ALBANIANS

Georgia on my mind!

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Albany, GA. <sigh> That town brings back so many memories. I was born there in 1970 and had lived there all but three years of my life, until I came out to Texas. There's a lot to say about my home city. While I love Albany, I must admit it has it's downside. I'll get into that later.

Before I was born my parents built their house in the Lake Park subdivision. At the time the area was woodsy. They were one of the first into the neighborhood. I never new there were practical reasons for choosing the neighborhood until a few years back. My dad said that he chose the plot because it was on higher ground away from the Flint River that flowed through the downtown area. I can hardly imagine he could have ever foreseen the flood that would devastate the city some 30 years later, yet not come too close to our neighborhood.

Albany was nice to grow up in. We had three big oak trees in a "park", nearby the elementary school I went to, that proved to be the place for us to explore and play. My neighborhood had several kids in it with quite a few more nearby. I had no problem finding buddies as a kid. Some of my best childhood friends were Judd Gowin, Judd Faircloth, Gretta (I forget her last name), and Hollis Lanier (we both used to love that "Banana Splits" cartoon show). Each of these friends moved off but some of my childhood friends stayed for the rest of the kid years: Jennifer Crow, Lawson Swan (He was always a bit younger than me; I was even his baby-sitter for a while though I was mostly there to watch the Twins, his younger brothers.), Gary Culbreath (I still pray for him and the life he has led himself into.), and probably one of my best friends ever, Ted Temple (We were in Cub Scouts together).

Anyway, I went to Lake Park Elementary, Lincoln Heights Sixth Grade Center, Merry Acres Middle School (I was among the first in the "middle school" concept.), and finally Westover High. To be blunt, my school-mates, especially from sixth grade and up, were abusive.

I never claim to be perfect, but I was already saturated with the Bible from an early age due to Sherwood Baptist Church, my home church. My family, being strong Christians, reared me to take a stand for my beliefs. I fell in love with Jesus early on and was often reading my copy of the Living Bible, as well as the difficult King James Version (however I have never really seen it as quite so difficult). I say this not to brag but to explain, my strong resultant faith was often in contrast to the often popular concept of do-as-you-please-except-on-Sunday. My faith often stirred the others up because I rarely compromised my beliefs, at least publicly.

The majority of my friends came from the Sherwood youth group which are too numerous to mention here. Some friends like George Clark had also grown up at Sherwood and so we knew each other pretty well. My youth minister was Reggie Joiner whom I remember now fondly. I understand he's still in Atlanta working at what I think is called Alpharetta Community Church. I can't imagine what his kids are like nowadays. Tony Haefs is was the Activities minister and he became a very good friend to me and to my family as my grandfather James Aultman lived out the last years of his life with us. Tony is still at Sherwood though I think his current title has changed.

I've seen a lot of ministers come and go at sherwood, rarely leaving on bad terms. I grew up under the strict biblical instruction of Rev. William A. Smith (I think it was "A.") and later found new direction under the more contemporary but still accurate Rev. Michael C. Catt. Throughout my life Sherwood has been a strong source for well grounded scripture. Thankfully, I did not really have to deal with the ultra-conservative years of my siblings. The church grew and matured out of that concept into a more compassionate view while retaining the strong biblical grounding.

Darton College changed it's name from Albany Junior College just before I showed up. My two brothers and my sister remember Darton as A.J.C. My years at Darton were a typical brief two years and then I transferred out to Mississippi College. Once I graduated three years later, I returned home and found work at Christian Book and Gift, Darsey Church supply. Needing more money, I began a two-year stint at Sherwood Acres Elementary School (not connected to the church) as a Spanish teacher in a Georgia Star program. Somewhere in those two years I finally answered a long and often confusing call on my life to serve God in ministry and so I left my life-long home to go out to Fort Worth, TX (I live in the young city/suburb Benbrook) to learn at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Oh yeah, I forgot the main downside to Albany for me. Albany was not a great place to be a Christian single. I struggled to find activities. But the "Good Life" city has always been a great place to raise a family!

Okay so that was long, but I have a lot of history with that city. Check Albany out. I have some links, as they are available, appearing below. Hopefully you will love Albany like I did.

Brad Henderson

Lake Park Elementary

Merry Acres Middle School

Sherwood Baptist Church

Westover High School

Darton College

Christian Book and Gift, Darsey Church Supply

Sherwood Acres Elementary School

Dougherty County School System

Albany Mall

WALB (CH. 10, NBC)

Internet Services of Albany (I.S.O.A.)

people like the "Good Life" City
Stop in and tell me about your town or even Albany, GA...

...then hear about everyone else's hometown.
Want to find out more about Jesus Christ?
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