Ec's north island recreation league

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1952
EC's Just Havin' Fun in '52, Too!

Ah, it is good for EC to get back to God's Country, Northwest Alabama... Florence, Alabama to be" exactly perzacktly" or "exactly precise" as you intellectually-elite might say… it's the first week of July... I spent some time with my grandma this weekend... all of my uncles, aunts and grandparents called me "Danny Boy"... the family always said my cousin Charles and me were her favorite grandkids... of course, Willie Pearl McFalls Darby, said it wasn't true... she always said she had no favorites... that she loved all of her grandkids... however, however, EC tends to think Charles and Danny Boy were her favorites... my grandma lived a quiet, solitary life... she didn't live with Allen Oscar, my grandpa... he was too much of a womanizer and carouser for her... she lived sparsely in a small rented house... spent a lot of time making quilts with Granny Holt, her best friend since childhood... in fact, when I got married, she gave me two beautiful hand-made quilts as wedding gifts... 49 years later, they are frayed on the edges, but my wife and I still cuddle up beneath them during the cold and chilly nights of winter... so Willie Pearl is still very much with me after all these years.

Willie Pearl used to play the organ for the local Church of Christ... she played "by ear"... she never was taught music and couldn't read it... she would just listen to a song and amazingly somehow could pick it out on the organ... maybe that where I got my intense love of music... I have a music library that numbers 7400 songs... 99% of them in pristine condition... maybe she is the reason I was a disc jockey for 32 years.

Grandpa also had a brother named Ben... Uncle Ben was a genius, but quite reclusive... he was a gifted fiddle player and as a youth would play for dances every Saturday night... he was often asked to go to Nashville and make recordings, but he was too quaint and wouldn't leave his home in Cypress Inn, Tennessee... maybe I got some of his musical genes... I often wished that I had gone to Nashville and become a music producer... picking songs for the artists and then going into the studio and telling them how to sing and play it... not braggin' or boastin', but I had a great ear for "hit records" as a DJ... I also was very good at mixing songs together during my radio shows... I was always the most popular DJ at my stations... I didn't play anything, but a "hit song"... I tried to play what the listerners liked... not what I liked... I also was great with the listeners on the request line... a lot of DJs play their own personal favorites and not necessarily what the audience desired... many DJs didn't like to answer the request line and play requests... I was polite to the callers and always played their requests... always remember no matter what type of work you do, be polite and helpful to your clients and customers... good customer service will lead to success.

My grandma and I played this game... she had a nervous habit of twittling her thumbs... she would do it for what seemed liked hours at a time to me... even though it wasn't... while we were sitting and talking in the swing on her front porch, I would quietly reach over and stop her from twittling her thumbs... she was too sweet to say anything to me... I would soon get tired of holding her thumbs and let them go... yeah, she went right back to doing it without skipping a beat... you know, I never did break her of that habit... and you want to know something else?... guess who sometimes catches himself twittling his thumbs while watching TV.

[Eugene Church]

At the picture show this Saturday at the Princess me and my cousins saw a double feature... please pay close attention to the movie poster for "Blazing Six Shooters" with Charles Starrett as "the Durango Kid"... "Ride the Bullet Justice Trail with a Fightin' Buckaroo and his Harmonious Pals".

Part II of the Saturday Double Feature featured Roy Rogers and Bob Steele in "Carson City Kid"... yeah, we had a rootin', tootin', shootin' good time... none of us were killed in spite of all the bullets flying everywhere... neither of our white-hat wearing heroes bit the dust either... all is well in the wild, wild Northwest for another week... and also in the Tri-Cities, too.

The Princess Theatre was on Seminary Street in Florence... if EC's memory is as "perzacktly" as it used to be.

[Eugene Church]

And now some more about one of my childhood heroes, Charles Starrett (aka The Durango Kid).

Starrett was born in Vermont, went to college and played football at Dartmouth... graduated and went to Hollywood to become a leading man... didn't work out that way... instead he became a B-Western star and one of the best... usually ranking in the top 10 at the Western box office receipts each year... sometimes as high as fourth or fifth after John Wayne, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassady.

After playing assorted sheriff and rangers roles, Starrett gained fame for his role as the Durango Kid. The first film in which he played his famous alter-ego character known as The Durango Kid was released in 1940 but, for an unknown reason, Columbia did not see fit to continue with the series at that time.

The character was revived in 1944 and lasted through 1952. Dub Taylor, as "Cannonball", worked with Starrett until 1946. At that time, Smiley Burnette, who had been a very popular sidekick to Gene Autry, was brought in to replace Taylor. Burnette, appropriately enough, played a character aptly called Smiley Burnette. The Durango Kid films combined vigorous action sequences – often with sped-up camera work and spectacular stunts performed by Jock Mahoney, later a star in the Range Rider and Yancy Derringer TV series in the 60s – and western music. Each film featured a singing group... the great Sons of the Pioneers were featured often in Starrett's movies.

No singer himself, Starrett's westerns nevertheless reflected the public's new interest in singing cowboys since the successful advent of Gene Autry in 1935. A definite plus factor to the early Starrett movies was the inclusion of the popular new group, the Sons of the Pioneers (Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer, Hugh and Karl Farr and Len Slye --- soon to become Roy Rogers... the Songs of the Pioneers would later join Roy Rogers in the early 40s when he became a western superstar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC1Pu7bscbw Ken Curtis of Gunsmoke fame sings the solo... he played Festus on Gunsmoke, but was quite a singer.

Athletic and handsome in his white Stetson, black shirt and long flowing scarf, Starrett was solidly entrenched at Columbia as their new western star and turned out top-rated action westerns with titles like MYSTERIOUS AVENGER, STAMPEDE, TWO GUN LAW and OUTLAWS OF THE PRAIRIE. When Charles began the series he approached the wardrobe man to ask about a scarf for his neck. Fifteen minutes later the costumer was back with a beautiful silk scarf. He'd taken a piece of silk from a black nightgown Rita Hayworth used in a film. "It always blew beautifully in the breeze", Charles recalled.

I don't think us 9-year-olds notice that sissy black scarf... pardner, that was a mask to us young 'uns.
You see his fancy holster in the sissy black scarf picture... my guns and holsters were much nicer... eat your heart out, Durango Kid... EC had not one, but two silver, pearl-handled six shooters both in beautiful leather holsters.... but unfortunately, I only had a broomstick to ride around the wild, wild Northwest part of Alabama.

Starrett played in 115 Westerns... 69 as the Durango Kid.

Durango Kid riding high on his trusty steed, Raider.

[progen]

Lol. Excellent

[Eugene Church]

Monday, July 14, 1952

JOLIET WINS NIRL FIRST TITLE, DUTTON RUNNER-UP
The Joliet Green Giants are a jolly bunch... for the third season in a row they have gotten better in North Island baseball circles... in '50 they ended up in fourth place (15-15) in the NIRL Second... improved to 15-5 in the '51 season and won the pennant... promoted to the NIRL First this year and the Green Giants ran away with the 1952 league title by 4 games over the Dutton Coyotes (11-9)... New Yerby (10-10) and Jackson (10-10) tied for third place... and poor Kofa (7-13) and Avalon (7-13) deadlocked in last place and will say fond adieu to the NIRL First Division... they will both be relegated to the NIRL Second Division next season, making room for two new teams from the lower league.

The end of the season was anti-climatic... Joliet edged New Yerby 3-2 and knocked the Yankees down to third place... Dutton claimed second place with a 3-2 decision over Avalon... and Jackson whipped Kofa 8-7 and tied with New Yerby for the third spot.

1952 North Island Recreational League First Division Final Standings

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, July 14, 1952

WAFFORD, STOCKDALE WILL BATTLE FOR NIRL SECOND CROWN
20 games wasn't enough to decide the champion in the North Island Recreational League Second Division... the Wafford Eagles (13-7) and Stockdale Mustangs (13-7) ended the regular season tied for the top spot... so they will meet in a single-game playoff next Sunday for the league crown... no matter who wins, both of them will be promoted up to the NIRL First Division next season... Kofa and Avalon will be coming down to the NIRL Second next year... they were the two bottom teams in the premier league.

In Sunday's action Stockdale rallied to top Kinston 4-2... Wafford tripped Theodore 4-2... and West Chester trimmed Union Heights 5-3 in the last games of the season.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, July 14, 1952

LIONS CLAWED PAST PELS, ENDED THEIR 11-GAME WIN STRING
All good things eventually come to and end... the first place Labadieville Pelicans saw their 11-game winning string snapped by a 7-run inning at the hands of the Opelousas Lions, but the Pels still handily claimed the South Island First League crown with 15 wins and only 5 losses this season... Opelousas stung them 10-5 in the last game of the season... the victory enabled the Lions to wind up second in the league, tied with two other teams, Claiborne and Des Allemands... all of them were 11-9 for the year... Claiborne crushed Bar Harbor 15-3 Sunday afternoon... and Des Allemands held on to nip Mystic 5-4.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, July 14, 1952

SAINTS TRIUMPH OVER GATORS FOR SISL CROWN
The St. Dominic Saints got hot down the stretch and snared the inaugural South League Second League crown, snatching it in a showdown with runner-up Guedon... the Saints won their last three games, while the Gators flopped in their last three games... St. Dominic edged them out by one game... the Saints were 8-2 in the second half of the season, while Guedon slipped to 4-6.

St. Dominic rallied late and stormed by Guedon 11-8 on the last Sunday in the season... Meraux outlasted Delacroix 9-7... and Bayou Bleu beat Chitamaca 9-5 in the last games of the season.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]