What’s not to like about October with the cool nip in the air, leaves putting on their annual display of colors, school in session, football, and cozy light sweaters. October seems to be a month that Is “just right”. My memories are filled with exciting times in October. Football headed the list. I have seen many, many games through the years, but nothing filled me with spirit as much as sitting on the bare- board bleachers at the old field behind the high school and singing When those SHS boys fall in line. We’re gonna win this game another time. Even when the outcome was not in our favor, we proudly wore the black and gold. Posters advertising the forth-coming Emanuel County Fair appeared throughout the county. On the Sunday preceding the opening week, trucks rolled through town loaded with dismantled rides, shows, concession stands, tents and all other attraction of the fair. Every item had been broken down when the fair closed in the last town. Monday evening the lights were twinkling and all attractions ready for our pleasure. The best time of all was “school day” on Friday. No classes were held throughout the county and school bus transportation was provided to take everyone to the fair. Saturday night the entire fair was dismantled and headed to the next town on their schedule. They came quickly and left just as quickly leaving us with memories of cotton candy, Ferris wheels, corn dogs and the prize we almost won. I hope many of my readers had the great joy of a peanut boiling and a cane grinding. A peanut boiling was a long process. The small, green raw peanuts were pulled from the ground by hand and picked from the roots. The smallest were called pops and could be eaten shell and all. After washing away the sand, the little delicacies were boiled in heavily salted water which was a long cooking time. When you got your share, it was worth the wait. It was a social time and games were played while waiting. Folks gathered for a cane grinding to socialize, drink the fresh cane juice and watch the juice being cooked off and turned into syrup. Cane could be peeled, cut into small sticks and chewed. This was a sweet event. The cane went through a grinder with a long heavy log overhead. A mule walked in an unending circle that caused the grinder to turn, and the squeezed juice ran out into a barrel. A young boy always rode atop the mule. I always envied the boy who had that task until Kenneth (Bo Pete) Wilson told me that it made him so dizzy that he almost fell off the mule. October ended with the SHS Halloween carnival, a fundraiser for the senior class. Trick or treat had not arrived in Swainsboro, so we bought a “false face” and spent the evening at the carnival. There were many ways to spend your money. The favorite was the Haunted house which was a darkened passage behind the stage. Plenty of spooks were available to give you a good scare. The evening ended with crowning of Halloween King and Queen who were chosen by dropping coins into a Jar bearing their name. Simple but exciting times that we looked forward to enjoying in October. Write to Shirley at sptwiss@gmail.com
