|
Weather |
|
|
|
Local
News |
|
|
|
FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2002
| |
He Dreams of
~ Dancing ~ |
|
| |
He dreams of whirling around a ballroom floor, in his arms
a beautiful lady whose cascading gown sweeps in graceful
folds about their legs.
"I've always been a dreamer," says Ezra Martin of
McLemoresville. His dream of dancing was tucked away when,
in his youth, he found a photo of a group dancing in a
grand ballroom and envisioned himself among them. Alas, he
says with characteristic good-natured humor, "Mom was a
shouting Baptist. She wouldn't allow us to go to a dance
or even think about going to a dance."
|
Ezra Martin still dreams of dancing. |
He pauses, the dream still nagging at the corners of
his mind. "I still have that on my agenda. I probably have
two left feet but if I could get to do one waltz I think I
may be satisfied."
He dreamed as well - when his father was giving him and
his four brothers and three sisters a quarter apiece at
the fair, saying, "Don't spend it all in one place!" -
that someday he would "get a big job and have a lot of
money."
Ezra chuckles as he recalls that, quarters in hand, he and
his brothers and sisters would shop around the fair to see
who was making the biggest hamburgers, and that the
quarter did get spread out over more than one booth.
His sharecropper family never lacked for work, thanks to
eight extra helpers counting all the kids. The children
joined in picking beans, corn and strawberries, digging
potatoes and anything else that needed to be done.
"We was always a close family," Ezra recalls, "We never
could say we had plenty of anything but Dad said we had
plenty of kids and I think we were a happy family."
When Ezra turned four on August 30, 1918, World War I was
drawing to a close. Harvest time the following year was a
disaster. "We couldn't sell nothing - we couldn't sell the
cotton - we lost everything had," Ezra said shaking his
head. It was then the family moved to Carroll County where
Ezra's father bought a "poor hillside farm."
"Somehow we made it," Ezra says, his memories rich despite
his family's poverty. These days, he says, "Every year at
Christmas I spend more than I ought to; it takes me a
month to catch up! But I enjoy every minute of it."
Old-time Christmases back home were more sparse, with
apples and oranges or sometimes one orange and two or
three apples gracing the family's table. But the magic of
yesteryear's holidays when Ezra and his brothers and
sisters would "write a letter and stick it in a post by
the side of the road and hope Santy Clause would see it"
remains.
"My whole life has been make believe," Ezra says, "It's a
shame we have to grow up." No matter - Ezra declares, "I
may get so old I can't walk; I'll still be young inside."
He had barely started school at the four-teacher Morris
Chapel School in Gibson before the family moved to Carroll
County, where he continued his education at Biggerts
School with Ms. Mae McCain the only teacher. Attending
school anywhere in those days generally meant a
cross-country trek over mud roads, as even the main roads
were not graveled.
At home, the Martins' family life revolved around music.
"I love music," Ezra says, "My whole life has been one of
music."
He recalls times when the family would gather around the
old fireplace, his mom and dad singing to the tune of his
dad's guitar, while the kids joined in the song.
There wasn't anything else to do, he explains. There was
nowhere to go.
Even church was difficult to attend with the closest
Baptist Church being in Trezevant, so, he says, "One day
Dad decided to start going to the Methodist Church. Mom
was as much Methodist as she was a Chinaman, but Dad said,
'It's time I joined, boys, let's go down...'
"Mom finally agreed but she never did become Methodist;
she was always a Baptist at heart."
After finishing eight years of school at Biggerts, Ezra's
education was put on hold for two or three years as his
father recovered from typhoid fever in a time when
antibiotics were still in the development stage.
When he returned to school, he again walked or rode a mule
cross-country to McLemoresville. Being allowed to water
down the outdoor basketball court after school in exchange
for free admission carried the disadvantage of making the
long walk home after dark.
Ezra was proud to graduate with a B average after which he
began working at Lakewood, located between Huntingdon and
McLemoresville, as a lifeguard. The lake and "two or
three" of a "bunch" of cabins remain today at the resort
where Ezra met Jewel, the lady who would become his wife.
"I didn't know what I was getting into," he jokes,
recalling he and Jewel lived in a cabin at Lakeside for a
few years after their marriage before moving to the farm
with his family. Ezra's baby sister was also named Jewell
with a slight difference in spelling, so that she became
known as Little Jewell and his wife was called Big Jewel.
Ezra's father was a writer of short stories and a dreamer
of his own dreams. Each year he would say hopefully, "Son,
maybe we'll make enough this year to publish a little book
of short stories."
But the year never came, and when at 48 his father
realized he was losing his battle with cancer, he said,
"Son I'm not going to make it. I had stories I wanted to
tell the world about."
Ezra laments that most of the stories were lost over time
and never made publication.
When World War II was underway, Ezra was in Huntingdon one
day when he saw the superintendent of schools, Mr. Austin,
who asked, "Didn't you go to school at Biggerts?"
The superintendent explained it looked like the school
would have to be closed; a big girl had "whupped" her
teacher and the teacher was scared to go back.
He had someone coming in on Wednesday, Mr. Austin told
Ezra, so would Ezra just go in on Monday to get the week
started?
Ezra went by the superintendent's office to pick up
supplies consisting of a water bucket, one dipper,
crayons, and an eraser. "That was my supplies for a year,"
Ezra chortled, enjoying the memories.
"The first day, the big girl came in and I looked her over
and she looked me over," he grinned. "At recess I heard
her tell another student, 'I believe I can whup him.'"
When the children came in, Ezra said to the girl, "Come
here, young'un."
"What do you want?" she countered.
"You may can whup me, but if you hit me I'm going to hit
you just as hard and maybe a little harder," he counseled.
"For two or three days we grunted at one another like
that," he recalls laughing.
As might have been suspected, the woman who was to teach
never showed and when Ezra was asked to stay on awhile
longer, he replied, "Just forget it, can I teach?"
He was made full-time teacher with a starting salary of
$55.00 per month for the first year.
The "big girl" was an eighth grader who turns out to have
been quite intelligent. "I've got my lessons, Ezra," she
said one day with the familiarity that was common between
Ezra and his students, "Can I take some of the little kids
who are having problems and help them?"
"She was the best teacher I've ever seen in my life," Ezra
declares, "She could get done what I couldn't."
After his second year of teaching, Ezra decided to finish
his formal education. He studied at Bethel College on
Saturdays and at night to earn a bachelor's degree in
education. Later on, he earned a master's degree at Murray
State and completed the hours required for his doctorate
but balked at the dissertation requirement. "I hate
research," he says with a scowl that conjures up images of
dark rooms and dusty books.
He taught eight years at Biggerts School, with his
students including his "baby sister". He smiles as he
recalls teaching first graders as they sat upon his knee.
Though he taught in Carroll County schools for many years,
he says, "I did my best teaching that first year because I
didn't know anything about teaching; I learned from the
kids."
After Biggerts, Ezra was principal-teacher at Cannon
School and Yuma School before starting at McLemoresville
where he remained for 24 years. He taught sixth grade at
McLey the first year, then, as Mr. Duncan moved away,
became principal-teacher the following year.
At one point in his career, Ezra was principal of Lavinia,
Westview and McLemoresville, all at one time. He taught
band and coached basketball for 20 years at McLemoresville,
was a scoutmaster for 20 years - even though the Martins
never had children - and taught Sunday School for 20
years.
He was selected as an Outstanding Personality of the South
and has been honored with the status of Kentucky Colonel.
He served two terms as mayor of McLemoresville, two terms
as president of the Farm Bureau, and three terms as
president of the Carroll County Retired Teachers
Association.
"It was fun - it's all been fun - it was a short time
because I enjoyed it," he says.
The Candle
-Poet Laureate Ezra Martin
Man's life is like a candle that shines
out through the night.
Each day its life grows shorter as it
gives the world its light.
The candle has the power to light each
eager face
As man searches in the darkness to find
his rightful place.
As we go down life's pathway to greet
the rising sun,
May we be like the candle, do the task
that must be done.
Remembering the candle without its
light is dead,
Man can be remembered by the things
he's said.
When at the final judgment we stand
before the One,
May He in all his Glory talk about a
job well done.
"You were your brother's keeper, your
light lit up the way.
You showed to all who came along the
path to a brighter day." |
|
One of his favorite honors was being named Poet Laureate
of Carroll County on January 14, 1991. He had formerly
published a book of poetry entitled "Pipe Dreams" in 1988,
an effort he dedicated to his father, S.T. Martin, in
recompense for his father's own dreams of publication.
"I do a lot of writing," says Ezra, who also enjoys letter
writing and writing short stories, though poetry remains
his favorite among his writing skills.
The music of Ezra's youth has continued as well, with all
five Martin brothers joining to form "The Martin Boys", a
gospel music group, with sister Jewell playing the piano.
Today, Ezra sings with the Martin Boys, Jewell's group,
"The Old Timers", and the Carroll County RSVP (Retired
Senior Volunteer Program) Choir. The groups sing in
nursing and retirement homes across the county on a
regular schedule.
He also enjoys woodworking and antique furniture repair
and plans as well to restore the 1969 Mercury Marauder he
bought when it was new. He is a collector of coins,
stamps, bottles, and old cameras. "I go for old things yet
I'm not an old person," he says quizzically, determined to
maintain his youthful outlook on life.
He loves to travel, a trait he didn't share with Jewel who
passed away two years ago after 66 years of marriage. At
the mention of her passing, Ezra's eyes redden and tears
form as he tries to explain the emptiness of a home when
half of what was one is missing.
"I knew it was going to be rough," he says, stumbling over
the words, "but you can't think how rough it's going to be
until you go through it, and you can't explain even then."
Two weeks before her passing, Ezra says, knowing his love
for travel, she said, "Pick a pretty place to go."
Upon his heartbroken questioning, she told him, "You know
I'm not going with you."
"She did her best to keep me happy," Ezra says, "She was
always picking me out a place to go."
Ezra has traveled to Scotland twice in search of his roots
as he studied the genealogy of his family. From Scotland
to Ireland to South Carolina, he discovered, his ancestors
made their way toward Tennessee.
Ezra's grandfather, William Martin, arrived on horseback
to the Marlborough-Vale area where he helped establish a
post office named Martin Creek on June 29, 1838, with
himself as its first postmaster.
He plans one more trip to Europe for the World Flower Show
in Holland, followed by a tour of Belgium and Paris,
France, a trip planned by his niece Ginger House, who is a
travel agent in Cedar Grove.
He enjoys the company of friend, Pat Blackburn, who stays
busy these days working for the fan club of her famous
granddaughter, Jessica Andrews.
"I've lived a full life, an enjoyable life; if I go before
night I haven't missed a whole lot and I've enjoyed every
minute of it," he says sincerely. "The Lord's been good,
keeping me around for some reason - to aggravate people or
tempt them I guess," he jokes, his eyes taking on a
mischievous glint. "In times of discouragement I sometimes
ask why and He says, 'Hang in there, man!' That's all
he'll say."
Ezra brothers and sisters are Robert, Calvin, and Fred
Martin, Jewell Newman and Ruby Nell Harris. Sadly missed
is brother Eugene and sister Mamie Ruth House Sutton. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Phone (731) 352-3323 or Fax (731)
352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
|
|
|
