DIRT ROAD WONDER: Tall Tales From A Country Store

one days, people would gather at our store in Old Salem, one mile west of Havana, and try to outdo each other with the telling of tall tales.

I would like to share a few of them with you.

I can vouch that a few of them are true, but I think some of them are just urban legends.

The Man In The Rafters

One night, around closing time for the store, a man drove up with another man in his car.

The farmer had gone out about 8:30 p.m. to check on his barns because they were firing them (fires in the middle of the barn to help dry the tobacco) and had found the man sitting on one of the rafters of the barn.

He did not know where he was from but told the farmer that he lived where the school bus turned around.

The farmer came up to our store to use the telephone and call the sheriff.

Come to find out, he had escaped from Chattahoochee Hospital.

The Baby In The Road

There was a woman from Old Salem that was going to Georgia to visit her family.

She got up at four o’clock to get an early start so she would have all day to visit.

This was war time and when you got enough ration stamps for a trip, you made every minute count.

It was still dark when she left Havana for Hinson and thank God, she saw what was in the road ahead of her.

A two-year-old child had gotten outside and had lay down on the warm concrete of the highway.

She avoided the child but was so shaken that she could not continue her trip.

Tornado In Old Salem

When the tornado hit Old Salem in September of 1948, there were some strange things that happened.

It took a house but left the floor and in the middle of that floor was a table with a lamp that was still burning after the storm.

There were chickens running around with no feathers and small objects driven into trees.

Moccasins in The Swimming Hole

There is one tall tale that I have heard about all my life and when I saw the movie Lonesome Dove, I wondered if the writer of that story had ever visited Old Salem.

It is about a bunch of boys that went down to the old swimming hole; there was a rope that they used to swing out over the pond and then drop off into the water.

One boy went out on the rope and when he hit the water, he started screaming for the other boys not to come.

He had fallen into a nest of water moccasins and died from the poison.

Stuck Under The Underpass

One time a semi-truck was too tall and got stuck under one of those old overpasses.

Everyone was standing around trying to figure out what kind of equipment they needed to pry the truck loose from the overpass.

One said this and one said that, and they couldn’t agree on a solution to the problem.

There was a 10-year-old boy standing around and listening to all the talk about the problem and finally he walked up to the deputy and asked him why they didn’t let the air out of the tires.

Thy did that and the truck was able to get out from under the overpass.

From the mouths of babes.

I hope you have enjoyed these old tales. I will tell you some more one day.

‘Till next time. Gwynnkidd@gmail.com

DIRT ROAD WONDER: Tall Tales From A Country Store

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DIRT ROAD WONDER: Tall Tales From A Country Store

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Letters To The Editor – 6/9

Quincy limits summer youth program to local teens

Quincy limits summer youth program to local teens

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