May 19, 2000

I’ll never forget the time when someone gave Benny Stansbury a $5 bill and the wind blew it out of his hand into the river. June Faslum was on the ferry and he saw that $5 bill blow into the water. He dove into the river after it. Well, the $5 bill disappeared – and so did June!

Our Past

We have great memories – graphaphones, phonographs, silent films, talking pictures, show boats, vaudevilles, great bands, traveling by train. It’s memories like this that you can have only if you lived through it.

Every time I see a red rose one someone’s lapel, it brings back memories of Aubrey Fisher. He always wore a red rose in his lapel.

He had a men’s clothing store on Railroad Avenue in Morgan City. Mr. Fisher was very nice, polite, and never pressured anyone in selling them merchandise. He always stood in his doorway and had a smile for everybody.

I wonder what kind of memories a man has that is always mad at the world, who has never been anywhere, who doesn’t go to church, who doesn’t belong to any organization, who is against all movies, who doesn’t like television, who is against all sports, and who has a frown on his face all the time? And when Christmas comes, he will always say “humbug.” It sounds like somebody we know.

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On May 11, 1860, the Town of Brashear was incorporated and G.H. Mann became the first mayor of the little town. In February 1876 the name Brashear was changed to Morgan City in honor of Charles Morgan, owner of the railroad and steamship line that put the city on the map. In 1880, the first railroad bridge spanning Berwick Bay was constructed.

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I was at the store recently when an employee, Cecilia Arsena of Patterson, told me how her daddy loved my article “Recollections” and about things that I write about in my travels to Sicily. Thank you, Cecilia.

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Remember when Guidry had a little store across from Morgan City High School? He sold cigarettes for 1 cent apiece. Cigarettes today cost you 15 cents apiece.

Remember Herman “light Bread” Matthews? He was selling pies for Roder’s Bakery. One day he knocked on old man Charlie Downing’s front door. Charlie Downing answered, “Who’s there?” Herman said, “Light Bread.” Mr. Downing replied, “Put the damn bread on the porch and go!”

* The End *

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