
{"id":2207,"date":"2008-03-27T07:57:25","date_gmt":"2008-03-27T15:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2008\/03\/27\/carrboro-stories-a-few-moments-with-beulah\/"},"modified":"2008-03-27T07:57:25","modified_gmt":"2008-03-27T15:57:25","slug":"carrboro-stories-a-few-moments-with-beulah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2008\/03\/27\/carrboro-stories-a-few-moments-with-beulah\/","title":{"rendered":"Carrboro Stories: A Few Moments with Beulah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/beulah3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/beulah3.jpg\" align=\"left\" height=\"119\" width=\"161\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Taylor Sisk<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Beulah Hobby eloped.<\/p>\n<p>You see, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been busy all summer and hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet told her mother about that boy, Bryant Hackney. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d forever kept busy; so busy, in fact, through high school \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what with being captain of the basketball team and all \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had no time to take notice of the boy himself till that May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c May of \u00e2\u20ac\u212235.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t date him till we finished high school in May,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beulah Hackney recalls today, sitting in the living room of her Oak Street home, three days shy of her 90th birthday.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->She grew up on Andrews Store Road, seven or eight miles south of town; he grew up outside of Pittsboro.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We graduated in the same class. But I never dated him or had anything to do with him until right after we graduated. Oh, I knew him. But I was doing other things, I had no time for him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at a photo of the Class of \u00e2\u20ac\u212235. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s middle left; almost smiling; cherubic.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do I look the same?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she asks, and she does.<\/p>\n<p>He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seated front, arms crossed; certain of his future \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but little did he know.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My friend invited me to go to White Lake with her, and he was in the group that went.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever dated him. But after I dated him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that was it. We started dating in May and got married in September. We ran away and got married.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>To Halifax, Virginia, and back. Back to the homes of their respective parents, who were as yet unaware of the courtship that had blossomed that summer.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the summer, Bryant Hackney went off to Louisburg College on a baseball scholarship.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was a baseball pitcher,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ms. Hackney says. But not for long. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He stayed one week, and he came home, and he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell me why he came home.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But my son asked him one day, years later. David was real curious and wanted to know why he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stay and finish school. And he told him, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWell, there was a little blonde that lived up in Chatham County \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stay away.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>And they married.<\/p>\n<p>She laughs now good, at that memory, back on that ride from Halifax.<\/p>\n<p>They kept the marriage secret for a time; returned home like nothing had happened.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re that young. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know why.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Whatever the notion <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Beulah Hackney lives in the moment. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a morning person. Her day begins with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153whatever I take a notion to do.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I do a lot of crafts. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one thing I enjoy doing; and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one thing that keeps me busy.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t plan days unless I have a doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appointment or hair appointment, or if I do something for one of the children. But just kind of do what I feel like doing.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I like to read; I read right much. The newspaper, for one thing; to find out what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on. And I read a few books and articles in magazines.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And then if my daughter needs me to do something for her, or some of the children need me to do something, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be glad to do that. I used to babysit a lot, but of course I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care much about doing that anymore,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she laughs, and adds, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been there and done that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>If she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s needed in a pinch, though, with the greats, or the great-greats, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be glad to. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not my thing anymore.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough hours in the day for Mom,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says her daughter Jean Ward. Jean lives just behind her on Cheek St.; their backyards abut. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 90, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s till maintaining her home, lives alone, gets in her car and goes where she wants.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like to depend on other people to do everything for me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ms. Hackney says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153and I hope to be like that as long as I live.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s involved in a crafts group,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says her daughter, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a lady\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s group that meets once a month, with a different project each month.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>She makes jewelry, paints, and has weaved countless baskets. She used to make wedding cakes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153was quite talented at that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says her daughter. Tendonitis brought an end to it. But not to much else.<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the wood-carving notion that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most likely to strike these days.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I started carving before my husband died, so that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been 17 years. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sell them. I just do them for myself or leave them for my family.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>She began with Santas, and still does some of those today. A beatific Moses, a beautiful seal; birds; flowers; more. Precision work. A spoon and a small dog are currently in production on her worktable in the den, which captures the afternoon light.<\/p>\n<p>The afternoon, though, is naptime. But only to recharge.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite a good card player,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jean Ward says. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s learning bridge and plays Rook and Spread. Board games too: Rummy Cube, Tripoly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really sharp with these things; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the winner most of the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also hooked on sudoku. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exhausted about every book of those.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s warm-water exercise at Meadowmont. Ms. Hackney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in pretty good health.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Making a home<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There was not too much they could do or say about it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beulah Hackney says, about her family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view of her eloping. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Of course, you know, they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it. Because my mother wanted me to go to nursing school. But, course, she couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t send me because she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the money.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Bryant Hackney stuck though; was deemed a fine choice: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My mother thought a lot of him, always.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But, anyway, we had a good life. And had five children, and kept him busy working and kept me busy working too.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The Hackney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s moved to Carrboro in 1941.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My husband went into the flooring business. He had worked in Durham for a couple of years for the Dixon Floor Finishing company and Mr. Dixon talked him into coming into business in Chapel Hill, because at that time people were putting hardwood floors in their homes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Hackney became active in local politics, in the Democratic Party. He was elected to the Carrboro Board of Alderman in 1964 and served as mayor in \u00e2\u20ac\u212267 and \u00e2\u20ac\u212268.<\/p>\n<p>Their first home was at the corner of Weaver and Center streets, and they moved several times before settling in the house on Oak Street, which Mr. Hackney built mostly himself.<\/p>\n<p>Jean Ward remembers buying a cookie for a penny at Hardee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Grocery, where Cliff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Market is today.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was a very small town,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ms. Hackney recalls, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153and you knew everybody that lived in the town, just about. We really enjoyed living here. Of course, we joined the Carrboro Methodist Church.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Her husband died in January 1990.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He worked in the floor-sanding business until his health got real bad. He had a heart attack, and he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lift the heavy machines. And so he started working with the court system.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He retired from that job in November, the last part of November, and he died January the 20th. So we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to do any of the things that he planned to do after he retired. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lived here alone ever since.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seen the town change quite a bit, and considers it in sum a mixed blessing. She expects to see quite a bit more.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, if our water holds out, I guess it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll keep growing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As long as they have any space.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It seems that a lot of people that are coming here enjoy this small town \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and I try and go along with the changing and be satisfied with it. But you still think about the small town, and how you knew most of the people.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steppin out<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On a recent night, Ms. Hackney went downtown with her daughter.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I could not believe all the people downtown.\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I was amazed. I could not believe all those people.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And no place to park.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Back when the post office was in the triangle where Weaver Street splits from Main \u00e2\u20ac\u201c where the Spotted Dog is today \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the Baptists, of course, still had a church downtown, Carrboro \u00e2\u20ac\u0153was dead at night,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Beulah Hackney, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153everything was closed up. What there was was closed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>But that was then \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so bad now. The Century Center is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a nice place now to have a party\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it hosted her 90th, and quite a crowd came. And on a slow day there, she can sometimes scare up a game of dominoes.<\/p>\n<p>But sometimes, says her daughter Jean, she prefers being with younger folks, away from the potential for talk of aches and pains and adjustments in medication.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She enjoys continuing the learning process,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jean says. There just aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough hours in the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer Beulah Hobby eloped. You see, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been busy all summer and hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet told her mother about that boy, Bryant Hackney. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d forever kept busy; so busy, in fact, through high school \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what with being captain of the basketball team and all \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had no time to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}