I used to think the university environment was about as pure as one could get, with the research and academic atmosphere blocking out most extraneous thoughts and activities often present in the “outside” world. Well that’s not true, for where human beings are involved no such purity exists. As mentioned earlier, we pretty much had the run of the lab. The one exception was the “spook” federal agency (I think the Atlanta office of the CIA). Whatever they were working on was of course considered highly classified, which meant none of the “unwashed” (including Forestry School, and especially the private sector) were allowed in the building. Some of their computer runs would go on for hours, indeed overnight. An IBM technician (Marc) was assigned to them for technical support. He was a good guy and we got to know him quite well, and from time to time he would help us over a bump or two. One morning we had breakfast with him at the Holiday Inn Motel in town (where we all stayed) and were walking with him to the lab. They had a large project running and it had been going all night. As we approached the building, Marc was horrified to see a utility truck parked with an extending man-loaded bucket near the top of a transmission pole with wires leading directly to the computer lab. Marc saw what was about to happen and ran screaming toward the truck with arms waving, but too late, the guy pulled the switch shutting off all power to surrounding buildings. I don’t know what he was doing but he clearly didn’t do it with anyone. Those 15 or 16 hours of computing were completely lost, and they had to start all over again. The fact that the lab was in the old historic Lumpkin House probably misled the utility guy, for it looked like anything but a computer lab. The Lumpkin House was also listed in the Athens Journal of historical sites. Fortunately we had plenty to do that didn’t involve any computing.
A set of stairs reached the front porch of the Lumpkin House. Inside the door a wide corridor went the width of the house to a back door that opened into space (about a 10 foot drop). There used to be a set of stairs, but they rotted with age and were never replaced. The walls of the Lumpkin House were made of heavy granite slabs, and in the refurbishing of the house to meet current needs, one of the main problems was knocking large enough holes in that granite to accommodate appropriate air conditioning. Upon entering the building, there were two large rooms, one to the left and another across the corridor to the right. The rooms were large with the one on the left designated as the library. The library contained a large table in the center of the room where documents (cards) could be spread out and organized. The room to the right housed several sorters and collators that made a fair racket when running. There were similar rooms at the back of the house, just inside the back door. In addition and about a third of the way to the front, was a stairwell leading to a ground-level floor (referred to as the basement). That is where all the computers and calculators were (along with the spooks). One day Bamping and I were in the library reviewing what came out of the sorters and collators, when a little (but feisty) woman appeared in the doorway. “What is this?” she demanded in a voice just shy of shrill, but loud enough to drown out the sounds of the sorters and collators. I quickly excused myself pointing out that Bamping was the professor in charge. Boy did she ever read him the riot act. The very idea of converting this magnificent historic site to a perfectly disgusting technical computer lab was simply beyond the pale!!! This lasted well over 15 minutes.
The only physical disaster I almost had at that facility occurred while lugging boxes of IBM cards down the stairs to be processed. At the top of the stairs, the director of the center had a gate installed to discourage unauthorized traffic in the computing area. It was a regular wooden gate mounted between two posts that stuck up higher than the gate. With arms full, I came up to the gate and managed to reach down and unlatch it. I took my first step down stairs and was halted abruptly when the right hand gate post went up my short sleeved shirt, and I was actually suspended over that stairwell hanging just by that short sleeved shirt sleeve. I was staring down a whole flight of stairs that ended on a concrete floor. I had no choice except to heave the boxes of cards (that we spent the previous day sorting and collating). Even at that I barely saved myself from a dangerous fall. Back to the sorters and collators! The lessons here were: it makes a difference in what clothes you wear under various circumstances, not all of which are social (and what doors you go through).
While I was at the University of Georgia, I had the opportunity to meet a variety of people working in the same general field of forest research. Professors from North Carolina State and Duke University, and yes, even the University of Florida and Louisiana State and Mississippi State. There were several regional Universities that joined cooperatives formed by those Universities to share information. One of the places I spent a lot of time and learned a lot, was the US Forest Service Research Center on campus there in Athens.
We did utilize some down time just to recharge. One of my favorites over a couple of years was traveling to Augusta for the Masters Tournament practice rounds that always occurred on Wednesday of tournament week. This occurs annually in the spring when the azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom. The sheer beauty of the environment was (and still is) almost better than golf. A couple of times we actually took the day off to go fishing on Lake Hartwell (DIV-2).
The events and activities discussed above in and around Athens Georgia didn’t happen all at once but pretty much over the decade of the 60’s. We wanted to get them out early in this narrative since they pretty well describe our early activity up there culminating in St. Regis offering Jim Bamping permanent employment in the area of digital information management at the corporate level. While he started out in the Jacksonville area, he ultimately moved to the Dallas TX area in the mid ‘70s.
Let’s get back to family activities as the decade of the 60’ began. By March of ’61 we had a pretty good idea the expectant baby (no idea of sexual flavor back then) would show up in mid-June or so. Since we were preparing to move, my time from home was still substantial (new move, new responsibilities). Meanwhile back in Pensacola, Joyce’s folks arrived on the scene none too soon, and in the middle of the night on June 12, 1961 baby George showed up on the scene at the Escambia County Medical Center. At that moment, a game changer had entered the fray. Now we had two each. Fortunately I was able to get back home before Joyce was released from the hospital, so I was available for pick up. Thank goodness for Joyce’s folks, they sure lifted the load for us during this busy time. A month later we were on our way to Bridgeport to show off the latest addition. This would be our last trip north from Pensacola. By the time we reached New Jersey, we were sure thankful for the Turnpike and its several rest stops along the way. DIV-3 shows the three oldest at one of them, along with a sampling of timely period pictures.
By late summer and early fall, we were about prepared to make our move to Jacksonville. I went over early and focused on finding a real estate agent to show me some prospects. From downtown, two major highways took parallel easterly paths to Atlantic and Jacksonville Beaches. Not surprisingly, the highways were named Atlantic (to the north) and Beach (to the south) Boulevards. With few exceptions, the general flow in Duval County moved east and west, with the ocean forming the eastern boundary and the St. Johns River the western boundary. The St. Johns River was rather unique in that it is one of the few major rivers in the United States flowing north from the central part of the state. The river turns east just north of downtown Jacksonville where the Trout (a major tributary) intersects and the joint flow turns almost 90 degrees due east past the intersection of Broward creek, and around strategic Blount Island and on to Mayport FL. Here it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The river is large and deep enough to handle most ocean-going traffic, and renders Jacksonville as one of the major seaports on the southeastern coast of the United States, as well as supporting a major US Naval aircraft carrier port.
Right next to Grove Park was slightly less prestigious Holliday Hill. Both these subdivisions were extensions of an older Glynlea Park. These suburban subdivisions were located geographically between Atlantic and Beach Boulevards. Glynlea shared its western boundary with Pottsburg creek. While Holliday Hill and Glynlea were not as “upscale” as Grove Park, they were more family oriented. The pluses included Holiday Hill Elementary School, a very active swimming program supporting a Glynlea swim team (with pool), a Glynlea community house, and a whole array of athletic fields. Except for the school all these amenities were located in Glynlea Park which was located just across the street (Altama Rd.) from the entrance to the elementary school. The northwest entrance and major access to the Glynlea complex was from Atlantic Boulevard via first Glynlea Rd. and then Altama Rd. These roads wound their way through the Glynlea–Holliday Hill subdivisions terminating at north-south running Grove Park Blvd., which after a short distance intersected with Beach Blvd. This southeastern entrance provided the second major access to the subdivision.
The house I found was what I thought was perfect for us. It was 633 Mandalay Rd. only two houses from the intersection with Altama Rd. and about in the middle of the subdivision. Following Mandalay across Altama, and after a few houses, the Arlington Baptist Church was under construction. For its size, the church had a fine campus with a lovely field where baseball and football were often played by local kids, not necessarily church members. At the west end of the field was a narrow woodlot through which a wide path connected directly to the school grounds. Except for a very short stretch on Mandalay, there would be no roads involved in going or coming from school. It was at this construction site that Bruce managed to step on a nail (rusty of course) in a pile of rubbish, and failed to tell anybody until he got home from school, at which time his foot looked like a football. First of many visits to doctors and specialists over the next several years.
The house we decided on was a single story and had 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths. Looking at the house, and considering the front door as the center, the bedrooms and baths along with the kitchen shared the right (south) side and of the house. To the left (north) side of the house, a large living room/dining room was located. There was a counter pass-through from the dining room to the kitchen as well as a doorway. Beyond the dining room and running some 20 feet from the carport to the kitchen was a jalousie window sunroom. The previous owners used this area to store their rather large inventory of sensitive plants during the winter. It had no air conditioning or heat, but it would fit a sofa-bed on one side and a couple of easy chairs on the other. On the carport side I built a cabinet to store all kinds of games. On the window facing into the carport we built shelves for books. Our TV set (no 50 or 60 inch jobs back then) was placed on the cabinet. It would be several year down the road before color TV became available. Even with no direct AC or heat, the area became habitable winter and summer by installing a couple of ceiling fans. This room became the “rumpus” room. While the house was centrally heated, air conditioning was provided by a large window unit in the living room and a smaller unit in the master bedroom. This was hardly adequate, but just had to do. The carport itself was designed for a single car, with a back door entrance to the house and an open passage to the backyard. On the outside of the carport, was a 5 or 6 foot wide room (storage area) that ran its length. In there went our freezer in one end, and a small shop at the other end. One side was a large louvered window. On the opposite we mounted a huge peg-board holding the few tools we had. It wasn’t long before Bruce became interested in photography (early ‘70’s). He basically converted my shop into his own dark room. I spend the time describing these “digs” because we were to spend some 24 years here.
The front of the house was highlighted by a virtual hedge of azalea’s that really spruced up the place in the spring. The backyard was amply treed and featured a stunning dogwood. I must say that much of the stunning came from the rabbit hutch placed under it. The back boundary of the property was adorned by a head-high privet hedge, with two lesser hedges on either side of the yard. Several pine and hardwood were distributed throughout and Mom and I spent many lounge hours with Nosy Rosie and later Mandy out there. There was even room enough to have a badminton court. Teaching the kids how to hit a shuttlecock with a badminton racquet was an experience. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before all of them including George could stomp me in a game. Actually we used to enjoy watching George playing football. Only kid I ever knew that could play football with himself and lose! (DIV-4)
Directly across from our driveway was the intersection of Waikiki Rd. (we were in Holiday Hill after all). This road proceeded in a westerly fashion until intersecting with Holiday Road. Beginning at Altama Road, Holiday Rd. pretty much defined the northern boundary of Holiday Hill and turned east to intersect with Arlington Rd. S. at the eastern end of the subdivision. Traveling north from (hopefully) our house, Mandalay was intersected by Diamond Head and Singapore roads before, continuing to the end of the subdivision. Singapore Rd. afforded a corridor out of the subdivision. Crossing Holiday road, Singapore traversed woodlots on both sides of the road, and ended in a “T” with Crane Ave. At that point there was a convenience store. Turning left on Crane (paralleling Mandalay) and about a quarter mile distance was a preschool named Happy Acres Ranch, This would prove to be handy. Turning right at the convenience store, Crane Ave proceeded east until merging with the north-south Arlington Rd. S. Traveling north, Arlington Rd S. crossed Silver Lake creek and passed a good sized Winn Dixie shopping center on the right and a liquor store and barber shop on the left (talk about handy-uh, not the barber). At that point Arlington Rd S. ended at Atlantic Blvd. to pick up as just Arlington Road on the northside of Atlantic Blvd. This intersection provided the third major access and the northeast entrance to the neighborhood (DIV-5).
The northwestern entrance was Glynlea Rd at Atlantic Blvd. Turning west on Atlantic Blvd, and just past the huge parking lot of the Southern headquarters of State Farm Insurance, the road crossed Pottsburg creek (quite wide at this point). Just beyond was an intersection with University Blvd. a major north-south thoroughfare. Taking this road north would eventually end up at Jacksonville University. About halfway there the Mathews Bridge over the St. Johns River was under construction and the Mathews Expressway was also under construction (now known as the Arlington Expressway). Floral Ave. was the last suburban street before that intersection. Floral Ave. was also the address of the Arlington Congregational Church. Now this was the first Congregational Church we had seen in the South. This was (and is) our chosen denomination and the one under which we were wed, and all four kids were baptized. It was less than 20 minutes from our future home and was another selling point for our location. What I had found was a house in a subdivision where most our needs were within walking or short driving distance and with built in perks. After securing a letter of recommendation from Dick Baker, Southern Timberlands Personnel Manager, financing was approved and only the formal closing remained (DIV-5).