| Five Points.....of Yesteryear |
| .....I remember when Five Points was a bustling community..there were 2 service stations, Five Point Barber Shop, Leftys Grill, Dynamites grocery store, Seagos Restaurant and other stores not located there now. One day there was a downpour and Benji Alexander, I and others were messing around there and Benji's sister hollered at Benji and told him to come home because his mom said he was going to be "drenched" if he didn't get out of that rain. Benji was the kind of person that would keep you in stiches laughing with his many jokes. Behind the old Discount City building that is located there now is where Mike and Billy McKenzie lived with their parents. Up the hill behind their house were other McKenzie relatives that lived there. I remember Mike and/or Billy had an old red, convertible Plymouth(I believe it was a Plymouth) and Mike and my older brother Randy would always get to ride in it but they would not let me go with them. That was the disadvantages of being one of the youngest. When I was young, Highways 74 and 220 intersected at Five Points. Highway 74 went through to Charlotte and the other way to Rockingham. Highway 220 came through Five Points from Ellerbe to Rockingham. It was also called Ellerbe Rd. Back then, one road led to Pee Dee, one to Rockingham (Hwy 74), one to Charlotte, one to Prison Camp Rd, and one to Ellerbe (Hwy 220). I assume that is where the name Five Points came from. Of course, now Highway 74 and 220 bypass Five Points. |
| Seagos Restaurant..... |
| .....I remember when Seagos was one of the two most popular restaurants in Rockingham - Tom & Sarahs being the other one. As a young boy, I got one of my first jobs there. I was a "Curb Hop". You don't hear that name much these days. But being a curb hop was a challenging job. When cars pulled up, they would blow their horns for service. I had to take their orders, go inside and fix the drinks, ring the sale up, and get it back to them as soon as possible. We worked mostly for tips. At the beginning of each shift, when I arrived, I was giving a certain amount of money, say $3.00. We would make change with this and if we were short at the end of the shift, we would have to make up the difference. Of course, the food was left on a tray that fitted onto the drivers side. And many times accidents would happen. One delivery I still remember is when I left an order on a tray and came back to retrieve it and found a $5.00 tip. You have to remember this was around the early 1960s and that was big money then. I remember I treated all the other curb hops on duty that night to hamburgers. Some of the guys were Charles and Don Childers and Willie Jackson. |
| Tom & Sarahs Restaurant..... |
| .....I remember when Tom & Sarahs Restaurant was the most popular restaurant in Rockingham. My brother Randy worked there as a curb hop but I never did. Tom Carter was a great guy and had the most unusual menu of sandwiches in the county at that time. Such sandwiches as the Tom Dog, Square Dog, Submarine, Pizza Burger, Midget Burger & Dog, Tanker, Mad Dog and one of my favorites, the Ne-Hi Burger. Tom had the "modern" curb service, the individual menus at each drive in spot that you could push a button and give your order over the speaker. Then the curb boys would bring it out to you. When I had my '66 Chevelle SS, me and others would race our cars down highway 74 in front of Tom & Sarahs. Also, on Saturday (datenite) nights, all our buddies would gather there after our dates had ended. One time Bill Willard, Robert Baxley and I played a trick on our buddy Jimmy Perkins. He had a '54 brown and white Chevy at the time and while he was inside Toms, we knocked his car out of gear and pushed it behind the furniture store below Toms. When he came out, he was very upset thinking someone had stolen his car. He was just about to call the police when we admitted what we had done. Needless to say, he didn't think it was funny. |
| The Shotgun Blast..... |
| .....I remember when (and childhood friend Murphy Comer should remember this) one day when he was inside my house observing my 12 gauge sawed-off shotgun, something unusual happened. I was outside the house on a ladder doing some painting. My brother Keith was inside with Murphy. All of a sudden, I heard a loud shotgun blast. I was halfway up that ladder but jumped to the ground in an instant. All I could think of was running into the house and finding Keith or Murphy laying on the floor bleeding from a shotgun blast. But they were lucky. The gun had gone off accidently while Murphy was looking at it (of course, it was supposed to be empty) and blew a hole through one wall of the house and came out through the wall in the kitchen. Neither of them were hurt but I think they learned a lesson the hard way. That hole is still there but is covered with wallpaper. |
| The F-85 Free Ride..... |
| May 6, 2003 |
| .....I remember when my best friend Marcus Comer and I decided we wanted to tour the town. But we had no wheels to do it in. We were about 15 or 16 at the time, so we figured out a way to go driving at night. His Mom had an F-85 Oldsmobile - burgundy in color and a sub compact. Now, I assumed Marcus had driven this car before, so we waited until late at night to "borrow" it. We had a great time using this car for a joy ride on the town but of course all good things come to an end. When we came back home, his Mom found out about it and put Marcus on restriction. I think we came out of this pretty lucky - no wrecks but a lot of time to think about what we had done. |
| Learning to Drive in Drivers Ed Class..... |
| .....I remember when I was either 15 or close to 16 years old and it was time for me to take drivers education in order to be able to get my drivers license. Well, my Dad did not have the time to take me for these lessons every day, so I found another way to get to class. I already knew how to drive because Dad had let me drive around our yard or on an old dirt road. But at the time, you had to take this course to get your license at 16. My best friend, Marcus Comer, also had to go to this class. Dad had an old '61 Black Ford pickup that he used for his fence business. He said we could drive this truck to school (that's where the lessons were to be given) but to park it away from the high school so noone would see us driving it. Well, as most people in Rockingham know, LJ Bell Elem School was located right down below Rham High School. Me and Marcus had found the perfect place to park the truck. And, so, every day we went to drivers ed class, we would drive to LJ Bell and park in their parking lot at the front of the school. One day as we were in the car with our instructor, Coach Biggerstaff, he made the following comment: "You know, lately when we have driven past LJ Bell, that "fence truck" has been parked there. They must be getting ready to fence the school in." It was all me and Marcus could do to keep from laughing outloud at his statement. |
| Camping Out in the Winter.... |
| .....I remember when as young kids, we used to love to camp out. Many times we would go below my old house on Ellerbe Rd and camp out in the woods located in what is now Beverly Hills. About all we would take were a few flashlights, blankets to lay on, candy, drinks and cigarettes. It was always a thrill to lay out under the stars and listen to all the sounds of nature plus a few sounds we weren't sure of. But in the winter, you needed a little more than a blanket. So, we went in the woods behind the Jenkins house on our street and built us a hut or you might want to call it a lean-to.There wasn't much to it, mostly it was built out of cardboard and any old boards we found laying around. But it was strong enough to keep the wind and snow off of us. It had a hole in the middle of the roof so the smoke could have a place to escape when we made our campfires. I remember many times we would camp out in this hut and it would be snowing like crazy outside. But with the fire and blankets, we kept pretty warm. |
| Pee Dee River Hills.... |
| .....I remember when the guys in the neighborhood would get together in someone's car and go to the river hills. It seems usually it was Mike McKenzies old red Plymouth. At that time, all the river hill roads were dirt. If you have ever driven or rode through the river hills, you know the roads wind in and out, with hair-pin curves and narrow roads. One particular trip remains in my mind. We were all looking for a good curve that was located below a bank or hill. Well, we found one that we liked. Someone had some rope and we all made it up to the top of the hill. One of the guys made it up a tree that was right on the edge of the overhanging hill and tied the rope to a limb. This was perfect. What we would do is put our foot in the rope and swing out directly over the dirt road below. Now, this was fun! When cars or trucks came by, one of us would hollow and jump out into the open sky with our feet in the rope - and we would sail right above any moving vehicle below. This was another way of having fun when I was a kid that was....well, dangerous and challenging, at the same time. |
| Fishing and Camping at Blewett Falls Dam.... |
| .....I remember when as a young boy, we loved to go fishing and camping. One of the places was at the bottom of Blewatt Falls Dam. My brothers, the McKenzies, and others would go there and fish and camp. If you have ever been to this dam, you know at the bottom were a lot of rocks. Also, there was a cement platform across the bottom that you could walk out on and fish - all the way to the other side of the dam. My dad and some of his buddies from church would also take us kids there to fish. There was one particular spot we would go to fish - it was a bunch of rocks connected together. We would also camp out on these rocks. It was pretty uncomfortable but we didn't mind. But I remember that nighttime there was very dark because there was no kind of lights at the dam and all we would have is maybe a campfire on the rocks or some flashlights. We had always heard stories of drunks hanging out around there but we never ran into any. I guess this was just another streak of luck that got me through my childhood. |
| So, as the Train of Life keeps chugging along, another page written of my Childhood Memories of.... Rockingham Remembered. |
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