Johnny Bullard: Guest Columnist
Time changes all things and when landmarks that have been so much a part of our lives are torn down, all we have are memories. At times, we feel the loss of a familiar building or home in a very keen way. I have lived long enough to witness a few great stories related to an old home or a public building that lived its life with joy and splendor and then, one day, it was gone. The story is a fairly common one and, yet, each time it occurs, it often opens our hearts and our minds, and it hurts us a little, but that hurt causes us, at times, to recall previous events, special memories.
A gentleman came into the Jasper Public Library today and I am writing this article the morning of Thursday, Nov. 5, and he asked me: "What do you know about the old hotel that has been torn down in Jasper?" He was referring to the Jasper Hotel, which lived for ninety-four years.
Here is what I found from “Hamilton County: Its History and Its People" in the reference section of the library.
The Jasper Hotel was built in 1926, operated by the late Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Hewitt. The last Miss Ann Greer bought the hotel in 1940.
For over thirty-five years of the Jasper Hotel's life, it was a pretty lively place, as US-41 was the major highway that brought travelers and tourists into the state of Florida. Hotels and motels often were filled to capacity, and businesses in small towns on US-41 boomed until the interstate highway system's advent in the early 1960s.
Even after the interstates were constructed, I can clearly recall Miss Geer, the longtime owner of the Jasper Hotel. She was quite a lady, quite a character. One evening, the late Phyllis Henderson Hunter, Jasper, a dear, cherished friend, and I visited with Miss Greer at the Jasper Hotel. This had to be at some time in the early 1980s. It's hard to believe that was closet to forty years ago now. By that time, Miss Greer was elderly, but she was "full of spunk" and life. The stories she told us that evening. She told us about taking an "around the world cruise" earlier in her life and what fun she had. Miss Greer was originally from someplace "up north," maybe Pennsylvania, but I am not entirely sure. She was delightful.
That evening she told us about her memories of when the tobacco markets were booming in Jasper and the tobacco buyers from North Carolina who would come and stay at the hotel on an annual basis. She told us about some of her local friends who visited her on a regular basis, always asking her to make pancakes and sausage and what a good time they had talking and visiting. She was delightful, and I will never forget that visit. Her eyes twinkled as she told the stories of a Jasper Hotel that lived in her memory. I thoroughly enjoyed our visit and our sharing of a cook beverage made up in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
That visit was priceless. When I saw the old hotel coming down, I remembered that memorable visit that took place many years ago. In my mind's eye, I saw, once again, Miss Greer and Phyllis Henderson Hunter and, even more precious, I heard, once again, their laughter.
Often, when I am driving in our area and I see old homes or buildings or I think of homes or buildings now gone, it's not so much of the history of the building or the home I think about; it's the memories I have of many of those places and of the laughter I shared with so many, the people who lived there, the stories. How I love the stories and I love that I can still remember some of them. Some of them, believe it or not, I will never tell.
Often when I drive through Live Oak, Wellborn, Mayo, Jasper, White Springs, or Branford, I feel joy and pride in the beauty of our home "Around the Banks of the Suwannee." Yes, there are faults and flaws in our area, but they are "ours" and we can discuss them, but we don't "cotton" to others talking about "our home." No place is perfect; even Eden had shadows, remember that.
I will share with you, though, that beyond the natural beauty of our home, beyond the warm and wonderful memories and thoughts that are mine and mine alone, I often hear voices, see faces, and think of individuals and stories that will forever be a part of my life and, for that, I am thankful.
When I drive past the Greenwood School, north of Jasper, on US-41, I think of the late Mrs. Martha "Marty" Jackson of Jasper, longtime principal of the Greenwood School and before Hamilton County had a Coordinator or Director for Exceptional Student Education, Marty was it. She was, without a doubt, one of the most dedicated and loving educators ever. She worked with children who are God's special angels sent here to Earth and she loved them and never once, did I ever hear her make a disparaging remark nor complain. She was wise and she was knowledgeable and she loved children and those with whom she worked. She was the "real deal." She not only "talked the talk," she "walked the walk" and she walked it every single day she served and worked with children who were vulnerable, in need of special love and attention and who were many times extremely physically and mentally challenged. She calmed their fears their parents' fears, and she celebrated their lives and brought joy to them and added value to their lives. I know there is a heaven and I know she's there. Her husband, the late William Jackson, a longtime pharmacist in Jasper and owner of Jackson's Drug Store, had that same kind of loving and giving heart. They meant a lot to our area. I miss them and I will never forget them.
"Precious memories. How they linger. How they ever flood my soul." I am thankful for those precious memories and I am thankful that many of you have shared memories with me throughout the years.
To all of our Veterans. God Bless you and Happy Veterans Day. We appreciate your service to our nation.
From the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs, we wish you a day filled with joy, peace and, above all, lots of love and laughter.