Inverness: the Barefoot Years

By Billy Langston

"God's Country," is the best way to describe Inverness, during the '60s.
If was a safe place filled with wonder and natural beauty.
While reading Inverness; The Barefoot Years, take a break and close
your eyes. See if you can remember chasing lightning bugs at dusk or
the smell after a spring rain. Can you still hear the whistle of the midnight
train or remember running barefoot on the school play ground.
I hope this book brings you a flood of great childhood memories. If
I had one wish it would be to turn back the hands of time so our children
or grandchildren could live as we did, a carefree, innocent childhood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481729840

Book preview

STORY 1

ANY SUNDAY MORNING

Inverness has gone through countless changes since the ’60s. Most of the giant oak trees that lined Main Street have been removed. Main Street has changed from two lanes of traffic to four. There are one way streets and just getting to the courthouse can be a major undertaking.

Old Inverness has grown leaps and bounds with many areas almost unrecognizable from what they once were. One thing that hasn’t changed is a Sunday morning walk through downtown. There is still a quiet serenity that blankets the town on Sunday mornings. It serves as a reminder of how easy going and uncomplicated life use to be.

Walking down the street to the old courthouse I can feel the morning sun beating down on my shoulders giving me a warm feeling inside. As I inhale the crisp, clean air and look at the sky, so blue and bright it hurts my eyes, I am reminded of my younger days.

There is no traffic on Sunday morning to disturb my thoughts or distract my attention from the perfect dawn. My mind is now in a nostalgic tempo.

I stop and sit on the steps of the old courthouse and close my eyes. I can hear the peaceful tranquility echo through the downtown streets. I think about the old jail that once stood where the new courthouse has taken its place. I remember the big oak trees out front and the rumor of the biggest was once known as the hanging tree. Probably only folklore as nobody seems to remember anyone being hung. But the old jail did have a trap door and a place for a hangman’s noose. I think about the Valerie Theater and a smile comes on my face remembering all the fun I once had there.

Across from the old jail stood the old Chronicle office and Balasch’s Dry Cleaners. A little farther down was Brown and Haskell’s Chrysler Dodge dealership and the Coca Cola office nearby. I reminisce about riding my bicycle on the sidewalks, never in fear of traffic.

Looking up Main Street I think about Allen’s 5&10 cent store, Kennedy’s Ready to Wear, Marshall’s Drug Store, Jim’s watch repair, Citrus Hardware, Meeks Florist, the A&P grocery store, Richberg’s Groceries, and Elden’s mom’s cafe, The Coffee Kettel. Steed’s Barber shop was a Saturday morning hangout and Jut’s bar sat on the corner. Yes things have changed.

I restart my walk heading up Main Street past the old Bank of Inverness. I got the loan for my first car there. It still stands as an enduring symbol of the town’s prosperity. If I think about it I can still see George Brannen smiling and talking to his staff, waving to those walking past the bank’s entrance.

Across the street was the Phillips 66 gas station, Tyner’s Refrigeration, Hall’s T.V. Repair, Bellott’s Barber shop and the Main Street Garage.

Farther up the sidewalk was Ken Yandell’s Gulf Service Station at the corner of Seminole Avenue. Next door was Marshall’s shoe store and Jackson’s shoe repair. Looking down I see where neighborhood children have used chalk to make a hopscotch game and write their friend’s names in each square. Down a side street I notice a tree house built by adventurous youngsters and think about those my sister, cousins, and I once built.

My walk continues to some back streets, to the front of a church where I hear children singing songs during Sunday school, their young sweet voices giving a subtle innocence to my morning walk. I hum along remembering my own youthful Sunday school days.

On my way back home, music from a nearby house stops me almost dead in my tracks. I recognize the old Johnny Cash tune, Sunday Morning Coming Down; it was one of my favorites so I stop to listen. I watch as two young boys help their dad wash the family car and I hear their mother call them all in for breakfast. Another tune begins and I am captured by the words of Louis Armstrong’s It’s a Wonderful World and I realize what a wonderful place this is, Inverness shimmering in all her glory! What a great place to raise a family.

Taking a walk through downtown Inverness on a Sunday morning is well worth the time and effort. It gives me a new perspective on our community and makes me thankful for all we have.

There’s no place like downtown Inverness on a Sunday morning.

This is home!

STORY 2

DO YOU REMEMBER

When I think about how things were in Inverness during the sixties, the first things that pop into my mind is how fresh everything smelled after a spring rain. The wild flowers that seemed to be everywhere and how isolated we seemed to be from everything going on in the rest of the world.

During the sixties we had the Cuban missile crisis, fallout shelters, the assassination of President Kennedy, the war in Vietnam. The sixties marked the death of the beatnik and the birth of the hippie? It was a time when Corvettes, Mustangs, Chargers and Firebirds dominated the muscle car era? When Barracudas, Cobras, Camaros, Dusters, Road Runners and Impalas, ran the streets.

Elvis was the King, the Stones painted it black while the Doors lit our fire.

CCR saw a bad moon rising and Simon and Garfunkel led us across a bridge over troubled water. The beach boys made us believe we could surf. Paul Revere and the Raiders put us on an Indian reservation. Johnny Cash was walking the line. Patches gave us soul. Marilyn, Jimi, James, and Janet died.

There were Grass Roots, Turtles, Byrds, Association, Steppenwolf, Led Zepplin, Grand Funk Rail Road, Monkeys, Playboys, Dreamers, Iron Butterflies, Rascals, a Lovin’ Spoon Full, Four Seasons, Temptations, Supremes and a Three Dog Night. Peter, Paul and Mary Joan Baez and Bob Dylan sang to the country’s heart and soul. The Ballad of The Green Beret gave us renewed pride in our soldiers fighting overseas. Barry McGuire, put us on the eve of destruction, Percy Sledge told us how it was when a man loved a woman. Petula Clarke sent us on a trip downtown. James Brown made us feel good. Louis reminded us what a wonderful world this is. Sonny and Cher were in love.

Johnny U. was the master of the clock and John Wayne still rode high in the saddle. Vietnam was hell on earth; the Beatles invaded America while Clay became Ali. The Superbowl was born, Roger had the big bat and his friend Mickey gave him a good run for the crown.

Spaghetti westerns were the newest craze, rain drops were falling on our head, Elvis movies topped the charts, and a psycho was on the loose.

Manson was a monster; Martin was building a Dream come true while others shot for the moon. We exercised with Jack LaLane.

Television became common place and we watched; Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, Have gun will travel, The Rebel, Maverick, Raw Hide, Wanted Dead or Alive, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Mr. Ed, Beverly Hillbillies, The Monkeys, Gidget, Dragnet, Mod Squad, Hawaii 5-0, Batman, Petti Coat Junction, Star-Trek, Man from UNCLE, The Patty Duke Show, Secret Agent Man, Wonderful World of Disney, The Fugitive, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Captain Kangaroo, Uncle Walt, Astro Boy, Ranger Hal, Where the Action is, Queen for a day, Concentration, The Dating Game, The Match Game, Andy Griffith, The little Rascals, Three Stooges, Top Cat, Under Dog, Shock Theater, Combat, Perry Mason, Felix the Cat, I Dream of Jeannie, Gomer Pyle USMC, Tarzan, The Lone Ranger, Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Donna Reed Show, Candid Camera, Dick Van Dyke Get Smart, Red Skelton, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Woody Woodpecker, Dean Martin, Lassie, Flipper, Sing along with Mitch, Ed Sullivan, the Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Superman, My Three Sons, Gilligan’s Island and Florida Championship Wrestling with Gordon Solie.

Television signed off at midnight with the Star Spangled