Forty years ago, the newspaper had undergone some changes. I noticed that more and more photographs were showing. For many years the paper pages were full of print but not pictures. It seems that they were changing, although there was still no color on the pages. It was strictly a black and white newspaper.

In 1976, Atmore’s police chief, Steve Dees was fired from his position after only nine months on the job. He was not to happy and did not understand why he lost his job. James Dixon took his place as chief while Bill Smith was given the job of assistant chief.

Patricia McKenzie was sworn in as the first woman to serve as mayor of Atmore.

Two escapees from Fountain Correctional Center reportedly stole a truck which was the property of Atmore Technical Institute, the brick-laying school.

The Creek Indians were “on the warpath” over the council membership. It seems that the new council had only one member that was a descendant of the tribe.

It does seem as if the council should be made up of the people being represented, but what do I know?

The Piggly Wiggly had four 32-ounce Coca-Cola for $1. They also had ground beef for 77 cents a pound. There were still stores running school sales even though classes had been going on for almost a month.

The city of Atmore was raising the price of city gas, which didn’t sit well with many.

John Oxford Gandy of Canoe celebrated his 108th birthday surrounded by a large family of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

He said he had mowed his own grass up until about two years before and did most of the household chores.

Lorenzo Conway turned 100 years old and said that he had done a little bit of everything in his lifetime. About the only thing he had not done was “make whiskey.”

I have noticed in other columns I have done, people seem to live long lives in Atmore. Maybe someone had found the fountain of youth. Not only did they have a lot of age on them, they did not want to rely on someone else to help them.

Bratt was chosen as one of the stops that the Florida Bicentennial Committee made with their three red, white and blue trucks depicting the history of the area. It was to stay in Bratt for three days and then move on to another school.

That makes me think about the present-day plans to celebrate the centennial of Alabama for the next three years, leading up to the grand finale in 2019 when the state will turn 100 years old. There are committees set up all over, making plans for upcoming events. If you want to be a part of the celebration, contact the committee working in your area. I am sure they would be happy to have some help.

One last thing that I noticed in the newspaper was a headline that was questioning women in the workplace about whether they were successful in a “man’s world.”

Now it has only been forty years since that observation was made. Do you think they have found a place in the men’s world? I would say they have.