Issue link: https://alabamapower.uberflip.com/i/846958
Barbara Greene Petty I was born in one of the wood-frame houses at Lay Dam on Aug. 2, 1935. In an outside corner of the house, Mary Lou and I had a playhouse and made mud pies. When Frank was old enough to be outside with us, he'd try to eat our mud pies. In the summer, my father had a very large garden and we would have to work in it and help hoe the weeds. We played soball and baseball in front of the garages. Also enjoyed swimming in the pool and in the river. e tennis court was repaired and we enjoyed playing tennis. It didn't take much to entertain the children. We loved to take the cardboard boxes and slide down hills covered with pine straw. An annual barbecue was held each summer on the lawn of the superintendent's home. urman Baker was in charge of cooking the many chickens and making the Brunswick stew. Everyone always enjoyed attending the barbecue. Jim Murphy Mr. urman Baker and Dad taught me and my brothers hunting and fishing skills and how to survive in the woods. Many times, urman would come by the house and cook on the grill anything that we had killed or caught. He taught me how to cook on the grill. He helped Dad build an outside grill that many a great meal was cooked on. Bill O'Neal My dad, Elly, would buy our first boat soon aer we moved to the village. He thought any family who lived on the water needed a boat. And so the first version of El Coosa was launched. is boat became popular with us village kids because we used it to pull a homemade "suroard." Many summer days were spent on the water skimming along behind the El Coosa. Another favorite pastime on the river was created when the Coosa would flood from heavy rains. e rising water would li boats from the banks upstream and bring the small boats to the back of the dam. e boys in the village would collect these boats and sometimes convert them into sailboats. We would cut saplings to make masts and jib arms. e sails were made from bedsheets. e boats in the photo were part of our fleet. I can't recall if our mothers knew we were taking the sheets for our latest adventure, but I doubt it. Photo Courtesy: Alabama Power Archives Engineer's Camp at the construction village 26 | 2017 Vol:2