[Mishmash] Did You See This?

[Fred Atkinson]

    I don't remember if I gave you folks the URL to the video I made of the
trophies earned by my old high school in Gadsden, Alabama.  I couldn't find
them when I searched the Mishmash messages in Outlook Express.

    I spent the first year and a half of high school at Emma Sansom before
moving to South Carolina to finish school.  I don't mean to sound negative,
but it was a *big* step down from Emma Sansom in Alabama to Irmo High School
in South Carolina.

    I've often bragged about the number of trophies that Emma Sansom earned
over its eighty-six year history.  But rarely does anyone believe me.

    Emma Sansom was closed this year for some incredibly insane economic
reasons (they are closing all three of the local high schools and creating
one big all-city high school).  We had a number of events that brought the
alumni band members back to Gadsden over the last school year.  The most
recent one was the band reunion for everyone who ever marched or played in
the Emma Sansom High School Band.

    You can see a video of the trophies at
http://www.mishmash.com/esh_trophies.

    You can see a video of the band reunion at
http://www.mishmash.com/esh_band_reunion.

    The music in the background of both videos is performed by the Emma
Sansom High School Rebel Band (we were the Emma Sansom Rebels).  Most of the
photography was done by Yours Truly.

    Watch the trophy one.  You'll never doubt me when I [justifiably] brag
about those trophies again.

    Regards,




Fred Atkinson

P. S.  'Emma Sansom' was a settler girl during the civil war.  When the
Union Army crossed the Black Creek in Gadsden, Alabama, they were on their
way to attack Rome, Georgia.  They torched the bridge after they crossed
Black Creek.  General Nathan Forrest and his armies came by the Sansom home
in pursuit of the Union army.  He asked the Sansom family if there was
anywhere his troops could cross Black Creek and get ahead of the Union Army.
Emma Sansom spoke up and said that she knew where the soldiers could fjord
the river and get ahead of the Union Army.  General Forrest took her up on
his horse and she showed him the way to the place where they could fjord the
river.  A bullet pierced Emma's dress when she dismounted the horse to point
the way across the river.  The Confederate Army crossed the river and got
ahead of the Union troops.  They stopped the Union Army from attacking Rome,
Georgia.  Emma Sansom was heralded as a hero.  Her statue is by the bridge
at the Black Creek even to this day (I saw it again when I was in Gadsden a
few weeks ago).  She married and moved to Texas.  She died in 1900 and is
buried there.  There was only one book ever written about her and it was a
juvenile book (I have a copy of it) telling her story.