Strange Phone Call

by Bendrr 44 Replies latest jw friends

Bendrr

bjc, oh boy! Ellery's youngest daughter Brooke was killed in a car wreck last week right in front of the kingdom hall in Hawkinsville.
I didn't know about the separation, but had heard Christie was in Orlando.
Roger Thompson, the one and only! Didn't know about Patsy having cancer, tho. If you were there till 91, did Mona ever find herself a man? She was such a sweet girl.
I lived in Fort Valley till 82, who was your brother? You probably know Berno Petterson then. Very likely if you weren't df'd till 91 you knew my family too.
Bendrr

Dana and Safe4kids:
Dana, Myron Hough (or is if Huff?) was df'd for apostasy I believe in the 70's along with some others in Perry. Never knew him, but I get the impression NO ONE liked him.
Safe, I think the name may not be Bernie, but Berno. Berno Pettersson? Real nerd and hard to get along with, but under the really weird exterior was a very sweet guy.
I think the construction project mentioned in Perry was when they tore down the Blue Diamond (?) to build the old kingdom hall on hwy. 41 south. From what I understand that hotel was a whorehouse and a lot of Perry's "blue-bloods" never forgot where the kingdom hall was built.
They sold that hall in 86 or 87 and built a new one by I-75. I was 16 helping build that one. What a nightmare! Too many chiefs and not enough injuns.
joelbear

Angeleana,
I know the Greenwells. Wayne married Darlene who was my best friend Kenny Ferrell's sister. He drowned when I was 18. Darlene left Wayne and he remarried. I never knew what happened to Darlene's daughter Tanya. Neil was also in our congo in Valdosta for a while. I knew their parents also. Grandpa Herman Greenwell was my book study conductor for years.
I think Wayne is still in my parents' congregation.
Any of you guys know people from Valdosta or Moultrie. My parents were like the first witnesses ever in moultrie.
hugs
Joel
safe4kids

Hey Bendrr...Dana = safe4kids
yes, I think you are right...Berno sounds correct. He was a bit of a strange bird...I remember him because he was at my cousins' house for a get together (read party) and my cousin Rodney convinced me to hide with him in Berno's car just before he left. It was dark and so he didn't see us crouching in the back seat...we got a bit down the road and then we both yelled Hey Berno!! Scared him half to death...stupid prank, but hell, i was about 6 or 7 at the time...what did I know?? Ahhhh...my uncle looked ready to kill both of us when Berno showed up back at the house and told on us!!
As far as Myron goes, he was my uncle and the disfellowshipping timeframe sounds right...I don't think it was for apostasy tho. He was just a scumbag human being in my book. But I'll spare you the boring details...
Dana
DannyBear

Bendrr,
I was going over your thread again, and noticed nobody acknowledged your original story. So glad you were not shot! Hello
Rumor's used to fly about certain notorious Jw's all the time, as I remember. Since so many are related to one another in the south, rumors tend to spread alot faster, than elsewhere.
Just struck me funny, how we all got going on who knew who, but we ignored your story.
Danny
DannyBear

Dana and guys,
Do you guys remember 'corn suffle', collard greens&pork, field peas, green peanuts and coke, warm biscuits and cheddar cheese for breakfast, waldorf salads, stove top cornbread and more?
You can tell where my heart is, eh? I would make a trip back just to get some!
Danny
Bendrr

Thanks, Danny. No it wasn't me. Haven't drawn a gun on anyone in several years. And if I were shot, I'd definitely know it as I would have a nice stash of painkillers and a case of brews and my posts would be a lot more colorful.
Safe, I can't believe you did that to Berno! No wonder he doesn't like kids!
Funny how so many know the Perry congregation.
When my family moved there in 82, the congregation was very strange. Might as well make this a long post since we are talking history and the move to Perry ultimately led to my getting fired from The Empire.
My family and another family moved to Perry in 82 from Fort Valley since "the need was great" in Perry.
Another family moved up from Florida, the father having originally been from Perry. (Dell Coffey, anyone remember him?)
When we arrived, Sunday meeting attendance was around 25. Only one elder before all us "newcomers" invaded. James Ross, "old guard" elder of the congregation. Actually 2 elders, counting Oliver Reagan, my great-great uncle. He was very strange to say the least. Singlehandedly kept up the congregation's hours in field service, would laugh about how he was sent to jail by the draft board in WWII and one member of the draft board died in a whorehouse. He didn't get much respect from the old congregation before we came, he had no congregational responsibilities and few speaking parts which is a shame because every talk he gave came from the heart.
When we moved in, it was culture shock for everyone. James Ross' wife was used to handling some congregational duties usually reserved for men like running the sound system, etc. As the body of elders suddenly expanded past one, tensions arose there also. My dad would come home from elders meetings so discouraged at all resistance to change.
I made one friend. The other 2 elders' kids I didn't like and they didn't like me. The friend was a young black dude 4 years younger than me. Arra Lawson. His parents just loved me. Used to call me "Lawson, junior" since I was at their house so much. A few old-guards didn't like it for some reason. Here's a little racial tension for you, the main old-guard who didn't like it was black and thought Arra shouldn't have a white best friend.
As time went on, I became the congregation's only teenager. Boy was THAT fun! Girl-chasing was "ACHTUNG! VERBOTTEN!" for whatever reason I still don't know. When I got my first car at 16, all hell broke loose. Actually that comes from the fact that the other 2 children of elders were still a couple of years younger than me so of course they couldn't have cars. Imagine suddenly being known as a hot-rodder when you drive your grandfather's 76 Mustang II. You remember those "Pinto-Mustangs" with the 4-cylinders that had the power of a Pinto and the gas mileage of a Continental?
Around this time, we built and moved into our new kingdom hall. "Quick-build" my ass! Took near about a year. The building itself went up on the foundation in a weekend but site preparation and finishing work took much longer. The other elders kids were always there but always managed to find a spot to play ball. Arra and I decided to work since that was the right thing to do. We always got the shit jobs. Tarring the retainer wall was the one I remember the best; when I tried to wash the tar off my arms with gasoline, it made the skin on my arms turn exactly the same color and texture as Arra's. He and I and his parents laughed our asses off, I had finally started turning black and the only thing left to go was the blond hair and blue eyes. He and I pulled every shit job you could think of, always working hard to finish them right and quickly while the other kids played. When the hall's dedication slideshow played, every other young person in that congregation was mentioned and commended EXCEPT US.
AOL-TV box won't let me go long, will post this then continue....
Bendrr

Danny, anytime you want some collard greens and cornbread, you're welcome to come over! I cook the ones you have to strip and cut yourself and use pigtails for flavor.
As far as the cornbread, there is only one brand: Jiffy!
How bout some pork chops to go with it? Put some John Boy and Billy Grillin Sauce on em?
mike.
Bendrr

The Legend of Bendrr, continued....
(legend in his own mind is more like it)
Anyways, this is all pretty trivial stuff. But it's turned into the first thread I've initiated where I've made some new friends and we all know each other one way or another. (We're probably all related, too)
Back to the story. New hall, dissed at the dedication, elders meetings continue.
Danny, this is about the time Sheila and her husband move in. (Sheila Weeks, but actually I think you may have been talking about her sister Yvonne)
An elder from Hawkinsville, Dan Mason, also moves in. bjc, did you know Dan "The Enforcer" Mason? Ellery Coleman didn't like him too much.
When Dan moved in, the attitude of the elders went from bad to worse. My dad actually stepped down, but wouldn't tell me why truthfully.
Dan decided that I would be his first "case" as the new theocratic police detective in Perry. It was a case that lasted almost 5 years. He followed me in town. He found ways to meet and question people I knew from school and work about me. He questioned friends I had made in other congregations about me. He especially befriended Arra and spent hours questioning Arra about me and constantly making innuendo to Arra's family. Finally after so many things said and so many bullshit meetings, Arra told me we were no longer friends, I was getting him into too much trouble.
From there on, I began moving away. As I quit regular-auxiliary pioneering and "stayed off the radar screens" the harassment seemed to die off. I do miss the reg-aux pio stint. Several sisters became such dear friends. I really became close to Sister Toomer, an older black sister who just thought it was the bomb to go in service with a young buck as myself. We even liked to talk about cars and motorcycles, and she told me about her first crush on a guy with a bike. But I digress...
As time went on, I tried to stay in The Empire. Made new friends in Macon and elsewhere. Had a few real nice girlfriends. I'm sure I broke Kathy's heart when I got df'd in between letters.
Perry was just a really weird place. Kind of isolationist, in a way. Didn't like outsiders much. Very rarely did anyone visit from another congregation, and even rarer still did anyone miss a meeting because they had gone to so-and-so congregation to visit.
Any kind of get-togethers were unheard of. The old-guard kids did stuff together, but they didn't have me around and I decided to respect what they wanted and find my own amusement.
Guess I have Perry to thank for helping me leave The Empire. Had my family stayed in Fort Valley, I would never have grown my hair long or turned a wrench for a living.
Then again, I would never have met the best friends I have today.
Maybe Perry ain't so bad after all!
Well, I've run this one long, off-topic, and personal.
But that is what internet threads are for, and y'all seem like nice enough folks to let a man run his mouth for a while.
Night, y'all.
mike.
Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed,
DannyBear

Hey Mike,
First things first. Yeah Iam ready for the collard green w/pig tails, and can handel two or three pork chops as well. Thanks for the invite.
I was really chuckeling at your story involving all the intrigue in the Perry congregation. When you drive through some of those little Ga towns, with all the historical homes and little one horse stores, creating a picture worthy of Norman Rockwell...it just doesn't equate.
I'll tell you my new friend, it is not any different anywhere within the Empire. I don't know how much time you have spent reading all the horror stories regarding Jw life here on the net, but there are a ton of em. Your story is very tame.
In the 60's racial tension was at an all time high. I remember going in field service with a mutual aquaintance one day, he opened his glove box in which was a fully loaded 38snub nose revolver. I asked him why he carried it, is direct and unabashed comment was 'in case of niggers'. This statement while we were going from door to door, some of which homes were occupied by black's. I did not say a word, it was so ingrained in him, if I would have taken exception to it, he would have been really offended. It just was a different time and place. I learned alot about people and attitudes in those days.
Have you ever heard what happened to your friend Arra(sp?)
Really enjoyed hearing your stories. Thanks for sharing.
Danny
Ps Do you put fresh corn in your stove-top corn bread (Jiffy)?

Strange Phone Call

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