It’s All Good in Algood: A Homecoming on Wright Avenue

I overhear my dad and mom talking on the front porch. I run and tell my brothers, Billy and Bobby. We can’t wait till Saturday comes. We get to see my dad’s brother, Tracy, and his wife, Joan, and the best part, my cousins.

Growing up on Cedar Street in Algood, Tennessee, this event always meant family together and plenty of food.

Saturday arrives, and I hop out of bed and run across my backyard down Wright Avenue. I see an old 1968 brown station wagon sitting in my grandpa and grandma Hunter’s driveway.

I walk into the front door. Back then, we never knocked. We always knew grandpa and grandma’s house was family.

I saw my cousins, Mark and Paula Hunter, immediately, and after a few minutes, we all warmed up to each other. I go into the kitchen and notice my aunt Bonnie helping grandma cook. I knew the next few days were going to be so good.

My brothers and myself, and Mark and Paula, decided to make a trip to the Algood Drug Store. On our way, we talked about the world around us and what we might be doing the next few days to pass time.

We walk into the drug store and look around. My brothers pick up a couple of comic books, paying 5 cents each, now worth hundreds. I found myself a wooden airplane that had the rubber band and propeller. And my cousins found a flashlight lantern. It had a handle with a front light and a red flashing beacon on top. And, of course, they also purchased batteries.

We were going to have fun playing in the dark, hide-and-go-seek.

Making our way across the street, we stopped at the newly renovated Algood City Park, sitting now where the tennis and pickleball courts are on Main Street.

We played a while on the swings. They had a scarecrow body for the top and the other a lion’s body. The merry-go-round was always an interesting adventure. We would load up, and a couple of us would start to spin it as fast as we could. Now, this would result in kids hanging on for dear life, often slinging a person or two off. The ones remaining would eventually get off and stagger around and sometimes fall from being dizzy.

Sounds crazy, but a rite of passage growing up as a kid in Algood.

They had a slide with an area up on top that several of us could hang out on until it was our time to slide down. Last but not least were these motorcycles and a ladybug that you climbed on, and it would rock back and forth on a big spring.

Now moving on to the railroad tracks beside the park. You would often spend a lot of time playing on those old tracks. As we walked along, my cousin Mark was barefoot and stepped on a broken piece of glass. It was pretty bad. We had to help carry him back to the Hunter home.

On the way, he was crying, and for whatever reason, we used the red flashing beacon on that lantern, even though it was the middle of the day. As kids, I guess we figured it was an emergency, and that was the only way we knew how to react.

Paula ran ahead and called for my uncle Tracy to come meet us. Mark was taken to the hospital and had several stitches in his foot.

After all was said and done, we were all back at grandpa and grandma Hunter’s house. It was getting late afternoon, and it was time for supper.

Now, a dinner or supper at their house was an absolute feast! All Southern cooking. With all my other kin joining, my uncle J.B. Hunter and his family, we had a family reunion.

I can almost smell the food now. It was a buffet of several meats and many fresh garden vegetables. And on the screened-in back porch, a table with at least 10 different homemade desserts.

Back then, there were no cell phones, no iPads, no distractions, just the people in front of you. We talked. We laughed. We cried. We were able to be family.

As dark came, everyone gathered out on the front porch and in the yard. Lightning bugs came out, and so did a glass fruit jar or two as we chased lightning bugs. I never will forget the smell of those bugs when you caught one.

If there were any leftover firecrackers or fireworks from my brother’s stash, we fired them off. About that time, a big ole watermelon was cut and served to make the day complete.

And, as always, all good things eventually came to an end. It was time for my cousins to head back home early morning. We said our goodbyes and watched them wave as they drove away from my grandparents’ house.

There was a moment of sadness felt as we knew we would more than likely not see our kin again till next year, unless a major family sickness or death.

The old wood-frame house that sat at the end of Wright Avenue has been torn down recently. My old house at 116 Cedar Street still stands.

I reflect on homecoming or family reunion. I probably didn’t realize the fingerprints it would leave on my life at the time, but now in my later years, I see clearly God had each moment in His great design in my daily walk.

As I was excited about my cousins coming in from out of state, it reminds me of always expecting to see the return of Jesus someday soon. A great homecoming or family reunion with a huge supper.

Most of my dad’s side of the family has passed away. Mark still lives in the old family house in Dublin, Indiana. Paula passed away a few years ago. I still have many good memories of them and that time. Those are one thing the enemy can never take away from me.

And the same with you. Good memories are a blessing from God.

I’m getting sleepy, and it’s time to get ready for bed. So many more stories to tell. For now, it’s time for a peaceful rest. A new day ahead tomorrow and more adventures in the present and, as I write, in the past.

I have a picture of the Hunter family reunion. It made the paper back then. This puts faces to many of my stories. Over 85% of the people in this photo are no longer with us but will live through my stories.

Be reading next week. If you grew up in Algood, you may see your name or business or a story that takes us back to the much simpler days.