Mabry Cole
When I was growing up, here in Havana, we had a grist mill and a post office. We no longer have them, but we have a community house, the old Havana School. Kids have birthday parties and families have family reunions up there.
And of course they have the community club, one Thursday night a month we have a community supper. Everybody brings a covered dish, and they have a meeting. It makes us different from the other towns, we are a close knit group of people. Everyone is willing to jump in and help.
Moundville has their little group and Greensboro has their little group, but they don't usually mix and mingle. We've always had competition between each other. It’s just people in Hale County, and the schools, really. That’s just always been the way it’s been. There's a certain line where it cuts off. If somebody is sick in the community the whole county participates, and Southern Academy in Greensboro has Boston butt sales. But it’s not interacting. We've never had a social event. The people are mostly farmers and the county is big. A lot of people who live here who have jobs work in Tuscaloosa. By the time they drive to work and back a lot of them won't get out and do anything. We can’t just relax and socialize.
In communities I think it’s important for people to come together. People's lifestyles are so busy, they don't take the time to do it like we used to years ago. We used to have school activities we would go to, the parents could meet a lot more back in those days. Everybody should, if they have a conviction on something, get together to discuss the situation and how it would help each community. Anytime you have community trying to have communication it helps. Instead of this group trying to do something and this group trying to do something and nobody getting anything done, we should all get together and discuss.
Occasionally we meet in the Moundville or Greensboro auditoriums. It’s usually at one of the schools because we have no place to meet as a whole. When they had the water situation here, they would have a meeting and everybody would go. But socializing does not happen. Making the effort to get out and go, most people they’re not going to, that’s it.
We all need to make an effort to participate and maybe it starts with me... you know. If you all make up any fliers we'd be glad to put them on our bulletin board. If people come in and want to put up things we participate in that around here. Mostly it’s the churches if they're having something special, or the schools. We can put up events that are going on in our community or in the county.
Mabry Cole.
Manager, Junction Grocery. Havana, Alabama
Outsidein. A Community Space for Hale County.
outsidein: a community space for hale county. build space with your voice.
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