Forty-five years ago, in 1971, there was a fundraiser for Escambia Academy. A deer hunt was held and 15 deer were bagged. A barbecue was also held and all proceeds went to the school.

The Christmas Parade was set for Dec. 3. at 2 p.m. and the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce bought some new decorations to be used around town.

A lot of people were excited when they heard the news that a new oil field had been found near Jay, Fla. They were scrambling to lease properties around the area.

Some people may have gotten rich off of the oil wells around this area, but it certainly wasn’t me. I remember all the excitement that followed each announcement of a new well.

The Christmas club checks were sent out to those who had been paying in for the past year. They were sent out to the tune of $191,000.

I used to have a Christmas Club account and I have to admit it was great having that extra money to spend when we received our check. Maybe I need to think about doing it again.

Helton’s Tires and Appliances had televisions on sale and one interesting item for sale was a “drop in” eight-track stereo tape deck. How many of you were like me and went the route of the eight-track tape? It made me think of having to choose between VHS tapes or Beta tapes. On that one, I picked the right one, but on those eight-track tapes I should have chosen cassette tapes instead. Oh well, that’s progress for you. These days all of those VHS tapes are sitting on the shelf gathering dust.

One thing I have noticed about televisions over the years, is the fact that they are the only things I can think of that have not gone up in price. In fact, a new tv costs a lot less today than it used to. I can’t think of any other item that has been effected this way.

The 20th Century Club of Atmore announced their plans to hold a Christmas decoration contest. Everyone was encouraged to decorate as much as possible and then be judged on it for prizes.

This reminds me of those movies where neighbors try to out-do each other at decorating. Of course it always gets out of hand.

First United Methodist Church of Atmore observed the festival of the Christmas tree decorated with the symbols of Christmas. The tree was 16 feet tall and held no lights because it was to represent the true meaning of Christmas.

I can remember how we used to get our tree for Christmas. My brother, who is three years older, and I would ride the school bus home with our grandfather (who was a bus driver). We went into the woods behind my grandparents’ home and looked for the perfect tree. Of course it usually ended up that we went back and got the first tree that we found. We would drag that tree back to my grandfather’s house and my dad would come and pick us up when he got off work. I guess you could say that was one of our traditions.