51 Topics for Discussion (1970s-80s)

Over the past few days I've jotted down a list of Twin Town topics to write about.

I tried to keep the first list of topics in the 1970s and '80s, the time I was growing up and in school.

I stopped at the random number of 51, so I'll share those for now. (They're in no particular order.)

1 - The "Hollow Rock"

2 - Town Dog

3 - Railroad Cafe

4 - Hill's Grocery

5 - Templeton Park

6 - 236 Ash Street (my boyhood home)

7 - The "Mosquito Truck"

8 - The Blue Dip

9 - Old First Baptist Church

10 - Prospect Baptist Church

11 - Lawn Mowing

12 - FBI's "Most Wanted List" at the Post Office

13 - When Bruceton's City Hall/Fire Station Burned

14 - Town Elections

15 - Live Nativity Scene

16 - Sand Pits

17 - Cotton Creek Road

18 - Climbing the Water Tower

19 - "Shoestring" Massey

20 - Juicy's Pool Hall

21 - H.I.S. Factory Outlet Store

22 - "Don't Envy H.I.S., Wear Them"

23 - Hopper Drug

24 - Neighborhood Gang

25 - Boy Scouts

26 - Little League

27 - Q-Mart

28 - Homecoming Parades

29 - Christmas Caroling

30 - Keeper Bait Co.

31 - CHS Smoking Alley

32 - Mac's Bargain House

33 - Rex Cinema

34 - Hig's Restaurant

35 - Block City

36 - Smith's Bakery

37 - CB Radio Craze

38 - Composite Aircraft Components Inc.

39 - Sen. Howard Baker's Campaign Train

40 - Basketball Legend Ray LeCompte

41 - Hell's Angels Ride into Town

42 - Bogle's Filling Station and Greyhound Bus Stop

43 - BMX Racing

44 - Jordan's Stop-n-Shop

45 - Trading Baseball Cards

46 - Fourth of July Celebrations

47 - Western Auto

48 - Playing Tennis on an Asphalt Court

49 - Camping

50 - Old Two-Story Central H.S. Building

51 - Bruceton Funeral Home

Hollow Rock-Bruceton on my mind

I heard the country song "If Heaven" by Andy Griggs on the radio recently, and a portion of the lyrics reminded me of my twin hometowns of Hollow Rock and Bruceton, Tenn.

"If heaven was a town, it would be my town,

Oh, on a summer day in 1985.

When everything I wanted was out there waiting,

And everyone I loved is still alive."

That pretty well describes 1985 through the eyes of my 20-year-old former self, when everything indeed was out there waiting, and everyone I loved—except my grandfathers—was still alive.

It is in this spirit that I humbly start the Twin Town Memories blog to share my recollections of growing up in a special area of Tennessee.