By Staff
Joseph Thames Jr. grows greens
By MaryClaire Foster
(This week The Atmore Advance visited with 71-year-old Joseph Thames at the Atmore Farmer’s Market.)
Q: What brings you out here today?
A: I’m prowling and seeing what’s selling and how it looks.
Q: Where are you from and where were you born?
A: Atmore and Freemanville. My birthday is May 5, 1937.
Q: What do you do these days?
A: I’m semi-retired. I come up here (to the farmer’s market) and sell my greens and piddle around on the farm.
Q: How big is your farm?
A: It’s about an acre and a half.
Q: Have you always farmed?
A: No, I used to work at Mosanto.
Q: What did you do there?
A: I helped put nylon on the machines.
Q: Are you married?
A: Yes. My wife’s name is Janta.
Q: What is special about your wife?
A: She can cook good.
Q: How did you meet?
A: Just talking. She worked at Snappy Car Wash. I saw her there and stopped to talk to her.
Q: What is one of the happiest times in your life?
A: When I was 18, 19 and 20. I had more time having fun with friends and classmates.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: Fishing and trying to make a living.
Q: What’s the biggest fish you’ve ever caught?
A: An 18 to 19 pound red fish.
Q: What are your favorite television shows?
A: I watch the news and “Wheel of Fortune.”
Q: Do you have a favorite kind of music?
A: Blues, anybody singing it, I don’t keep up with their names.
Q: Do you have any children?
A: I have seven children and nine grandchildren.
Q: Where do you attend church?
A: Mt. Gillead Baptist Church.
Q: What have you learned in your life?
A: Treat everybody right and to make a living the best I could.
Q: What’s your favorite season?
A: The summer, because you can grow stuff and sell it.
Q: What’s your best Christmas memory?
A: When I was little we didn’t get much, but when we got my little dog Trixie, it was good.
Q: What’s your favorite food to eat at Christmas?
A: Turkey and dressing and greens.
(If you would like to recommend a senior to be spotlighted please contact the Atmore Advance at 368-2123 or e-mail us at newsroom@atmoreadvance. com).