Twenty years ago in 1995 both Brewton and East Brewton were welcoming new and existing members to their city councils. Brewton’s members were Mervin Huff, Jake Lewis, Cary Barton, Frank Cotten and Dennis Dunaway, along with Mayor Ted Jennings.

East Brewton also swore in its new council members – Huey Johnson, Elaine Parker, Byron Palmer, Dewayne King, Bettie Jo Jordan and Mayor Terry Clark.

It seems hard to believe that this was 20 years ago. Time passes by so fast.

A Brewton youth was reported missing by his mother. The 14 year-old later returned but there was no explanation offered in the newspaper as to what happened.

The 11th annual Peanut Festival was held at Gabbert’s farm near Jay, Fla.

I have never been to one of these events, but I have been to Gabbert’s farm. He has a very good collection of  farm artifacts and he displays them in an interesting way. He has one building that is full of different tractors. It is fascinating to see tractors and the changes made in tractors over the years. If you have never been to the farm, you would enjoy going there.

Brooke Walker, who hailed from Maine, became the director of Brewton Public Library and was featured in the Profile section of the newspaper.

Walker has moved on. A few years ago she moved to Monroeville, but while she was here, I grew to think of her as a friend and we had a lot of good laughs together.

Officials expressed the need for a new area code for those of us who live in Brewton and East Brewton. We had been a part of area code 205, then 334 and now would be placed in area code 251. I guess that is a sign of the times. The more people with telephones the more numbers we need.

Bill Crest, publisher of The Brewton Standard organized a poll to see what the public would do with the empty K-Mart building. The results named a bowling alley, a skating rink or a movie theater, the same as has been suggested before.

I do believe that we need more things for the kids to do, but will they really use them?  Several years ago, the city purchased a large screen and furnished up-to-date movies to the public for no charge. Some were shown outside, but most were shown at the Brewton Civic Center behind City Hall. I tried to make as many of them as possible, and I was surprised with the numbers that showed up. The movie was free and refreshments could be brought from home, but the turnout was very poor. If the public won’t support a free movie each week, why do we think they would support a bowling alley, a skating rink and a movie theater? Something to think about.

Both W.S. Neal and T.R. Miller came up short on the football field. Clarke County beat Miller 22-14 while Neal fell to Luverne 17-12.

The class of 1985 of W.S. Neal presented a basketball goal to be placed in the park that was started by Pearl Stallworth in memory of her son, Wayne, and Sean, John and Thomas Miller, who were all killed in a traffic accident in 1987.

Pearl Stallworth is gone now,  and I hope she had a happy reunion with her son. She was very faithful to continue to support the park as long as she lived.