In 1983, 35 years ago, it was not a great time for breaking news. It seems as if the time after the holidays is always slow. It’s as if everybody is just waiting for the first blossoms on the bushes and trees and warm weather is just around the corner.

Alabama cattleman, W. M. Brown was inducted into the Livestock Hall of Fame. He said that he felt like a country boy stepping in high cotton. Apparently, he raised a lot of cattle in the area.

Two people were wounded in a bizarre shooting. One other person was also involved and the police were searching for him. The driver lost control of the vehicle and it was believed that the shots were fired from inside the car.

A gospel singing was being held at W.S. Neal High School featuring The Kingsmen and Singing News Singers. I enjoy a good gospel singing, but there are not many of them around these days. I guess the last one I went to was at First Baptist Church of Brewton several years ago. A couple of singers known from the Gaither singing group were there and the church was filled, so I guess lots of people enjoy them. Maybe we should have more of them.

Heavy rains in the area was causing flooding in some places off Jack Springs Road. The article telling about the flooding said that it was not a new thing and that it happened all the time.

There was a feature story on Emille Mims. Her artwork of stained glass was displayed. I knew Emille from the time she served as probate judge and I knew she worked with stained glass. The pieces shown in the newspaper were beautiful.

Banker Raymond L. Bolden was named Citizen of the Year. He had recently won Man of the Year in Birmingham where he had been working.

There was a very nice story about Darryl Dawe and his work with genealogy. I can relate to that as I, too, am a self-taught genealogist. I agree with some of what he had to say about people looking up their family tree for the wrong reason. It is not about finding someone famous in your family and it’s not about a possible horse thief or murderer. It is just about finding out about your family and how they fit into the history of our country. It is amazing the connections one can make. I personally have traced one of my lines back to the early days of England. It’s a lot of fun to be able to place them in history. Dawe told of one of his family lines that had documents to prove that they owned property in New York City. Some of the family had taken it to court, but I don’t know how it ended.

There was a story about Railroad Bill in The Atmore Advance. Now most of us know who that was. If you do not, he was a train robber who terrorized this part of Alabama and northwest Florida in the late 1880s. He shot and killed the sheriff of Escambia County on the eve of July 4, 1895. If you have not read about this, there are several books available covering the time of Railroad Bill.

Ten students from Escambia County High School were chosen to visit Theodore High School in Mobile to participate in a choral contest and then to the University of Alabama for the All-State Choral contest.