As published by the Daily News Journal, Greg Tucker, Sunday, July 1, 2012
It started with a horse race, or was it a school opening picnic, or maybe a baseball game? But at least we know it started in 1928 … or was it 1932?
Before the first Rockvale Fourth of July picnic there was a horse race. They ran the Rockvale road from the Manning house near the feed mill to the Osteen house near the old school ball field, according to what Charlie Burns remembers hearing from the old-timers. But John Hayes remembers being told that they ran from the Osteen house to the Manning place (“toward Eagleville”). It’s at least clear that either the start or the finish line was near the old school, and either way it was a good reason for a picnic.
However, Frank Hayes (born 1925) remembers hearing from Tom Brandon (born 1920) that they built and opened the brick schoolhouse in 1927. For this occasion the Rockvale folks held a big September picnic on the new school grounds, sponsored by the Rockvale PTA. This event was such a success that the PTA decided to make it an annual event beginning on the Fourth of July in 1928. (The 1967 picnic, however, was billed as the 35th, suggesting that the first was in 1932.)
In this file photo, Carson Waln, 11, shoots and hits his target with his cousin Ben Swartz, 11, at Rockvale’s Fourth of July picnic in 2007.
There were no other brick buildings in that part of the county in 1927, remembers Frank Hayes, particularly not with electricity.
“They had a gasoline-powered Delco generator in a shed between the school and where the gymnasium was later built. Fellow named Jackson was paid to keep it running. When the lights went out, someone would call Jackson. He was a pretty good mechanic.”
Horse races and school buildings notwithstanding, John Hayes recounts that the picnic began with a baseball competition organized by T. P. “Doc” Burns, a young Rockvale storekeeper in the 1920s.
“Doc sponsored the Rockvale team and organized the July 4th competition in 1928,” explains Hayes. “The first umpire was Grady Jackson. He stood behind the pitcher to avoid getting hit. The PTA took over sponsorship after a few years.”
When the school closed in the 1970s, the Rockvale Ruritan Club (founded 1953) became the sponsor.
According to Harvey “Bill” Dyer, an Eagleville native, the Rockvale picnic was “one of the two biggest events of the year” (equaled only by the Eagleville horse show). “As a teen, I collected and sold scrap metal so I could be a big spender at the Rockvale picnic!”
“I went to the Rockvale picnic to eat, pitch pennies and spend money,” admits Frank Hayes. “During the weeks before the picnic, I would pick blackberries and sell them to the neighbors for 10 cents a gallon, so I had plenty of pennies to pitch.”
John Hayes collected soft drink bottles to redeem for a penny each to fund his Fourth. Bob Farris got an extra quarter from his father on the morning of the Fourth, if he finished planting the season’s last batch of corn.
Etta Smith was the PTA treasurer during some of the early years. Daughter Margaret remembers that the PTA paid for construction of the gymnasium and the house across from the school that was the principal’s residence.
“Mr. Campbell was the first to live there,” notes Margaret.
The picnic activities began at 10 a.m. At about 5 p.m., most of the crowd went home for milking and other chores, but everybody returned by 7 p.m. The shows and events continued into the late evening.
“There wasn’t a lot of spending money back then,” according to John Hayes, “so a number of families brought their own picnic.”
But a lot of food was prepared by PTA members for sale, for this was primarily a fund-raiser for the school. Goat barbecue was a big part of the menu. The Farris family would donate three goats in those early years, and Nettie Woodson Farris would prepare the barbeque.
“I was grown and serving in the military in California when I learned that the word barbecue doesn’t mean goat meat,” confesses Hayes.
In addition to barbecue, folks sold cakes and pies, ice cream (hand-dipped from Red Rose and Consumers cartons on dry ice), watermelon, oranges, cantaloupe, hot dogs (10 cents), hamburgers (15 cents) and drinks (5 cents, Nehi Orange and RC Cola were popular).
“Doc Burns had a booth selling lemonade made on site from real lemons,” recalls Frank Hayes.
“Doc also sold cups of water for a nickel claiming that the water was free and that the nickel was for the cup and ice,” adds Smith.
“My daddy always tried to raise watermelons to sell at the picnic, but there was only one year where they were ready by the Fourth,” remembers Frank. “In most years he went to Florida hauling mules in a truck with high sides (the mules would be tied tail-to-tail and would usually gnaw off the top rail before being delivered to the Florida buyers). On the return trip, he would haul bananas, oranges, cantaloupes and melons. The bananas went to the local stores, but the other fruits were saved for the picnic.”
Food was not, however, the only way to spend your money at the picnic.
Frank Hayes favored the “Penny Pitch.”
“Tom Brandon had this 4-by-4 board drawn off in one-inch squares numbered one through 50. If you pitched a penny and it landed entirely inside a square, you won up to 50 cents according to the number on the square. If your penny landed touching a line, you lost your penny.”
John Hayes would put down his nickel or dime for a chance to win the “Bean Count.”
“There was always a jar full of beans and the guess nearest the actual count won the cash prize,” tells John. “One year I studied the jar and beans, went home (we lived near the school), filled an identical quart jar with the same kind of beans, then dumped out the jar and counted the beans. I went back to the picnic, paid for my guess, and won $2.”
Dyer enjoyed bidding in the “Box Supper Auction.”
“The girls and women would prepare decorated picnic boxes with food for two to share,” recalls Dyer. “Doc or Squire Leathers would be the auctioneer. The husbands always bid on their wive’s boxes, although you weren’t supposed to know who fixed which box. Somehow we always knew. The boxes most bid for among the girls were those fixed by Jerri, Ruth, Pauline and Margie. I bid on Ruth Leather’s box.”
The baseball competition was usually a four-team tournament. At least one team was Rockvale players. Nolensville, Eagleville, Link, Christiana and other communities were invited. The first game started at 10 a.m, the second game around noon, and the two winners would play for the championship in the afternoon. The winning team got “bragging rights” for a year.
“Field Events” followed the ball games. Girls and boys competed separately in foot, sack and three-legged races. Contestants were age grouped and winners received prizes donated by local businesses. For the men “16 and over,” the winners received “lubrication.”
Serious prizes were awarded in the very competitive “Culinary Contest.” Winners took home quantities of food, garden equipment, small appliances, dinner coupons, dress accessories, and a variety of other prizes. The pie competition alone had a dozen classes — coconut, pecan, chess, etc. There were also flower and handicraft contests.
A very popular competition for all ages was the “Cake Walk.” For a 50-cent entry fee, couples competed in age groups for homemade cakes. The competitors walked in a circle while being observed by a team of judges.
The objective of the competition was to walk in rhythm to the music of a live string band, and in synchronized step with your partner.
Judges looked for style, precision, poise and originality. Memorable winners in the early years included Whitney Steagall with Margaret Smith, Ebby Miller with Ruth Leathers, Bob Farris with Gertrude Jones, and Bill Dyer with Pauline Stevenson.
Dyer and Stevenson were repeat winners. “Pauline was my regular cake walk sweetheart,” admits Dyer. “We practiced.”
The traditional Rockvale Fourth also included pageantry and talent. The picnic morning usually began with a beautiful baby contest. “In some years they even had an Elder Woman Beauty Contest,” remembers Smith. “Pearl Heath, my grandmother, was one of the winners.”
The “Womanless Wedding” was for many years a popular feature.
“My father played the bride for several years,” says Frank Hayes. “My mother had a lot of fun dressing him up for the part. Wash Powers, a Murfreesboro policeman, played the groom. It was an elaborate wedding—all male down to the little flower girl. They used the school auditorium and did two shows—afternoon and evening (before and after milking).”
The talent show was a main event in the evening. Smith remembers the year a “white-suited violinist” took first prize. Dyer recalls that the year he entered, Josie Drennan won singing “Shortnin’ Bread.”
“I got third place doing a tap dance routine I learned at Pauline’s School of Dance in Nashville,” explains Dyer. “The first and second place winners got cash awards. I got a year’s subscription to the Rutherford Courier.”
Greg Tucker can be reached at [email protected].