Rison-Dallas Community Memories Page

Rison-Dallas Community

Rison-Dallas Memories Dallas Mill

Memories (The Way We Were)
This song is a poignant reminder of times gone by.

Mem’ries, light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories of the way we were
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were

Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again, tell me, would we? Could we?

Mem’ries, may be beautiful and yet, what’s too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget

So it’s the laughter we will remember whenever we remember
The way we were, the way we were...
Words & Music by Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch Recorded by Barbra Streisand, 1974 (#1)

Memories - we all have them - we all have stories to tell. Would you like to share memories of your days at either Rison or Dallas Village or both? We would like very much to read your story.

Your memories can be whatever - 'funny, happy, silly, sad - they'll still be interesting to those of us who have a need to be taken back to that long ago time "where the living was easy" (or was it easy? - maybe it was and maybe it wasn't).

And, if you could, how would you like to go back in time? What if you could revisit Rison School or Dallas Village, or both? If you could, where would you want to go, and what would you want to see or do? For example, were you a star in sports? Or do you wish that you had been a sports star? Were you the most popular student in your class? Or, were you the brightest, or a great singer? Please share with us the way you wished things might have been. Were there things that you wished you had said or not said? The obvious thing that some of us may have wished was to have been THE MOST POPULAR - much in pursuit! That might have been fun. Were you extremely shy and, if you could go back, would make every effort to be an extrovert? Tell us all about it.

As the memories have come in and we read them, it's as if we're feeding off them and eagerly look forward to the next one.

Please send your memories to the email address at the bottom of the page.

Minstrel Show on the Stage at Rison School, Late 1930s or early 1940s

Foreground, auditorium floor, left to right: Lucille Brazelton (piano), Grady Cope (drums), ?? (violin), J.E. Gunn (violin), ?? (horn), Charles Gentry (trombone)
Stage, seated, left to right: Jean Schrimsher, Clarice Certain(?), ??, ??, Vivian Baucom
Back row, standing, left to right: Bob Englebert, 2nd(?), 3rd(?), 4th(?), 5th(?), Clarence Carroll, Curtis Schrimsher, Cecil Fain, 9th(?), 10th(?), 11th(?), 12th(?), 13th(?), 14th(?), 15th(?)

Do you know the missing names?

Rison School Beauty Contest 1941 - 1942
Rison Beauty Contest 1941-1942

Left to right:Jean Schrimsher, Vivian Baucom, Lillian Cates, Geneva Fitch, (?)Hughes(?), Frances Burgess (the winner), Dixie Routt, Edith Luna, Frances Rousseau, Gwendolyn Jeans(?) Alma Trapp, Mary Phillips, Mary Frances Gault

Glee Club 1949 - 1950

Front row, left to right: Greta McGee, Donald Stevens, Alice Neal, Jean Hall, Grace Ann Branum, Peggy Worley, Betty Moore, Dorothy Certain, Erskine Neal, Frankie Widner
Center row: Ruth Esslinger, director
Back row, left to right: Nina Ann Green, Mildred Magness, Dot Moore, Joyce Owens, Peggy McElroy, Mary Ann Fisk, Mary Lou Fitch, Juanita McGee, Loretta Gray, Betty Corder

1950 - A group of mostly 6th graders on a field trip to Nashville
Not pictured are Martha Green, and Bill Starr who made this picture. Rison Field Trip to Nashville, 1950

1. Betty Towery; 2. Carolyn Beck; 3. Joyce Little; 4. Nancy Landman; 5. ??; 6. Bryant Benson; 7. ??; 8. ??; 9. Tony Campbell; 10. ??; 11. ??; 12. ??; 13. ??; 14.Phillip Allen; 15. Wayne Stinnett; 16. Margo Williams; 17. ??; 18. Glen Allen; 19. Rodell Walker; 20. Billy Berry

Do you know the missing names?

The group also visited the State Prison where several of them bought little red "electric chairs" that were made by one of the prisoners. At the 2005 reunion, Martha Green Dodson said that she still has her little red electric chair and here's a picture of it:

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Mary Ann Fiske Wins Essay Contest - 1951
Mary Ann Kendrick Wins Second Place

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MR. FAIN CROWNING THE QUEEN AND KING ON THE STAGE AT RISON SCHOOL
1952-1953(?)
King and Queen of Rison?
Mr. Fain is standing behind Carolyn Green and Benny Fiske, queen and king, with their "subjects" on either side. To Mr. Fain's extreme left are Collin (CE) Wynn (3rd from end), Ann Key (2nd from end) and Billy Berry (end). Standing on the auditorium floor, extreme left, is Mildred Parham. Can you name the other people in this picture? If so, please let us know using the email link at the bottom of this page.

Stars in the Operetta, "Go West Young Man," presented in 1955 or 1956
(This picture was made on the stage in the school's auditorium; please note the trophy case in the foreground.)
Go West Young Man!, 1955 or 1956
Left to right: Hattie Marie Webb, Ruby Walker, Larry Brown, Gail Dodson, Billy Guest(Guess?), Barbara Chisholm, Tony Campbell, Carolyn Green, James Cornelison, Charlotte Pope, Randy Priddy, Ann Key.