Would like to have more information about the Wayland/Florida reunion in September. We are currently making plans to attend the Waylander picnic in Middletown, Ohio, Sat. August 2.
Thanks in advance.
Don & Peg Murphy
Deprmurf@aol.com

I have noticed that many items sent to you appear about once per year in the news letter, whereas there are numerous items appearing on the web site which appear as if they have been directly inputted into the web site.
Is the web site available to all and if so, how do we access it?

As an example. I am looking for information on Woodrow Hall, who as a Navy Man, married "Hoosie" Noe. Her sister was married to Rudolph Bradley, son of Greene Bradley who lived about two miles south of Wayland..
My career took me away from all these old friends, which I truly regret, however life must continue and now that I'm retired, I'm starting to reminisce about those very early days in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.

I do hope that we can again become reacquainted at the Wayland /Florida Reunion in Orlando in late September.

From Webmaster-
I'm not sure who sent this information to the website, but thanks. And i'm sure that everyone who visits the website would like to read more about the Orlando, Wayland /Florida Reunion. I was going to leave your e-mail address but i wasn't sure you wanted me to. To answer your question about the website and the News Letter, the website dosn't have anything to do with the News letter. The website comes from out of Lexington Ky and you did just right on how to send any news to the website, by clicking on the above Send Us News. I just wish more folks would click on and send more stories about growing up in the Hills of Kentucky.
The News Letter is put out by Jerry, Patty and many others in Wayland who work so hard at keeping our town's heritage alive. We do work together at times over the phone if we need to get some news out fast about a homecoming or such. I just started this website, about 5 years ago, as a way to pay my own respect to my Brother Kelly who his family is so proud. Heck, he was on ESPN last year, you can't beat that after 40 some odd years. But i also wanted the website to be a living history from the folks that lived in those cold-dust-covered houses in our little town of Wayland Ky, Floyd County.
So, please folks, click above and send us some news about yourself, how you are doing and how's your family doing. Tell us about your memories about growing up back home.
thanks for checking the website out,
keith

The Answer about Woodrow Hall

Hi Keith,
Just wanted to let you know that Woodrow Hall has a Sister Nelma Manasco of Columbus,Ohio, he is living and doing well, to contact Nelma, his sister,her e-mail address is mommom488@aol.com and she will be glad to e-mail you back.
Love this Wayland website.
Love Wayland and the Colemans also.

God Bless
Helen Castle Higgins

My father, Ova O. Haney, was the first Basket Ball Coach for Wayland High School.
He later became Supt of School, Morgan County 16 years and LaRue County 14 years).
His wife, Irma Wicker Haney, was the daughter of Melvin V. Wicker, M.D. who was a physican for the coal mine company for years before going into private practice.

Nancy Webb (Haney) Reynolds

The flood of June 6, 2003. In the post office it was 3 1/2 foot in the middle of town. the Wayland Fountain. which is now on front street had about 2 1/2 feet in it. I live in the house across from the swinging bridge in glo it got in my house 1 inch. There were 57 houses from Wayland to Estill that were flooded this year. My house is a company house with extra rooms built on and has been raised 9 blocks high.
I enjoyed your web site very much.

Charlene Martin

June "2003"

Joey Boling

Joey Boling, age 55, of Lackey, passed away, Monday, June 9, 2003, at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington. He was born May 18, 1948, in Lackey, the son of Gladys Robertson Boling of Lackey, and the late Paul Boling. He was a general secretary for the Floyd County Fiscal Court.
Survivors include his mother, Gladys; one son, Brandon Boling of Prestonsburg; one sister, Paula Gayheart of Winchester; and one grandson, Trenton Paul Boling. Funeral services for Joey Boling will be conducted Thursday, June 12, at noon, at the Hall Funeral Home Chapel, Martin, with Clergymen Arnold Turner Jr., and Robert Marshall officiating.
Burial under the professional care of the Hall Funeral Home, Martin. Please sign their guests register at: www.hallfuneralservice.com

The picture of the man with the horse could be my dad. It would be back in the early 40"s.. his name was Cecil Chaffins. We moved to Wayland when i was three, he had a horse (though bred red, wt. white alone his face to he's nose) named ole george, over on the hill behind the post office, across the tracks, where the Combs /Troys Mullins/ Juniors Williams/ home is .. at one time used to be a field for horses and cows and a stall. Dad also had a jersey cow named betsy. Dad loved country living. He always had a dream to one day retire and he had bought land in W.Va. .Mingo Co. thats where the horse and the cow went later. His brother was living on the farm.but dad's dream didn't happen .My dad was born in Mingo Co. WV. 1915 / married Erma Oney 1939.. He worked for elk horn coal. and on down the line Island Creek Coal.
Dad died of lung cancer /black lung ... 1980. Mom was born at Shopfork in 1923. They had 14 kids, raised 13 at Wayland. One died at 6 mo. crib death..Lackey KY. We lived Lacky once before, and then before that, two first children were born at Majectic KY. She is still living and will soon be 80. We have many years there in Wayland.
It does me good to read these pages of Wayland, i go there often, it brings back lots of memories. I remember the coal trucks, the coal dust falling on our clothes on the line, the whistle blowing, the town full of miners with the black rings around their eyes. Dad worked on the out side of the tipple. he was a electric .mechanic and tipple operator. We moved there about.1943, but we lived at Lackey for about 2 years, til he got a house to rent from Elk Horn. A company house . It was in the back ally. the second one at that time, on the left. That first little one used to be a shoe repair house there at the mouth. Then dad bought the house and our family got up to 8 kids. Nex he bought the house, the 10 room house that was haunted, and that it was....but thats is another story. Mom's dad also worked there, at the mines, he worked in the shop longer than dad did. I guess he was one of the first hired .
James (Jim) Oney, first married to Serena Oney , they were from Morgan Co. That's mom's mom. She died then, grand- pa married Rosy Chaffins, dad's sister.. and probably you forks that's still living would remember their kids. Imogene, Curt, Benny(deceased), Hubert, David, Zettie, Darlene, Anna Rose (deceased)Danny... Timmy, they lived at shopfork. ... and our kids names are ..(the Chaffins) Barbara, Richard, JB. Serena, Albert, Earnest Dale, Buster French (deceased) Hazel, Charlotte and Charles (twins) Steven , Milton Dee, Wallace, big family..huh? Their mom and dad are brother and sister, Cecil and Rosy Chaffins, who's families are of the, McCoy/ Hatfield's in W.Va. Their mom Ida Hatfield..some of you may remember she used to live in Wayland for awhile til she died.
She was married to a Maynard, then divorced him. Her first husband was Mont Chafin, Rosy and dad's dad. Well thats another story but i just want to say , that we have a lot of memories there and i remember Kelly Coleman, Phillip, Priscella all of them and lots more. I'm almost near 63 I got a lot of years there. Every morning i get up, i go back here to this page and read. It is very warming and some things are sad, the ones that have pasted away, but I'm glad you have this page, and ill be back in the morning ..Bobbi...

Webmaster Note-Thank you Bobbi for that wonderful story of your family and the town of Wayland. I wish more folks would send family stories and memories of their home town. I would be happy to add them to this website. Thank you again.

Larry Cecil

I am looking for Larry Cecil, son of Junior and Berdell Cecil. His sister's name is Quetta Sue. Larry is the grandson of James Tandy Cecil and Rosa Gunnels. I lost his number and can't locate him. Tell him to email me at Cander6241@aol.com.
Thanks

Donna Sue Watkins

Donna Sue Watkins had a heart attack today Thursday, June 5th. They performed an energy triple bypass at Pikeville Hospital. Please keep her in your Prayers!

May "2003"

Glenn Alexander

Glenn Alexander, 78, of Wayland, died Thursday, May 15, 2003, at the UK Medical Center in Lexington.
Born November 8, 1924, in Auxier, he was the son of the late Louis Edward and Lucinda Ward Alexander. He was a disabled coal miner, a member of the House of Prayer at Wayland, a dispatcher for the Wayland Fire Department, and a member of the fire department since 1972.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Anna Louise Paige Alexander. Survivors include four daughters, Loretta Cline, Sue Rhoads, and Vickie Jones, all of Wayland; and Willa Goodman of Kendallville, Indiana; 12 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and three step-great-grandchildren.
In addition to his wife and parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, James Alvin Alexander; two sisters, Lois Bolen and Loretta Watkins; and two half-sisters, Edna King and Margie Goble.

Question About William Christopher

There are 2 ladies, Myrtle Murphy Bentley and Stella Mae Grey who would like to know if someone out there would know the where abouts of William Christopher Crabtree. He went to Wayland High School and maybe graduated in 1943. Any info email me: tcsluss@comteck.com

Need Help

I am looking for information on my husband Shannon L. Turner's family. His father was Lester Kermit Turner. I'm trying to find information on James Turner and Myrtie[Wallen] Turner/ Roope. If you can help me please contact me at.
cte39248@centurytel.net
Thank You
Marty Turner

April "2003"

Update on James Nalle

Glad to report James is home and doing very well.

March "2003"

James Edward Fultz

James Edward Fultz, 69 of Geismar, Louisiana, formerly of Wayland passed away Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at the Saint Elizabeth Hospital. He was the son of the late Charley and Ada Puckett Fultz Mosley. He is survived by his companion, Erma Theriot, one sister, Darlene Arnett and four brothers, Bill, Bobby, Leroy and Jerry Fultz. He was preceded in death by one brother, Roger. Funeral Services will be conducted Saturday, March 22, at 11:00 a.m., at the Zion Deliverance Church.

King Kelly's Court Has Shaky Future

Wed, 19 March 2003
By Dick Burdette
HERALD-LEADER CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST

WAYLAND - On the second floor of its spiffy, grant-funded $450,000 community center, you can see the trophies, photographs and mementos of the man who made this Floyd County coal-camp community famous nearly 50 years ago.
"King" Kelly Coleman was his name, and as everyone in the commonwealth who has not spent the last forty-something years in solitary confinement knows, basketball was his game. In 1956, Coleman, the brash, irrepressible kid with the soft, sweet unstoppable jump shot, scored 68 points in a state tournament game, 185 in four games -- both still records.

You won't find The King here anymore though. After living out of state for decades and then coming back home three years ago, Coleman recently left Kentucky. Befitting the private person he is -- and always was, despite his considerable celebrity -- he declined to declare where.
The King's court endures, however. Down the street from the community center stands the high school gym where aging signs recount his legendary exploits, including a four-year-career 4,078 points -- 33.3 per game in 123 games. Hardly a week goes by that someone from out of town -- often from out of state -- does not visit Wayland in hopes of seeing the gym where Coleman played. Except when groups rent it, though, it remains locked.

Jerry Fultz, founder and president of the Wayland Historical Society, and founding member Patty Murphy would like to see it, too. See it survive.

They say they are not sure it will. Judging from what has already happened, they say there is plenty of reason to wonder. The 1929 Wayland elementary school, originally the high school adjacent to the gym, already has been torn down; the site is now occupied by a boarded-up cinderblock building. And the roof and interior of the 1941 high school building are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Demolition appears to be inevitable. Is the gym next?

"No, I don't plan to tear it down," says its owner, David King, who rents it out on an hourly basis. "I would like to sell it though."
But that's this owner. That's now. What about long range?

Fultz and Murphy readily concede that not everyone in town -- perhaps not even most -- share their concern or abiding attachment to the gym King Kelly made famous. Demographically, Wayland is not the place it was in the days when coal, then Coleman, was king. Back then, everyone knew everyone else, their kids, their dogs, their cars and just about everything else about them. Wayland was still a community.

Today, most who live in Wayland are not from Wayland. Many, attracted to the availability of rehabbed, low-cost federal housing, moved to town from other places. Fultz and Murphy say they, like most longtime residents, don't know most of the people they pass on the street.

So if most of today's Wayland residents have no links to its past, does it really matter whether the old gym remains?
Absolutely, Fultz says.
"That old gym has a lot of sentimental value," Fultz said. "It means a lot to a lot of people."
Including, he says, hundreds of former residents who moved away to find work and now live elsewhere, but keep up with what's going on back home by subscribing to the historical society's newsletter.
Fultz says he thinks the old gym still means a lot to people all over the state as well.

Pete Grigsby, assistant superintendent of Floyd County schools and something of a basketball legend himself, says he is one of them.
"I'm all in favor of preserving the Wayland gym," said Grigsby, an all-state player at Martin who played for Adolph Rupp in the early 1950s and three times coached McDowell High to the state tournament.
"Especially because of Kelly," he said. "It's an important part of our rich basketball heritage in Eastern Kentucky. We have already lost so many of our old gyms."

What's happening in Wayland and Floyd County is happening all over Kentucky. Statewide, because of consolidation, the number of schools with boys' basketball teams has dwindled. In the mid-1930s, there were more than 600; today, fewer than 300.

Many of the old gyms are already gone, or going fast.
Although the Kentucky High School Athletics Association preserves sports trophies and other keepsakes donated from schools that have been closed and razed, it has no programs or plans to preserve historic gyms like Wayland.

But the Kentucky Heritage Council's Historic Preservation Office does. In the last couple of years, it has conducted a comprehensive survey of obsolete schools all over the state and is working with groups in a number of communities to save them.

Preserving old school buildings is a movement that is growing all over the country, said David Morgan, executive director of the Kentucky Heritage Council who also serves as the state's Historic Preservation Officer.

Now, more than ever, Kentucky's preservation office is turning its attention to them too.
"We see our role as helping community groups save their buildings," Morgan said. "All preservation really happens at the local level. Funding is always the biggest hurdle."

Meanwhile, there's no doubt that at least one person is convinced that the old Wayland gym is of considerable value: King, the owner.
Records at the Floyd County school board office show that he purchased the property from the board in 1994 for its appraised price: $40,000.
His asking price now: $225,000.

"The Wayland Historical Society would be interested in buying the gym at a reasonable price," Fultz said, "but we can't afford $225,000."

Before moving out of state, Coleman reached the same conclusion.
"I was interested in approaching some people about putting up the money to buy it," he said. "I'm sure I could have arranged it. But, when I heard the price, I gave up."

Meanwhile, the Historic Preservation Office will become involved in discussions with Fultz and King about the old gym's future, said Rachel Kennedy, its research and planning coordinator.
"We want to help communities preserve their significant historic buildings and we will be talking with the Wayland people and help them draft a plan that will satisfy all the parties involved."

Patty Jean Hopper

Patty Jean Hopper Castle 69, died in El Paso, Texas March 10, 2003. Her parents Tonia and Noah Hopper and husband Richard Castle preceded her in death.

What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved.

There's not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.
People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride.
That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home...a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog.
We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along.
There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.

Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.
And there were no drive by shootings.
Our values were better when our roads were worse!
People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn't tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks.
Dirt Roads taught patience.

Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn't hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.
For your mail, you walked to the mail box.
What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.
At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.

Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.
At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn't some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.
At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out.
Usually you got a dollar...always you got a new friend...at the end of a Dirt Road!
~by Paul Harvey~

James (Jimmy) Nalle

James (Jimmy) Nalle is in the Va Hospital in Lexington KY. He had surgery over three weeks ago and has never spoke. If any friends wants to know about him you can E-Mail me at ahfinc@mis.net

on friday march 6th 1998 the WAYLAND GRADE SCHOOL was raze.

"time it was,
and what a time it was...
a time of innocence,
a time of confidences.
long ago...it must be...
i have a photograph.
preserve your memories;
they're all that's left you."
by simon & garfunkel

"there was an old man lived up on the hill
if he ain't passed away he's a-livin' there still"