A Stones Throw

By Darren Shell

The Upper Cumberland Region of Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky are home to some of the world's finest marble shooters. Local games, played since childhood, still fill the yards and fields of this area in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. From the Monroe County Marble Club Super Dome in Tompkinsville, Kentucky, to Malcolm Strong's Tennessee-Square yard at his home in Moss, Tennessee - these local folks still play the games of their youth, right here where they learned it growing up.

Learn the rules and regulations of the three games held in honor here (Rolley Hole, Tennessee Square, and Ringer), and hear the tales of those who have taken their marble savvy to the next level ... the world championships.

Author Darren Shell delves into the local folk fancy of marble gaming, documents the many facets of its simplicity and shows the sportsmanship that gives this old-fashioned game its place in the hearts of many.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fideli Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781604141863

Darren Shell

Darren Shell started writing in the spring of 2005. His first effort was a simple story about Dale Hollow Lake for his daughter, who was then ten years old. “It was crude and simple, but heart-felt and tender,” Shell says. “It was a ghost tale about the making of Dale Hollow Lake and how they had to dig up old graveyards during the construction.” Several people ended up reading this first effort, and many more began asking for copies. Because this first story was so well received, Shell wrote a prequel to accompany it. The reception for this writing was as popular as the first. Building on that success, Shell wrote six additional short stories that all fit into the first. These were eventually combined into a comb-bound book he printed himself and then sold. This book was also published in perfect-bound form, but is now out of print. “To this day, I still get requests for that book,” Shell says. “I’ve sold more than 500 copies, and occasionally I still find the need to print one from my computer for a friend or family member.” After this success, Shell broadened his scope by writing a series of historical stories for local newspapers. This collection was then published in book form titled Stories From Dale Hollow, and sold close to one thousand copies. These stories prompted Shell to start his company, Gravedigger Tours. Each season, he gives guided “ghost” tours of the park in the center of Dale Hollow. “It’s a historical tour,” Shell says, “and my character, one of the lake’s old gravediggers from 1942 when the lake was made, tells all the tales. It’s a crowd favorite and has earned me the nickname ‘Gravedigger.’” In the fall, a full-fledged set of tours are set up and tourists and friends come from miles around to hear the Gravedigger’s storytelling. This is also a great time for Shell to sell copies of his books. Shell’s latest work, The Big Ones—The World Record Smallmouth Bass of Dale Hollow Lake, deals with a different type of lake history. The book tells of the controversy surrounding the number-one world record smallmouth bass, profiles the number two and three record holders, gives the reader a glimpse of the men behind the those catches and includes several fishing experts’ top 10 tips for catching smallmouth bass. Shell has also set aside 50 signed copies of the book for charity. Dubbed “Fishing For Charity,” Shell’s goal is to donate a total of $5,000 in charitable funds to charities chosen by the people buying the special books. Darren Shell lives and works at his family-run marina on Dale Hollow Lake in middle Tennessee.

Book preview

A Stone’s Throw

The History of the Game of Marbles in the Upper Cumberland Region of Tennessee and Kentucky

Darren Shell

Smashwords ebook published by Fideli Publishing Inc.

Copyright 2013, Darren Shell

No part of this eBook may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Fideli Publishing.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN: 978-1-60414-186-3

Cover Photo Courtesy of Joe Imel

Cover art, Fideli Publishing 2009

Cover content, Rondell Biggerstaff shoots at the Monroe County Marble Club Superdome

This book is dedicated to Mr. Timmy Walden…a very good friend of mine. When I asked him how he became so engrossed in this simple little game, his answer was playful. I married a Bowman. I had to learn to play.

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank the many marble-shooters and makers that graciously welcomed me to this American pastime. So many folks offered their generous help in my learning of the game. Still others freely offered photos and articles about the game and shared the little subtleties that make this pastime such an interesting topic, handed down from generation to generation. These kind people are a credit to their own game, reflecting the hospitable nature of the people of the Upper Cumberland. The game endures because of this type of nurturing that it has received. The names that follow are but a mere snippet of those that helped me. I hope I don’t miss anyone…

To Mr. Timmy Walden, I owe a debt of gratitude for dragging me around to numerous places and explaining delicately and playfully the mechanics of Marbles and their making. He has taken me under his wing and guided me through this maze of simple gaming as if I was some messiah from flint-marble heaven. Even though I’m no godly marble guru, together, we have made marbles, shot marbles, and have laughed enough to lengthen our life. His flint marble stones might forever be in my pocket. Thanks, Dude.

To my friends at Free Hill, TN, thanks for your knowledge about Mr. Bud Garrett. His story is fun to tell.

Royce Bartley, Rondell Biggerstaff, Ben Walden, the Bowman brothers (Larry, Michael, Colonel, Joe Billy, and a dozen or so others…), Tim and Chad Ferguson, and the other men down at the Marble Dome in Tompkinsville … thanks for the fun, guys. Your Super Dome is just that—super. I don’t know who named it the Super Dome, but that’s just hilarious! I love it!

To Tim and Chad Ferguson, I want to thank you for letting me purchase your portable Tennessee Square Marble Yard. Hundreds of people you may never know have gotten hours of fun from it.

To my friends at Standing Stone State Park, thanks for keeping the game alive. Without your constant help and nurturing, the game might not survive. What you do for the game is paramount!

To Mr. Robert Fulcher, the marble community owes a big thank you for his cleverly written articles about Rolley Hole and marbles in general. His heart-felt documentations of the game have helped it survive—helped it remain steadfast in our little part of the world. His article is the best assessment of the game one could ever read. I greatly appreciate the use of the article snuggled here in this book. And oh yeah, he sorta made that whole overseas thing happen…whew!

To Jeff and Molly Kimmell,