When I first became aware that my hometown is celebrating its bicentennial, I warned you that my mind and heart would be flooded with memories. Since I was present for many of those 200 years, I have a lot of stories. One that you must remember or meet is Mr. W.E. Gray (Difficult to recall the initials, but this sounds right.), a successful Swainsboro business man in the 1940s. He owned the ice plant, fish market and building supply company. These were big businesses in those times. Ice was necessary and needed in many ways. Ice did not pop out of your refrigerator door as today. Most things were cooled by ice which was produced in large blocks by Mr. Gray. Items were kept cool in ice boxes by the blocks of frozen water. Hence the name “icebox.” Remember, icy cold cokes swimming in a bath of chopped ice. Home ice boxes were supplied by ice trucks passing through neighborhoods. Mullet fish was a real treat, brought in from Florida and kept cool by this ice. Also, Mr. Gray kept a large supply of building materials on hand. Quite a large and profitable business with much more to come. The owner of the Forest Blade was unable to financially keep the paper published. Mr. Gray knew nothing about running a newspaper, but he did love Swainsboro and knew our town must continue to maintain our weekly news. He bought the Forest Blade from the original owner. Although he did not know publishing, he had the ability to hire an excellent staff. First came Bob Gentry, the brother of our teacher, Ms. Hixie Scott. He had worked on Savannah Morning News and was trained in printing and most of all, skilled on the Line- a- type. Bob’s first job was hiring a local young man of the Herrington family who was eager to learn printing. Next, came a business manager who could manage an office, type, sell advertisement, increase subscriptions, and keep the books. He hired the entire package, a recent graduate of Ms. Edna Bailey’s business course. She loved the Blade and worked there until retirement. She was my mother, Inez Proctor. To make the staff complete, he hired University of Georgia Journalism graduate, Jerry Pryor, as editor. Jerry had an added advantage as the new husband of Swainsboro Belle, Rita Johnson. This team produced a beloved and profitable newsweekly for many years. After the death of Mr. Gray, the Blade was sold to a well- known syndicate and along came a man named Bill Rogers who continued the tradition. Thank you, Mr. Gray for ice in our tea, mullet on our plate, lumber for our building and the newspaper you are holding in your hand. Write to Shirley at sptwiss@gmail.com.
