Association Events

Our first meeting was held at Deli-N-Delites. We had an eclectic group and interesting conversation. Here, Helen Cutler, Sharman Ramsey, Peggy and Roy Morris Driggers and Tom Sorrel visit after the meeting.

Organizational Event

A group of us met on a rainy day at 12:00 in the very comfortable community room at Deli-N-Delites to organize and direct our focus for the Heritage Association.

The result was the beginning of a book on the fascinating characters who have made up our legal system in Houston County as well as those who have tried to keep these "characters" on track. The committee will be headed by Julia Trant, former clerk of the court and granddaughter of A. C. Crawford, the sixth mayor of Dothan and a former clerk of the court as well. Julia has kept a scrapbook on the court activities. In addition, Tom Sorrells, former District Attorney for Houston County and Assistant Attorney General for the state of Alabama, the the man of a thousand stories and a true gift to give them color, has agreed to share in the writing of this book. My husband, Joel Ramsey, has already made some calls to several of our retired attorneys who show great interest in sharing their memories. More will be contacted and we hope their interest and enthusiasm will make this a book everyone will want to read. We are hoping to have financial support from the Houston County Bar Association in pursuing this project.

Julia is also enthusiastic about us gathering information on the Music history of our community...the different organizations and individuals. So, please keep that in mind as you sift through your records and recall special people. Mention these things to friends who share this interest. One of my special interests is the Carver High School marching band. I would so love to know what happened to some of those fine musicians and wish we had moving pictures of their performances.

Norma Jean Spivey (who helped write the History of the Adams Family), Helen Cutler (who wrote a series of books on the cemeteries of the area), and I will meet on Tuesday morning from 9-11 a.m. at my house to try to figure out "where" many of our resources actually are. From our discussions on Wednesday we found that court records that were once under the Wadlington Hotel, then moved to the basement of another building, may now have been moved to the attic of the old Woolworth building. Also, what resources are at Landmark in their library and collection? At Troy State? In the Library? With the Dothan Eagle? In the publication Wiregrass Siftings? How does one access these resources? Will the Dothan Eagle give us a CD of those pictures they have collected digitally so that we can use them on our website and in our projects? How can we get our community to look in their collections and share with us these old pictures and stories of those people and families? And...let us not forget recipes. I found that when I was trying to share genealogy with my children, there was something about adding the "special" recipes of those people and the houses in which they lived that made them come alive.

Peggy and Roy Morris Driggers will be collecting the pictures of Peggy's (and Jane Olive Chalker Wells') grandfather , one of Dothan's earliest doctors, Benjamin Calvin Chalker and his brother Pounce Chalker. This is a beginning and a great project for us to enlist the Medical Association and Auxilliary. We want to do with these pictures and articles what we are doing with the Bar Association.

While you are thinking of these things...I have a special place in my heart for the Houston Hotel. My husband's father and mother owned the hotel at one time and Hilda Ramsey managed the restaurant with great style. Her shrimp salad and lemon meringue pie were to die for. It was a favorite place for wedding rehearsal parties, receptions, parties, etc. In addition I remember a cotillion I attended there when I was 12 years old. Oh, how I wish I had pictures of those events. If you have any in your possession would you share them? Those were happy days for that grand old lady.

Many who would have come to our meeting were out of town, but I am heartened by the interest so many of us share in preserving our wonderful history. Like with Julia, we still have the grandchildren of those who founded out area with their memories. This generation needs to be encouraged to be involved with us to share those memories. If we could find a videographer, I am hoping we can "meet" and just give some of our older friends...Hugh Spann, J. D. Holman, etc. ...the microphone and let them talk. We could ask them questions about details after giving them the floor and letting them just "talk".

I have been very busy getting together a Dothan genealogy. It is amazing how interrelated the families are. I use Legacy, a genealogy file. If you have a .ged file or Legacy file that you would share with your family genealogy, please send it to me. (sharmanramsey@gmail.com)

Frank Gaines is publishing a book of his photographs that should make an excellent addition to any local library. It is a fascinating look in pictures at our history. It should be available in a couple of weeks and he is taking orders now. ($25)

And, I still want Don Bennett to share his mother's poetry book with us.

We have no specific plans for our next meeting, but a second Wednesday might work if there is enough interest. Please let me know if you have time to help us catalogue our resources, an interest in one of the special projects, or an interest in regular meetings.

Sharman Ramsey