Guy
Boutin's Motorcycle Touring and Travel Pages
Adventures in Sport
Touring with the Honda ST 1100, 1300 and the BMW 1200RT
Exploring North America...One Road
at a Time
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Guy
Boutin's Motorcycle Touring and Travel Pages
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The Evergreen Loop Many of us are creatures of habit. I certainly am. Every year since 1978 I ride what I call the Evergreen Loop. Named after the quiet old south town of Evergreen, located in Conecuh County in South Alabama. It marks the far end of the loop. The first run of the Evergreen Loop took place on Labor Day weekend. I moved the ride to late October the following year, to escape the still oppressive hit of Alabama in September. The Evergreen Loop, and the roads that comprise it, can only be rode once a year. Call me superstitious, but these roads can ONLY be traveled on this day. In between, I avoid these roads. To ride SR 10 in the spring would somehow be sacrilegious. I have witnessed the subtle and not so subtle changes a road can take in 23 years. In the early years, the section of SR 10 out of Pine Apple, was kind of twisty. Ten years ago the State decided that was not safe, and cut a new road. Trimming back the tree line 100 yards from the highway, and making a nice straight road in the process. How boring. Write it up progress. In 1978 I was motivated to ride to Evergreen to visit a old friend. He is buried in the local cemetery of the sleepy town. His name was Hooker Birkhead, killed in a automobile accident, January 17th, 1973, near Maplesville, Alabama. He lived alone across the street from me in the fall of 1973. His family had moved to Evergreen, and he remained behind to sell the house, but I don't think he was in any hurry to. His son had left for college, and my father was out of town working, so he invited me over to keep him company in the evenings after football practice. My father was gone all week, and so was his son, it was a mutual relationship. I recall going out to eat, watching Monday night football, and keeping each other company each night in front of the TV. Back then we only received 3 channels, so we would also spend many hours in his rec room, playing ping pong and shooting pool. They were good times. It was fun, and a good way to spend the week, as I waited for my fathers return on Friday. Hooker was killed late one night returning from a visit with his son at the University of Alabama. I was away at my football banquet that night, and got the news the next morning. Up until then I had never lost someone close to me. I was quite upset. I left Prattville immediately for Evergreen, to be with the family and attend the funeral the next day. I vividly recall our last conversation the night he left for Tuscaloosa. He gave me 2 bags of pistachios to take home, telling me he was tired of the nuts, and to take them. I still have them. It was Labor Day weekend in 1978, when I took my then new Honda GL 1000 Gold Wing for the inaugural Evergreen Loop. I rode down to Evergreen, and visited Hookers grave for the first time since the funeral. Every year for the last 23 years I have take this ride. Always the last week in October. The years I was bike less I still took the ride in my cage, or I borrowed a bike. My friend was good to me while my father was gone, and making the annual ride is my way of thanking him. I ride the 244 mile loop and use the time to reflect on the year past, and the new one approaching. I remember that first ride in 1978 as a exciting time. I would soon be leaving a awful factory job, for the excitement, benefits, and pay of the fire department. I had a new motorcycle, and a lovely new wife at home. Life was good. I was looking forward to the coming years. I recently completed the 23rd edition of the Evergreen Loop. My 2001 ST making the ride for the first time. This year I wanted to take care of 2 items that had been on my mind for many years. I wanted to find out the details of 2 events, that begged to answered each year when I rode the loop. Twenty miles west of Evergreen on SR 83 lies a country church. Mount Pleasant Methodist. I stopped here for a butt break in the early 80s, and strolled the cemetery. It was then I noticed the graves of 2 young people, same last name, same date of death. I was curious as to what happened to them, reasoning it had to be a accident. I could never remember the names and the dates to do any follow up work. Always thinking I should bring a pen and paper next year. Last year I did, and jotted the names down and the date of death- Robert Stuckey Feb. 17, 1980 Chan Stuckey Feb. 17, 1980 Robert was 8 years old at the time of his death, and Chan was 17. I brought the note home and secured it in my Day Timer, for the day I would once again ride the Evergreen Loop. Only this time I would stop in the library in Evergreen, and ease my curiosity. I left Prattville on a glorious fall morning looking forward to solving a question that has lingered in my mind for almost 20 years. I rode south on I-65, and 100 miles later took the Evergreen exit, and made my way to the cemetery to pay my respects to Hooker. When I finished, I rode a few blocks down to the Evergreen Public Library. Two workers were replacing the light out front and I had to walk around their ladder to get in. I asked a male clerk- "I need to look at old issues of the local paper" "over there on that shelf" What no micro film? The back issues of the Evergreen paper are kept in large leather volumes. It is a weekly paper. Each volume contained several years. I went to 1980 and thumbed to February. I quickly locate the issue for the week containing February 17th, and there it is.- COUNTY SHOCKED AT TRAGIC ACCIDENT. Robert and Chan Stuckey are ironically killed in a motorcycle accident, on a rural Conecuh County road. I find out Chan is actually female, and Robert is her brother in law. They are killed when a vehicle strikes them. The trooper investigating the accident is quoted in the article as saying "they were killed instantly." Now I know. I somberly walk back out to the ST and ride the 20 miles to the little church on SR 83. Stopping here now has a whole new meaning. I pay my respects to the young Stuckeys. Now, out of this world over 20 years. I wonder what their lives might have been like, if not for that fateful day.
The final resting place of Chan and Robert Stuckey I leave Mount Pleasant Church and proceed to my next objective. To find out what happened to the town known as Pine Apple. The town is still there, but dying. Why is that? Every year I pass through this town, and every year it has withered a little more. This time I am going to stop and find out why. Pine Apple is located on SR 10, 30 miles west of Greenville. I ride into Pine Apple, 30 minutes after leaving the Cemetery at Mount Pleasant. Everything looks the same in this quiet little place. It is not much more then a dot on the map. Only the name distinguishes it from thousands of other similar towns in this country. I ride past the old, but well kept homes along Main Street. A dilapidated, failing down school is perched just off the road. Weeds and tall grass lay claim to the parking lot. I know this school has been empty since 1978. How come no one has bought this land, and tried to do something with it? I veer off the highway into a small closed down business section. Only the post office is open. The remaining buildings have been empty for many years. Where did everyone go? I park the ST in front of a old cafe. I look inside the windows, and the menu is still above the kitchen. The cafe looks to be the last business to give it a go in Pine Apple. Tables and chairs are stacked. Things are dusty and old.
Outside the old cafe-Pine Apple, Alabama I walk next door and try to see inside. The shelves are empty, the old fashioned wood floors warping, and coming apart. Perhaps this building housed a food store or household goods? I walk down the street to the post office. A small brick building, housing 50 post office boxes. A small window with a bell faces the door. I strolled in and rang the bell. A middle aged lady, in a red shirt, responds from the back. I quiz her about Pine Apple, and she dutifully answers my questions. In the 30s, 40s and 50s Pine Apple was a prosperous little town. The shops on the tiny Main Street were busy and making money. Things started going bad for Pine Apple back in 1969. The bank closed that year. It was located just down the street. Shortly after, the saw mill up the highway went out of business. The population went from 1000+ to just under 400 quickly. The small business district quickly folded up in the mid 70s, and has been empty ever since. The clerk tells me most of the people left in Pine Apple are old, with paid up mortgages. She can't recall when a couple gave birth to a new resident.
Main Street. The Post Office is located between the white building and beige brick structure. I walk back down the street to the ST, to finish my annual journey. I get back on SR 10, and ride by the rear of the west facing buildings. The rear wall near the cafe is falling in. Victim to a large truck that missed the curve on 21, plowing into the building. The clerk said that accident took place many, many years ago. I guess no one saw a need to repair a 60 year old empty building. I ride back home via SR 41 to Selma. I reach a long straight (long by Alabama standards) on 41 and as in years past, crouch down and see how fast I can go. For the 23rd time I ride past the grain elevator in Sardis. They are busy moving grain, as evidenced by the dust blowing out the top. I make my way through Selma. Another drying up city in the Black Belt. The city has been on the decline for the last 20 years. It does not have much longer, and has been on life support the last 5 years. Only its civil rights heritage preventing it from being completely forgotten. I find myself on SR 14 in the late afternoon, riding the last 30 miles home, under the bluest of fall skies. Reminding me of Montana. I pull into the garage and drop the stand. The Evergreen Loop is in the book for another year, but this one feels different then years past. Somehow I feel closer to the places and people, who for the last 23 years, have allowed me to use their road to clear my cobwebs. I wonder what I will think about next year when I once again embark on the Evergreen Loop? What things lie ahead for me this year, that will make the memories of next year? Just have to wait and see.
Footnote- August, 2003. I received the following email. Hi, I also received a note from the Mrs. Stuckey thanking me for remembering the young Stuckeys. I responded to her email and hope to hear from her again soon. As of now, I don't know who sent the family the link, and if my little story brings comfort to them, it makes me feel good. God works in mysterious ways. He brought me to the little cemetery over 20 years ago, and kept the curiosity in me kindled until I found their story, and printed it here. Now, thousands of riders know it, and I encourage you to stop at the church for a prayer of remembrance if you are ever in the area. The church and gravesites are not hard to find. Although not for sure, I think this is God's
way of giving their families comfort.
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