REFLECTION

AN HISTORIC HOTEL - THEN AND NOW

FROM THE CLOYD TO THE THOMAS HOUSE

From then until now, Red Boiling Springs hotels have taken advantage of the natural beauty and resources of the area - from the ‘waters' to the inborn hospitality of Macon Countians. The Thomas House, which is now on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, was once the brand new Cloyd Hotel. The Cloyd was built and run by the Cloyd family. The Thomas House was rebuilt several years ago by the Cole family, who still owns and runs the now old and famous hotel.

The original Cloyd also suffered from fire. Evelyn Cole, the hotel's matron, doesn't know whether or not the present building contains any of the original building or not, but does note that the two buildings sit in exactly the same spot, and are situated the same.

The hotel has been through several owners and incarnations between The Cloyd and The Thomas House. A lot has changed, according to Clara Hopper, who worked as masseuse in the women's bath house during the summer of 1940.

“But it's still grand, very grand,” Hopper said during a visit this summer.

After the Coles reopened the hotel in 1993, they started collecting old pictures of the Red Boiling Springs area, where Evelyn grew up. Once word got out, people started sending pictures to the family; more than they can count. They kindly dug through their collection and found a few then and now pictures - only a few of which appear here.

In addition to serving traditional meals, the hotel is now host to a variety of plays, musicals, and good ole visiting.

ERMA DELL CARTER REMEMBERS

Do you remember walking to school in all kinds of weather? How about making lye soap in a big kettle and making hominy out of corn? Do you remember when you grew, raised, or made just about everything you used, instead of driving down to Wal-Mart to buy it? Well, Erma Dell (Blankenship) Carter remembers all that and more.

Miss Erma Dell was born in Macon County on October 17, 1912 and lived in the house where she was born until she married. She later moved back to that house to raise her own children. At 93 years young, Erma Dell clearly recalls her childhood and growing up in the Enon community with her sister Amy and brothers Jim and O.D.

“We played croquet, and horse shoes, and basketball,” Erma Dell recounted. “I really liked to play basketball best.” Family rumor has it that Erma Dell was caught more than a few times nudging the croquet ball a little closer to the wicket when she thought nobody was looking.

When not playing croquet or basketball, the Blankenship children kept busy with chores. “I stripped tobacco, grubbed bushes out of the field, worked in the garden, and I also helped with the cooking and cleaning,” Erma Dell explained. “I liked to pick strawberries and blackberries; and I used to dry May apple root and sell it. We cooked on a wood stove,” she added.

Describing the days before kitchens were filled with modern appliances, Erma Dell's daughter Cuma Shoulders explained, “The way we kept our milk and things cool was in the cellar. We dug a trench and we'd keep water in it. We'd set stuff in the water to keep it cool.”

“Ain't nothin' like it used to be,” Erma Dell said, shaking her head and smiling. “Did you ever milk a cow?” she asked laughing. “There was a little grocery store up on Pumpkintown Rd., but we didn't have to buy too much there. We mostly ate beans and taters and cornbread-things we raised. We canned everything and we made a lot of jelly and jam,” Mrs. Carter added.

Telling about what she misses most about the days before modern conveniences, Erma Dell said, “I think clothes got cleaner when we washed ‘em on a wash board. We'd boil ‘em in a pot, then scrub ‘em on the board, rinse ‘em in the spring, and hang ‘em on the line. Clothes just got cleaner that way.”

“We made most of the clothes we wore and I used to crochet with a hairpin,” Erma Dell smiled. “I still love to crochet, but I can't do it with a hairpin any more,” she admitted. Erma Dell crochets without patterns, so nobody knows what she's working on until it's finished.

The neighbors were the Blankenship children's playmates for croquet, horse shoes and Erma Dell's favorite game basketball, but one neighbor in particular eventually caught her attention.

Erma Dell Blankenship was in her teens when Tommy Carter came courting. “We courted for a long time-about two years. I was 19 when I married,” Erma Dell said.

Describing a case of love at first sight, but unable to recall exactly what first sparked her interest in Tommy Carter, Erma Dell said of her late husband, “Tommy lived down below us. He was the only boy I ever talked to,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.

“Tommy came up to the house to visit and we'd go to meetin' together,” Erma Dell said recalling her courtship that took place mostly at home and church.

Erma Dell chuckled telling about sneaking apples her brother had buried. “O.D. used to sit cross-legged on the ground and bury apples so they'd keep. When O.D. wasn't looking, I'd dig up his apples and give some to Tommy,” she laughed.

Erma Dell Blankenship married Tommy Carter in 1931 and their union was blessed with four children. Mildred (who goes by Cuma) was the first born, and the only daughter, followed by sons Gerald, Stephen, and Mitchell. “In those days the doctor came to the house to deliver babies,” Erma Dell explained.

Busy life on a farm with four children provided more than a few dramatic moments. “Did Stephen tell you about the time he got in the lye water?” Erma Dell asked. “His little mouth hurt so bad, he couldn't eat or drink anything,” she added.

“Mama and I were taking paint off an old bed stead using lye water,” Erma Dell continued. “Cuma was supposed to be watching Stephen, but he got the lye water in his mouth.”

“Oh I carried that baby a blue million miles!” Cuma (Mrs. J.E. Shoulders) laughed, sharing her recollection of being the big sister. “The first thing we were able to get Stephen to drink with his mouth hurting from the lye water was some Coca Cola,” Cuma said.

“I had hunted up enough pennies, from off the ground, to buy me a Coca Cola from one of the peddlers that came around. I went down to the trench in the cellar, where I kept my bottle of Coca Cola. When I gave some of it to Stephen he was able to drink it,” Cuma explained.

Recalling bed springs covered by straw filled ticks and topped with feather beds, Erma Dell's daughter Cuma described another childhood mishap with her brother Stephen. “They had the straw ticks off the beds to spray them for chinch bugs. Stephen was asleep on a pallet on the floor, but I was jumping on the springs from one bed to the next, Cuma said describing the fateful scene. “I missed the bed and landed right on Stephen's stomach!” Cuma exclaimed.

“Stephen wouldn't quit crying, ‘wan go see Daddy', so I had to put him in a little red wagon and take him down to the barn where Daddy and them were working,” Cuma concluded.

“Cuma was always trying to kill me.” Stephen Carter added laughing.

Despite the many misadventures of a typical childhood, Erma Dell's children grew up and provided her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Erma Dell's vigor at 93 might be the result of her love of working outdoors. Erma Dell's daughter recalls, “When we were little, she'd always rather help Daddy work in the fields than be in the house.”

Three years ago, Mrs. Carter planted a garden while sitting in a chair. “I had me a little chair low to the ground and I'd work where I could reach and then I'd move my chair and work some more,” Erma Dell smiled proudly. Now she lives at Golden Oaks and plants flowers along her sidewalk. “And I'm gonna dry me some apples on a cloth on the bench,” Erma Dell added.

Erma Dell recalls their first car was a 1937 Ford, but it was the 1962 ford that almost rolled into the pond. “When I got back from driving to the little store up the road, I left the car and it just rolled off across the field and stopped just before it went into the pond!” Erma Dell laughed.

During the seventies, Erma Dell became a CB radio enthusiast and never missed a jamboree. Family members say many people today still call her by her CB handle, ‘Ma Dell'.

More proof that Erma Dell enjoys modern conveniences can be found in the secret of her popular fried pies. “I use ‘Butter Me Not' canned biscuits for the crust,” she whispered. “You can buy them at Wal-Mart,” Erma Dell added with a smile.

Family members joke about Miss Erma Dell being stingy with her fried pies; but the real trick to nabbing one of the desirable delicacies is to just find out when Erma Dell is making them and be first one to get there!

Erma Dell Blankenship Carter recalls the ‘good ol' days' with great fondness; but surrounded by the love of family and friends, at 93, she stays on the go and keeps up with the times without missing a beat.

MACON COUNTY HIGH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Submitted by Chris Phillips

Past President (1999)

For more than 13 years, there has been an organization that comes together and plans a special evening on the third weekend in June. The Macon County Alumni Association is that organization. A banquet is held each year to raise money to be used in the school and award scholarships, but moreover, to bring classmates back together. We honor certain classes each year. This past June, we honored all classes in the 30's and 40's and all classes from there on that ended in 1 and 6