Farm Fresh Memories

The Store Regulars Recollection Of… Flat Rock Area Ghost??? at Hallooo–weeen!!! It was Thursday, a fallish night near sixty degrees at about eight p.m., when I walked through the old double front doors of The Flat Rock General Store. There was a nice feel to the night air. I was truly amazed Slim had called a meetin’ of the regulars and it did appear that they all were present down to The Store— includin’ my Daddy “Pop” C.C., “Truth,” and Estelle, Farlow, Willerdean, Ms. Ida, the widow Cora, Bro, Harley Hood, S.R., J.R., “Hatch,” Heath, Dustin and Essex. Slim’s intent for this meetin’ was to plan and pass out assignments concernin’ the two thousand ought six Flat Rock General Store Halloween party and costume contest. It would be a hurried meetin’ expressly since it was past bedtime for several of the regulars present including Essex, Ms. Ida, the widow Cora and my Daddy “Pop” C.C. The Store Halloween Party would be held on the Saturday shy of Halloween, or October twenty-eighth, 2006, at 6:00 in the evenin.’ Like all events held down at The Store, there would be a eatin’, music by Harley Hood and friends, a costume judging contest and Slim’s witchingly ghost and goblin tales. The party plannin’ assignments were quickly passed out by Slim, with one final request by him, before the meetin’ was dismissed. Beyond my normal duties of findin’ three fair and impartial judges for the costume contest and providin’ local media sources with information about The Store’s annual party event, I was, in Slim’s words, to have near a half dozen new Flat Rock ghost stories from some of The Store regulars and present them proper at the Halloween party. Slim was concerned that after a number of years his witchingly ghost and goblin tales were all used up. Seemed simple enough since I knew several of The Store regulars individual ghost and goblin tales by heart. There is Ms. Ida and her tale about old man Morton Long headin’ home from the summer revival in a rain storm. Seems he missed the old iron bridge, landed upside down in Mud Creek and weren’t found for several days because of high waters. They say till this day if you pass across Mud Creek after midnight in a rain storm and things are just right you can still see old man Morton Long’s pick-up head lights shining up out of Mud Creek. My Daddy “Pop” C.C. has this tale that my Papaw Potter always told about the local young socialite returning home from a late night party in her light blue evening gown. As she enters her home she sits to play the piano in a thunderstorm, there is a heavy bolt of lightening and she is struck and killed as she plays the piano. The tale goes that soon after her death, her family deserted the house; but until this day, individuals have returned to this empty house and during a thunderstorm, as the lightening flashes, you can still see the young socialite dressed in her light blue formal playing the piano. Essex tells of the cemetery hitchhiker—she says that the young men that would come courtin’ her mother at the foot of the mountain near Youngtown or Bankhead Forrest traveled by horseback and the road went through the local cemetery. The story goes that as the horses entered the cemetery they would run full speed through the cemetery. One night as a young man dismounted at her mother’s house, he noticed four distinct ruffled patches on the horses rump. This pattern continued with each trip through the cemetery—one night two young men decided to follow each other through the cemetery in hopes that the second rider could witness the hitchhiker on the first rider’s horse. They completed their ride without success; the second rider witnessed no hitchhiker. However after the second rider re-mounted his horse, he noticed four distinct ruffled patches on the rump of his horse. It seems the cemetery hitchhiker had ridden unnoticed on the second horse. Then there’s “Truth’s” tale of the campfire light that never goes out, even when it rains. Bro. has this tale about Tobe the pointer bird dog that was killed by the pack of wild dogs. Bro., the Baptist preacher, says that any night during quail season you can go down to the Wolf Springs bottom under the big oak and if there is no moon you can hear old Tobe howling, but only during quail season. Then finally there’s Estelle and her tale about some young boys and the cat in the old dug well. Seems that if there are heavy rains and the water rises above a certain level in the well, you can hear the cat cries—listen, listen—do you hear that!!! PLEASE BE SAFE, WATCH OUT FOR ALL THE LITTLE GHOSTS AND GOBLINS AND HAVE A SPOOKTACULAR HALLOOO—WEEEN!!! REMEMBER YOUR HERITAGE!!!ALWAYS THINK GOOD MEMORIES!!! Joe Potter is a former vocational agriculture teacher, FFA advisor and retired county agent (Colbert County).