(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 “Fond memories recalled” was originally
published in the June 12, 1997 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville,
Ala.)
On 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, in turn, had their chance to relay to the others
present some of the fond memories of those past times there 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. So,
it became a question and answer session and those who wanted to hear again about
past events.
As I stood there 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 today, we see many automobiles sitting out in the parking lot of the
school. Many of the students of the senior 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 of
two things – either the county superintendent of education had driven down from
Linden, the county seat, or someone from away far 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 an automobile, two of
my teammates and myself hired an old man to carry the three of us and our dates
to the football banquet. A total of seven were crowded in the old 1937
Chevrolet for the trip to the banquet. The only one in the group that 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 since 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 deckhand 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.
I was during my senior year when a small carnival of a sort
came to the small town of Sweet Water. Coach Foster gave strict orders to the
football players that no players were 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 myself just couldn’t see how we
would be caught if we waited until Saturday night to attend the carnival. Since
no member 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, which was secured
by a leash around his 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 the $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. Then, with the money
that I would win, they could enjoy the rides of the carnival and see all the
side shows as long as my winnings lasted. So, 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 that had happened. Everyone was clapping their hands 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 making us both fall 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 having the air crushed from my lungs.
The five minutes, which seemed like five 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 hurt 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 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.
(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 to Vincent William Singleton and Frances
Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in
Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a
U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand,
lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964
and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from
June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks
to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe
County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe
Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that
appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared
in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. 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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