The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for Dec. 14, 2021

10 YEARS AGO
DEC. 9, 2011

Evergreen weather observer Betty Ellis reported low temperatures of 29 degrees on Nov. 30 and 31 degrees on Dec. 1.

First Baptist Church’s “Window Shopping” float captured first place honors in this year’s best float contest during the annual Evergreen Christmas parade. The parade was held Saturday afternoon in downtown Evergreen.

The Evergreen City Council voted unanimously this week to move forward with efforts to pave the way for a number of developments at the Fairview Commons Industrial Park, including a large FedEx warehouse off the busy interstate highway exit.
During a city council meeting Tuesday night at Evergreen City Hall, economic developer Daryl Harper told the council that FedEx was “all in” regarding the construction of a 32,000 square foot warehouse on property near the intersection of I-65 and U.S. Highway 84 that’s being developed under the name of “Fairview Commons.”
Construction of the warehouse is scheduled to begin in August 2012 and would likely open for business sometime in early 2013, Harper said.

A host of local court officials, friends and family were on hand Wednesday of last week to wish Pat Wright well as she closed out her career as an employee at the Conecuh County Courthouse.
Wright, a resident of Evergreen, began working in the Conecuh County Circuit Clerk’s Office on Sept. 13, 1972 and she closed out her 39-year career with a retirement reception Wednesday of last week.
At the time of her retirement, Wright was in charge of administering civil cases in circuit and district court as well as small claims court cases.

33 YEARS AGO
DEC. 1, 1988

Evergreen weather observer Earl Windham reported no rain between Dec. 1 and Dec. 7. He reported a high of 63 on Dec. 5 and a low of 28 on Dec. 5.

Judge of Probate Frank Salter administers the oath of office to the newly appointed City of Evergreen Personnel Review Board: Jeanette Turner, secretary; John Murphy, Cecil Caylor, co-chairman, and James Cowart, chairman. The other member, Gerald Salter, was not present.

Connie Manufacturing Co. of Evergreen has announced plans to create a new division of the company, CMC Apparel. This new division will manufacture men’s dress slacks for distribution by Seminole Manufacturing Co. of Columbus, Miss. Forty new jobs will immediately be created in Conecuh County when production begins in January 1988, eventually resulting in the creation of 125 jobs with an estimated annual payroll of $1,000,000, according to John Law Robinson, President of Connie Manufacturing Co.

The Conecuh County Board of Education will host a reception honoring Mrs. Pat Cassady from 8:30 to 10 o’clock Monday morning in the central office located in the Rutland-Price Building. Mrs. Cassady was named one of the nation’s 100 winners of the 1987 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching in October. The award is presented to one math and one science teacher from each state by the National Science Foundation.

47 YEARS AGO
DEC. 12, 1974

Evergreen weather reporter Earl Windham reported 1.0 inches of rain on Dec. 7. He reported a high temperature of 70 degrees on Dec. 7 and a low of 28 degrees on Dec. 4.

Investigation is being made of Owassa fire: Arson is suspected in the burning of a home at Owassa early Saturday morning. Sheriff James M. (Shorty) Brock’s office and state and federal officers are investigating, but cause of the fire had not been determined at noon Wednesday.
The home was occupied by Lester Brundage Sr., his daughter and her children. They were awakened by the fire sometime after midnight and all escaped. However, the daughter suffered cuts on her arm and hand getting out through the window.

The Evergreen High School Concert Band will be presented in a Christmas concert next Tuesday night, Dec. 17, at the Evergreen City school auditorium at 7:30. David Coleman is the director.

The Evergreen Rotary Club will stage its Holiday Charity Ball tomorrow night at Ft. Dave Lewis National Guard Armory from 8:30 to 12:30. Proceeds will go to the club’s youth projects (mainly Boy Scouts and Fish & Wildlife Camp) and Camp ASCCA on Lake Martin, a camp for crippled children and adults.

63 YEARS AGO
DEC. 11, 1958

Fire Strikes Again At Newton Building: Lightning may not strike twice in the same place, but fires do. And the second fire in a week’s time has Mrs. G.G. Newton wondering just what to expect next.
Monday night, exactly one week and 20 minutes after a fire was discovered there, another blaze was found at the Newton building. Again the fire was in the central portion of the building and again the alarm was turned in by an employee of Conecuh Quick Freeze.
The fire was reported at 9:40 Monday night. Monday night of last week a fire in the same location was discovered at 9:20.
The building houses offices of the Conecuh County Agriculture Stabilization & Conservation Committee.
Firemen of the Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department answered the call quickly and brought the blaze under control. Both fires are thought to have been caused by faulty wiring.

Bad Weather Fails To Stop Carnival: Rainy, cold weather failed to dampen enthusiasm at the annual Christmas Carnival here yesterday. Although good weather had prevailed for several days prior to the event, the day for the Carnival was dreary.
Clouds early in the morning gave way to cold showers and the mercury dropped sharply prior to this parade at three o’clock.
Crowds began to gather by mid-morning and traffic choked all downtown streets for the rest of the day. A crowd numbered at several thousand was on hand for the parade.

74 YEARS AGO
DEC. 11, 1947

Officers had no clues Wednesday as to the identity of the burglar who entered Coker Service Store late Saturday night and stole $62 in cash, a large portion of which was in silver dollars. The thief entered the service station through a rear window and apparently did not bother anything else in the place. Stanton Coker is owner and operator of the service store.

The Eastern Star will hold its regular meeting Monday night at seven o’clock. This will be the annual Christmas party and all members are urged to attend.

What was perhaps the largest wildcat still ever seen in this county was captured one mile south of Nymph Thurs., Dec. 4, by Sheriff W.D. Lewis, Deputy Hobson Lewis, J.E. Jones and S.S. Patrick of the ABC Board.
The giant still was in operation when the raid was made, Sheriff Lewis told The Courant. A keg containing about 10 gallons of shinny was also captured. Approximately 1,000 gallons of mash was destroyed.
Sheriff Lewis stated that the still would probably turn out 100 gallons of liquor per day when in full operation. The cooper still would have held something like 1,000 gallons of mash. Nearby was a concrete vat used for fermenting the mash. It was 15-feet by three-feet and would have held 1,000 gallons or more.
Apparently, the still had been in use for a long period of time. It was located deep back in the swamps something like 1-1/4 miles from any road except the little used trail over which materials were carried to the still.