OURHAMLET.ORG

This is a brief story about Hoot n Holler. Most folks around Hamlet know about Hoot n Holler. It was the summer home of Dr. Bill James and family. It was out in the country south of Hamlet and it had a good sized lake. Dr. James and his wife had five girls. When I was 15 they ranged in age from 3 to 17. When you have that many girls you have a constant stream of boys. Hoot n Holler was like he...even for a teenager in the 60s. There was a large screen porch on the back of the house. I think the house was small but things always seem larger looking back. There was a large dock with a screened in section for a ping pong table. Dr. Bill would play with us when he was there. There was also a boat capable of pulling a skier. Now that was something that a small town boy would rarely get close to in my world. Dr. Bill and his wife seemed to want to share their summer place with a bunch of us and we enjoyed it. I learned to sail and to ski and when Dr. Bill ran for office Johnny Shortridge, Charles Muse, Willie Brown, Ralph Robertson and me worked for him putting up signs all over the district. TO CAPITAL HILL WITH DOCTOR BILL. It was a great summer!