Hizzonner and the Flomaton Journal
ASHS Column for 09 14 06
Jerry Simmons

     Last week I had the pleasure of
working, and I use that term loosely,
with Mayor Dewey Bondurant on a
research project. Dewey (should I
say Hizzonner?) was finishing up
digging out information about the
origins of the Flomaton Fire
Department. As you may already
know, probably from elsewhere in
this issue of the Ledger, Flomaton
dedicated its new fire house last
Monday. The picture accompanying
this column is the fire truck
Flomaton got in 1947 or 1948.
     While Hizonner and I strained our
eyes looking through Flomaton
Journals from the mid-1930s
through about 1946, we kept getting
off track as we saw many other
articles that we wanted to read.
A couple that caught our collective
attention had to do with the
Flomaton Hurricanes and their
football team. Here are the verbatim
articles from the Flomaton Journal,
October 12, 1944:

FLOMATON WALLOPS McCULLOUGH HERE
Flomaton High Red Hurricanes breezed its way through the scrapping McCullough Tigers to a 13 to 0 victory last Thursday on the local field.
The red-clad lads tallied early in the second quarter, when Lovett bucked the line for five yards after taking the ball into scoring territory on a series of passes and line plunges. James Green, husky tackle, kicked the extra point.
The second touchdown came late in the last quarter, when Lovett heaved a long pass to diminutive Red White across the Tiger pay stripe. Green failed to convert.
All of the local reserves saw action, and Coach Brantley thinks he uncovered some talent may make some of the first stringers dig in to hold their positions, before the season is over.
The Hurricane outfit meets Century Friday night at Century.
The remainder of the season’s schedule follows: October19 th , Atmore in Atmore; October 27 th , Brewton in Brewton; November 2 nd , Evergreen in Evergreen; November 9 th , McCullough at McCullough; and November 16 th , Central Catholic High in Pensacola.

                                                                  ****
     [Ed. note: I am sure you noticed the term "RED" Hurricanes. To avoid the possibility of a mistake, we checked out the next week’s paper. Not only was "Red" Hurricanes used again, but it wasn’t Century "Blackcats," either. There was another mascot name… read on]

THE RED HURRICANES LICK CENTURY HIGH
Flomaton Journal, October 19, 1944:
Flomaton High’s Red Hurricane breezed to its second victory of the season Friday night when they chalked up a 13 to 0 over the Century Yellow Jackets.
Melvin Lovette, star quarterback of the Flomaton aggregation led the attack with a passing game that proved too tricky for the Century boys, and set up the situation for both of the touchdowns. James Green, husky tackle, accounted for the lone extra point. Fred Stallworth, Sonny Fore and Marshall Lambeth played a good defensive game, in the middle of the line.
Century played a jam-up defensive game, and stopped the Flomaton ball toters time and time again for losses through the line and around the ends.

                                                                     ****
      Well, there you have it, sports fans. The Red Hurricanes and the Yellow Jackets. You may be as surprised as I was, although at least one fella said he remembered the "Yellow Jacket" moniker and another person doesn’t believe the "Red Hurricane" one.
     We have a winner in the question of what was Flomaton’s telephone exchange prefix when Century’s was BL (Blackburn). Betty Reaves of Flomaton was the first caller with right information. She remembered it as being CY for "CYpress," and that is correct. Betty, when you and your hubby, William, want to come to Century and get a free tour of our museums and a free coffee mug, just call me and we’ll make an appointment to do just that!
     Dot Ptomey gets the same offer – a tour and a coffee mug with just a call to me for answering another of my trivia questions. She knew about the foundry that was started in Flomaton by Mr. Walker. She said Walker owned a lot of property around Flomaton, and that foundry was near Big Escambia Creek, behind where the library is today. Some time back, according to Dot, there was a lot of brick and other debris out there. She doesn’t know if there’s any there now, though.
                                                                ****
     One final bit of old news from the January 3, 1946 issue of the Flomaton Journal. The local law enforcement officer in Escambia County, Florida was once known as a Constable. For years, Mr. Clint Rigby served as the constable in the north end of the county. It seems Rigby was seriously injured on his way to Pensacola with a prisoner. His car was sideswiped by a car or a truck and it wound up in a ditch. The prisoner was not injured badly, but Rigby suffered several broken ribs.
Now the part that’s hard to believe, in this day and time -- The article states "The prisoner helped him get back to Century Hospital." Ya reckon a prisoner would do that today? My guess is that if one found himself in that situation would be halfway to Texas by the time you could blink an eye! Times, they sure have changed….
     Make sure you remember that the Alabama Room in the Thomas E. McMillan Museum on the beautiful campus of Jefferson Davis Community College is free and useful for researching old newspapers and genealogy. It’s open on Tuesdays and Thursday from 9-3 and other days and hours by appointment.
     The Museum itself may be one of Escambia County, Alabama’s best kept secrets. A lot of people have no idea what a treasure there is practically right next door. If you’ve never been there, you owe it to yourself as an Escambia County area resident to visit. Call the museum at 251-809-1528 or me at 850-256-2661 for more information.
     Don’t forget The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society has free tours, too.
     Ya’ll come!


Flomaton Town officials and Boy Scout Troop #31 members. Picture was probably taken in 1947 or 1948, according to Terry Watson.
Front row (squatting) Jackie Hart, Charlie Brock, Johhny Long, Neal Rouse (Scoutmaster), Tommy Arrington, Jimmy Harwell
Middle row (standing) Lawrence Davis, Robert Trawick, Raymond Dean, Clarence Bonds, Jimmy Arrington, Joe Brown, Bobby Browning, Tommy Taylor, Lawrence (Big Boy) Manry, Hortense Dixon (Town Clerk), D.D. Arrington (Mayor), A. W. Watson (Council), Houston McNider (Council; for his son Magnum?), L.D. Weaver (Council)
Back row (on truck) Buddy Harwell, E.L. Brantley (Council), J.E. Jackson (Council), W.D. McKay (Council)
Picture courtesy of Terry Watson; names by Terry Watson and Jimmy Arrington

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