A look back
By Staff
Researched by Dr. Bill Stewart
Dec. 6, 1957-As many as 4,000 people turned out late this afternoon to watch the annual Hartselle Christmas parade downtown. The Christmas lights were turned on as the parade began.
Dec. 7, 1957—Morgan County Superintendent of Education Lester Wooten said today that a new gym for MCHS and an eight-classroom elementary school on the west side of Hartselle are the top projects as far as the newly authorized construction program is concerned.
Dec. 7, 1957-Mrs. Mary Lawrence of Falkville 2 died today at Hartselle Hospital. Funeral services will be conducted Sunday afternoon at Penn Church of God with burial to follow in Herring Cemetery, Peck Funeral Home in charge.
Dec. 8, 1957-Police are still investigating a break-in recently at the L. L. Hartselle store in the Oak Ridge community. Merchandise unlawfully taken included cigarettes, shotgun shells, rifle cartridges and about $20 in cash.
Dec. 9, 1957-Coach Paul (Bear) Bryant scheduled his first look today at the Alabama football team he has been hired to transform into a winner. Bryant said he expects to build a team “the equal of others in the Southeastern conference.” Bryant will be both athletic director and football coach. Local Tide fans are expecting great things from Coach Bryant.
Dec. 10, 1957-Mrs. Johnny Daniel Byford died around midnight when the car in which she and her husband were riding plunged into Flint Creek. The auto missed a small wooden bridge on the Falkville School Road, west of the town.
Dec. 10, 1957-Tom Smith, general sports editor of the AP, presented Auburn with its first national football championship trophy today in a ceremony attended by many local students at Cliff Hare stadium. Gov. James E. Folsom had proclaimed today “Auburn Day” in Alabama. The new Alabama coach, Paul ‘Bear” Bryant, also sent his congratulations. Atlee Sample of Hartselle was one of the most overjoyed at Auburn’s recent success. He played War Eagle football 1914-1916. John Heisman was one of the SEC’s great coaches at the time Sample was an Auburn gridiron standout.
Dec. 11, 1957-Very young couples from Alabama will no longer be able to elope to Mississippi. Its legislature today passed a law that raised the minimum marrying age for women to 15 and 17 for men. Previously girls as young as 12 could marry in the Magnolia State. The most recent Mississippi marriage to attract unfavorable national attention was when a 14-year-old girl wed a 75 year-old-man.
Dec. 12, 1957-It’s very cold in Hartselle. The low this morning was ten and the thermometer is not expected to rise above the 20s during the day. Many Hartselle residents are reporting that their pipes have frozen.
