Atmore’s Steve Marshall, Lyn Stuart, Jack Lufkin, Buddy Sharpless and Steve McGill have something in common: They were all appointed to state positions by former Alabama governors.

Marshall received his appointment by Gov. Robert Bentley as Alabama Attorney General last week. He fills the position formerly held by Luther Strange, who was appointed to the state Senate as the replacement for now U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

I received a nice email this week from Marshall’s aunt Nancy Helton. It was highly informative about his family background. I was delighted to be reminded that he is the son of former Atmore residents Shine and Mary Jo(Everette) Marshall. Of course, we all remember Shine’s close association in our Little League and Babe Ruth programs. We remember his working at Rex Sporting Good and his successful sports-equipment marketing career.

Shine was especially prominent during those years Joe Everette served as our youth league president.

Sadly, Nancy informed us he died in 2014 from pancreatic cancer and her sister Mary Jo, who worked as her dad’s secretary, passed away in 2010 from brain aneurysms.

Joe, who owned a gasoline distribution company in Atmore, was one of our dedicated sponsors on our WATM radio sports broadcasts and Atmore Advance sports news sections. In fact, on one occasion he let Shine read some of the radio commercials when I was broadcasting tournament games. I could go on and on about my experiences with Shine and his father-in-law. Perhaps I can expound further in a future column.

Steve Marshall had been the Marshall County Alabama District Attorney for several years prior to receiving his current appointment. Following his announcement last week, the 52-year-old said, “The time spent working alongside law enforcement for the last 20 years has been a remarkable privilege. As Attorney General I will continue to support their efforts to keep Alabamians safe and free from violent crime.”

Lyn Stuart, who serves in our high Supreme Court Justice office, was a former and well-regarded judge, having many years of experience in this field.

Her father, Jack Lufkin, was a governor – appointed member of the Alabama Pardon and Parole Board – for a number of years.

Buddy Sharpless, son of Jr. and Sis Sharpless, retired from his state position in 2009. He was the executive director of the Alabama Association of County Commission for 36 years.

And my oldest son, Steve, served a three-year term on the Alabama Pardon and Parole Board prior to his retirement. He received his appointment by Gov. Bob Riley, with sponsorships by Lyn Stuart and former Speaker of the House Seth Hammett.

Now let us take a look at some news from 1986.

In 1986 pretty 17-year-old Cindy Conway won the “Miss Bear Point” contest. This south Baldwin event is staged each year and somewhat parallels the Jr. Miss. Contest. The former Atmore resident is the daughter of Mrs. Raymond Conway and the late Raymond Conway.

Another charming contest winner in our Miss Atmore Little League contest was Danielle Beach, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Beech.

Little River State Park officially became Claude D. Kelly State Park, named in honor of the Atmore native. Mr. Kelly served as our National Wildlife Federation President for a number of years. His son, Don, and I were great friends.

Adjacent to that park was the CCC camp (Civilian Conservation Corps) where many young men worked back in the 1930s and 1940s planting trees, working on dirt roads and performing various conservation-related activities. For several years Auburn University used a couple of the old buildings for housing its summer forestry students.

Two Atmore teachers, Dean Graham and Clara Phillips, were among a few selected by the Southern Miss Marine Science and Education Association to attend a special seminar on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The event was created for leading Science teachers.

Highly regarded and well-liked high school football coach, Joe Latham, passed away that year. Joe, after coaching at several Alabama, Florida and Mississippi schools, was the head mentor at Ernest Ward High School. Joe was one of our many coffee-drinking regulars at Busters (for those interested I am preparing a series of columns about all of those late members of our “elite group” and you’ll discover a sense of nostalgia when I write about the dozens who have passed on).

Freddie Centenni, a Perdido old friend and L&N Railroad Depot agent, passed away a couple of years ago. He was known to many here. I can remember, as a young boy, sitting with him at the depot and watching him send and receive Morse Code messages on that dot.dot..dot..dash hand-operated clicking machine. Back in those days, passenger trains were identified by numbers. Some of those trains were No. 2, No. 5, No. 8, No. 37, etc. And you could buy a train ticket to most anywhere.

Yes, it always whispers to me, those days of long ago when I think of Freddie and some five-or-six other depot agents who hailed from Perdido. In addition to Freddie, there was Mr. John Weekly, Mr. Clyde Weekly and J.C. Wright, as well as Bert and Albert McGill.

I’ll have more news next week from Atmore’s yesteryears.

“….Yes, it always whispers to me…..those days of long ago…”