By JIM KOLB

The first story is an anecdote about a man who became a legend in his own mind.

Each spring, Admiral Rickover came to Oak Ridge to recruit new members for his staff from the non-Navy students at ORSORT like myself. So on the appointed day of Rickover's visit, we were all excited about possibly meeting the great "Admiral" who was much admired for his accomplishments in adapting nuclear technology for submarine propulsion.  We were sitting in our lecture hall at about 2 PM listening to a sales pitch by Rickover's second in command; earlier we had been told that Rickover might make an appearance at this time. Suddenly there was a big commotion at the back of the room as "the Admiral" burst into the room. Immediately, the speaker said, "Here is the Admiral now. Could we have a word from the Admiral?"  From the back of the room came a loud "NO!"  Without skipping a beat, the speaker said, , "You have just heard a word from the Admiral!" With that Rickover jumped up and left the room.

I am sure that the impression intended was that we had been privileged to hear just one word from a God-like figure, Admiral Rickover. And that was the impression that was created in my mind then. But years later, I had to laugh inwardly at what was obviously a well-crafted publicity stunt by Rickover and his staff.

I did not join the Naval Reactor Staff, but went to work for ORNL in the Reactor Division where I worked on the Homogeneous Reactor Experiment II and the Gas-Cooled Reactor Project. Sadly, neither of these lived to be developed commercially. But I remain a staunch supporter of the role of nuclear power in the mix of power generation for the U. S.
 

By BOBBIE MARTIN

This article originally appeared in a special Homecoming '86 issue of The Oak Ridger on Thursday Feb. 27, l986. It has been very slightly modified to bring it up to date as of October 10, 2001.

I remember the houses on Illinois Avenue -- 211 with the big weeping willow tree where my swing was hung.

Mom would put me down for a nap and granddaddy would help me out the window and off we'd go to Grove Center Drug Store for a coke -- five cents or a float for 10 cents. We were always greeted by Margaret Hillard, saying, "There's my little darling."

We lived with my grandparents and I was granddaddy's running buddy. There weren't many places he went that I didn't go, too. We would walk on the boardwalk that once was Big Town [Ed. "Midtown" Shopping Center where the Civic Center is now] to the place with the big candy striped pole where granddaddy got his hair cut.

We would garden. We'd load up Betsy with the push plow and off to the garden spot we'd go. That was about where La Petite Academy is now [Ed. behind Shoney's on Tulsa Rd.]. That was when I tasted my first tobacco. "Granddaddy," I said, "can I have some? Just one piece," which I swallowed -- chewing at the age of five -- and which made me sick.

Meanwhile, it was granny who kept me while my parents worked -- dad for Monsanto and mom for A&P. She'd babysit other children and we'd go skinny-dipping in the largest wash tub ever. Yvonne "Cookie" Cabbage and I still laugh about it today.

Granny was always in the kitchen. I'd sit on the drain board and watch her run the clothes through the old wringer washer. When she wasn't looking, my cousin Gayle Mynatt Burgess and I would hide her switches behind the refrigerator. That forsythia bush stayed picked.

When I was sick, she would have the health care nurse, Mrs. Smith, come to the house. She always wore a gray suit and had the most wonderful smile -- sure made my sore throat feel better. Mom and I would sometimes have to go visit Dr. Brooks, a woman doctor. I loved to run up those wooden steps to the big double doors at the old hospital.

Afterwards it was a real treat to go to Lovemans, where Watson's is now [Ed. in Jackson Square across the street from Blankenship Field], and hold on to the big brass rail that went downstairs to the book department. I could look over the edge and see Mrs. Keys. She always gave me a book. You see, she got my mom and dad together when they both worked there.

Life was wonderful at 211 Illinois Avenue. Dad was always playing with us. He made the best cardboard runs down our hill and he helped us wear it out.

Then we'd run to catch the ice cream man when we heard his bell ring.

All would not have been complete without that coal bin. It sure was fun, but it didn't get me as dirty as I got helping daddy work on his car. And on Saturday, dad and I would go to see cartoons at Jefferson Junior High School.

We'd all get dressed up on Sunday and attend church at Oak Ridge High School cafeteria. That's where Highland View Church of Christ met before building on Providence Road. Our church group also had picnics at Grove Center Park with watermelon and ice cream. I cried when they tore down the park -- the trees were so big and beautiful there.

About that time we moved to 290 Jefferson Ave. When I started school at Willowbrook, my uncle, Ray Davis, walked me down, showed me the door to go in and left me there. He walked back up the hill, went in the house and sat down and in I walked. He took me by the hand and back down the hill we went.

Mrs. Davis was a real dear. She looked so much like my other grandmother, Hilda Davis Rose, so I loved her a lot. We had a doll day at school and all the girls brought their favorites. Mrs. Davis saw me in Watson's the other day and said, "Is that Barbara?" and hugged me.

Mom and dad had a roomer, Jackie Gassaway. He and his date, Marie Martin, always went skating so when they would babysit, they would take me and Marie's brother, Harry Martin. We'd all walk to the old roller ring at Jefferson and the Turnpike. I hung close to the walls.

I grew up there from about 6 to 18. This was the same place mom and dad had dated, where dad was captain of a roller hockey team and where the most wonderful music was being played by Doug Marrow at the organ.

Summers were great. Our family liked to be together -- Uncle Don and Aunt Mary Ann Lynch, Aunt Betty L. and Bruce Mynatt, Gayle and Mark.

There were boat races at Kingston, picnics at Norris, swimming at Concord Park. My Uncle Bruce loved to take the kids to the circus at Midtown Ball Park [Ed. west of old Midtown Center, where the west side parking lot is for the gym at the Civic Center] and at Christmas he got tickets for the Carbide Christmas party. We'd come home with our arms full.

We were always active on Jefferson Avenue. Our renter at 292, Cecil Smith, had a ball team in our front yard. I ripped my shorts on the fence that was second base, and dad would get in on the act -- he was as big a kid as we were.

One day we made a go-cart out of my old baby buggy wheels. David Blankenship and I rode the wheels off. Dad made kites from Cole Drug Store bags, bright yellow and blue, and in the winter we would slide down the hill on garbage can lids.

That was the year the maple tree seeds I planted came up through the biggest snow we'd ever had. Years later when mom and dad moved they took those trees with them and they are still here today.

When our renters moved, my grandparents moved in because they were removing all the houses on the west side of Illinois to widen the road. That was 1956. But they never widened the road. Still, it was nice having granny and granddaddy back.

We really had a place for a big garden now. But I really hated it when granny would can with that pressure cooker. She put up most all our food.

Granny made most all my clothes until high school. I can remember her sitting on the back porch steps, handpicking the seams. I loved to stand around the kitchen table and watch her lay a pattern, pin, cut and tailor tack (which I later taught the home ec girls). She was an expert.

Many times we'd go to the big city of Knoxville to window shop and granny would come home and make a coat or suit she had seen. This is where I received my talent for sewing. Thank you, granny.

Granddaddy loved Oak Ridge. He loved to go for a drive, especially visiting drive-in theatres or to eat out.
 

Senior Scrounge Day at Oak Ridge High School in 1967 included some strange costumes. Among them were those worn by Bobbie Martin (left) and Pat Simmons.

We got our first TV about 1955 and there weren't so many drive-in movies any more. They stayed home more and babysat while mom and dad would bowl at one of the many alleys in Oak Ridge -- Jefferson, Grove, Jackson Square or the Ark Lanes, now all gone. I got to go with them a lot and bowl with a small black ball about cannonball size. I got to know many people from the bowling alley like Frank Thursby. Every time I'd see him I knew I'd get a big hug and kiss.

I was now old enough to go with my friends. The old Atomic Museum at Jefferson was a daily run in the summer. I wish I still had at least one dime encased for a souvenir. Like any kid, I'd remove the dime and spend it -- probably for a coke or popcorn at the Grove Theatre.

My Uncle Don Lynch was an usher there and he'd let me and my friends in between shows. I guess I saw all of the Ma and Pa Kettle shows. And there were special days when cowboys would visit and sign autographs.

Sometimes I'd catch the city bus after school from Willowbrook and ride to Jackson Square. Mom worked at the Hamilton National Bank.

I'd go visit the old library [Ed. by the Jackson Square tennis courts across from the old Guest House, the present Alexander, whose preservation is a major current ORHPA project]. I was in several recitals there from Mrs. Rothermel's class. I always entered the doll shows with one of the many, many character dolls, like my Shirley Temple, that Granny Davis gave me.

One day a week, after mom got off work, we'd go to Pine Valley Beauty Shop where Helen Davis worked, and sometimes Pine Valley Market, where A. L. Mynatt was manager. He was my cousin's grandfather.  Other days I'd go to the Tennessee School of Beauty and get my hair fixed for $1 by Linda Claybo or Susanne Duncan. Afterwards, I'd walk to my Aunt Betty Mynatt's on Friday's until mom got off from work at the bank at 7.

I used to meet my friends at the Oat Ridge Pool. We sure enjoyed the juke box music like "Cathy's Clown" or " Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" and the snack house. I believe that's what really drew the crowds of young people. I really missed the old food stand when they tore it down.

About Christmas time in 1962, we moved from Jefferson to East Drive. What a change in my life. I felt like I'd moved out of state. I had to leave Billy Miller and my friends behind.

But after a few days and getting to be known, life went on, thanks to the help of Becky Crouch Norwood who took me under her protective care with words like new girl, new girl, leave her alone. It sure made it nice to have 1 1/2 years at Robertsville Junior High School and 1 1/2.years at Jefferson Junior High School especially when Oak Ridge High School came around. I sure knew a lot of kids.

I had a lot of wonderful teachers: Mrs. Davis, kindergarten; Mrs. Doyle, first; Mrs. Stephens, second; Mrs. Haile, fourth; Mrs. Ellis, sixth; and Mrs. Frazier at Willowbrook.

Coach Orlando helped me adjust to the change at JJHS, especially with James Potter. And Mr. Hamby and Mr. Grossman were the best art teachers ever.

We had a wonderful art department at Oak Ridge High School, which stayed my major, even now. School life was great. I really enjoyed my JJHS years. I loved that old school. Wish they'd left part of it standing. [Ed. the first location of Jefferson Junior High School was the original Oak Ridge High School on Kentucky Avenue above Blankenship Field]

High School was extra great during 10th and 11th grades. Greg Leggitt and I rode many a night around and around Shoney's Drive-in in his '55 black Ford. I met Pat 0wens Simmons, who was my best friend, in Mr. Brown's fun class. Greg's best friend, Clint Simmons and Pat started doubledating with us and years later married. We're still good friends and they both live here.

Pat and I won junior bowling tournaments and were a real hit on senior scrounge day, 1967, red and white checked shoes and all.

My senior year was a sad one, too. All my old high school friends left, especially the boys, who were off to Viet Nam. Studies were so hard to enjoy, when letters were so important.

I started working -- not much, just part time at Valu-Mart, $1.25 an hour from 4 to 10 p.m., no break. It filled up my time and gave me my own money. Then, during Christmas I worked at Miller's gift wrap with Mrs. Ola Mashburn. I enjoyed working with her -- even when I had to wrap a four-foot file cabinet.

Since then, I've had my own business here -- Bobbie's Arts & Gifts. For a while, it was open at Natural Foods USA with Shirley Clark. I now have moved my business back home.

After high school, I left Oak Ridge, like many others. I went to school, studying art, and lived with my aunt and 'uncle, Dr. Harold and Doris Jean Lynch Starr in Washington state. Then it was back to Oak Ridge, but with no job prospects, I headed to Atlanta where I met and married Steve.

We didn't want the big city life with kids and we didn't want to go back to his hometown of Bainbridge in south Georgia so Steve obtained a transfer to Knoxville with South Central Bell. After a year, he was moved to Oak Ridge in 1984 and we bought our present home. Steve in now retired from AT&T. After l6 years in the Atlanta Gift Market with wholesaling I continue to have my business at home. I now sell my pins and paintings from The Crafter's Brew at Elm Grove on Tennesee Ave. and the Appalachian Arts & Craft Shop in Norris.

We are hoping to stay here.

I love Oak Ridge. Mom and dad were fortunate to stay here all these years since dad has been a construction engineer for 30 years.

This is not your typical hometown. It makes you a different life when you grew up in the future instead of living in the past. May she always prosper and grow.