I met Doyle in 1945 or 46 and we have been friends ever since.
In 1946, I had a boyfriend that went to RBS School. I don't remember Doyle dating anyone at that time, but he went along with us. The night that the Japanese accepted unconditional surrender, my friend and I were in the front seat and he was sitting in the back and we were going up Huddleston Hill when this news came on the radio. Doyle asked my date if he had something that we could celebrate with and my date pulled out a bottle from under the seat. It had a little wine in it and we all took a drink. We said we would never forget that night, although I did forget, but I'm glad Doyle didn't.
Doyle has worked all his life. He was ambitious even back when he was in fifth grade. He built a shoe shine kit and visited the hotels in the summertime when the tourist season was going strong. He said that during the summer season you could see him with his nose pressed against the window at the hotels, listening to Glen Miller music. After so many years you might think he would have changed to The Beatles or some other modern group, but not so. Glen Miller is stil his favorite and he listens to this band a lot. He keeps Glen Miller tapes in his car.
During the summer while he was still in high school, he worked for Tri-County then after graduation, he did construction work until he joined the Navy in 1950. Doyle was in the Navy from 1950 to 1954 during the Korean War. He was in Hawaii three years and was in the Marshal Islands during the hydrogen bomb test. When his Navy days were over, he came back to Macon County and was able to go to college on the G.I. Bill.
He went to Tennessee Tech and took a heavy load and after 3 years he graduated. He started teaching at Macon County High School in the fall of 1957. In 1960, he received his Master's degree from M.T.S.U. In 1967 he went back to Tennessee Tech for an E.D.S. degree. He continued teaching and coaching until 1964 when Doyle was elected Superintendent of Schools and remained in this job until 1980. In 1980 he went to work for the State Department of Education. He spent 10 years in state government, then he returned home to Macon County and was elected County Executive. This was in 1990 and he has served this position well for 12 years and has done so much for this county.
I asked him what he was going to do now and he said, "I might get to fish some, I don't play golf. I will get to spend more time with Shirley (his wife) and my four children and seven grandchildren." I have never grieved over leaving a job.
In 2001, Doyle Gaines, Educator, and County Official, was awarded the Will Hall Sullivan Award and this year, Feb. 3, the new Justice Center was named after him, the Doyle Gaines Justice Center.
Back when he was going on dates with me and that special boy from Red Boiling Springs, little did I know that he would become an important part of our county. After 56 years, I still count him as one of my best friends and I have asked many favors over the years and he has always done his best to grant them. I know anyone else in the county that has asked, he did his best for them too.
He said Macon County will continue to grow because we are located in the center of some of the bigger towns and the lakes are close by - most of them within 30 miles.
When I asked about the college and the Senior Citizens Center, he said he would like to see it combined, that it would only take two or three rooms for the college and the Seniors could have the room they deserve for their activities.
In closing, he said all his success has been due the the people in Macon County. For all he has done, we owe him our thanks and our gratitude that he has worked so hard for education, not only for our children of today, but all the children in the future, too.
Doyle, when you are sitting on the creek bank fishing and listening to a Glen Miller tape, think about that time long ago when you were the chaperone for me and that cute boy from Red Boiling Springs.
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