This is the week for Atmore’s big fall festival and folks from far and near will venture in here for food galore and a variety of activities.
Yes, Saturday is the day for Williams Station Day, and let’s hope weather conditions will be bright and sunny.

I always look forward to those oversized hot dogs, sandwiches, funnel cakes and especially that freshly ground cane juice. You know the place, where the tractor or the mule goes round and round and the long stalks of cane in the grinding teeth of the cane mill give way to tasty juice flowing into the big barrel.

That’s not all. I understand they are expecting some wonderful entertainers and some very unique craftsmen and crafts ladies. I know one lady who will display her goods here. She is Marlene Johnt, a talented artist from south Baldwin County. This lovely young lady is the daughter of Mildred Nall, a former Atmore resident who also resides in south Baldwin. I will have more about Mildred and her sisters later.

It is really amazing — all those different sandwiches that will be on sale. Last year, I enjoyed a big hot dog filled with onions, hot mustard, pickles and topped off with fresh, crisp cabbage slaw. I hope that same vendor returns Saturday.

Another favorite is the funnel cakes. There is something about that cake that is just a little bit different. It could be the powdered sugar sprinkled all over it. Or, it could be tasty chew that it provides. Then, there are those humongous barbecue sandwiches with sweet flavored baked beans smothered on the side.

Load up all the kids, bring them out and enjoy a great day filled with fun and outstanding food.

Speaking of Marlene, I fondly remember her mother Mildred Walker and her two sisters, Betty and Carolyn.

These pretty ladies grew up in Atmore and were popular with all the boys back in the 1940s and 1950s. I remember on occasions they rode out to the radio station on Sunday afternoons to listen to us DJs spin records over the air. Mildred settled in Gulf Shores and Betty will be remembered for her nice floral and gift shop on South Main for several years. Betty’s husband Carl Raley and I were good friends. And I handled a hurricane Frederic flood claim for Mildred’s husband, Junior Everette, in 1979. Just another group of fine people from Atmore’s past.

Cowboy Bob Kelley died this week. Just who was he? Well, he was one of the most popular wrestlers that ever performed on the Gulf Coast. I was never a fan of this sport, but I had the opportunity to meet him twice back in the early 60s. He often performed at the local National Guard Armory, usually on Saturday nights. Hugh Rozelle was the ring announcer for these wrestling events and he invited me to assist him on occasions. We listened to these men plot their evening plans and most of the time we knew the winners before the wrestling match took place.

But Kelly was unique. Not only was he a wrestler, but he was a race car driver and a real cowboy. He was known, too, as a great bull rider. He was the wrestler most watched on Mobile TV stations during this era.
Hugh, by the way became personally close to Tom Drake, another well-known wrestler who later became an attorney and was also elected to the state Senate. Known also for his good looks, he was known as the Cullman Comet.

Notre Dame may have lost that football game to Florida State Saturday night, but practically the whole country was pulling for them to win. Can you believe that? Can you believe I was pulling for the Irish? Well, according to a survey I read yesterday, very few fans were on the Seminoles’ bandwagon. They were all sick and tired of the antics of the Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.

Time after time, this north Alabama native and Tallahassee signal caller has wiggled out of embarrassing situations he put himself in. And, he keeps saying, “I have learned my lessons.” Yet his off field shenanigans keep popping up. Adding another element to this team’s being disliked is the fact coach, Jimbo Fisher, appears to be equally guilty in what seems to be a cover-up for this guy.

We will see what happens next although Florida State has a cupcake — and I mean a cupcake — schedule remaining. Perhaps we will get to see them again in another national championship matchup at end of the season.

For those of you who have sons and daughters playing Little League and Babe Ruth sports, keep them interested in it. If they work hard they will have the opportunity to go on to high school, junior college and perhaps four-year college. Scholarships earned at the two latter levels will prove helpful in their obtaining their educations.

I often think about my three sons’ opportunities to play at these higher levels. Exactly, what is the monetary worth of three full scholarships for three boys? Steve and Mark, following their two years at Faulkner Jr. College onto UAB, and Bryan from Faulkner also to Auburn University of Montgomery, completed the cycles from our city minor leagues to the college summit.

Yes, keep your kids interested in youth baseball. It may save you many dollars at college times.

You can email Lowell McGill at exam@frontiernet.net.