WEDNESDAY’S LIST ... of beans ’n’ greens ’n’ other things:
DURING THE 20 years I covered ball for this newspaper, a regular companion on the road was Clyde Bolton, sports writer and columnist for The Birmingham News.

There were long drives, plane rides, hotel rooms into the night ... and stories of back when we were young and “things just aren’t that way anymore.”

I tell you that to let you know I got a small book in the mail a few weeks back entitled “Hadacol Days.” Written by Clyde, between its covers are stories of his “growing up” years, mostly in the small Georgia town of Statham.

What he has done is write his childhood stories and, in the reading, does a couple of things:

1. Takes me back to a “comfortable” time which nostalgia may have endeared to us ... a time more than deserving.

2. Makes me wish I had written my own stories.

It is a warm read, a delightful read, and a good guess is if you are of Clyde’s generation and mine, you’ve lived the read.

If you can’t find it locally, you might try e-Bay.

*** BASEBALL IS the loveliest of games so long as the cameras “watch” the game being played between the foul lines.

It is the ugliest of games in the dugout ... and I got so tired of watching Texas Manager Ron Washington chew and spit sunflower seeds during the World Series I needed a barf bag beside my recliner.

I’m glad the series is over and glad the Giants won.

But I have to wonder why TV people think grown men spitting and scratching at their unmentionables is worthy of air time.

*** QUOTABLE: “Friends are flowers in the garden of life.” – Unknown

Then there is this warning:

“Consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, handsomer and smarter than you actually are.”

Saw that one on a restaurant wall somewhere in Ohio.

*** BIRTHDAYS: Nov. 1 – Logan Carden; Nov. 10 – Erica Daniel; Nov. 14 – Mary Julia Daniel; Nov. 15 – Cheryl Norred; Nov. 16 – Adam Muns; Nov. 16 – Sandra McCarty; Nov. 17 – Dennis Daniel Jr.; Nov. 18 – Martha Brooks; Nov. 20 – W. Jacob Daniel and Nicole Maddox;

*** TOP TEEN: Say hello to Lauren Brown, a senior at Piedmont High School where her 4.0 GPA puts her at the top of the Class of ’11, in the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta, a national math honor society.

She is also a member of the SGA, the FBLA and the Fellowship of Christian Students.

Young Miss Brown, along the way, has earned scholastic achievement awards in math, English, history and science. Lauren has also been on stage for Academic Honors Night since 2007.

A member of the varsity golf team, she is also on the varsity cheerleading/competition squad (since ’05), and in the Drama Club since 2008.

Volunteer work along the way includes the Red Cross Blood Drive, elementary school learning academy tutor, Salvation Army volunteer and peer tutoring.

“Lauren is a student who doesn’t accept less than her best,” says Suzanne Haney, AP English teacher. “She puts 110 percent in everything she does.”

Proud parents are Chad and Angie Brown, Morgan Road, Jacksonville.

Let’s hear some cheering ...

---

George Smith can be reached at 256-239-5286 or e-mail: gsmith731@gmail.com