In December of 1995, the T.R. Miller football team returned home having lost the championship game at Alexandria. The battle that was fought in the freezing rain was a heartbreaker for our local team.

This brought back memories of another championship game back in 1984. It had been a wonderful year for the team and on that December night we had traveled to Cherokee County hoping to come out on top as the state winner.

It was cold, freezing cold in the stadium and the middle of the field was frozen and chunks of ice could be seen all over the wet ground. All of us who were there to see the game were wearing as much as we could to keep warm. I was even sitting in the stands with a sleeping bag zipped up to the top. I was still cold, but that didn’t seem to matter as we all came home that night as winners. We arrived about 4:30 a.m. and after a quick nap, the players had to be downtown to ride on a Christmas parade float. It could have ended so differently, but as it turned out, it was a great trip.

In 1995 the flu bug was making the rounds here in Brewton. School attendance was down due to so many students being out sick.

I remember the last time I had the flu. It was so bad, I didn’t care if I made it or not. It was bad enough that I have been sure to have my flu shot every year since then. If you haven’t had the shot, get it now.

The Greater Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce organized “A Downtown Christmas” for the weekend with several events planned included a visit with Santa and caroling around the town.

Last Friday night I attended the Escambia County Historical Society Christmas party at the L House in downtown Brewton. We had a blast with fun and food. After watching the parade from there, we played Bingo and had some more fun. When I came out to go home, I noticed that there were other things going on. I made the remark to someone that Brewton was the happening place to be that night.

As wonderful as the season was 20 years ago, everyone was reminded of the outside world, when a Brewton native who was working in Saudi Arabia was caught in the middle of a terrorist bombing. Tracy Henley of Wing was injured, among with 60 others and six killed in the bombing. Henley spent a week and a half in a Saudi hospital and then was flown to Germany for treatment until he could be brought back home.

There is nothing like reality to bring us down, but hopefully the good will always out weigh the bad.

Four students and two drivers were injured and taken to the hospital after a collision between a car and a school bus. The bus was caring a full load as only one student had gotten off on the route.