In the '20's & 30's Holly Grove had some real good baseball players.Roy Johnson, shortstop, and Sonny Gordon, second base were signed by the Arkansas Travelers baseball team. When they went to Spring Training the weather was very cool. They were both trying so hard to make the team that they developed "sore arms" before the weather warmed up. They didn't quite make the team and returned to Holly Grove.
"One of my favorite summertime memories involves the tennis court. Mr. and Mrs. June Davidson got permission from someone to put a tennis court on an empty lot downtown about a block from the tracks. I was one of the young "grunts" who helped scrape the weeds and clean out the rocks. Someone installed net posts and a net, then we lined the court with lime and Shazam - just like that, we had a tennis court. We played doubles; winners stayed, losers went to the back of the line. Even though it seemed like I always lost, I thought it was great fun!"
"Municipal Tennis Courts" In the early 1930's, there was an old empty house across Smith Street from King's Lion Station. The house belonged to the Lee family in Clarendon. It was said to be haunted. When we walked by on a dark night, we heard sounds inside and ran home fast. In 1934, the threat of a flood brought many refugees to town and several families stayed there until the water receded. In the early 1940's, this old house was torn down. Town leaders got permission from the Lee family to build a tennis court there. Many people volunteered to help. Junius and Glenda Davidson and Miriam Lambert led the way. The dirt court was scraped and rolled. Tall chicken wire fences were erected around the outside area. Finally, Junius Davidson climbed up in the large red oak tree and installed lights. The we had tennis day and night. Some of the best tennis players were Junius and Glenda Davidson, ?Homey Davidson, Van Walls, and Ruel Sain. Ruel Sain was about 6'4" tall and loved to play the net and make a "kill shot" right back at his opponents. Glenda Davidson taught lessons and many people enjoyed playing tennis. Fortunately, mosquitoes were not a problem at that time period. -Bob Lambert
Baseball was a big pasttime for Holly Grove citizens in the early 1900's....and all through the 20's & 30's. Do any old photos of HG's town baseball team exist? Does anyone have photos in their family of one of these old teams?
I have a group of family letters from the early 1900's and the 1920's. Some of the letters mention Holly Grove playing baseball. Below, I've posted some excerpts about Holly Grove playing baseball from those letters:
"Clarendon came over yesterday and played ball with us and we beat them by a score of 9 to 7. Hurrah Holly Grove! Holler for us when you read this. They went home so sick that they could not hold their heads up. About forty came, both boys and girls." - June 20, 1903 (Matthews family letter)
"We are going to have another ballgame this afternoon. We had one yesterday. "Bill F." pitched and the score was 3 to 0 in favor of H.G. They are going today [to] Marvel this eve and Lewis Franks or Jo. Fitzgerald will pitch." -June 28, 1923 (Matthews family letter)
"I am just from the Holly Grove – DeValls Bluff game. We won 3 to 0. It was a good game but we had too much (?) Fincher (?) for them. Cotton Plant will not be here this week. They just got their dates mixed up with Parkin, Ark and will not come. So this is our last game this week." -June 27, 1923 (Matthews family letter)
"We had a ballgame last Friday. Joseph Fitzgerald pitched for Holly Grove and we won 17 to 2. Bill Fincher got 2 home runs; one of them went over (?)'s barn and the other one down at Pat Mayo’s house. We are going to play DeVall’s Bluff here Wednesday and Cotton Plant Thurs." -June, 26, 1923 (Matthews family letter)
"Our ball team went to Cotton Plant today.....so (?) the game was 5 to 1 in favor of Holly Grove. (?)Ulm will be here tomorrow to (?) us. Bill F. pitched today and they say Joseph Fitzgerald will pitch against (?)Ulm since Louis Franks is out of town." -June 21, 1923 (Matthews family letter)
-- Edited by Danyelle McNeill Fletcher at 22:10, 2005-11-14
Okay...I put football in its own category, but I figure high school football deserves its own category. Did you play basketball, baseball, or run track? Were you a cheerleader? What is your favorite sports memory or your most memorable sports moment?
