| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 18 Mar 2007.
A.R. has enjoyed both the green & gold
(c)2007 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL A.R. and Betty Kyker have been married for more than 61 years and have lived near the WLIK Radio hilltop for most of those years. They are happy to greet the pear tree blooms this month.
By: DAVID POPIEL
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
03-18-2007
Mid March raised its mane in our hometown sending a chill through pear petals and St. Patrick's Day's damp greening.
When you travel west of Newport along the Knoxville Highway, the old timers will be aware of the major changes in the route and road. For instance, the old narrow road at one time occupied the space where Bush Construction's office sits. That's what A.R. Kyker told me, when I visited with him recently. I mentioned that during the years you and I have passed the old house with faded green roof next to Edmond's Performance Exhaust. Who lived there and what happened that it is abandoned now? Mr. Kyker provided me with the answers and shared a lot of other information about that area marked so specifically by the looming WLIK Radio tower.
A couple of weeks ago I bumped into A.R.-his real name is Alston Ray-when he was examining a white 1960 Impala at Performance Exhaust. He lives on the hill just behind the business. His blue 1994 Chevy truck with 40,000 miles was parked on the gravel drive next to the old house, which we visited. It had been his home for at least half a century and the home of his parents, Raymond and his wife, the former Betty Lillard, of Cosby. She outlived her husband and died in 1992. The frame house built about 77 years had already been abandoned. The house was built by Hubert Bishop. A.R. recalls that they used a horse-drawn scoop to dig out the basement. If you glance at the house's roof you will notice it is metal shingles called copperoid-these are original. Stones used in construction came out of nearby Sinking Creek.
All you young whippersnappers like me do not remember when there were livestock tunnels under both 25-E about near the current gas company office, and also under 25/70 near the fairgrounds. He was born in a small house where the gas company's service truck garage stands. I am not going to attempt to explain his branch of Kykers because I am sure Duay O'Neil's eyes would rollback in his head at the thought of me parsing the 21 Grandpa Jim Kyker children. Most of the land circling A.R. and Betty's house was a large farm that ultimately went to his grandmother, Dolly. It was auctioned at her death. One of the buyers was J. Donald Cody, who later sold some of the land to A.R. The WLIK land sold for $2,750 he said. George Sweeten owned the land where the muffler shop is today. Ray and Betty had four children and chose to use names that all started with the same first two letters-Al: Alson, Alemeda, Althea, and Alene, who died at 30 months. Sister Alemeda lives off Cave Church Road. A.R. didn't move far from where he was born and that's how he saw a pretty young miss riding by on the old highway with Margaret Lewis. Betty Hayes had been living in Charlotte, N.C. during the early 1940s. However, her mother, Mary Hayes, is a native of Cocke County. Betty was one of seven children and most still live in N.C. They did spend some years in the Chestnut Hill area, too. A.R. still remembers seeing her drive by when he was playing outside. He then drove to Minnis Drug Store-the local hangout-where he found her seated in the backseat of the car parked next to his, and they became friends. Preacher Dennis Buckner married them On Dec. 22, 1945. I figure A.R. who will be 84 on Aug. 27, was about 22 when he married. He had already been working hard for years as a teenager. One of his early jobs was at the extract plant near the Edwina Highway A.C. Lawrence Leather Company tannery. As a young man he also assisted his uncle, Guy Freshour on the Unaka farm, and eventually graduated in 1942 from the old high school. Likewise, she was able to work outside of the house because they never had children. At first she worked at an electric supplies store in Newport, Bush Brothers, and finally joined Detroit Gasket about 1961. Like many of you, she worked there for the next 30 years. Maxie Lamb was one of her coworkers and a few names they also could recall quickly were Clayton and Evelyn Jenkins and Bobby Burnett. How many hundreds of people have walked the floor and operated the gasket presses at that plant? I've run out of space and will continue our chat with Alston next week. When leaving the Newport council meeting on Thursday night, I bumped into an old friend, Ruble Allen. I heard he had been ill but had not spoken to him directly. Ruble said he was feeling better after enduring 25 chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Speaking of sick folks, I was chatting with Deputy Rick Laws and Officer C. J. Ball over a pecan roll at Arby's when we began talking about Bryan Murr. They said he had to return to Baptist Hospital for more treatment of blocked arteries.
It's difficult to believe that last week temperatures were in the upper 70s. Folks have been getting out their fly rods and fishing poles as did Gary Hurley. His vehicle and boat were stranded in the corner of the Plain Talk lot with a flat tire. Hurley had been fishing at Douglas Lake and caught more than a dozen sauger. Too bad none were big enough to be keepers, he said. But, I'm sure, it was fun on a sunny afternoon.
In plain talk, the landscape changes over time but the approaching spring sun has been drawing us outdoors much the same as always.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 25 Mar 2007.
March may be ready to go out like a lamb, but it will be a warm one judging by the 80-degree weather that encouraged more driving and the tulips to make their appearance in our hometown.
You recall last week we had visited with A.R. "Ray" Kyker, and there are a few more things to say about this interesting gentleman. His comment about the old county court from decades ago reminded me of a photo Tom Sutton shared of the squires. A.R. also found time to represent his district as a squire for two terms from 1960 to 1972. He believes that the only other commissioner from that era still alive is Sutton. During those years, A.R. is proud that he voted for money to build the county hospital and new schools.
His real career started in the 1950s when Shan Bush invited him to try his hand at construction work. A.R. liked the variety of work from truck driving to job scouting so much that he stuck for 30 years. He retired in 1987. A couple of the folks he mentioned were Popeye Gorman and expert bulldozer operator Junior Byrd. And there were some sad days on the job too. He recalled that Shan and he were on English Mountain where Bush was building home sites. Veteran heavy equipment operator Lawrence Ramsey was running a bulldozer. They looked over and saw Ramsey adjusting the large dozer blade-something you had to do then by getting out of the seat and walking to the front of the dozer. For some reason it started rolling. Ramsey tried to get out of the way but could not and died of injuries from the accident.
About the time Betty retired, A.R.'s mother passed away. Since then the Kykers have spent a lot of time traveling and camping out. One of their past favorite spots was Venture Out Campground. They still like to attend football games. She likes to attend West End Baptist Church and must be one of the longest-time members having started in 1945. She agrees with my recent column about Jana Raines that she sure sings sweetly. Betty's sister-in-law, Alameda Ellis, also attended the church. Her husband was well known by Bush Brothers and Chestnut Hill folks because he operated the A.J. Bush company store for years. On my way back from watching a crane place another model home at Doug Shoemaker's new business off Knoxville Hwy., I dropped in on Dennis Edmonds. It was there some weeks ago that I first ran into A.R. Kyker, who lives on the hill behind the business.
...
|
Search | Advanced Search
1923 - (100 years)