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| Feb 5, 2010 |
Woodward Avenue invites singers to join in Community Mass Choir
The Woodward Avenue Church of God Music Department invites singers from the Christian community to join them in a Community Mass Choir. |
| Feb 5, 2010 |
2X2 Quartet performing this weekend
The 2x2 Quartet will be performing in several local venues this weekend. |
| Feb 5, 2010 |
SUNDAY EVENING 'Hands of Praise' at Calhoun UMC
Hands of Praise will be in ministry, Sunday night, Feb. 7, at Calhoun United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. The performance was rescheduled after the snow last week resulted in a postponement. |
| Feb 5, 2010 |
Adams is pastor at Abundant Blessings Assembly of God
Abundant Blessings Assembly of God has welcomed a new pastor, the Rev. Wayne D. Adams. |
| Feb 3, 2010 |
Etowah Senior Center offering free tax help
ETOWAH - The Etowah Area Senior Center is here to help you with filing your income tax. That's right. It's tax time! Everyone knows that. Right? |
| Feb 3, 2010 | Etowah News |
| Feb 3, 2010 | Honor roll |
| Jan 29, 2010 |
Jamerson hosts celebration service Saturday in Dayton
Tim Jamerson will be celebrating the first-year anniversary of his solo gospel career and is inviting the public to celebrate with him on Jan. 30. |
| Jan 29, 2010 |
Heirline concert date changed
The concert by Heirline which was scheduled for this Saturday at Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Decatur has been postponed for two weeks. |
| Jan 29, 2010 |
Lakeside performs Sunday at Pope Avenue Baptist
Pope Avenue Baptist Church will feature Madisonville bluegrass gospel group Lakeside on Sunday, Jan. 31, at 10:45 a.m. |
| Jan 29, 2010 |
Jacobs featured Sunday at Greater Deliverance
Greater Deliverance Ministries will feature Minister Judy Jacobs, from His Song Ministries in Cleveland, as guest on Sunday, Jan. 31, at 11 a.m. |
| Jan 27, 2010 | Honor roll |
| Jan 27, 2010 |
Demolition of gas station brought back memories
ETOWAH - This week I watched with a sad heart as a piece of Etowah history disappeared. The former Shell gas station, which had sat at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 9th Street for almost 80 years, was torn down. The Shell station was built by J.B Howell and opened on May 9, 1930. The building was in what was then a business district of Etowah. Before 1930, businesses lined 9th Street from Tennessee Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue. It was the summer of 1930, when the L&N Railroad decided to consolidate and closed the shops in Etowah, reducing employment from 2,800 to less than 100 employees forcing banks to close as well as many businesses. Mr. Howell sold his business to Haskill Akins, who, in 1933, sold it to Frank Hicks. Mr. Hicks operated the business into the 1970s. The station then went through several hands before being bought by Robert Bookout. It remained open until around 1995 when Bookout relocated his business to Tennessee Avenue and left the building vacant. In the 1960s, my father had a charge account, as many did with Mr. Hicks, and would pay at the end of the month. Inside the station, Mr. Hicks had a candy display full of penny candy and gum, a Tom's peanuts and cracker machine, and an old coke machine. I knew my father wouldn't mind if, on my way to town, I stopped by Mr. Hick's and put a few pieces of candy on his bill. "Yes," I told Mr. Hicks, "my dad said it would be fine to put this on his account." I convinced him the first time that it was okay, and it got easier each time I lied. At the end of the month, the bill came due. When dad got home from the gas station, the wrath of my father arrived with him. It was time to take my punishment. Mr. Hicks always greeted the arrival of his customers in his brown hat and greasy clothes. A rope of chewing tobacco hung from his pants pocket and a stream of brown juice leaked from the corner of his mouth. "Let me check under the hood" he would tell us. And after all fluids were checked and the windshield was washed, we were on our way. As a young paper carrier, the 9th street station was my midway point on my paper route. I would stop for a snack and a Coke, and to talk to the customers waiting for their cars to be repaired. There was always a regular gathering of locals who would sit on the outdoor benches just to have someone to talk to. In 1979, Robert Bookout, then a young 19-year-old teenager, purchased the gas station. Barley out of high school, Robert was ready to fulfill his dream of owning his own service station. Several years later, Robert restored the station to its original 1930 decor complete with a gravity fed pump. As I watch the walls of the old station collapse, I am saddened to think of the special service we once enjoyed at these stations that is now consigned to history. A part of my childhood crumbles with each brick, as I remember the people who worked at 9th Street Station and are long gone. I, along with many others, will miss the "good old days" of the 9th Street Service Station. |
