| Sliding In Safe! |
Another little story of the many memorable good
times I had as a youngster growing up in a small,
textile town in North Carolina known as Rockingham
- the sandhills of the Carolinas.
We used to have some great times during my teen
years. And a lot of great times had something to do
with cars - driving them, wrecking them, racing
them or dreaming of owning one of them, now known
as classics. During that time most of the guys didn't
have new cars - mainly we had old ones that had
dents, scratches, old paint jobs or just did not
compare with the newer cars. But these old cars did
the job - mainly getting us around town cruising.
One of my school buddies, Billy Willard, loved
cars just as I did. He had a few during his high
school years but the one I remember the most was a
green and white '55 or '56 Oldsmobile. At that
time, I still had my old '51 black Ford that I had to
roll down the hill at school every day to get it
started....this was before I had the new Chevelle.
Billy lived out on the Wiregrass Road down below
another school classmate, Jackie Cooper. Jackie was
one of the fastest runners in school at the time, as
I was, but he was faster.
I remember one particular night Billy, Marcus
Comer and maybe another buddy were cruising in
that Olds around Rockingham. That Olds was a heavy
car and once it was going, it was hard to stop. We
had left Tom & Sarahs heading down Highway 74 and
had stopped at the traffic light at the intersection
of Highway 1 getting ready to turn left going
towards Cordova. We made the turn and Billy had
the old Olds winding out. As we had just gotten pass
where the Orange Bowl used to be, Marcus yelled
"Turn left!" We were moving at a pretty good speed
at the time but Billy figured he could make the turn
with no problem.
Well - that was a big mistake! Billy had built up
just too much momentum in that Olds to make a safe
turn to the left that quick. The road we were
supposed to turn on was Mill Road that leads to
East Rockingham. But we missed it! Instead, when
Billy jerked the car to the left to attempt that turn,
we went sliding sideways - dirt, gravel and rock
flying everywhere, right up to where the Rockingham
Electrical Co. used to be. We slid right up to the
front doors!
But, no need to worry. That didn't phase Billy
any. He popped the car right back into gear and spun
that old Olds around like nothing had happened. But
you can bet me and Marcus were holding on for dear
life!
I don't know if Billy and Marcus remember this
episode during our teen years but I will never forget
it. The way I looked at it, we were Sliding In Safe
- because I lived to tell about it!
times I had as a youngster growing up in a small,
textile town in North Carolina known as Rockingham
- the sandhills of the Carolinas.
We used to have some great times during my teen
years. And a lot of great times had something to do
with cars - driving them, wrecking them, racing
them or dreaming of owning one of them, now known
as classics. During that time most of the guys didn't
have new cars - mainly we had old ones that had
dents, scratches, old paint jobs or just did not
compare with the newer cars. But these old cars did
the job - mainly getting us around town cruising.
One of my school buddies, Billy Willard, loved
cars just as I did. He had a few during his high
school years but the one I remember the most was a
green and white '55 or '56 Oldsmobile. At that
time, I still had my old '51 black Ford that I had to
roll down the hill at school every day to get it
started....this was before I had the new Chevelle.
Billy lived out on the Wiregrass Road down below
another school classmate, Jackie Cooper. Jackie was
one of the fastest runners in school at the time, as
I was, but he was faster.
I remember one particular night Billy, Marcus
Comer and maybe another buddy were cruising in
that Olds around Rockingham. That Olds was a heavy
car and once it was going, it was hard to stop. We
had left Tom & Sarahs heading down Highway 74 and
had stopped at the traffic light at the intersection
of Highway 1 getting ready to turn left going
towards Cordova. We made the turn and Billy had
the old Olds winding out. As we had just gotten pass
where the Orange Bowl used to be, Marcus yelled
"Turn left!" We were moving at a pretty good speed
at the time but Billy figured he could make the turn
with no problem.
Well - that was a big mistake! Billy had built up
just too much momentum in that Olds to make a safe
turn to the left that quick. The road we were
supposed to turn on was Mill Road that leads to
East Rockingham. But we missed it! Instead, when
Billy jerked the car to the left to attempt that turn,
we went sliding sideways - dirt, gravel and rock
flying everywhere, right up to where the Rockingham
Electrical Co. used to be. We slid right up to the
front doors!
But, no need to worry. That didn't phase Billy
any. He popped the car right back into gear and spun
that old Olds around like nothing had happened. But
you can bet me and Marcus were holding on for dear
life!
I don't know if Billy and Marcus remember this
episode during our teen years but I will never forget
it. The way I looked at it, we were Sliding In Safe
- because I lived to tell about it!
| So, as the Train of Life keeps chugging along, another page written of my Childhood Memories of.... Rockingham Remembered. |
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