'HAPPY NEW YEAR'

Well today is December 31, 2010 and another year has come and gone! It is a warm, stormy night in Mississippi, not typical weather at all.  I listen to the fireworks outside and see the celebrations on TV and I think about the past year.

Seems like it was just yesterday that the year started with all the hopes and expectations that we are again talking about for 2011.God has blessed me and my family with so many blessings and yet there ate times when I didn't feel so blessed, but isn't that part of life?

As I type this I have earphones on listening to the music of the 1960's and I think about how life has changed since that time.  Some good and some bad, but then I think back to the past year and think of all of God's blessings and find it that there are so many blessings in my life that I can't even remember them all. Not that all the year was good, it wasn't, but the good has certainly outweighed the bad.

I am thankful that Jim and I had the opportunity to celebrate another wedding anniversary, number 49 this time and God willing we may make it to 50 in 2011. This is such a milestone since so many of our friends are married to their second, third, or even fourth spouse! The wonderful part is we love each other more now than we did in 1961. I am thankful for my girls, thankful that they have happy marriages to wonderful men who not only love them but love Jim and me. Next on my list would be my grandchildren and great grand children.  They all live near by and I get to see them almost everyday, what more could I ask!

I am thankful that Jim and I returned to church this year and that the one we chose is a small country church home with people who really care for us and really love the Lord. I am thankful for Dr. Wyman, Dr. Kelly, and all the nurses and doctors at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville who operated on Jim December 22 and was able to get him home in time for Christmas. And I know that they will use all their talents, knowledge and God's blessings to make him well again and free of his cancer.

2011 will come in another hour and we will be thankful for 2010 and will be ready to face whatever is in store because we know that we have each other and God's Blessings!!!

Happy New Year and Love to Jim, Jan and Timmy, Michelle and James, Stephany, Grimey, Tyson and Logan, Andy and Devin, Adam and Sara, and Meghan. (And I can't forget our little animal children, Buster, Rosie, and Snuffy)

MY DAUGHTER-TAMI MICHELLE MARLAR WHITE-11-8-1968

Graduation Southaven High School    1986

Michelle's first birthday 11-8-1969

11-11-1969

Michelle and James     Smokey Mountains October, 2010

On a cold, rainy Friday morning in Memphis, Tennessee at Baptist Hospital my daughter Michelle was born. She was due on November 16 but decided to make her appearance with a bang.  I had a short  labor and she was born only four hours after I arrived at the hospital.  In those days there were no ultrasounds so you had no idea if you were having a boy or girl.  That was part of the excitement. We already had a daughter, Jan who was five and a half.  I thought Jim wanted a boy but secretly I really wanted another girl.  When she was born I thought he would be disappointed but he wasn't.  She was  always (and still is) his baby.
The next day around 11 AM I noticed that the TV was shaking on the wall and the building was shaking a little.  I thought it was just my imagination but to my surprise when Jim came in he told me Memphis had experienced an earthquake. Then on Monday when we went home it snowed all day.  So I guess she just wanted to make her presence known. :-)
We have been so blessed to have her in our lives. She is now married to a wonderful man and has two children. She works hard and is the one that we depend on to find out about our medical problems and be there to help us solve them.
Thank you Michelle for all that you have done for us.  We love you very much!

JIMMY WAYNE MARLAR AND BETTY JANE FELL 11-4-1961

Forty nine years ago today I married my best friend.  It was a rainy, Saturday in Iuka, MS. We had really just thought that we would go to a preacher's house and get married. But my sister in law had other ideas. My brother was attending school to be a preacher but could not marry us. He was attending the First Pentecostal Church in Iuka and his wife insisted that we have a small ceremony there with just a few friends and family members. We had no money, I actually borrowed a hundred dollars from the Credit Union were I worked. I was working at the shoe factory and Jim was working at the local newspaper, The Vidette. I made 75 cents an hour and Jim got a raise to 75 cents when we married. We had a small reception at the preacher's home and then left for a "short" honeymoon in Sheffield. Al.
We both had to be at work on Monday. When I went to work, the first thing they did was lay me off for lack of work. A great way to start a new marriage. No place to live, we stayed with his mother for 3 weeks, only one job, I was off for three weeks, but who cared. Not us we had each other and that was all we needed.
We have been through a lot in that 49 years. Both good and bad. Jim has been  in bad health for the past 25 years and has outlived almost everyone in his family except for one cousin. He has had a massive heart attack, two open heart surgeries, numerous stents and angiopasties, along with MRSA in a broken ankle, and is now fighting a return of melanoma cancer,  But the good has outweighed the bad. We have two daughters, two son in laws, 2 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, one grand son in law and 2 great grandsons. They all live close by and it makes for a happy, noisy life!
Even after all these years, he is still my best friend,

I love you Jimmy Wayne Marlar!!!!

Good News!!!!

Today was a good day! A year and a half ago I had a corneal transplant. I had cataract surgery several years ago and after the second one contacted herpes simplex in my eye. After several attacks I had lost  almost all my sight in my right eye. Finally I decided it was time for a transplant. I had problems after surgery and almost lost my eye but my doctor in Southaven, MS was able to save both my eye and my transplant. I was in the hospital two times, one time having drops in my eyes four times an hour 24 hours a day for 48 hours. I was so tired when I finally left the hospital I slept all the way home!!! So three weeks ago when I went back for my check up I was surprised to find that  I had a little rejection of my transplant. When I asked my doctor if it was bad, he says, "No, if it was, instead of drops in your eyes I would be giving you a injection."  Needless to say I was thankful for drops! Today when I went back to see him, he gave me the good news that we had dodged another bullet. And for that I thank God!

Marlar Cemetery, Sawyer, Kentucky

Recently I received a friend request on Facebook from a Marlar who lives in Kentucky just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. He had decided that he wanted to befriend as many Marlars on facebook as he could, and I am so glad that he did. He is my husband's fourth cousin and is descended from the one brother who stayed in Kentucky while the mother and other children moved to Mississippi in the middle 1800's. I had not been able to prove who the other was but he gave me access to his website which gave me lots of information and I am now in the process of adding it to my website on tribal pages. This was very exciting information but the strange part was that most of the deceased members of the family are buried at Marlar Cemetery near Sawyer, Ky, in the southern most part just north of Knoxville, Tennessee. This cemetery is located in the Cumberland Falls State Park and my husband has vacationed near there twice and did not know it was there. Several years ago we made a trip to Sterns with our friends, Bobby and Judy and last year we spent one night in Somerset, Ky, which is about ten miles from the cemetery!
When I found this out I immediately started planning a trip to go to this cemetery and another one near by. Two weeks ago Jim and I along with our daughter Michelle and her husband James made the trip, combining it with a trip to Gatlinburg.
While there we were able to make pictures at both cemeteries. I am sure we did not get pictures of all the Marlar graves as there were many unmarked graves. Some of the tombstones had deteriorated and some had been replaced with newer ones, leaving the old ones there also.
While we were there we also visited Cumberland Falls. This was the first trip there for Michelle and James. We had such a wonderful time. The leaves were beginning to turn, the weather was beautiful and we enjoyed being with family talking about older family members.
I make a lot of pictures for findagrave.com and I had noticed that there was a request for a picture of a grave that was not one of my husband's relatives. I made sure that I made a picture to post. I received the sweetest thank you. It was from a young man in the service and the grave was his father's. He was so happy to receive the picture and I was happy I could make it for him as he was protecting our freedom!
Hope you enjoy some of the pictures we made!!!

Knocking down a brick wall!!!

I love genealogy. I love knowing where I came from and also my husband. I have been doing research since 1995 and during that time I have found and knocked down several brick walls. It is so exciting when you are able to finally find that one (or several) people that you have been searching for, sometimes for years.
That was the case with my husband's Marlar family. We knew who the first Marlar was that came to Tishomingo County. She was Mary "Polly" Barnes Marlar and came here a widow with several children. We didn't know who her husband was or where he was buried, only that she came from Kentucky. I had searched but with no name or information to go on could not find any concrete information of any of the Kentucky Marlars that could be related.
Flash forward to two weeks ago. I received a friend request from William Marlar of Kentucky. He had looked and found about 500 Marlars on facebook and had decided to see how many he could befriend. I immediately confirmed him and sent him a message to ask if he and my husband could be related. When I received his reply I was so happy I could have danced around the room!!! Now not only do we know his great great great grandfather's name (Allen Rubin Marlar) but where is buried. William is my husband's fourth cousin and descended from the one child who remained in Kentucky.
The most ironic part of this story is that this cemetery is named Marlar Cemetery and located in the southern part of Kentucky, north of Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tennessee and last year my husband and I took a weekend trip that area and were within ten miles of the cemetery! About 12 years ago we had also been on vacation there and spent the night about 20 miles from there. Now I am planning another trip there, hopefully this fall so I can make pictures and see all the graves for myself.
I am so happy to find William and although he lives further north maybe in the not too distance future we will be able to meet. If he had not decided to befriend me I might never have found the information that he has been able to give me.
You just never know where that one lost piece of info will be that will connect you to many family members. Always be on the outlook and never say no!!!!!
Thank you so much, William, for finding us and welcome to our side of the Marlar Family!!!!!

Vela Artesia Frederick Fell 3-25-1905 7-2-2001

obit for Vela Fell
Vela Fell, 96, died Monday, July 2, 2001, at Beverly Health Care in Southaven. She was a member of Iuka Church of Christ.
Services were at 1 pm Thursday at Curshall Funeral Home Chapel with John Hardwick officating. Burial was in Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
Survivors include two sons, Elgen Berry Fell Jr., and his wife Lola, of Sheffield, Ala, and Billy Fell and his wife, Lillian of Southaven; three daughters, Polly and Buddy VonBoeckman of Walls, Virginia and Jo e Schulte of Muscle Shoals, Ala, and Betty and Jimmy Marlar of Iuka; two sisters, Edith Morris of Indiana and Edra Rhodes of Corinth, 15 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren, and 13 great-great grandchildren.
Pallbearers were Mike VonBoeckman, Phillip VonBoeckman, Tommy Dale Brewer, Gary Schulte, Richard Fell, James White and Berry Schulte.
Memorials may be made to the Iuka Church of Christ

Today it has been nine years since you left us. I have missed you everyday for that nine years. As the years have gone by and I have aged, I realize how fortunate and lucky I was to have had a mother as sweet and kind as you. In my lifetime I will never forget your smile and your kind, soft hearted ways. My girls miss you as much as I do. We will never let your memory die. Love forever!

Elgen Berry Fell, Sr. 7-3-1903 6-28-1973

Thirty seven years ago today I lost a part of my heart. After a two year illness my Dad passed away. Even though we knew he had been ill for those two years we were not prepared for him to die. The last memory I have of him is after they rushed him to Memphis and as I was walking into his room the response team stopped me and wouldn't let me enter. They couldn't save him and I have always had that memory of him trying to breathe.
He had been in the hospital in Iuka and we had traveled from Horn Lake to visit but he was so ill that he couldn't even talk. Among other problems he had emphysema and was under an oxygen tent. The medical field has advanced tremendously since those days.
When he took a turn for the worse, the doctor suggested that he be moved by ambulance to Baptist Hospital in Memphis. My mother finally agreed and regretted it for the rest of her life. She rode in the ambulance with him and my brother, Billy and his son, Billy Joe, was driving behind. A lady stopped and the ambulance was able to pass her but my nephew hit her car in the rear. My mother saw what happened and had to go on to the hospital not knowing if my brother and nephew were injured or not. Thankfully no one was injured but the lady saw an opportunity to defraud the insurance company and sued. It started a long battle of legal problems which ended with the people being seen for the crooks they really were! We never knew if my Dad knew of the accident. He died within an hour of reaching the hospital and my mother always said she wished she had let him die in peace.
I have such happy memories of my Daddy. I was the baby of their eight kids and by the time I arrived most of the older kids were grown and on their own. My Dad doted on me and I have those memories. During my high school years we would go on vacation to Florida and would always have such a great time. He lived Florida, especially fishing. I have loved the beach ever since.
My father's death was hard on the entire family as we had lost my oldest sister in 1968 and my youngest brother in 1970, both after long battles with cancer. In the five years before my Dad died my mother had lost him, a son, a daughter, and two brothers.
Everyday I think of my Dad and I think since living back in Iuka there is certainly more to remind me of him. He will always live in my heart.

My sister, Polly VonBoeckman

Yesterday Michelle, Richie and I went to see my sister Polly at Agape Village in Hazel Green, Ala. I hadn't seen her in almost two years and this was my first visit since she had moved to this facility. It breaks my heart to see her. Her husband, Buddy, first noticed her mind getting bad when our Mother was still alive. I remember him telling me about some of the things she would do twelve-thirteen years ago. At this time she was not much older than I am now. At first it was hard for me to tell the difference but as time went on I, too could see the problems she was having. They lived in Horn Lake/Southaven, MS and the traffic was terrible. Buddy had hearing and eye problems and Polly would always drive. She had been involved in one bad accident but had walked away with no injuries. After that Buddy would always go with her. She would laugh and say that they could go anywhere since he would tell her where to go and she would just follow his directions!
As time went by I could tell that she was steadily getting worse. Buddy's health was failing and although I don't know for sure I think she had began to get a little mean to him. Finally there came a time when they could no longer live alone. They fought it until their son had no choice but to find a place close to him where they could live. Shortly after that Buddy had to go to a nursing home where he could have twenty-four hour care. It was just as well since now she looks at a picture of him and doesn't know who he is.
Polly is sixteen years older than me and we had one sister who was the oldest and one year older than Polly. She died of cancer in 1968 at age forty-four. Of the eight children in our family I am the baby.
In the almost two years Polly has been in Agape, my husband and I have had health problems and I have not been able to travel the one hundred plus miles to visit. I have missed seeing her so much. Finally my younger sister told me that if I wanted to see her while she would still know me I really needed to visit. My daughter, Michelle and I traveled to Huntsville and met my youngest brother's son, Richie and we went to visit with her.
I was really prepared for the worse but she was in much better condition than I had
anticipated. She has lost weight and is now gray headed. That is one of the things she and I always teased about. She hated gray hair and always kept hers so neat and dyed. When I started to gray at an early age, I really liked it, but she would say " Why don't you do something about that gray hair? It makes you look older". And I would laugh and say. "Well, at least I know what color mine is!" Now she is gray and I can't believe how much she looks like me and our mother. I never before thought that she looked like me, but now she does. she certainly doesn't look like she is eighty-five years old. I think I have more wrinkles than she does!
I cried when I first saw her and I cried again when I left. I don't know if I will see her again and if I do she might not know who I am. She did know me this time but I am sure that the minute I walked out the door she forgot I had been there. She didn't remember my other sister being there and I guess what hurt me most was when she ask us when we had talked to Gladys, even through Gladys had died before Michelle and Richie was born. We just pretended we hadn't seen her in a while, and she accepted that.
I don't know what will happen to me in the future. After seeing Polly and knowing my brother, Billy, is bedridden with what is also probably a form of Alzheimer's, and knowing that three of my sibling died at a young age with no way of knowing if they would have problems or not, I have decided that it is time to talk to my Neurologist next week and discuss what my options are. Since I had one massive stroke and have scar tissue from the blood clot I had, perhaps I need to take some medication to see if I can prolong my own mental loss. I hope I do not get like she is or Billy. It is hard for me and I can only imagine how it must be for their spouses and children.
I think the thing that strikes me most about both of them is the vacant look in their eyes. Both of them have the same look, almost as if they themselves are not really there anymore, but just a shell of themselves. Alzheimer's hurts everyone!

Pictures of my trip to the West!!!!

My vacation to the Grand Canyon!

On Tuesday May 4, Jim and I and our best friends, Bobby and Judy left for Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We had panned to go there in 1998 but three weeks before we were to leave I suffered a massive stroke that no one thought I would recover from. I spent the entire summer learning to walk and do all the things that we all take for granted. Since that time I have progressed to walking with a cane but we all have had medical problems that we thought would keep us from going. Bobby and Judy had traveled to California to see their daughter and had seen it at that time, but we still talked about going together. Bobby was diagnosed with cancer and after taking chemo/radiation was waiting for surgery and we just decided now was the right time.
We were gone for nine days. The Grand Canyon was awesome. Everyone should see it in their lifetime. The weather was good and we saw no accidents while we were gone.
We took the southern route traveling I-40 as we went west. We made a detour in New Mexico to visit Roswell. My husband is a big UFO fan and loves to see anything on them. It was a little disappointing that they will not even let you go near Area 51 but Judy bought him a Roswell tag for his pickup.
We would really have liked to have spent more time at the Canyon. The crowds were small and you could find good places to sit or stand and just look and reflect. We have an awesome God who can create something this beautiful. It is so peaceful and all the pictures I have seen and the ones that I took can never do it justice!
After leaving the Canyon we drove through the Navajo Nation of Arizona stopping to spend the night at a motel on the reservation. Everyone we saw (except for a few tourists) were full blooded American Indians. Even all the workers at McDonalds! We really enjoyed seeing how they lived. It is certainly different from what we had thought.
We then continued to the four corners. We wanted to stop at the monument but it was closed for repairs. I am still not sure if we went through Utah but we were so close that I know we could have spit on it!!!
Driving through the Rockies in Colorado was one of the highlights of our trip. We would think we were in a valley and then see a sign, Altitude 6352 FT. There were snow capped mountains all around. One time we came around a curve and there was a waterfall which fell 105 feet from a cliff. It was beautiful. Judy walked in the snow and Bobby made a snowball. We then went a little higher to a scenic spot and the wind was so bad I could barely stand to make pictures!
We then traveled into the lower part of Kansas, stopping at Dodge City to spend the night. We had planned to tour the Old Western Town but during the night we had a hail storm and the next morning the fog was so bad we couldn't really see anything so we decided to travel on.
We went to Wichita and then headed south. My great nephew, Brad, is the Chief of Police in Belle Plain just south of Wichita. I knew since he was my friend on Facebook he would be following where I was each night so we decided to just surprise him and we did. We were able to have lunch with him, his wife , his baby daughter, and one of their sons. The other one was at school so we missed him.
After we left Belle Plaine , we traveled on to Fort Smith, Arkansas where we spent our last night. Little did I know the surprise that was waiting for me at home!
I had been talking for some time about redoing my kitchen. When we bought this house six years ago it was a foreclosure and we had done some remodeling, painting the brown bead board yellow and the brown trim work white. This had brightened the room a lot but over the years I had gotten tired of the yellow and had picked out a Terra cotta color that I liked. I was in bad need of a new ventahood since mine make a terrible noise and didn't work. But all I had done was talk about it and never really expected to get it done any time soon. Unknown to me my daughters and my husband planned a remodel while we were gone on our trip. He would talk to them each day to see how it was going and I didn't even know it!
When we got home and I walked in the door, I felt like I was on HGTV! My kitchen was so beautiful. My daughters are so talented. Jan had changed the color slighly and the one she chose was much better than the one I had chosen. My yellow walls were terra cotta, I had white painted cabinets, new cabinet pulls, a new ventahood, new shelves on one wall, and a major cleaning. It is so beautiful. I am so lucky to have daughters who are so talented, a son-in-law who is also a handyman and a grandson who works in maintenance for a nursing home and loves to use his new knowledge to help me. They only spent $300.00 but it looks like a million dollars!! I am still amazed to think that they love me that much that they would spend that much time for me!! I love my husband and my family and I am the luckiest mother, grandmother, and great grandmother in the world! I love my family!!!!

Did you have any ancestors who fought for the north in the War between the States?

My great-great grandfather, Anthony Aylor fought for the north in the War between the States. This apparently created a family feud and after the war Anthony moved his family to Arkansas. This was because his daughter's father-in-law had fought for the south. We do not know the exact details of the dispute.
I had problems finding information about Anthony Aylor as his daughter, my great grandmother had spelled her name as Ailer when she married my great grandfather, and at some point Anthony had changed the spelling to Aylor. I was unable to find any information until John Ragsdale, a cousin from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma contacted me and was able to give me pictures and information.
This is what I found out about Anthony Aylor.

Anthony Aylor`s discharge papers from Union Army. John Ragsdale of Oklahoma has original.
Anthony Aylor, fought for Union, State of Tennessee, dob: 1-1-1824 do d: 2-14-1917, Sobol, Okla.
enlisted: private age 39 Co. B-2nd MTD infantry regiment Tenn on 10-1 5-1863 Discharged-Co. B 2nd MTD infantry regiment Tenn- 10-17-1864 Nashville, Tennessee HT: 5` 9` eyes: Hazel hair: Dark
complexion: Dark

Anthony Aylor was a Union soldier during the Civil War. He served as a Private, Co. B Reg`t Tenn. Mounted Inf from October 15, 1863 to October 17, 1864. Issued pension for service in Union Army: Certificate No . 547184

Wounded in Battle
Wounded while on Little Cyprus Creek, Tennessee fall of 1863. Sabre or bayonet wound in the head.
Treated in camp two weeks by a country physician. Subsequently, in the hospital at Clifton, Tennessee by regimental Surgeon L.D. Hoglan.
After an illness of a few days with la grippe, Grandpa Anthony Aylor died here at the home of his son, J.T. Aylor, at the age of 93 years, 1 month and 13 days. Granpa Aylor was born in Alabama a few days before J.Q. Adams was inaugurated president of the U.S. He moved with his parents to Tennessee when a mere lad. He was married at the age of twenty two to Miss Anna Hill, the union being blessed by two sons and two daughters, who still survive him. His wife died some twenty years ago. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in the Federal side and served in the 22nd Tenn. Mtd. Infantry under Gen. Huckeby. After the war he moved with his family to the west where the buffalo roamed the prairie and the Indians were yet living in their wigwams. He joined the Christian church (Church of Christ) at the age of twenty three and remained a loyal member till summoned to his Heavenly home.

Anthony Aylor-great great grandfather
Sarah Elizabeth Ailer Kidd-great grandmother
Annie Rebecca Jane Kidd Fell-grandmother
Elgen Berry Fell, SR.-father
Betty Jane Fell Marlar

Did you have any ancestor who fought for the south in the War Between the States?

My great-great-grandfather, John B. Kidd, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The picture attached is a picture of John and his wife Elizabeth A. Sparks Kidd. He has a peg leg. He lost his leg due to an injury sustained in battle.
This is some of the information I have about him:
There are a few things we do know about John. According to John`s Civil War muster, he had gray eyes, dark hair, dark complexion, and stood 5`10` tall. He was born in York County, SC and it is believed that he was in Oglethorpe County, GA for a time Census records tell us that John was living in Talladega County, Ala. in the 1850 and 1860 censuses. By 1870 the area of Talladega County where he resided had been tu rned into Clay County, Al. John B was in Winston County, Al in the 1880 and 1900 censuses. There is a John B. Kidd serving as postmaster in Winston County, Al, town of Biler, from May 15, 1888 thru December 24, 1896.

On April 15,1864, John Kidd enlisted in the Civil War as a Private in Company `C`, 3rd Alabama (confederate) . From July 20 to September l, 1864 he was actively engaged in the War. He then took a leave of absence with his family. On Sept 29 1864, John rejoined the Confederate forces, being assigned to Company `A`, Hardie`s Battalion Confederate Cavalry Reserves which was formed in Talladega County. John was injured during a engagement at Oxford in December of 1864, sustaining a leg injury. As a result of his injury his right leg had to be amputated four inches below the knee. The injury resulted in his capture by the Union forces. On May 22, 1865 he was released as a prisoner of war. He served a total of 13 months. By 1880 John had moved his family to Winston County, Al, between the towns of Double Springs and Haleyville. The 1880 census lists a grandson, Thomas Washington Kidd (`Little Tom` son of Asbury) living in the household of John Kidd. The 1900 census shows them still living in Winston (the 1900 census shows John B. and Elizabeth living with Thomas and Ladie Kidd in Winston County, Ala) but by 1901 John And Elizabeth were living with Little Tom in Lawrence County, Al. Elizabeth died on 7 24 1901 John died a few years later in 1905. They are both buried at the Old Liberty Congregational Church cemetery in Hatton, Lawrence County, Al.

Following is written on his company muster roll:
Record of Events-
`My Company was organized on the 15 day of April last, and entered into service the 20 day of July following. I was first ordered into camp-at-Talladega thencely ordered to Selma, thence to Mobile, thence near Blakely in Baldwin Co. Back to camp Cummings Mobile. The men absent without leave were ordered in first camps and have been ordered to there command sence reaching this place. They are now at there homes.` (Spelling is as it appears on the records).

John B. Kidd-great great grandfather
A. A. Kidd-great grandfather
Annie Rebecca Jane Kidd Fell-grandmother
Elgen Berry Fell, Sr.-father
Betty Jane Fell Marlar

15.What school activities and sports did you participate in?

I was never much for sports in school. I did play basketball in seventh and eighth grade but we only had barely enough girls to have a team. We were only a three room school and played other country schools in the county. I don't remember anyone being very good. Those were the days that girls only played half court.We didn't have a building and played outside on a dirt court! It was fun but I was never good enough to make it on a "real" team. Therefore when I went to Iuka in the ninth grade I didn't even bother to try out for the team. I would never have made it. We had one of the best teams in the state and had some really good ball players on our team.

Academics were more my speed. I had graduated the eighth grade as valedictorian and when I went to the ninth grade I was a little lazy. For the ninth and tenth I didn't really try hard but then I decided to pay a little more attention and pull my grades up. In the fifties we had what we called a "coronation". It consisted of four girls and four guys from 9th, 10th, and 11th grade and five from the 12th. Mr. and Miss Iuka High School was chosen from the 12th grade students and was revealed that night. The students were the ones with the highest grades from each grade. We would have a special performance to announce the winners. We had it in the Gym and all the other students and parents would attend. I was honored to be in it for the 11th and 12th grade. While I didn't win Miss Iuka, it was an honor just to be selected for the court.

The local television station in Tupelo, MS had a show called Quiz 'em on the Air. It was comprised of junior and senior students from schools in northeast Mississippi. I was fortunate enough to be on the team both years. It was a question and answer format with the winner returning each week.

When I graduated from the 12th we didn't have valedictorian or salutatorian, we only had honors such as most athletic. or citizenship, etc. However the highest honor was to graduate as a member of the Beta Club and have a special seal on your diploma, and be honored graduation night. I was fortunate enough to receive this honor.

I was lucky enough to attend and graduate from a small school and because of this I could participate in many clubs and activities including the annual staff, 4-H Club, Beta Club, FBLA, Coronation, and the Junior and Senior play.

When I look back now I realize now that those were some of the happiest years of my life. Each year the editors of the annual selected sayings that would best suit the personality of each graduate. Mine reads "Happy-go-lucky, fair and free; there's nothing in the world that bothers me." I don't think they could have picked anything that would have suited me better!!!!!