Thirty years ago, the Atmore Blue Devils beat the Jackson Aggies 17-6 in the second round of the playoffs to advance to try to take the state championship.

How exciting this must have been for all the young men on the team. And don’t forget the support team of parents, grandparents and other students. I can say from experience, they were enjoying the run also.

A local grandmother, Martha Smith, who was 54 years old decided to live out a lifelong dream of going to nurse’s school to become a full-fledged nurse at Reid State Technical College.

I, for one, can really appreciate the guts it took to do something like that. It has been a long time since I was 54 years old, but I can’t imagine someone doing this. Of course I must remember that at the age of 55 I began to write for the newspaper, but it didn’t entail going back to school.

I don’t think I could have done that. I told someone the other day that I took algebra and geometry in high school and I never used it again throughout my lifetime. I remember at the time that I planned on going to college, but, I got married instead.

Talk about a decision; in 1985, the Escambia County data processing manager was given a choice. She was offered a job to stay at her job and get a pay raise from $23,900 to $36,000. But her home was calling from Oklahoma and she left her job to take another closer to home for $60,000. Sounds like she made the right decision.

The U.S. Government decided to go to new, safer and cheaper paper checks and get rid of the old green punched cards that they had been using.

Has it been that long ago? It seems as if I can remember seeing those old green cards not too long ago. One was always told to “don’t fold, bend or staple.”

A local fireman, Dan Currie, told the story of how he began his hobby of collecting and displaying model trains. He was set up in a 17-by-23 feet room with trains going in all directions.

I once knew someone who did this. He had even added a room onto his home to house the trains. It was quite a piece of work. I admire anyone with a hobby. If one has a hobby, he never will be lonely. I have so many different hobbies I don’t know where to start. But I am not lonely.

Merchants in town and the city council decided to extend shopping hours during the Christmas season.

For most of us, we need some after-hours in which to do our shopping.

These days so many people work that they need the extra time and it also helps the merchants.

The Atmore Advance printed its 14th annual Holiday Cookbook with 322 recipes. My goodness, there had to be something for everyone in that one. I love cookbooks but I never use one. It reminds me of my story of my mother’s old-fashioned teacakes.

My mother was an excellent cook. She made the best teacakes in the world. One day, I asked her for the recipe and she began with, “well, you take some flour.” I, of course asked her how much. She replied with “however much it takes,” needless to say I got nowhere with my recipe. Years later, after my mother had died, my brother called me one day and said, “I have figured out the recipe and I have made a patch of teacakes that are just like hers. But thank goodness you’re not here because you would eat them all up.” He was right. I probably would have. From then on, he became the maker of the teacakes for the whole family and they grew to expect him to make them for any family gatherings. My brother is a good cook, but he specializes in teacakes and yeast rolls.