I want to say a little bit more about the two oldest children of my parents. Samuel Robert, the oldest of the seven, was born in the Mt. Vernon section of Rutherford County. He lived to be l8 months old. Ruby Mae, to whom I have referred before, was three years and three months old. She was born in Cliffside, along with the other five children of the family. All, except one, were born at 10 Reservoir Street. Boyce, Jr., the youngest child, was born on Main Street.

There were two special places on the outskirts of town that were the romantic strolls, we might say. One was called “Lover's Lane” and the other was called “Laurel Valley.” Courting couples could be seen taking their strolls on Sunday afternoon on one of these romance trails. I remember my father used to take me down Laurel Valley on Sunday afternoons to find a beautiful little flower that was my mother's birth flower. It was the Trailing Arbutus, a very pale pink little flower that trailed on the ground. There were also a lot of hickory nut trees down there. In the fall, we went down to hunt hickory nuts. These were times of great enjoyment for us children when we were able to go on such a jaunt.

Some of the games we used to play when we were children were Tag, Drop-the-Handkerchief, Farmer in the Dell, Cat and Mouse, Sling, I Dare You, Hopscotch and Hide and Seek. We always had the Maypole Dance on the first of May. Other things I remember were the big July 4th celebrations. There was always a grand parade with the beautiful floats, the band playing, and down in the square, we had relay races. They would turn loose the “greasy pig” to be caught and they would have the “greasy pole” to be climbed. Always, the street was lined with people to watch all these parades and go on down to see these other things that were going on. Sometimes, we would have a band concert in the park in the afternoon and always a movie at the “picture-show house.”

One particular July 4th I remember well. Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Hendrick had gotten married on top of Chimney Rock, one of the vacation spots in the northern section of Rutherford County, still a very prominent place for many tourists to visit. Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick were to ride in the parade and, of course, we were all just terribly excited about this. Mr. Hendrick later became president of the Cliffside Mill.

“At Christmastime, we had a big community Christmas tree right down in the middle of the square.”

A second highlight of the year for holiday festivities was around Christmas. At Christmastime, we had a big community Christmas tree right down in the middle of the square. All of the school children were taught songs to sing about Christmas. We all gathered down there, sang around the tree, and there were other forms of entertainment. The tree was beautifully lighted. We enjoyed it so much!

Another provision for the community that Mr. Haynes was responsible for were Community Workers. Most of them were nurses. They visited the homes where there was illness and helped in the recreation of the town. In fact, any facet of welfare work that needed to be done, these ladies would do it. Some of them I remember were Miss Fleming, Miss Durant, Miss Maude Elliott and Miss Hattie Padgett; there were two or three others who came there and I cannot remember their names. That was a wonderful help to the community.

During 1918 when the great influenza epidemic came, I remember Miss Hattie Padgett was then the Community Worker and nurse. She went from house to house, helping the people where there were several in bed with flu, maybe whole families. During that time, churches were closed, schools were closed, even the company store was boarded up and you could only go to the door to make your purchases. Everything stood still. Two and three people would die in the family; it was a tragic time for us.

In the year 1916, we had a terrible flood in the county. The First Broad River sent its floodwaters into the Second Broad River, which, of course, ran through Cliffside. The water got into the mill; it was pouring over the dam in torrents. It was about to wash away the bridge. I can remember how the men went down and tied that bridge with wires to keep it from washing away.

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