Oral History Interview with Sula Jones

A Taylor:Could you please tell us your full name, including your maiden name.

S. Jones: Sula Dunn Jones.

A Taylor: Could you spell that for me please, your first name?

S. Jones: SULA (she spells the first name).

A Taylor: And when and where were you born in Garrard County?

S. Jones: July 29, 1:001946. And I was born in a home, a house, uh, in an alley behind Johnson Funeral Home, which is now Baughman Avenue, Baughman Alley, sorry. . . ..

A Taylor: Will you tell us about your family, for example your parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters?

S. Jones: Ok. My uh, mother was Martha Baughman Snodgrass. And my father was uh, Louie Dunn. Grandparents were Price Baughman and Annie Baughman, Annie Dunn Baughman. 2:00A Taylor: How would you describe your family? Any brothers and sisters?

S. Dunn: I have two sisters and two brothers.

A. Taylor: Where do you fall in the line?

S. Dunn: I’m the oldest.

A Taylor: Were you guys close?

S. Dunn: Well, yes and no. They moved to Louisville during their maybe elementary years. And my grandparents raised me, and I would just go for visits back and forth. But we never were together in the home, just separated.

A Taylor: What do you remember about your parents?

S. Dunn: Hm. . .Well, 3:00my mother, she was like me, she liked to cook, eat. And she was mostly a homemaker. And uh, she did a lot of work outside of the county. My father, uh, he was in the service, and I never was much around him much. But in the later years, we got closer.

S. Roberts: Mrs. Jones: could you please tell us about your childhood?

S. Dunn: Well, . . . it was simple. . . I was raised by my grandparents. There wasn’t anything to do here; 4:00visit a friend. I would go to her house; she would come to my house. Church, school, and that was about it.. .the movies, maybe once a week. And other than that, was, uh, school activities and church activities, that was our recreation.

S. Roberts: Where did you go to the movies at?

S. Dunn: The Grand Theater here in town. It was like just a. . . we usually went every Saturday, and it would be cartoons, westerns, and the Three Stoogies. That’s what we looked forward to every Saturday. Those were, you know, the type of movies they showed, so that’s all we got to see.

S. Roberts: About how much was the ticket?

S. Dunn: Fifteen cents. We used to sell pop bottles if we didn’t have any money. 5:00We could get the deposit off pop bottles and sell them. Of course, then, I don’t know, we had to sit up in the balcony. And uh, there wasn’t any restrooms. But you could go out across the street if you wanted to get something else to eat, like French fries or something like that. And other than that, it was something that we didn’t mind doing and it was just something we looked forward to doing ‘cause that’s all we had.

S. Roberts: So, you said that all of your siblings were in Louisville, so you were basically an only child?

S. Dunn: Um hum. my grandparents raised me and so I was the only one there.

S. Roberts: Hum, interesting. 6:00Uh, do you recall hearing anything about the Depression?

S. Dunn: No, uh, no, they didn’t say much about that. Just sometimes they would just say “hard times” or something like that. But that’s all I can remember.

S. Roberts: Do you have any special memories of holidays?

S. Dunn: Uh, like Christmas and Thanksgiving, it was always food, food, food (she laughs). And gifts for Christmas. Those were just always the special days, the ones that were memorable.

S. Roberts: What kind of food did you have?

S. Dunn: Uh, turkey, dressing, country ham, and , uh, the vegetable was usually green beans, and we always had oysters, 7:00oyster casserole some people call them, and fruit cake was the number one thing also during those days. Of course we called them fruitcake, my grandmother called them black cake. And she would pour wine over it to keep it moist and put an apple down inside of it and put it in a, we called it a “lard can”, it’s just a tin can, and they put it down inside of the can and cover it real good. And it would last, stay moist for several days, maybe even a month or so.

S. Roberts: Did you help your grandmother prepare meals?

S. Dunn: Uh, maybe from ten or twelve something like that , but in my teen years, I did a lot of just fooling around on my own. But most of the time, she liked to do it on her own. They had their own way of doing things, which now I understand, and that’s the way they wanted it done, so, and I was a little lazy, too, so I really didn’t care.

S. Roberts: Did they have a garden?

S. Dunn: Yes, they had a garden down in Boones Creek. 8:00They raised it down there. And she canned. My grandfather more or less took care of it and she just did the canning of it.

S. Roberts: So where exactly did your grandparents live in Garrard County?

S. Dunn: In Baughman Alley, down where I was born. That’s the home what they owned, they owned their home and that’s where they lived.

S. Roberts: So, they traveled back and forth to Boones Creek ?

S. Dunn: Yes, they traveled back and forth down to Boones Creek. Yeah, that was just nothing. Sometimes my grandfather would go two and three times a day. If he was working down there, he would go early in the morning and then come back for lunch, and go back, and then come back at suppertime.

S. Roberts: Did they own land down there? 9:00S. Dunn: Um, hum. Yes, they did.

S. Roberts: Could you tell us a little bit about your life during segregation and then later on during integration?

S. Dunn: Um. .well, I was a person that never, I really, it didn’t I guess bother me as bad as it did others. My grandparents raised me, and by them, I believe if I had been raised by my mom or a younger person, uh . . .they would have been more influential to me on that. But grandparents, they would say ‘this is the way that it is, and this is the way it’s gonna be.’ And that’s what you did; you didn’t try to ask questions to persuade them any other ways. Like I was always taught that you stay among yourselves, like that. Well, then I went to school; I had, we had white friends, too. But still we stayed in our place. 10:00You didn’t dare do that. But just like with the movements and things, I never did get involved with. Some people just get deeply involved in that, but I never did. Of course, there are always going to be problems. I went to Eastern for one year and I think that’s one of the reasons I didn’t like it was because not being used to being in a segregated class. I think that was my main problem why I never gave it another try. But then, as far as integration, I think it’s great! They have more opportunities and stuff now when it first started, than what we had. What we had, we were limited, and we just made the best out of what we had and used it to the best of our abilities. And 11:00a lot of us have gotten to be where we are today from that. And of course, my children have more opportunities and today since segregation, I mean integration has happened, I think a vast majority of our people have proven that with the opportunity, uh, they can be anything they want to be. They can see the difference there.

S. Roberts: That’s really powerful. Where did you attend elementary and high school?

S. Dunn: Mason High School. They had grades one through twelve.

S. Roberts: One through twelve and you went there the whole time?

S. Dunn: Yes, the whole time.

S. Roberts: And when did you graduate?

S. Dunn: 1964.

S. Roberts: And uh, do you remember any of the teachers that you had while you were there?

S. Dunn: You mean the names?

S. Roberts: Yes ma’am.

S. Dunn: Well, I had Mrs. Covington, she was my first-grade teacher . . first and second 12:00grade teacher. Most the classes had two grades, up to, I think, to the fifth grade. And uh, then I had Mrs. Evans, Sarah Evans, and then Mrs. Bell Williams, and Mr. Wainwright, uh, Betty Green, Jackie Logan, there were several, and Mrs. Merritt, our principal. She just died, you were at the funeral, and she was the principal there.

S. Roberts: What kinds of classes did you have while you were there?

S. Dunn: Uh, I guess, you’d say the basics. I know like a lot of the other schools had, what you call, home ec. that they taught and we didn’t have any of that. We just had math, 13:00uh, the basics. And in high school, we had just what was mostly needed. We had the sciences and the maths and the English. . .what do they say, reading, writing, and arithmetic, that’s all we had. And that’s about it.

S. Roberts: What was your favorite class?

S. Dunn: Uh, I liked Algebra, I don’t know nothing about it now, but I liked algebra then, I used to like to work the equations. I hated English, Geography, and History. I didn’t know nothing, I’d copy off of him ( tapping on her husband’s arm, Charles).

S. Roberts: Were you involved in any kinds of activities while growing up?

S. Dunn: Well, school, like I said, well 14:00most of the school activities were like annual. We’d have a school carnival; they call it a fall festival now, but we called it a school carnival. We always had a school carnival and the PTA sponsored it and we always looked forward to that. And getting booths and stuff ready. And we’d have a parade through town, cars, driving cars through town. We’d decorate cars and then during the school year, we’d have, we called them socials, and it’s just a dance. We’d have that at the school. We’d have wiener roasts at during the school hour and maybe have a competition baseball game with another school, like Stanford would come over. We’d all have to get ready and prepare it and stuff like that 15:00. And then we had the school choir. Then in church, it was like the choir and going to district meetings, some conventions and stuff like that. That’s just about it.

S. Roberts: After graduating high school, you said that you attended Eastern for one year of study. What did you study while you were there?

S. Dunn: I was planning on doing elementary ed.

S. Roberts: To teach algebra?

S. Dunn: No, I couldn’t do that. I probably could if I put my mind to it, I probably could have.

S. Roberts: Did any of your siblings go to college?

S. Dunn: No, I’m the only one.

S. Roberts: Well, I’ve talked a little bit about education, I’m gonna 16:00let Allyse talk about the church now.

A Taylor: I know you just mentioned district meetings and conventions. So, could you just tell us about the church in your life and childhood and the place of religion?

S. Dunn: Well, the church was, well you had to go to church. Now-a-days, kids they just tell you that they’re not going or whatever. But then, you had to go to church. There were no questions asked, you had to get up and go. You had to go to Sunday School and go all day sometimes. And it just became a part of my life because my grandfather was a minister. So, on Sundays I looked forward to it, I just knew what I had to do. Sometimes I would go to my church here in town, and I would go with him because most of the time he pastored churches out of the county. And I would go with him and do that. And then I played in the church all my life.

A Taylor: What instrument?

S. Dunn: The piano. And that just kept me busy, 17:00going and doing, because very seldom missed. . .

A Taylor: And may I ask the name of the church that you attend?

S. Dunn: First Baptist Lancaster.

S. Roberts: You play the piano beautifully (Mrs. Jones: played the piano at the funeral of Mrs. Tommie Merritt, former Principal of the Mason School. J. Blythe, S. Roberts, and A Taylor: attended the funeral services).

S. Dunn: Well, thank you.

A Taylor: Do you sing in the choir?

S. Dunn: Yeah, we have a choir, and our membership is low, not like it used to be. And most of the time now our deacons have to sing and do everything. So, it’s just like five or six of us that sing.

A Taylor: And what is a typical Sunday like?

S. Dunn: Well, it’s uh, our church is not like some people, noisy; we are quiet 18:00and mostly laid back and we sing mostly hymns. And we have some songs because we have sheet music. But we don’t have practice because we can’t get anybody to come out to practice. So we just sing old familiar songs like that. And most of the time, sometimes we have potluck and things like that.

A Taylor: Do you remember your baptism?

S. Dunn: Yes.

A Taylor: How would you describe your baptism?

S. Dunn: Ah, I remember it was, I was kind of afraid of the water. It was in ’54 and I was quite young then. And it was just uh, I was excited.

A Taylor: Where did you get baptized?

S. Dunn: At the church, in the church pool. And it’s still there.

A Taylor: The water was cold?

S. Dunn: Um hum. Yes. I remember the older people, they always had certain old songs they would sing. It was, just uh, traditional songs that they would sing that pertains to water, like “Wade in the Water”, 19:00“Certainly Lord”; it says like ‘have you got good religion?’, songs like that. And they all would gather around the pool and come up and watch you come down. The deacons would help you out of the water. The parent, or whoever was going to dry you, would be waiting on the other end with the towel to dry you off. And we had to wear white, a white gown.

A Taylor: I know you talk about potluck, so what kind of church activities did you have growing up and that you have now that brought the church members together?

S. Dunn: Pretty much the same, nothing has changed. Usually, we have church family Christmas dinner and Thanksgiving . And we didn’t years ago, but we do now. We 20:00always have, if we have special guests, we have dinner. In fact, last year, we had a Halloween thing for the kids, and we had food then and games . And just about the whole community came in.

A Taylor: And what about Easter?

S. Dunn: Easter? Most of the time I’m away playing at another church playing. This year I was. But we used to have egg hunts, but then our pastor before this one, he uh, stopped it. And now, we don’t have any youth, so they just have Easter dinner. It’s just whatever the ladies that take care of the dining area. Jus, whatever the ladies want to fix, then we all just pitch in and do it.

A Taylor: I know you mentioned the pastor before, so could you just tell us the pastor before and the current pastor that’s there now?

S. Dunn: Ok, the pastor before was Rev. J. J. Evans, 21:00he’s deceased. And he was there from . . ., I forgot. .. he started pastoring in ’68 to, he was there over 30 years. And he was different. And of course, now our pastor is David McPherson, do you know him?

A Taylor: Yes, ma’am.

S. Dunn: And he’s different, too. I think sometimes uh, he gets aggravated with us because a lot of us, I guess we are older and set in our ways. And he thinks if he says something, you know, 22:00we should jump right to it as far as, I call it discipline, or something like that. But he’s all right.

A Taylor: And you said the church is small, so what are some family names that’s been there and are currently there?

S. Dunn: Ok. the Merritts, the Dunns, and, the Andersons, the Leavells, and uh, Spillmans, of course they have other names now. . . .And Anderson, I said Anderson; we have two sets of Andersons, and the Davis family, and uh, Alcorn, and Lintons, Hood, and I think that’s 23:00about it. And the Dunns.

A Taylor: We talked about church activities. Do you remember any community gathering in Lancaster that brought the community together, it could be holidays?

S. Dunn: They used to have Christmas, Easter sunrise service. That brought some people together and have breakfast. And uh, other than that, just like special days at church, like family day, or men and women’s day, special days like that , homecomings. That’s the biggest day, I guess because people come from the community and other cities.

A Taylor: What would happen on the 4th of July 24:00around here?

S. Dunn: When I was small, we used to catch the school bus. The drivers used to own their busses, and I would, this driver in Davistown, he would come up to town on the 4th of July, and we would pay a small fee, fifty cents or so, and we would go to Douglass Park in Lexington. All day. We would take a lunch and just lay around on blankets; they’d shoot firecrackers. Let’s about the only thing. And now everybody usually has a cookout on their own. And at night go out to the Jaycees Park out here for fireworks. Or go to the other local counties or out in the country, they have them around the marinas. And that’s about it.

A Taylor: I know earlier 25:00you said that your father was in the service. Were any other of your family members involved in the military?

S. Dunn: No. No.

S. Roberts: What exactly did your dad do while he was in the service?

S. Dunn: I don’t know much about it, but I do remember him saying like he was on the front line there. That’s about the only thing that I remember him saying. . . I wasn’t around him that much then.

S. Roberts: So, it probably during World War II?

S. Dunn: Something around there or the Korean conflict [Korean War].

S. Roberts: Can you tell us about the other kinds of work that your family did?

S. Dunn: Well, let’s see, my grandfather did a lot of yard work, he worked some on the farm. And my grandmother she did baby-sitting or 26:00in those days sometimes they would take in ironings. People would bring their clothes and they would iron them, like the shirts, wash, and iron, starch the white shirts, like the lawyers, and whatever. She did that. And my mother, she, uh, did housework, cleaned houses, and then she worked in Fayette County at the Eastern, at the mental hospital.

S. Roberts: What kind of work have you done?

S. Dunn: Uh, after I graduated from school, high school, then I went to Eastern, . . .and then I went to National Casket, here in town, and that was from ’65 27:00to ’72, and then from ’72 to ’79, I did family development with the local Extension Office (Cooperative Extension), a part of UK. You would make home visits and teach families on money management, eating properly and stuff like that. And from ’79 to ’07 on I worked at Donaldson, that’s in Nicholasville.

S. Roberts: And what kind of company is that?

S. Dunn: It’s a filtration and we made filter bags, and we made the product there and the replacement bags and stuff like that.

S. Roberts: That’s really neat about your extension job.

S. Dunn: Yeah, it was interesting. You don’t realize, you know, how people are living until you get out and see all the stuff. 28:00Then some of them they didn’t know whether to accept you or whether to let you in. You had to kind of gain their confidence and then the next time it got easier. And then they got to looking forward to you coming and would want the material and stuff. One girl, a young girl, well, she’s dead now, but she wanted to know how to make a pie. So, I showed her how to do that and we got that done. And then, we would have a little training meeting once a month out of the county for that.

A Taylor: Did your family own property?

S. Dunn: Um hum, my grandfather owned his house.

A Taylor: Could you estimate how much?

S. Dunn: Then?. . . I guess, probably, eight or ten thousand dollars, 29:00maybe fifteen thousand dollars.

J. Blythe: And your grandfather had property on Boones Creek also?

S. Dunn: Boones Creek, yes. I forgot about that.

J. Blythe: Do you remember about how much?

S. Dunn: Naw, I have forgotten, . . .it wasn’t quite an acre. . . .The barn, he built the barn. It’s still there, right across from your home place.

J. Blythe: He built that barn?

S. Dunn: Yes, he used to raise tobacco and, there used to be a house my great grandmother lived over there. And we used to cross the creek and go over there.

J. Blythe: And that would be Miss Rachel?

S. Dunn: Yes, that’s right.

J. Blythe: You talked about your grandfather pastoring several churches, particularly some out of the county. Did he also pastor churches in Garrard County?

S. Dunn: Yes, 30:00Paint Lick; that’s the only one, because Kirksville is in Madison County. That’s the only one.

J. Blythe: Did he ever pastor at Flatwoods?

S. Dunn: I believe he did, yes, I believe he did at Flatwoods.

J. Blythe: And you also talked about, I know you’ve spent much of your life in church and there were a lot of older name of women and so forth. Do you remember the names of the older women around town who were a part like the Deacons’ Wives Council, and a lot of the activities that your grandmother was involved in?

S. Dunn: She wasn’t much involved in the church activities. 31:00If they had a choir, she would sing in the choir, where my grandfather pastored, she would sing in the choir. And then they had this community club, called the Earnest Workers, and it was all women, same age, older women. And some of the women in that club was like, your grandmother, Miss Odessa Burdette, and uh, Sophia Owens, and Julia Coffman, which was Miss Ted’s mother, and Mrs. Merritt was a member, but she hardly ever got to attend, but most of the time, I remember her entertaining, when it came time for her, at her home. They would entertain at each other’s house. They would have a full meal. I remember my grandmother making homemade rolls to serve. . .and let me see, Miss Rebecca Francis was a member, and I think that’s about it. And uh, some of the older ladies were, I’ve already mentioned them there , at church, 32:00was Miss Marelda Rice, she was a blind lady. And uh, Sarah Jane Mullins, and Mrs. Beatrice Bogle, and , uh, Bessie Gwyn, she was Mrs. Beatrice Bogle’s auntie, they lived side-by-side. And that’ about all,. . .Mrs. Elsie Owens and Mrs. Ella Mae Miller. ..Uh, Margaret Burdette.

J. Blythe: Do you remember the store, Mr. Burdette’s store?

S. Dunn: Uh, huh. Mr. Herbert 33:00Burdette and his wife was Margaret Burdette. We used to go there. He used to have the best bologna. He’d slice it off in a big hunch and he sold coal oil, kerosene, we called it coal oil. And we always thought sometimes that the bologna tasted like kerosene. But we’d always stop there and get candy. Sometimes he would be open on our way to school and when we would come back, Just cheap stuff.

J. Blythe: Do you remember anything about the restaurant that used to be below the funeral home?

S. Dunn: That was owned by Walter Williams. 34:00His wife’s name was Lillian Williams; they had a daughter named Sherry. And uh, he was blind, but he could. .you could go and tell him what you wanted, ice cream, and they would dip it up in a cone, and he knew what was what, and he would give you the cone, you gave him the money, and he would give you the change back. He was good.

J. Blythe: Any other businesses in that area, I know the funeral home, the William H. Johnson Funeral Home was there and the restaurant. Was there a barber shop or something in that area?

S. Dunn: No, Bill, uh, Bill Wearren, it was over across town right. . . … . . . ..(her husband offers comments about the location of the barber shop and J. Blythe indicates she will explore that with him).

J. Blythe: Uh, what were some of the important values and beliefs that your family promoted as you were growing up? 35:00S. Dunn: Uh, always be truthful , that was the main thing; to tell the truth about what you were doing, and to be truthful there. And to just always set you a goal and to try to do everything you can to reach that goal. And uh, always listen to others and don’t , uh, just listen to what they have to say, and respect what they say, and weigh the pros and cons with what they tell you. And then go from there for whatever you’re trying to decide on. 36:00J. Blythe: We’ve done quite a bit of research on different areas of the county, and there were different communities around with different names. Are you familiar with names like Lowell or Point Leavell?

S. Dunn: Yes, Point Leavell, that’s out there by Flatwoods. Linda Buford, . . .used to have a home there. She doesn’t live there now, but they. . and that’s where you turn right to go to Flatwoods, off of 52.

J. Blythe: Do they still own that property?

S. Dunn: Yep, uh hum they do. I think Lowell was right in there, too.

J. Blythe: How about Hackley?

S. Dunn: Hackley is off of 1295, that’s where the Doty’s lived, Bill Doty, Jack Doty. It’s on Gillespie Pike, that's what it was called.

J. Blythe: Gillespie Pike? 37:00S. Dunn: And Jackie lives out there now. She has a home in Lexington, but she stays out there, but she says she stays over here most of the time.

J. Blythe: . . .So the Doty’s, and we also encountered two names, Spaineytown and John’s Bottoms. Have you ever heard of those names?

S. Dunn: No, I’ve never heard of those.

J. Blythe: Have you lived any place outside of Garrard County for any period of time?

S. Dunn: No.

J. Blythe: And I know that you and Charles have children, so how many children do you have: And you have grandchildren. Tell us a little bit about your children and grandchildren.

S. Dunn: We have two boys, Chuck, Charles, Jr., and Bryan Jason. Chuck is the oldest and 38:00he’s 40 and uh, Jason is 34. Chuck has five children, . . .four boys and one girl. Two of them graduated this year from high school, so , and the youngest will be three in August. And the others are seven, one will be . . no, nine, nine next month and one will be nine in December. So, you can read between the lines on that. He’s a rambler. ..

J. Blythe: And then you said Jason is how old now?

S. Dunn: 34. He’ll be 34 in September.

J. Blythe: Where did Jason go to college? Tell us a little bit about that.

S. Dunn: He went to UK , majored in business. And he worked for 39:00Arthur Anderson, and he left there just right before the trouble they had. . . Enron, yes, . . ..and he left there and went to LexMark. So now he’s supervisor over the Accounting Department at LexMark.

J. Blythe: If I remember correctly, he graduated with high honors from UK? . . .in the College of Business?

S. Dunn: Um hum.

J. Blythe: And I believe he’s still single? . . 40:00. . You have described a little bit of the work you’ve done over the years. Any particular thing that stands out in the work that you’ve done that you are particularly proud of?

S. Dunn: Um. Well, it was just a small group of us ladies who worked in one room, in a sewing room. And we were all real close and we always took pride in our work and we, you know, we tried to do it precise, to have it just right. And we never did have any repairs much or returns much back from the floor. And, uh, I always had good attendance and everything.

S. Roberts: What are some of the hobbies and things you enjoy doing at this point in your life?

S. Dunn: Cooking, fishing, and traveling on vacation. 41:00S. Roberts: What kinds of things do you enjoy cooking?

S. Dunn: Everything, I like to try new ideas. I like to try a recipe and then I like to add what I think is good with its taste; if it needs a little bit more of this, then I’ll do that, whatever just pops in my mind.

S. Roberts: Did you go fishing with your grandparents?

S. Dunn: Um hum, that’s how I got started (she laughs). We would go all the time.

S. Roberts: Where would you fishing at?

S. Dunn: There was a pond down on 27, they called it Dixie Stock Farm, we would go there, and then sometimes we’d go to the river. And then the Dunn’s on Boones Creek, they had a pond; we’d go there sometimes. Whoever would let us fish, that’s where we would go. You could go and fish in ponds then. But now, people won’t let you go and fish on their farms. A lot of people have gone and left trash 42:00and that makes it hard on everybody else. So. ..it’s hard to find a good fishing spot. All of the good spots are, well they are on the farms, but they won’t let you go to fish. So we go to the river, or we go to Cedar Creek, a lot in Lincoln County.

S. Roberts: Nice lake.

S. Dunn: Um hum. Yeah, I like it.

S. Roberts: And where all have you traveled?

S. Dunn: Oh, not very much. We go to Michigan, Detroit, and Grand Rapids. That’s where we have family, it’s where my sisters are, and Charles’ family is there. And we go to Florida mostly for vacation. And uh, this year we went to a different city, Kissimmee, 43:00that’s out from Orlando, and that was exciting for us. And I’ve been to several places in Kentucky, though I’ve been to Indiana, I have people in Indiana and Illinois. But it’s been several years since I’ve been there.

S. Roberts: Do you usually take a trip every year?

S. Dunn: Um hum. We try to. We were going to Panama City, but we always go to Daytona, but we were going to Panama City this year for a change, and then the oil, so we were afraid of losing our money and being disappointed, so we decided to go back to Daytona which we enjoyed it.

S. Roberts: Beautiful weather down there.

S. Dunn: It was nice; it rained, had a good breeze, and sometimes there was overcast, so the sun wasn’t too bad, but it was nice. My grandson, now he got burned, he stays out all day long on the beach, and then up in the pool all day, he just doesn’t want to come in, but we had fun. We stayed at a different place this time. 44:00And I was sitting on the beach, and I then saw this guy. Then I said yeah, then I said naw, that looks like Chris Buckner, and then I looked and said ‘Chris’, and it was him. And that’s the first time of all the years that we had been there that I had seen someone from here. And he said, ‘I had a feeling today that I was going to see somebody that I knew’. And so, we talked. And there was another couple, well, I had worked with this guy and my son works with his wife and they were about five motels down from us and Chris was a couple of motels up from us. So, it was pretty neat.

S. Roberts: It’s always nice to see old friends in strange places.

S. Dunn: Yeah, yeah. And then we saw a lot of people from Kentucky, like Hazard, Elizabethtown. I think they were from London. And they talked with us. It was nice.

S. Roberts: Based off of your 45:00life experience, what advice would you offer to younger and future generations?

S. Dunn: Uh, always listen to your elders because they have been where you are trying to get. And then to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And uh, what else. ..there was one thing popped in my mind. .. but that’s the main thing, I guess (she is checking her notes). And uh, always strive for improvement.

A Taylor: Is there anything else you’d like to add, anything that came to your mind, anything about Garrard County?

S. Dunn: No. 46:00J. Blythe: I’d like to ask a question. I know you all raise a wonderful garden, and you do a lot of canning and so forth. Tell us about some of your food preservation practices.

S. Dunn: Uh, you mean what do I do to preserve them? . . . Well, I use the pressure-canner. My grandmother used the water bath canner, and it would take all day. So now I use the pressure canner, which I have done for years. Let me see, I used to, when we were living up the street, Jason was a baby, and I had started using the pressure canner and it blew up on me. I was walking out of the door, out of the kitchen into another room, and it said boom! But it didn’t stop me, I went and bought me another one. 47:00And when we moved from up there, there was still glass behind my washer and dryer where it had blown, because glass went everywhere, beans went everywhere. But I use that, and it just takes a little time, like 25 minutes for seven quarts. And I can get that done. And Charles helps me break ‘em up. He goes to the garden and picks them; I don’t go to the garden. I did go and pick greens. I put them in the freezer. And I got uh, now my pickles, I did put them in a water bath for about ten minutes to kind of seal them. But that’s about it. Mostly I just use the pressure canner, couldn’t do without it. I like a regular pressure cooker also in cooking, that’s fast.

J. Blythe: A lot of people are getting back to canning and freezing their own food. But unfortunately, a lot of young people don’t know how to do preservation. So, you’ve got a lot of good knowledge there and I’m sure you are helping people.

S. Dunn: You know Michelle Anderson, she’s been wanting to do that, and I saw in the paper where they are having 48:00these training sessions out at the Extension Office. I think they’re having one this week on food preservation. But mostly, Michelle, she’s the only one in town interested in stuff like that. Most of ‘em are not into cooking, they like that carry out stuff, but if you fix it for them, then they’ll do it. But that’s just the uh, we like our beans, some people like their beans frozen, but I like ‘em canned better.

A Taylor: Well, we just want to thank you for your time and your willingness to do this interview with us. We learned a lot. Great information S. Dunn: I hope so.. . . .but like I say, I’m kind of reserved 49:00on something like on the segregation and stuff like that, but back in those days, you just take things just as they are. And nobody, you know, didn’t push anything, like some other places did. Then after integration got started, a lot of people got involved in it and stuff, but I never did because I was just, like I say reserved. And there are always problems, and I just let someone else take care of them. . .

J. Blythe: We want to say thank you; it’s been enlightening, you’ve given us a lot of good information.

S. Dunn: All right. All right.

Student Researchers: Thank you so much.