 27, where Lee's Famous Recipe is now?
528	Knowsmore	I remember it.
529	Redfox	I remember the igloo. We used to go over there and buy ice cream. Then it changed to a fish place.
530	I Remember	I must be losing my mind. I don't remember any igloo.
531	Last Horseman	Does anybody remember the episode with Vernon Norris and the RC pop machine? Coach O had the machine installed in the basement so after practice we could get a cold drink. It was one of those old fashioned machines where you lifted the lid and all the bottles stood up in rows with their necks in little slots. You slid the bottle along the slot to a rotating device, put a dime in the slot, and pulled out the bottle. Vernon carried a nail with him. Every day he'd take a straw from the cafeteria milk table. When Coach and the players were upstairs, Vernon would take off his shoe and hit the nail so it punctured a hole in the bottlecap. He'd stick in the straw and drink the pop. He'd do this once or twice a day. At the end of the week, the RC man would come, the machine would still be full of bottles but they'd all be empty, and there'd be no money in the tray. Finally Coach had the man remove the machine.
532	I Remember	Who remembers going to a party at a cabin that was owned by Don Minton's Dad? The cabin sat way back in the woods. There was a party there every weekend.
533	Knowslittle	Margaret Tucker changes jobs pretty often. She has worked at all the nursing homes in Somerset, worked at Oakwood, worked several places in Lexington. Everyone says she's really good, but for some reason she doesn't stay anywhere too long.
534	Crockett	Yes, Geezer, I do remember all those adventures out in the woods. We had that great Boy Scout Troop with Mr. Muse as our Scoutmaster and we learned a lot of stuff there. And remember that old black guy who lived way out there in that log cabin in the middle of nowhere about two thirds of the way from Cabin Hollow to Bee Rock? He taught us a lot of stuff, too. I still remember the first time he found us camped out there. We had our fire built and were cooking dinner and he came into our campsite and looked around at us and said Well What Have We Here? After we all told him who we were he knelt down and looked real close at our fires and our cooking and said Lawd You Boys Don't Know Nuthin!! and from then on over the next couple of years he taught us all about how to build fires and cook and set traps and fish and build leantos and everything. He was black but he was more like an Indian. He didn't have a job. He didn't have a car. He didn't have money and there was no road close by his cabin. I don't know if the County ever knew he existed. He just lived out there on his own, hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering roots and berries and whatever. Do you remember his name?
535	CoachO	I remember the soft drink situation very well. I loved Vernon. He was one of the best shooters I ever coached. He won a lot of games for us. But he was a rascal. I had to watch him like a hawk. Remember we'd be on a trip somewhere and he'd get in trouble for trying to heist something. We'd stop for gas and he'd go in the store. Or on that Pennsylvania trip he got in trouble at one of the stores in the mall. It was never anything big. A bag of potato chips, a candy bar, a pack of gum. The RC agent and I calculated that machine. Usually the school makes a profit. But we had it figured out so if kids bought pop during the day, then, at the end of each practice, I could allow each player to have one bottle. That way, the school didn't make any money, but the players got a cold drink. Vernon screwed us up. We were actually losing money on the machine. So we had to take it out. The way Vernon saw it, he wasn't stealing that pop from me or the other players. He was stealing it from RC. And he thought they had plenty of money.
536	Sunshine	Remember the Family Drive In Theatre on 27? Things have changed out there so much I can't pinpoint exactly where it was. Somewhere between where the new Kroger is or down toward where Carolyns Furniture is.
537	Red Fox	I went to that drive in. It was where the Chevy car lot is now, across from Roses. I also remember an A & W Root Beer stand down on the corner by Cumberland Appliance. You got a big cold glass of root beer for 25 cents.
538	I Remember	What about David Hall when he would sell Christmas trees each year for 50 cents. David would come around and take orders. They were always cedar trees and smelled so good.
539	Sunshine	Yes, Red Fox. Thank you. I knew it was in that area somewhere. People that lived close complained that the lights kept them awake.
540	Red Fox	Remember Hary W. having a barber shop on top of the hill. He used to cut my hair for 50 cents.
541	Blondie	Yes, I remember Harry. He never cut my hair but I've seen people whose hair he did cut and you talk about cussing they did it.
542	Sunshine	I remember Harry, too. Is he still alive? Must be 90 or more. One year he raised his price due to the increase in the price of pinto beans and peanut butter. If he cut your hair, you didn't need another cut for about six months. He cut my father in law's hair. Does anybody remember Mr. Dill? wore overals and sold "Grit" newspapers. Lived on Jacksboro. Had a wreath on the door all the time. I thought someone died. Mom would buy a paper from him every week and if she didn't get one, bright and early on Sunday morning, he'd be banging on the door to bring it to her.
543	Blondie	Does anybody remember the old Peggy Ann Restaurant and Motel on old 27 on the corner where you turn to go down to Waitsboro Park. I thinkit burned.
544	Interested	Blondie, don't you remember the name of the restaurant at the corner of 27 & 90? I think there was a Somerset Oil gas station on the left and the restaurant was on the right.
545	Blondie	I know there was a restaurant there, but I can't remember its name.
546	Knowitall9	I do remember David selling trees. And the Somerset Oil Station was on the south bound side. Ed Holsomback worked there for years. He's deceased now. I told Tommy they should have buried his Dad in his green work clothes, because nobody ever saw him in a suit. The restaurant was on the NE corner of 27-90-1247. In the building where Mattie Smith's store was.
547	Blondie	I'm sure Bob Grider ran that restaurant.
548	Geezer	I hadn't thought about that old black guy in a long time. Remember him teaching us how to rig snares, then dress the animals, then fix that Squirrel Rabbit Groundhog Stew? Those kids back in town thought we were out there in the woods roughing it, but we ate darn good. He also taught us about Sassafrass Tea and Chickory Coffee. I remember we didn't have all the fancy crap the guys from Lexington and Danville had. They had top of the line packs, sleeping bags, tents, all that. But we made do with basic hand me down Boy Scout equipment. The old black guy taught us to build a lean to and thatch the roof to keep out rain. He taught us to just bring a wool blanket, dig a hole two feet deep, build a fire in it, let it burn down to coals, then shovel the dirt back over them and lay our blanket over that. During the night, the coals would heat the dirt and we'd sleep nice and warm no matter how cold it got.
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552	Slasher