Look Back ... to a drawing of the YMCA building planned for Anniston, 1949
Apr. 10—April 10, 1949, in The Star: A sleek and unadorned YMCA building has been rendered as a drawing on Page 1 of today's paper, accompanying an announcement that officials "are preparing to go forward without delay with plans for the construction of a modern new home at a site on West 14th Street." [The drawing looks exactly like the building we see today, allowing for a bit of remodeling over the decades.] A couple of houses still stand on the property, which extends from the Methodist Church alley west to Gurnee Avenue. One house is in the process of being demolished and the other will be moved. The "Y" building, which will face 14th Street, will contain a senior lounge, a junior lounge, lobbies and other social spaces, as well as a club and craft room, a library, a reading room, a large gymnasium and a 25-by-75-foot swimming pool. The YMCA's local general secretary W. Paul Alexander praised the hard work of the building committee, and said the structure which will be produced "will adequately serve youth and adults of Anniston for years to come." Construction will begin this summer. Also this date: An all-out drive to halt illicit liquor traffic in Calhoun County has been ordered, Sheriff A. A. Pate announced yesterday as his deputies and federal officers concluded an investigation with the discovery of a 3,000-gallon distillery near Nance's Creek and the arrest of three men on charges of illegal distilling. More than 50 gallons of corn whiskey were confiscated at the still. Three Piedmont-area men, Joseph Brown, Kelsey Smith and Roy Smith, were picked up and jailed. Not many weeks ago deputies found an even larger still, with a capacity of 7,000 gallons, near Knighton's Crossroads.
April 10, 1999, in The Star: At many restaurants in Calhoun County — indeed, throughout the U.S. — there are "tables of wisdom" where a community's older men, and sometimes women, gather on a regular basis to debate and solve the problems of the day, whether national or local. Debates can last for hours, especially among the retired folks who don't have to "report" to anyone, except maybe an exasperated spouse. "It's amazing, the political problems that have been solved in this group," said Jacksonville native Opal R. Lovett, winking from the northern corner of the Roundtable at the Village Inn in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, at the Jack's in Piedmont, recent conversation has ranged from the local cigarette tax hike to drug legalization, and from national immigration policy to Alabama's interracial marriage statute.
Assistant Metro Editor Bill Edwards: 256-236-1551. On Twitter @bedwards_star.
