Overheard, out and about, Mrs. Grundy sees all, tells all

Staff

Published Friday, December 26, 2008

Peeping through my Venetian blind, I imagined a white Christmas with the snow floating slowly downward on an icy-cold night, a big snowman with a carrot nose and eyes of coal, standing guard in my front yard. Ah, Christmas! What a magical time of year!

The Covingtons had many of us over for Christmas-Day dinner; and what a Christmas feast we had – turkey and dressing and giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, chicken and dumplings, hams (fresh and cured), duck, vegetables, casseroles, English peas, punch, wassail, eggnog, tea, hot chocolate, sausages, geese, mince pies, pecan pies, red-and-green-velvet cake, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, tangerines, pears, grapes, stuffed celery, stuffed eggs, cheeses, chestnuts, oysters (“he was a brave man what fust et an oyster”), plum pudding, cocoanut cake, chocolate cake, cookies, candies, ambrosia, congealed salads, sweet-potato pies, pound cakes, rice, sausage balls, fruit salad, divinity, fudge, chocolate cherries, gingerbread men, Lane cake, and more!

Christmas Eve I attended a candlelight service of scripture and carols at church. A soloist sang “O Holy Night.” I opened one gift under the tree that night, as I have since childhood; the rest must wait for Christmas morning, after Santa’s visit.

Miss Priscilla Primme and her beau, Mr. Propper, Miss Purdie Birdie, Mrs. Gotrocks of Greenville, the Colonel and his sisters, Miss Cora, Miss Dora, and Miss Flora, as well as others, came by Christmas-Eve Day to pay calls, sip wassail, and have a piece of fruitcake and other goodies. It must have been then that someone slipped some goodies into my stocking!

The Portly Gentleman looked about my refreshment tray when he paid a call, to see if I had any petite fours. When he saw that I did, he grinned widely and sat himself down to gossip awhile. He told me how he loves cold weather and enjoyed the sunny-but-cold, first day of winter last Sunday. He called it “a good Dickens of a day that blew all the waddles out of me!”

Every Christmas season Jan White greets those she meets with “Merry Christmas!” in memory of her dear, old friend, Charlie Smith, who used to say so all year round.

I ran into Tony Tucker at Off the Square Cafe Monday; it was a cold day, and the coziness of the little eatery was appealing, especially the hot soup and other comfort foods.

Seen at C.J.’s Grille last Sunday were Mike Jones and his family, Bernice Livingston, her son Joe, and his wife Becky, Casey and Kim Thompson and their older son and daughter, Dr. Gable and his family, Mary Frances Taylor, Dr. Wayne and Lenora Johnson, the Benny Gays, and Randy and Mamie Wahl.

Mrs. Gotrocks of Greenville told me that she saw Seth Hammett, Alabama’s Speaker of the House, leaving the Cracker Barrel in Greenville, following lunch Friday a week ago.

Jennifer (Smith) Dansby sang beautifully “Sweet, Little Jesus-Boy” in the Baraca Class assembly last Sunday, a cappella. Some have certain songs associated with them; I always associate this song with Jennifer.

Jeanice (Paul) Kirkland played “O Holy Night” on the pipe organ at First Baptist last Sunday as the prelude. I always associate that song with Mrs. Kirkland, and it doesn’t seem like Christmas without hearing her sing it.

The Irene (Falkenberry) Hines Handbell Choir of First Baptist, named for a lady who loved music with all her heart, a lady the older generations remember with gratitude, accompanied the carols sung by the congregation at First Baptist last Sunday. The ladies playing the handbells also rang “Coventry Carol” and “Angels from the Realms” as specials, directed by Dwight Crigger, minister of music.

One Accord, the best ladies’ singing group in “the Dimple of Dixie,” also contributed to the morning worship at First Baptist by sharing “Mary’s Little Chile,” a light-hearted Christmas message.

Most interesting of all, though, was the unusual sermon presented by the pastor, Dr. Fred Karthaus, who, wearing a beard of several days’ growth and dressed as a shepherd, staff and all, delivered an impressive monologue as a first-person observer on the night of Christ’s birth.

Sonja James entertained December l6 in her lovely home in Forest Hills, resplendent in Christmas decorations. Her guests included Irene (Davis) Butler, Herb Jasper, Lee and Kathy Enzor, Dr. Morgan Moore, Jimmy and Sue (Bass) Wilson, and Joe Wingard. Mrs. James served roast pork loin with apricot glaze, sausage dressing with pecans, pickled asparagus wrapped in proscuitto, dates stuffed with cheese and almonds, collard greens with ham, mashed sweet potatoes with cream cheese, Waldorf salad, deviled eggs, rolls, bread pudding, cream-cheese pie, brownie pie, and dipped cookies.

Drs. Allen and Kimberly Ward entertained at their home December l2 members of the Andalusia Ballet Association following the preview performance of The Nutcracker that evening.

Dr. Rex and Billie Jo Butler entertained at Butler Hall December l4 participants in The Nutcracker, following the final, Sunday matinee. A tree, hung with souvenir ornaments of this year’s ballet, stood for the cast to take one each. Punch flowed from fountains, and refreshments tempted.

I want mothers and grandmothers to clip the following and start a Christmas book for each of their children or grandchildren. Include in it the following: title page with who, what, where, and when, a table of contents, a list of Christmas books to collect (build a Christmas library for the child by adding the Christmas classics year by year), customs to remember (especially in your own family), a brief genealogy, a list of ornaments and other decorations (date and place purchased or received as a gift, from whom), activities (specifically those reserved for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), ideas to stuff stockings, ideas of gifts to give, memories by year (who was there and where and what was done), gifts received by year from whom, list of those to whom gifts should be given, annual shopping list, want list, music to purchase, and menus to prepare Christmas Eve and Day.

Gentle reader, you might want to make your own Christmas book whether you have children or not; it’s not too late; start this year.

I’m sure one of little Campbell Johnson’s grandmothers will start a Christmas book for him.

Dan Shehan sends word from Savannah that the fifty-six-page book of Advent meditations published by his church there, Bull Street Baptist, this year includes three Christmas songs composed by him to lyrics by J. C. Wingard.

The Montgomery Advertiser December l8 published an article on our own “Sister Schubert” Barnes, founder of Sister Schubert’s Homemade Rolls, who now shares tips for low-cost family activities on her new Web site, www.sisterschuberts.com..

Senior adults of First Baptist attended their monthly luncheon in Fellowship Hall December l6.

Tables were decorated in holly boughs and potted poinsettias, Christmas napkins, and candy canes by Betty Bass.

The menu included ham, yams, green beans, and spice cake. Faithful, merry-hearted Bill Law ruled the kitchen!

Don Lingle, former minister of music for 28 years, now interim song leader at Bethany Baptist, worded the blessing.

The program was presented by the new minister of music, Dwight Crigger, and his wife, Sonya, new choral director for the Andalusia City Schools, who led both his Glory Singers (older singers) and her seventh-grade choir from the middle school. The singers were dressed in Christmas garb (Dr. Morgan Moore looked decidedly dapper in his Santa cap); the younger singers used choreography as effectively as they sang.

The youth put a modern, rock-and-roll twist to some old favorites. The youngsters’ songs about the bells and the Chipmonks were particularly enjoyable; but their best, to me, was “One Day in December.”

Hearing new Christmas songs this year made me conclude that, no matter how many Christmas songs there already are, there will always be a host of new ones yearly.

I noticed with growing suspicion that many of the Baptist women are dancers at heart, the way they moved to the music. Most of the men, though, sat like stumps in the Conecuh Forest.

Dr. Rex and Billie Jo Butler hosted their third Christmas Carols with the Butlers in Butler Hall December l9 in memory of his father, Ray Allen Butler, born December l5. He would have been 89.

Also in Ray’s memory, his widow, Irene (Davis) Butler, took goodies on his birthday to “the boys” in Ray’s old domino club, which still plays weekly.

Director Albert Cravey led the singing as the versatile John Beasley, math instructor at the Andalusia High School, played the baby grand piano in the Banquet Hall, which seats some 300 or so. This was the third year for both.

Danny Posey, leading humorist in the Andalusia area, served as emcee.

Hours of singing were separated by an intermission for enjoying a buffet of chicken tenders, barbecue cocktail weiners, vegetables and dip, fruits and dip, crackers, chips, cheeseballs, ham curls, cookies, candies, punch, coffee, petite fours (to the delight of the Portly Gentleman), and other finger foods.

Special features were offered by Misses Rexanne Butler, Brooke Mancil, and Lindsey Stephens, who sang “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”; the brothers, Robert and Madison Copeland, singing “Christmas in Dixie” (you know, they favor); Misses Rachel Dayton, Taylor Mancil, Elizabeth Cravey, and Master Allen Butler, singing “Rock Around the Christmas Tree”; Bill Pritchett, pastor of Southside Baptist, who read “The Christmas Story” from the Bible; Miss Kimberly Rudd, who sang “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” accompanied by her dad, Mark, on his guitar; Misses Scarlet Knox and Tambry Nix, who sang “O Holy Night”; (Mrs.) Opal Fowler, who sang the popular “Mary, Did You Know?”; Greg Cotter, pastor of Harmony Baptist Church, who offered the blessing and also a reading of “One Solitary Life,” possibly the finest essay ever written; and the Rudd family, Mark and LouAnn and their daughter Kimberly, singing “Silent Night,” as Mark played his guitar (the first time “Silent Night” was sung was with a guitar, I think).

Special guests were Jan Cook of the Public Service Commission and Nancy Worley, former Alabama Secretary of State and president of the Alabama Education Association, escorted by Wade Lipscomb.

Danny Posey gave a brief history of the sing-along. Dan Shehan created it in l970 in his home Dovecoat. For 25 years (through l994) he played the organ; and his friend, Joe Wingard, led the singing. In l996 and l997 Dr. and Mrs. Butler and Ray and Irene Butler revived the sing, sponsoring it, as Shehan and Wingard took their old roles. After eight years of silence Dr. Rex and Billie Jo Butler reinvented the sing in 2006, 2007, and 2008 as their own in Butler Hall.

Butler Hall was resplendent, the main house and wings outlined in white lights, every room featuring a Christmas tree, thousands of lights everywhere, every column, every door decorated. A hundred or so Christmas displays stood on the vast front lawn, lighting up the south side of Andalusia.

A songbook with red cover and colored illustrations was provided each guest, as well as a souvenir program with a cover, four pages, and golden cord.

Robert Evers filmed the event.

The Portly Gentleman was up in Montgomery last week to hear the monthly lecture sponsored by the Department of Archives and History in the Alabama Power Auditorium, built into the new wing of the D.A.H. by Alabama Power.

It seems that the free lecture during the noon hour is a popular gathering. Attendees are encouraged to take their lunch and eat as they listen. Coffee and tea are provided free by Friends of the Alabama Archives.

Some seventy were there December l8 to hear Julia Oliver of Montgomery speak on her latest book, Devotion, an historical fiction based on the life of “Winnie” Davis, the “Daughter of the Confederacy” and younger daughter of Jefferson Davis, only president of the Confederate States of America.

Mrs. Oliver, a widow with three grown children, has also authored Seventeen Times as High as the Moon (a collection) and Goodbye to the Buttermilk Sky and Music of Falling Water (both novels).

“Winnie,” nicknamed by her father, was the youngest of six. Born in l864, she became a symbol of “the Lost Cause.” Her life was that of a celebrity. She was educated in Germany, wrote a novel, was the first woman in America to have a military funeral, and was in love with and engaged to a Yankee but kept from the marriage by public disapproval. She died at 34 and lies with her parents and siblings in the Hollywood Cemetery of Richmond, Virginia.

The Portly One told me that he went to the lecture as part of his year-long celebration of the 200th birthday of President Davis in 2008.

He said that a lady came and sat by him and began talking as though she had known him all her life. She amused him with her openness. Eventually, he asked her where she went to church, as he tends to ask everyone. She said she wasn’t very “churchy” anymore. Reared as a Baptist, she had been denied one thing and another as a child until she had soured on the church. She especially wanted to dance and to become a “Rockette,” but she was denied all music except the religious type.

“Poor thing,” thought the Portly One, “if she only had been reared in the Baptist church today, she could have danced all she wanted.”

The Portly Gentleman also spoke with Mrs. John Napier, nee Cameron Mason Freeman, the regent of the White House of the Confederacy for the past 29 years.

Mrs. Napier is an admirable lady. Born in China, she was reared there the first nine years of her life, having to leave when war came. She was educated in Richmond l94l – l945 and then moved to Montgomery where she and Mr. Napier were married in St. John’s Episcopal Church; they are still members.

Named for her two grandmothers, Mrs. Napier is the fifth Cameron to bear the name.

She has one younger brother and has written two booklets on the White House and numerous essays.

The great-niece of the historian, Douglas Southall Freeman (l886 – l953), Mrs. Napier used to watch her great-uncle as he worked in his third-floor study in Richmond on the biography of Lee, which would make him famous and the winner of the Pulitzer prize in l935.

Freeman, who helped rear Cameron, following the death of her own father, worked nineteen years on his four-volume set of Lee. He later wrote five volumes on Washington.

Educated in Richmond College and Johns Hopkins University, Freeman edited the Richmond News-Leader l9l5 – l949 and broadcast over the radio twice a day from l925 until his death. Born in Richmond, Freeman lived there most of his life and is buried in Hollywood as are President Davis and his family.

As her Uncle Freeman used to do, Mrs. Napier and her husband take tea daily at four.

The Portly One also ran into Nancy Worley, former Alabama Secretary of State, and Mary Ann Neeley, Montgomery historian.

After the lecture the Portly One ate lunch at Silver Spoons, a restaurant near Old Alabama Town, Montgomery, open only for lunch Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

He took the opportunity to renew acquaintance with the owner, Leslie Bailey, a TV personality, who had catered the fiftieth wedding anniversary for his parents.

Soon after he was seated, in came Julia Oliver, the author, and her hostess, Sherrie Hamil of the Archives and History staff. They invited him to dine with them.

The three had much in common, all thinking of Montgomery as home.

The Portly One learned more of Mrs. Oliver. Reared in Sylacauga, she grew up with Jim Nabors, the actor-singer known to most of us as Gomer Pyle. He has survived his liver transplant for fourteen years now. Mrs. Oliver also knows Judge Harold and Jane Albritton and Dr. George Tisdale, all formerly of Andalusia.

Mrs. Oliver has written four books of fiction, two award-winning, stage plays, and numerous essays, reviews, and articles.

Last week Priscilla Moore, only child of Betty Greene, was in town to visit her mother and brought with her two copies of the News-Reporter of Washington, Georgia, where Priscilla has lived for 35 years. These copies she gave to the Portly Gentleman because both contained copy from his travel essays, including two days in Washington, Georgia, last September, when he and his cousin, Miss Jo Driggers of Lexington, South Carolina, had visited the area.

Priscilla (Mrs. Ray Moore) spoke of the newspaper’s editor, Sparky, and his parents, Smith and Jane Newsome, who used to run the weekly. Jane still writes a column similar to mine called “The Office Cat.”

Smith is a deacon and has been chairman of the deacons in First Baptist, which the Moores attend. Jane has played the organ for more years than Ray and Priscilla have lived in Washington.

Priscilla, I can see, is like her precious mother, a jewel.

Speaking of jewels, I ran into Jule Browder in the P.O. today; she grows nearer and dearer to me day by day.

John Holley and his older son Will came through the other day, stopping overnight with John’s mother, Bernice (Stokes) Holley of Holley Hill. It’s always good to have your children home, if only for a day.

Tomorrow is the birth date of President Woodrow Wilson. Tuesday next is that of Rudyard Kipling, the English author of poetry, short stories, novels, and essays. His poetry is, by far, his best work, among the most creative in literary history, which every teacher in high school and college should pass on to their students.

January l brings the birthday of Betsy Ross, who made our first American flag; January 2, that of William Lyon Phelps, an English professor at Yale who helped popularize literature in his day.

The author of many books, Phelps wrote a massive autobiography that is an education in itself. He is one of the most interesting and inspiring persons about whom I have ever read.

Well, gentle reader, I guess this is farewell for this year. I shall see you in 2009, Lord willing. Do you stay up to see in the New Year? I do, if I can stay awake. I love to sing “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight. I have a recording of Guy Lombardo, playing it. Ah, memories!

Roy, Santa told me he had to leave you switches and lumps of coal this year because you forgot to leave him milk and cookies at the hearth! Is that true?

I slowly close my Venetian blinds on 2008.