Late summer of 1976, and it was election time in Atmore. The Atmore Advance was full of ads for those running for office. There were 17 people who were lined up hoping to be a winner.

Later in the newspaper, the winners were announced and there were a couple of “firsts.” Patricia McKenzie was the first woman to be elected to be mayor in Atmore and Eldred Pritchell was the first black candidate to be elected to fill a spot on the city council.

We have certainly come a long way since then.

The Pink Ladies were in the process of collecting items to be able to hold a huge garage sale to raise money to buy a surgical saw for Greenlawn Hospital.

Some sales that caught my attention were Big Bear who had boneless roast for 79 cents a pound and seedless grapes for 69 cents a pound. IGA had chuck roast for 69 cents a pound and a six-pack of 12 ounce cans of Coca-Cola for $1.09. Big Bear had eggs for 38 cents a dozen. B.C. Moore had a big back-to-school sale with lots of things on sale. There were lots of shoes that were anywhere from $10 to $20 a pair.

Swift Lumber had a fire at the lumber-drying facility. Four firemen and two employees were hurt, but David Swift said they were lucky to get out alive.

There were more pictures of big snakes in the newspaper. It must be the time for those things to be moving around. Better watch where you step when you are out in the yard.

The state was set to hire female troopers and an inmate at Fountain Prison was stabbed to death.