Message Forum

Thanks Diane for pointing out the obit on Susan's brother. Here is the full posting:

Henry Gerald Peterman
Comer - Henry Gerald Peterman, 66, died Sunday, June 21, 2009, at Athens Regional Medical Center.
Funeral services will be held 2 p.m., Wednesday, June 24, 2009, at Lord & Stephens Oglethorpe Chapel with Rev. William Anglin officiating. Burial will follow at Clouds Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
Born at home in Oglethorpe County, he was the son of Eddie Forrester Carnes of Comer and the late Henry Lee Peterman and husband of the late Joyce Castelle Peterman. He was a carpenter by trade.
In addition to his mother, he is survived by his sisters, Wanda Kay McFall of Sandersville, Ga., Delores Cardenas of Jacksonville, Fla., and Susan Jean Harris of San Antonio, Texas; stepchildren, Renaee Spicey and Reece Castelle; and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Flowers will be accepted.
Published in Athens Banner-Herald on 6/23/2009

06/23/09 03:45 PM

#635

Ahh ... the Drive-In's. I believe Athens used to have three. There was the Alps which sat at the corner of Alps Road and Baxter Street, one on North Avenue about where North Avenue crosses the loop, I think was called the Athens Drive-In, and one on the Atlanta Highway about where Phil Hughes Honda is today. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I remembered going to a racetrack around Athens many moons ago to see the Joey Chittwood Daredevil Show and only recently learned where that was. Almost all signs of it are gone but it sat about a half mile behind where Sam's is today. One of my first dates with Sherron was to go see a movie at the Georgia Theater. She knew the ticket taker, a fellow known as Shorty (for obvious reasons), who let us slip in free. I always favored the Palace Theater over the Georgia Theater and I really can't remember why. The Palace Theater has been replaced by a parking deck. Sherron and I had lunch about a block from the Georgia Theater today and there must have been two dozen ATF agents in there having lunch as well. Not sure what their interest would be in a fire in little ole' Athens.?? The exterior of the Georgia Theater is pretty much intact. I've spent the last three workdays moving. We are now in the Simon Michael II Clinic building, just behind City Hall. I don't really enjoy moving!!! Getting too old and set in my ways I guess. Well enough day dreaming - back to work Grice!!! Later.

06/23/09 04:26 PM

#636

You are right Gary. There were three drive-ins and the racetrac was near Bogart. Jack Brown, my x-brother-in-law, lived about a mile from the trac after he got married. On Friday nite you couldn't hear a thing around there. I went to the race a couple of times, I think with Charles and Steve. As I recall we had to watch every move we made. Made you wish you'd brought you M16 at times! Those were the days.
Do any of you guys remember the Wagon Wheel in Athens, or the B & L warehouse? Charles and I even came to the "Big Hu-Baby Hop" here in Eatonton (never was sure about the spelling). Kids just don't have the clean fun places to go
that we had. Man, those were truly the days! We made some great memories Huh!
Jim

06/24/09 09:09 AM

#637

Jim you sure are bringing back the memories. In my job with the county I got to know and work with a lot of police officers. One told me he always hated to work the race track because there was one fellow that would pay anyone to start a fight. Like Diane trying to get Don to come over and slap us, I guess. Wonder how much he'll get paid? I went to opening night at the Wagon Wheel. Kind of DULL at first. I heard it picked up. The B&L Warehouse!!! I worked at the bank (First American) for a while and got to know several of the barkeeps. There weren't that many back then. The guys that ran the B&L invited the bank employees (I'm sure the cute young tellers had nothing to do with the invite) for a free round of drinks. They were famous for drink creations. I had a Kudzu Cocktail one night, served in a mason jar, of course. Not sure what was in it - kind of sweet, sort of like a whiskey sour. Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end. We'd drink and dance .... Hope everyone has a great day! Later.

06/24/09 11:02 AM

#638

Another day of “Obamanomics” might not be so good, Jim, but any day that the Braves beat the Yankees is A VERY GOOD DAY!… and yesterday was a very good day! A 4-0 shutout! Wow! Go Braves!

You have a great memory there, brother Gary! It sounds like you were very, very familiar with those drive-ins! I forgot that there was more than one. And you are right about the Palace Theater. For some reason, I was thinking it was called the “Classic Theater”. Wrong! Where did I get that? And I do remember the Wagon Wheel too. I went there a time or two.

And the Athens Speedway… I feel another story coming on. I only went there once. During one of those summers right out of high school when I was driving a tractor for Boyd Andrews, helping him to bail hay, he and his son Randall knew someone that fixed up a car to race at Athens Speedway. Well, Boyd and Randle told this friend that I was an “artist”. So he wanted me to paint the numbers and graphics on his race car. I had no idea what I was doing but I did it anyway to earn a few bucks. He liked my work and wanted me to sign my name to the “artwork”, right on the driver’s door on the side of the car. So I did. And this guy was in the next race at Athens Speedway and I went too just to see my artwork go in circles. And you are right Jim... very very noisy! And sure enough, after only a few laps this guy's car was side-swiped by another car and my name was "gone with the wind"! Fame is so fleeting! The only other time I ever went to a car race was at the Bristol Motor Speedway near Johnson City, Tennessee. I was visiting some cousins in the area and they took me there one Saturday night. An interesting experience, but I still love Braves baseball and Bulldogs football much better!

Connie… I must say that there are times when a good bologna sandwich and a glass of milk tastes better to me than any fancy buffet. And I like your idea of another class gathering in the fall! Keep us posted.

Gary, I like to think that I’m a pretty easy going guy, and the only time I really feel like slapping someone is when I watch the evening news! And I see those #&*@%* socialists implementing their agenda of "Obamanomics" (that’s a good name for it too, Jim!) I just want to slap them and shake them and say, "What are you thinking?" Well, my blood pressure is rising, so I'd better check out for now.

Have a good hump day everyone. And keep it under control around those curves.

06/24/09 12:16 PM

#639

Don, the Palace became the Classic after a major remodeling - I think. Anyone with a better memory out there? I was fortunate enough to work at the bank while Hammerin' Hank was making his record home run bid. One of the guys at the bank had a sports writer friend - free tickets right behind home plate. And the bank president knew all the good restaurants in Atlanta. I was able to participate in several sojurns to a Braves game. You are right - nothing like being there. I got to dine in the Stadium Club one evening and watch batting practice while we ate. We went to one really swanky place, you know where each person at the table has their own waiter. The prez ordered something that had to be eaten with the fingers and thus the requirement for a finger bowl. When the waiter brought out this little bowl of water with a lemon turned upside down in it, the prez winked at us and said, "I don't think I care for dessert this evening thank you". Those were the good ole days for sure. Now if you promise not to share this football story with Sherron - I purchased season tickets one year as a UGA staff member. The seats were high in the southwest corner of the stadium but great seats none the less. I learned that to get the best parking, near the stadium, you had to arrive early. This also meant that you would be stuck there for a while after the game. No problem for a young romantic. The lady I was dating at the time was really into wine and cheese. We would arrive several hours before the game with blanket and wine and cheese in hand. After the game, breakout the blanket again along with the beer from the cooler and enjoy being serenaded by the DIXIE Red Coat Band while waiting for traffic to thin out. You'll have to excuse me now. I've got to go wipe a tear from my eye. Later.

06/25/09 12:38 PM

#640

I TOLD YOU, THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!!! I THINK I NEED TO WIPE MY EYE TOOOOOOOO!
GREAT 5 ENDINGS LAST NITE! HUH DON!
LATER
JIM

06/25/09 03:24 PM

#641

The score last night was 1-1 when I got home from church, Jim, so I missed the first six innings or so. Must have been pretty good pitching up until then. I saw later that Kawakami got knocked out with a line drive to the neck. The defense and relief pitching was a little shaky the last few innings. And the baserunning interference that WAS NOT called on that play at first really hurt. Oh well. We have Derek Lowe going tonight I think, so if we can get the rubber game and win the series, that'll be great! I love to beat those #@%& (dadgum) Yankees! Go Braves!

06/25/09 05:11 PM

#642

YOU REALLY MISSED A GOOD FIRST 5. I SAID ENDINGS BECAUSE I'M ABOUT FED UP WITH STUPID MISTAKES. I'M READY FOR GEORGIA FOOTBALL!
SEE YA!

06/26/09 09:39 AM

#643

Janie… wherever you are out there, Liz and I would like to send HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to you a couple of days in advance. We hope you have a wonderful birthday weekend trip to Charleston, and you and Charles enjoy seeing those big ships come in. I wish we could be there with you. We both love Charleston. We’ll be thinking about you Sunday when Liz will be celebrating her birthday too. We will have to figure out a good way to celebrate here in Marietta. After church on Sunday, Liz and the choir will have an afternoon rehearsal of a couple of hours to get ready for the big patriotic musical coming up next weekend. I don’t know about you Janie, but Liz no longer just celebrates her birth”day”… for years now she has been celebrating birth”weeks” and goes out for lunch or dinner with different friends all week long. And now it is becoming a birth”month”. She has been celebrating since early June. Have a great weekend Janie, and God bless you! Let us hear from you on the forum more often.

And hope everyone else out there has a great weekend too. Stay cool!

06/26/09 04:09 PM

#644

Kathy Carter (Campbell)

Don
Tell Liz I'm sending happy birthday wishes to her and hope she has a wonderful time at all those birthday celebrations.

I'd love to go to Charleston now. It's our favorite beach to go to, but we just can't get away right now. Hope Janie has a wonderful weekend. I sent her a card on Wednesday.

We're having our back yard dug up right now due to plumbing problems. They said they didn't see how I had not been having to swim in the basement when it rains and I do laundry. It seems that the french drain installed in '88 had filled with tree roots and when they started digging they found a lake under the concrete floor. The work has taken out a few of my shrubs and vines, but I will replant again in winter/spring. Oh well, at least the problem will be fixed, it's just more extensive (and expensive) than our board of deacons realized.

Hope all of you have a good weekend.

Kathy

06/26/09 04:54 PM

#645

Well I've almost made it through a very busy week and decided to cap it off with another stroll down memory lane. Diane's mention of going to Elberton to shop reminded me of our Saturday afternoon trips to town (when I was younger.) We would park on Clayton street and walk/shop from Thomas street to about Lumpkin, up one side and down the other. We never ventured onto Broad Street unless we went throught Woolworth's (passed the luncheon counter Diane) to the lower level. I don't remember anything else on Broad Street except Mr. Dawson's appliance store about where the Banner Herald sits today and of course the hardware stores, Athens and Farmer's. There was a Winn-Dixie store now replaced with a UGA parking lot and a music store a couple of doors down. Boy has everything changed. Barnett's Newsstand was close to the Varsity and has now gone away. Remember when the shoe shine guy used to work outside and then moved inside to the back corner where they kept all the girlie magazines? They could be displayed on primetime TV now. One of my favorite places to visit was Durden's Music store. That's where I purchased my clarinet. I attended church with the son of the owner of Durden's for a few years. He complained that every Christmas they were out delivering pianos until very late so he felt like he missed a lot of the Christmas festivities. Well enough strolling for this week. I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend. Later.

06/29/09 09:30 AM

#646

Janie Etheredge (Harris)

Hi Everyone,
Charles and I had a greated week-end in Charleston S.C.
The Tall Ship fest was spectacle. It was hard taking pictures of such large ships. Never saw so much ropes, beams and narrow stair steps.
There were C-17 's fly by the ships, pirates and parachutist.
Thanks for your Birthday Wishes
Love Janie

06/29/09 10:46 AM

#647

Janie, Happy belated Birthday and so glad to hear you had a great weekend in Charleston. Not sure where everyone is today. The site had a lot of visitors over the weekend but no messages.? While no one is around, please let me provide you with a quick vocabulary lesson. The ropes on a ship are called "lines". Cowboys use ropes, sailors use lines. I doubt that you saw a ship's beam unless you went below decks and actually saw the ship's skeleton. A ship's beam is a structural member. What you probably observed were "masts" (vertical) and "yardarms" (horizontal), that supported the sails. And the narrow stair steps on a ship are called "ladders". If you really enjoyed the tall ships and want a great vacation spot, go to Mystic, Connecticut. They have a ships museum that is fantastic! If you can stomach it, they have a video of some ships rounding the horn of Africa. The ships dissapear from site as you watch them rise and fall, riding some really tall waves. (Maybe I should qualify this suggestion by saying it was 34 years ago when I was last there.) Once again, glad you had a great weekend and a safe trip. Later.

06/29/09 05:00 PM

#648

Janie Etheredge (Harris)

Thanks Gary for informing me about all those lines I saw. There were alots of lines on the deck also.
The masts were huge and the ladders was a challenge to climb down. To all the class member who visit this site, but want leave a message It really doesn't hurt.
Hope everyone has a great July 4th. We will be in Georgia ya come.

06/29/09 08:04 PM

#649

Diane Harris (Moore)

Janie, sounds like you had a blast in Charleston for your birthday, and I'm so glad. It's a beautiful, romantic, magical city.

Loved reading the updates from the last time I checked in. I always enjoy reading about your memories. It was kinda funny though, comparing my feminine memories of Davison's and Foster's to those you fellas had of the Athen's Speedway, etc. Never has the gender difference been more obvious. Dick never took me to the racetrack, and now I feel like I missed out. I only remember going to one of those Athen's drive-ins a couple of times, but I remember what I saw. "Goldfinger", and the other time, "Patton".

I spent the weekend on crutches. My knee had been hurting for about 3 weeks, and I had an appointment Fri. to check it out. Did that, got x-rays, a prescription, and then as I hobbled to my car and stepped off the 6 inch high curb, "BO-ING" went something in my knee, and it crumpled. Luckily I was at my car, and grabbed it. I had to call Dick, and he had to come and get me to an ER, 'cause it hurt like you know what. Anyway, they treated both my "cheeks" to an injection. One of morphine, and one of something else I can't remember. Anyway, to have been in excrutiating (sp) pain Friday, my knee feels remarkably better. I am barely needing the crutches now, but am being real careful anyway. I only wish I had a better story to tell, like "I was hiking the Appalachian Trail", or fulfilling some other bucket list item. But, nope, as is typical for me, stepping off a curb is all the drama I could muster.

I just asked Dick what he was doing 'cause he is behind me, real quiet. His reply was, "goofing around". That can only mean trouble, so I will go.

Sayonara,
Diane

06/30/09 08:17 AM

#650

Diane, so sorry to hear about your knee. I hope it will get much better quickly. And a word of warning - anytime a guy gets quiet and his response to "what are you doing" is "goofing around" - standby for a mini-explosion or worse yet, a whoopie cushion to go off!!! I hope everyone is preparing to celebrate the birth of our nation this weekend - but will be safe. We will be celebrating Sherron's Grandmother's 98th birthday!!! (July 8th) Been around about as long as this country!!! Sherron took off to visit her aunt up in Helen for a couple of days so I've been working on another closet project at home. Got dark before I could finish last night, so hopefully I can finish my part tonight - then its up to Sherron to fill it up again. Where does all that stuff come from?? Well I guess I had better get to work before they figure out that I'm goofing off and fire me. Later.

06/30/09 09:10 AM

#651

GOOD MORNUNG FOLKS! I GOT A GOOD'N TO START OFF YOUR DAY!!!

A FROG GOES INTO A BANK AND APPROACHES THE TELLER. HE CAN SEE FROM HER NAMEPLATE THAT HER NAME IS PATRICIA WHACK.

"MISS WHACK, I'D LIKE TO GET A $30,000 LOAN TO TAKE A HOLIDAY."

PATTY LOOKS AT THE FROG IN DISBELIEF AND ASKS HIS NAME. THE FROG SAYS HIS NAME IS KERMIT JAGGER, HIS DAD IS MICK JAGGER, AND THAT IT'S OKAY, HE KNOWS THE BANK MANAGER.

PATTY EXPLAINS THAT HE WILL NEED TO SECURE THE LOAN WITH SOME COLLATERAL.

THE FROG SAYS, "SURE. I HAVE THIS," AND PRODUCES A TINY PORCELAIN ELEPHANT, ABOUT AN INCH TALL, BRIGHT PINK AND PERFECTLY FORMED.

VERY CONFUSED, PATTY EXPLAINS THAT SHE'LL HAVE TO CONSULT WITH THE BANK MANAGER AND DISAPPEARS INTO A BACK OFFICE.

SHE FINDS THE MANAGER AND SAYS, "THERE'S A FROG CALLED KERMIT JAGGER OUT THERE WHO CLAIMS TO KNOW YOU AND WANTS TO BORROW $30,000, AND HE WANTS TO USE THIS AS COLLATERAL."

SHE HOLDS UP THE TINY PINK ELEPHANT."I MEAN, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS?"

(FOLKS, YOU'RE GONNA LUV THIS)

THE BANK MANAGER LOOKS BACK AT HER AND SAYS...

"IT'S A KNICKKACK, PATTY WHACK. GIVE THE FROG A LOAN, HIS OLD MAN'S A ROLLING STONE."

(YOU'RE SINGING IT, AREN'T YOU? YEAH, I KNOW YOU ARE...)

NEVER TAKE LIFE TO SERIOUSLY! COME ON NOW, YOU GRINNED, I KNOW YOY DID!!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!!!!

06/30/09 10:47 AM

#652

Hi Folks. Happy Tuesday! Nice to hear from so many here the last day or so.

Janie… I’m happy to hear that you and Charles had such a nice time in Charleston. I envy you there with all those beautiful tall ships… a real photographer’s paradise I’m sure. But I think you might need a good wide angle lens to capture it all. And, by the way, your “birthday sister” (Liz) had a nice birthday Sunday too, and really appreciated the special birthday card you sent her. We went out to dinner at Rafferty’s.

Kathy… Thanks for the birthday wishes for Liz. I’m so sorry to hear about those plumbing problems. Hope you have everything back in order. We’ve had our share of plumbing problems too, but not a “lake” under our house.

Gary… your trip down memory lane brought back a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time…Barnett’s News Stand, one of my favorite places. But I’m not surprised that it’s gone. With the big franchise bookstores, newstands and ‘mom & pop” bookstores are an endangered species. And even the big bookstores are in trouble with the power and popularity of the world wide web. It would be hard to imagine a world without books.

Diane… so sorry to hear about your knee. But I’m happy to hear that you are on the mend. Say hi to Dick. We all need a little “goofing around” time now and then.

Good joke, Jim. Boy, you went all the way around the mountain with that one. I didn't see it coming. And yes, I’m grinning. :-)

And congratulations to Sherron’s grandmother on her upcoming 98th birthday! Can you imagine all the change she has seen in this world since 1911. Wow! My Mom’s own birthday is coming up this Saturday, the 4th of July. If she had lived (she died in 1982), she would be 100 years old!... born on Independence day July 4, 1909. If you do the math you will see that Ron and I (born in 1950) came along when she was 41 years old. God bless her memory and God Bless America!

Stay cool everyone! It's not exactly "flannel sheet" weather out there, is it Connie?

06/30/09 01:51 PM

#653

Diane Harris (Moore)

Yes, Jimmy that's a good one, alright. I am "joke impaired", meaning I will hear one that I think is so funny and want to repeat, but when I try, I always forget some important part. It kind of kills the joke when you can't remember the punch line.

Gary, you are very much on the right track with your knowledge of what "goofing off" can mean. Regarding your whoopie cushion comment, Dick has provided me with many whoopie cushion moments over the years, but it never involved a cushion, and I never, ever said "Whoopie!" (Dick, if you ever read this, I wrote it while heavily medicated, therefore no one will believe it. Plus, I love you. )

Must resume my chores for the day. Thanks for being such fun connections to "home".

God bless,
Diane

06/30/09 04:14 PM

#654

I'm sitting here laughing (roflmao)! I can't decide which is funnier. Jim's joke or visualizing Diane's whoopie story. Anyway - thanks for the laughs!!!

06/30/09 04:33 PM

#655

I'M NOT GOING TO THE WHOOPIE THING! I GOT INTO TO MUCH TROUBLE 'BOUT THAT LITTLE BLACK DRESS. WHOOPIE!!!!NO-NO-NO-NO!!!!

07/01/09 09:09 AM

#656

Dick Moore

I feel obligated to respond in defense of my honor. Diane mentioned her that she had shared "whoopie cushion related" humor at my expense. I don't know how to respond but to say, I was simply doing my Rich Little imitations of various objects. As I remember the one time I tried it, she was not that impressed with my version of the whoopie cushion. (How's that for a contemporary "it's-not-my-fault" defense!) The society made me do it.

Meanwhile, it is good to hear each of your voices and get to know you all better through your messages (and jokes). Jimmy, my brother Walt has a book from our teen years, "Bennett Cerf's Book of Atrocious Puns" in which there are many of the "Nick nack" stories. I don't have the energy to write the stories, but, once you get the punch line you can make up the story to match.

"Transporting gulls across a staid lion for immortal porpoises"

"Silly Rabbi, kicks are for Trids."

"That's a rambling rack from George's attack and and elephant engineer."

"That's the pretty little furry with the syringe on top."

And finally, one of my obtuse favorites (not to be told to a young person--they never heard the commercial and will just think you weird!

"Two obese Patties, Special Ross, Lester Cheese picking bunions on a Sesame Street Bus"

Got to run for now but I can see that I need to monitor this more closely.

Happy Wednesday!

Dick

07/01/09 09:16 AM

#657

Dick Moore

Gary's post to Janie--"Cowboy's use ropes; sailors use lines."--is true. Sherron can vouch for it! :-)

Dick

07/01/09 10:09 AM

#658