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| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “High school reunion brings back
memories” was originally published in the July 13, 2000 edition of The Monroe
Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
This past May 17, my high school graduating class decided to
get together for a time of fun and to relive some of the times when we were in
high school.
Each member had his chance to relay to the others present
some of the fond memories of those times at Sweet Water High School.
When my time came to relay some of the memories of
yesterday’s school days, it seemed that the rest of the class wouldn’t let me
sit down. It became a question and answer session for those who wanted to hear
again about memories of past events.
As I stood before those present, I thought about how times
have changed since we were in high school together. I see many things happen
today that during those years would have been unheard of.
If one passes our schools of today, we see many automobiles
sitting in the parking lots. Many of the students of the higher classes have
their own automobiles to drive wherever they please.
I reminded the class that if we came to school and there was
an automobile sitting out in front of the school, it meant one or two things.
Either the county superintendent of education had driven down from Linden, the
county seat, or someone from a ways off had gotten lost and had stopped to ask directions.
Today, we don’t have the ample parking space for all the
fancy and beautiful automobiles that our students drive to school.
As we sat there and relived the memories of those days, I
was asked to tell about our senior year football banquet. All the players were
told by Coach Foster that if we did not bring a date to the banquet, we could
not come ourselves. Since very few of our families owned automobiles, two of my
teammates and myself hired an old man we knew to carry the three of us and our dates
to the football banquet.
Seven people were crowded in the old 1937 Chevrolet for the
trip to the banquet. The only one in the group who enjoyed the trip to the
banquet and the return home was the old man who drove the old car. He seemed to
have had a wonderful time, he did all the talking. No one else was able to get
a word in edgewise.
When the time came to order our class rings, I wore the
largest size in the class, therefore, my ring was the most expensive. I had
worked the summer before as a deck hand on a tug boat that pushed barges up and
down the Tombigbee River.
I had saved my earnings to put me through my senior year in
high school. I nearly fainted when I was informed that my class ring was going
to cost me a whole $12.
It was during our senior year when a small carnival came to
the small town of Sweet Water. Coach Foster gave strict orders to the football
players that no one was to go to the carnival. The rival game of the year was
just a few days away and no player had better be caught at the carnival on
either of the two nights. Hard times were ahead if this happened.
The small carnival was to be in town on Friday and Saturday
nights. Our first game was to be with our great rival, Linden High School. This
game was just a week away and the last thing anyone wanted was to get Coach
Foster mad and upset.
Three other players and I just couldn’t see how we would be
caught if we waited until Saturday night to attend the carnival. Since no
members of the team would be there to rat on us, we felt very safe as we
strolled around the carnival grounds, seeing everything that was free. None of
the four of us had any money but things were about to change.
Over in the corner of the carnival was a small arena. Here a
crowd gathered as a man challenged anyone from the crowd to come forth and
wrestle a very large brown bear that sat silently beside him, secured by a
leash around its neck.
“Anyone who can stay in the ring with this 540-pound bear
for a period of five minutes will be paid the total sum of $5 cash money,” the
man yelled. No one seemed to want $5; there were no takers from the crowd.
Unaware of what was taking place, my loyal and good friends
had decided that I would get in the ring with the large bear. With the money I
won, the could enjoy the rides of the carnival and see all the side shows as
long as my winnings lasted.
When the bear handler yelled out that there was a challenger
in the crowd, I looked to see who it was. My friends were pointing at me.
I couldn’t run because I was surrounded. I couldn’t
understand how this had happened. Everyone was clapping and cheering. I decided
quickly that if I survived this ordeal, I was going to murder my friends in
cold blood for getting me into this mess.
The large crowd had moved back and formed a large circle. I
found myself standing inside the circle as the bear handler removed the leash
from the large bear’s collar. I knew that my time had come; no more would I
play on the fields of competition against our school rivals. If I was lucky, I might
be able to watch from the sidelines in my wheelchair.
I felt the bone crushing pressure as the large animal caught
me in a bear hug and lifted me from the ground. I managed to get my leg behind
the bear’s leg; we both fell to the ground. I landed on top, but not for long.
The large bear flipped me clear, and as I landed on my back, the bear was on
top of me.
The handler made the large bear get up off of me, but as I
stood up, I was grabbed again, the air crushed from my lungs.
The five minutes, which seemed like hours, were finally
over. I staggered to my feet; the bear handler came over and congratulated me
while presenting my friends with my winnings. I was so tired and hurting that
at that time, I didn’t care what happened to the money. All I needed was a
place to lie down and hurt; I felt as if I had been run over by a train. Little
did I know that the worst was yet to come.
As we were about to leave the carnival (after all my
winnings had been spent by my friends) there standing before us was Coach
Foster.
I found myself wishing that I was facing the large bear
again, instead of the man standing there with his hands on his hips. Something
told me that life would never be the same for the four of us; it wasn’t.
After 200 extra pushups and 150 extra laps around the football
field, we finally got back to our normal practice. We had to pay Coach Foster 20
extra pushups and 10 laps around the playing field each practice day until the
above penalty was paid. He counted each and every one. He saw to it that all
were done.
Many times, he would ask the four of us when were going to
another bear-wrestling carnival. The answer was always “never, never, never;
not as long as we live.”
(Singleton, the
author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the
age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born on
Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County and served as the administrator of the
Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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