Butch Remembers Old Wooden Benches

   Like many small towns in days past, Darlington had several wooden benches located on the sidewalks in front of the businesses on Main Street. Just about any time of day, and late into the evening, there were always local residents sitting on the benches, talking to their friends, discussing the latest news and watching the world go by. Several years ago I wrote a poem entitled “The Old Wooden Bench.”

    “On Main Street by the old cafe there rests a common sight–A wooden bench, so wobbily now, and lonesome in the night. They claim the bench is only junk, An eyesore many say; But childhood days and faces dim, Cannot be tossed away.

     Ol’ Doozy Dane and Harley Cain, they passed their hours by; Harry, Bill, and Alvie too, Spun jokes to make you cry. Rufus Remington sat and chewed, And cussed kids on their bikes; Glenn Pickering jabbed his hickory cane–I’d never see the likes!

     Elmer Chambers claimed his seat, While Lulu strained to hear; Hal Royer cranked out facts and scores, From games of yesteryear. Penson and Deac, Roy and Jack, Spent many an afternoon, Talkin’ horses and teasing kids, Before heading to Med’s back room.

     Kids would stop and rest a bit, Trade cards and lick their cones; But Ruby’s seat was permanent–To her that bench was home. Though carved and splintered from years gone by, I think that you will find, The lonely bench has spirit still…Ingrained in wood…and time.”

   I sat on those benches hundreds of times when I was a youngster. Many times, after visiting the drug store, I sat out front…ice cream in one hand and Topps baseball cards in the other. On the bench by Warren’s Hardware and Slim’s barbershop, I sat with Alvie Warren, and watched him roll his cigarettes by hand. My Grandpa Dale would often join us, and they would talk about the old days when they were young. I  learned a lot of things from the people who sat on the benches through the years…life in the past, stories about people, town history, and of course…I heard many jokes. Some of those people were lonely, and just enjoyed sitting there and talking for hours at a time.

   After the school closed in 1988, the businesses on Main Street began to close one by one. By that time, many of the oldtimers who had occupied the benches had passed away. Eventually the town removed the benches from in front of the buildings, all of which now are apartments. But as I sit in the library today and look across the street, I can still see those “bench people” smiling and conversing and watching the world go by…And there I am, too, sipping on a Green River phosphate and munching on a sawdust sundae from Harmon’s drug store. 

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.