Ed. note:  I received this e-mail from a member of the class that graduated from SHS a year before we did in 1956.  Bill has had a full and successful career, ending up in California where he has made it his avocation to use modern technology to follow in the footsteps of the great evangelists, speaking the truths that he has learned from his avid study of The Word.  In his writings, Bill also looks back and remembers our hometown fondly--and writes eloquently about experiences during his youth in Sheffield.  These are the type of remembrances that I have asked you, my classmates, to send me.

 

Bill Gray On Sheffield
Hi to my SHS Classmates and Friends,

Today I discovered a documentary film which many of you may have already seen; but to me it was an eye-opener and it made me very sad.  The documentary is:  Sheffield: A City Hanging Over A Cliff, a 28 minute film by Steve and Sheri Wiggins.  It is a "show and tell" of how Sheffield is dying while the surrounding communities are thriving.

Buck Locke and I have often shared how we would love to see downtown Sheffield renovated and brought into this century.

Besides making you aware of Sheffield's plight --- this film will also bring back sweet memories, such as Whippoorwill Hollow.  Until watching this film, I had forgotten that name --- not the place, but the name of the place.  Whippoorwill Hollow is a place of many childhood memories for me.  In the 1940s, I remember my mom and her friend, Hazel Hall, taking my brother, Larry and Terry Hall, and myself on that walk down to Whippoorwill Hollow to swim.   I recall times my brother and I went with friends to Whippoorwill Hollow to swim --- and, yes, I did jump off that cliff, although with many butterflies in my stomach.

Whippoorwill Hollow is the place that Roy Green, my SHS classmate, and I went on that beautiful Spring day when we decided it was too nice a day to spend in classrooms.  I remember that I was sitting against the big oak tree at SHS before school, and Roy came up and asked if I really felt like being in school on such a beautiful day.  We both decided a swim sounded much better --- and off we went in his car to the park where we could walk down to Whippoorwill Hollow.   Armed with an inner tube and no brains, we set out to swim the Tennessee River that day.  Roy swam over and I paddled the inner tube; then we swapped for the return trip.  I learned a lesson, almost a deadly lesson, that day --- the currents of the Tennessee can be very treacherous.  Especially when you are trying to swim into a relatively small cove, such as Whippoorwill Hollow.  When I was about twenty yards out, the current would not let me move.  Swim as hard as I could, I could not move.  Looking back I see those sheer cliffs below and know that, without God's hand on me, I would have been swept down river past Whippoorwill Hollow.  Kinds of reminds one of Jesus telling us, in Matthew 7:13-14,  "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."   That day, on the Tennessee River, God delivered me into that narrow cove which allowed me to live.  Since then, I have followed Him on that narrow path that leads to eternal salvation.

Yes, this film brought me many good memories.  But, it also brought me a saddened heart --- to see so much of my home town decaying before my eyes.

Even if you have seen the film before, take another look.  Then share it with all of our SHS classmates who have moved away.

By the way, I found it best to download the video and then watch it.  You may have to also download the Google Video Player; but it downloads quickly.

Sheffield: A City Hanging Over A Cliff,  By Steve and Sheri Wiggins

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1544252511244106900&hl=en

You might want to bookmark The Catfish Wrapper web site also.  It has lots of good local info in it plus lots of local and historical photos --- such as Crump Camera Shop, Spalding Walgreen Drug Store Grand Opening, and Belk Hudson's Grand Opening (1946).

Who, besides me, still notices your mouth begin to water at the thought of those fantastic hot biscuits served at Spalding Walgreen during lunch.  I can still remember the waitress going to the kitchen and bringing out a tray of hot, delicious biscuits and passing them around to anyone who wanted more.  I'm getting hungry.

Anyway, check out The Catfish Wrapper:

http://www.thecatfishwrapper.com/

Share this with all of our SHS classmates.  The video might be a good addition to Class web sites --- Louis and Betty.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Bred in Alabama,
Fed in California,
Blessed by God to be an Alabamian and an American!

Bill & Dory's Ministry Web Site:      http://www.BillDory-Christian-Ministries.com
 
To be added to my Friends Ministry mail list, or to add a friend,
please e-mail me at billdory@pacbell.net

If you would like to become a prayer partner
in the Worldwide Prayer Chain,
or would like more info on this intercessory prayer chain,
please e-mail me at billdory@pacbell.net

I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.