Forty years ago, in 1971, Brewton Middle School got a new principal when David Harrison took over the position.

It was announced in The Brewton Standard that the police chief had issued a warning about the use of fireworks within the city limits and said that they would be watching closely to make sure everybody obeyed the law.

This is true every year and without a doubt that rule is broken every year. At least we are finally getting some rain so maybe we won’t have to worry so much about the danger of fires. Now we have to remember to be careful for safety’s sake.

Nobody has to worry about me using fireworks. When I was a little girl, my uncle set loose a chasing firecracker which took off in my direction and chased me from the back yard to the porch. I was totally terrified and have never like fireworks since that day.

First Methodist Church presented a Christmas play called “A Child is Born.”

This time of the year there are so many specials being presented.

Two men escaped from the county jail but they were both apprehended and put right back in jail with an extension on their sentence.

The Birmingham News named W.S. Neal students to the All-State Team. They were Donnie Crutchfield, James Hicks, Calvin Culliver and Fred Rowell.

David Salter, coach at W.S. Neal, was named Coach of the Year and the Player of the Year was Calvin Culliver.

T.R. Miller School collected food, clothing and other gifts for those under privileged at the welfare department. There were also other groups collecting toys for children in this area.

People are so willing to help at this time of the year. It is too bad that it can’t be freely given during the rest of the year.

One bobcat got a real surprise when he returned for the third time to steal some chickens from Memphis Riddle. He was met by Hank Riddle who shot the bobcat which weighed 42 pounds.

Billy Whittle, medical student at University of Alabama Center in Birmingham, was to return to Brewton and D.W. McMillan Hospital to serve two months of extern training before going for his internship.

We all know what happened there. Dr. Whittle has been here ever since and has doctored many here in this area.

Lastly, the newspaper was full of well wishes from merchants all over town. Some of the ads were very beautiful. There was also a big section on stories of Christmas down through the ages.

Many of the traditions that we celebrate today are based on days gone by. Some of the things we do today go back to stories told long ago.