WEDNESDAY’S LIST ... of beans ’n greens ’n other things: IT WAS a good year for the peaches. And Friday is the last run of the summer for Ken Easterling and his Chilton County peaches.
“It’s been a very good year,” says Ken, who first began bringing peaches to our town in 1952, riding shotgun with his dad, the late Leon Easterling, on the 180-mile round trip.
“We’ve had good peaches and good response from the people here in Anniston and Oxford. Last year, I thought, was our best peach crop ever, but this one has been really close.
“The weather was good the whole growing season,” he says. “Not once was there a threat of a late freeze and that sure takes a load off a peach farmer’s shoulders.”
So, Friday morning, 6 a.m., at the Regions Bank in Oxford is your “last picking” of the year. From Oxford, if he has any peaches left, he moves to the Anniston post office around 8.
You may not know Opal, but if Jack’s on Quintard is one of your eating places, well, it’s a pretty good chance that “the hands that feed you” belong to her.
Twice a week, she cooks the biscuits. When she’s not into biscuits, she’s doing “prep,” as in chopping onions, celery, doing the salads, or whatever else goes across the counter or out the drive-through window.
She is one of that vast and mostly anonymous army out there that, in some way, makes our lives better.
Happy Day, Opal Dickerson.
“I love stories about names, especially town names. One that you’ve probably heard is about Remlap between Oneonta and Birmingham. In one version there were two very popular brothers in the tiny hamlet whose last name was Palmer. Most in town wanted to name it Palmer.
Down the road a few miles, there is a town named Palmerdale. The post office or whoever makes these decisions wouldn’t let them call their town Palmer. So, they spelled Palmer backwards, Remlap.”
Thanks to Chief Michael Anderson, who calls Mohawk Bluff near Ohatchee home for that one.
And “Chief” is really his name, not a title.
On that . . .
“I legally added Chief as my first name . . . the commonality of my names (Michael Anderson) caused problems. When I bought a house in Jefferson County, I had to sign off on six or eight judgements, saying they were not me.
“At one time, there were six Michael Andersons in the Anniston phone directory.”
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank “Chief” for helping me fill this space this morning.
“If no one else wishes me a happy birthday, at least the local readers will know that I'll be celebrating. Thank you.”
And no, the person is not here today . . . but I love that sense of humor.
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George Smith can be reached at 256-239-5286 or e-mail: gsmith731@gmail.com.
