November 15, 2024 Coats Museum News
The year was 1995--the year of the internet. The Republicans had taken back control of the Congress and O.J. Simpson’s trial had begun in CA. The Dow had hit 4,000. Some key words for 1995 were Newt (Gingrich), starter marriage, Browser and “Contract with America.” The Major League players’ strike had come to an end. A car bomb had exploded outside a federal office building in Oklahoma City and had killed 168 people. Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle had died in 1995.
The giant AT&T had announced that it would split into three companies. As we read about the occurrences of the final year of my story of our history journey, note the changes that you have seen occurring in just the past thirty-five years.
For example, McDonald’s was the place to go for fast food in 1995 and had 10,218 restaurants. Are there more or less of them this year? Nine out of ten Americans had not logged on to the internet. What would that number be today?
This I do know. On October3, 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman and folks were talking about Bill Gates, but in Coats the folks were sharing about an early morning fire that nearly took the life of Eric Whittington when his trailer was engulfed with flames. The mobile home, located just off NC 55 north of Coats, was the residence of Mr. Whittington who had received cut injuries from breaking windows to escape (Daily Record January 2, 1995).
“Notes from Coats” by Belle Williams for the Daily Record had shared lots of local happenings in the Grove area. She reported that Fletcher Flowers was making progress after suffering a stroke several weeks ago. Heartfelt sympathy was extended to the family of Myrtle Johnson Strickland who was mother of Barbara Strickland. Sympathy was also given to the family of Conray Byrd. Conray was brother to the former Barbara Byrd, mother of Cathy and Charlotte Powell.
Did you know at one time there were two Ben Byrd’s in Coats. There was Ben Byrd who built the old Mollie Stewart Hotel. He had married Laura Penny. This Laura P. Byrd was mother to Zelda Byrd Pope, mother of Diane Pope Denning and Glenda Pope Denning. Then there was Ben E. Byrd who was father of Newton and Hubert Byrd. He was grandfather of Barbara and Conray and Glenwood and Faye Byrd. Does anyone know the name of the other son of Mr. Byrd?
I also know that many more folks were mentioned in this “Notes” column. For example, she noted that Herman Lee who worked at Rose and Graham had a brother, Harold Lee, to die. She also told her readers that the Pleasant family had had more than its shares of sicknesses. Sherrill Pleasant had suffered a heart attack and his mother, Etta Mae Pleasant was at Carrolton and J.L. Pleasant had had eye ulcers requiring care at Southern Pines.
Others from Coats who were mentioned were Tommy Carroll who was a patient at Raleigh Community. David Gardner had been diagnosed with Refractory Anemia that could be cured only with a marrow transplant.
Does anyone know how to play “Hand and Foot”? Hazel Barnes and a group of her friends played the card game on New Year’s Eve and later enjoyed black -eyed peas, along with ham, grits and homemade biscuits. Talk among Hazel’s closest friends was that Hazel carries her biscuit tray with her when she visits out of state to her children’s homes (Daily Record Jan. 5, 1995).
How many of you know how to make homemade biscuits? Mrs. Hazel was videoed making her biscuits so we have it for others to view her art in our Theater Room. How were or are biscuits made at your house? Did the man of the house ever make them? Six of my seven brothers-in-law were city fellows. Their moms did not make homemade biscuits so it was a treat for them to sit and watch my mom make biscuits using fresh churned buttermilk and homemade lard that was also made on our farm outside of Coats. My mom was a simple farm wife and likely did not like an audience to watch her make something that the city men could hardly wait to put the freshly churned butter into them to melt and run out of the hot delicacy that they had just witnessed being made from products all made or grown right on the Johnson farm.
Thank you, the donor who remembered Casey Jones and Jonah C. Johnson, Sr. with memorials to the Coats Museum Building Fund for a second exhibit building—Coats and its friends can do this.
The year was 1995--the year of the internet. The Republicans had taken back control of the Congress and O.J. Simpson’s trial had begun in CA. The Dow had hit 4,000. Some key words for 1995 were Newt (Gingrich), starter marriage, Browser and “Contract with America.” The Major League players’ strike had come to an end. A car bomb had exploded outside a federal office building in Oklahoma City and had killed 168 people. Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle had died in 1995.
The giant AT&T had announced that it would split into three companies. As we read about the occurrences of the final year of my story of our history journey, note the changes that you have seen occurring in just the past thirty-five years.
For example, McDonald’s was the place to go for fast food in 1995 and had 10,218 restaurants. Are there more or less of them this year? Nine out of ten Americans had not logged on to the internet. What would that number be today?
This I do know. On October3, 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman and folks were talking about Bill Gates, but in Coats the folks were sharing about an early morning fire that nearly took the life of Eric Whittington when his trailer was engulfed with flames. The mobile home, located just off NC 55 north of Coats, was the residence of Mr. Whittington who had received cut injuries from breaking windows to escape (Daily Record January 2, 1995).
“Notes from Coats” by Belle Williams for the Daily Record had shared lots of local happenings in the Grove area. She reported that Fletcher Flowers was making progress after suffering a stroke several weeks ago. Heartfelt sympathy was extended to the family of Myrtle Johnson Strickland who was mother of Barbara Strickland. Sympathy was also given to the family of Conray Byrd. Conray was brother to the former Barbara Byrd, mother of Cathy and Charlotte Powell.
Did you know at one time there were two Ben Byrd’s in Coats. There was Ben Byrd who built the old Mollie Stewart Hotel. He had married Laura Penny. This Laura P. Byrd was mother to Zelda Byrd Pope, mother of Diane Pope Denning and Glenda Pope Denning. Then there was Ben E. Byrd who was father of Newton and Hubert Byrd. He was grandfather of Barbara and Conray and Glenwood and Faye Byrd. Does anyone know the name of the other son of Mr. Byrd?
I also know that many more folks were mentioned in this “Notes” column. For example, she noted that Herman Lee who worked at Rose and Graham had a brother, Harold Lee, to die. She also told her readers that the Pleasant family had had more than its shares of sicknesses. Sherrill Pleasant had suffered a heart attack and his mother, Etta Mae Pleasant was at Carrolton and J.L. Pleasant had had eye ulcers requiring care at Southern Pines.
Others from Coats who were mentioned were Tommy Carroll who was a patient at Raleigh Community. David Gardner had been diagnosed with Refractory Anemia that could be cured only with a marrow transplant.
Does anyone know how to play “Hand and Foot”? Hazel Barnes and a group of her friends played the card game on New Year’s Eve and later enjoyed black -eyed peas, along with ham, grits and homemade biscuits. Talk among Hazel’s closest friends was that Hazel carries her biscuit tray with her when she visits out of state to her children’s homes (Daily Record Jan. 5, 1995).
How many of you know how to make homemade biscuits? Mrs. Hazel was videoed making her biscuits so we have it for others to view her art in our Theater Room. How were or are biscuits made at your house? Did the man of the house ever make them? Six of my seven brothers-in-law were city fellows. Their moms did not make homemade biscuits so it was a treat for them to sit and watch my mom make biscuits using fresh churned buttermilk and homemade lard that was also made on our farm outside of Coats. My mom was a simple farm wife and likely did not like an audience to watch her make something that the city men could hardly wait to put the freshly churned butter into them to melt and run out of the hot delicacy that they had just witnessed being made from products all made or grown right on the Johnson farm.
Thank you, the donor who remembered Casey Jones and Jonah C. Johnson, Sr. with memorials to the Coats Museum Building Fund for a second exhibit building—Coats and its friends can do this.