Editor,
I am not sure this message warrants a space in the section for Gravette, but I grew up in Gravette and on this Memorial Day have fond memories of my parents and lots of friends, especially Coach Mac. He knew me from a little boy and was my mentor. I was a bat boy for his baseball teams as a 6th grader and then started football as a 7th grader.
I remember that I was in line to get my uniform and Coach Mac didn't have the correct size and told me to wait until he fitted the other boys -- I probably had a tear. I remember the first time that I got to play in a game and received a punt and when I was tackled I started kicking my feet to get the tackler off me. I remember Bob Bayley, John Meade and Ike Pearson were on the sidelines and laughing.
I just happened to be in Gravette when my mom was sick in the hospital and it was Coach Mac's last football game. He invited me down on the field with him and introduced me to the team as All-State and All-Star and told me, "I can't think of anyone other than you that I would like to have down here with me tonight."
I will always remember the people of Gravette on Memorial Day. Thank you.
Hugo Hammond
Palm Coast, Fla.
Community on 05/21/2014