It has been a long time and my memory has dimmed somewhat, but as I recall things, my favorite swimming hole on Coalfire Creek was Beards Mill. I hope I got the name right. This hole is south of Coalfire, down on the Mcshan to Carrollton Road, just off the roadway a piece. It had a grassy hillside on the west side of the creek, with a diving board, a big log across the creek and a swing that one could swing all the way across the creek and drop into about six or eight inches of mud, sliding forever seemed like. It had trees on that side, but very little undergrowth, allowing for the long unimpeded slides.  The hole used to be 15 yards wide or so, twenty or thirty yards long and was about six feet deep as I recall. We spent many summer days  down there swimming and playing. I guess some of my fondest memories were made around those days of my life.  Once we wanted to go down there and one of my cousins (which I will not name) borrowed his dad’s panel wagon for a quick trip down to Beards Mill. Well, it was low on gas so we borrowed some from the local grist mill engine but there was not very much in it either. So we were still afraid that we would run out of fuel before we could get down there and back. In those days, that road was graveled. At Union Hill Church, cousin kicks it out of gear to save gas and off we go, free wheeling it down the long hill, saving gas and making good time. We go over a rise and there approaching us, right in the middle of the cotton picking road was an another car, the only other car we met on that trip. Well, the only thing we could do was take the ditch. The passenger side of the tilted panel wagon was plowing dirt from the top of the ditch into the wagon, but other than that we were ok for a short time. Then, low and behold, right in the middle of the ditch was a stump…..I don’t think any of us had ever noticed that old stump before. It gave us a sudden stop, tearing up the front end and the radiator…I don’t know how much damage really, except to say we had to work all that summer for my uncle to pay for the repairs on the truck. In hindsight, he was pretty lenient on us, but he was firm and fair in our repayment process. We may or may not have really earned enough to pay it off, but we learned the value of equipment and hard work from that little excursion. I don’t remember us borrowing the truck or gas ever again. And I don’t remember who all was in the truck that day, other than to say several of us. Will some of you other cousins ‘fess up” if you read this. I am sure you will remember the day……Pete

Coalfire Creek from the bridge over US 82 Highway…Photo by Karrah