Stories added at the request of Barry Bonifay

If you wish to add any stories you may send them to me and I will be glad to post them!

I need to add a post about the 2011 Bonifay Family Reunion I have been so behind on posting hopefully I can catch up with some new stuff soon!

MK


A Story by Larry Bonifay

Another chapter in the life and times of the story-tellers family. Summer 1959, family fishing and camping on the Yellow River at Millers Bluff Landing. Uncle EF, Aunt Eva, Mom, Dad, George, Gibson, Evon, and Curly and all the kids were there. This was the summer I would never forget. Dad backed his old 1950 Chevy hunting car down the river to unload the boat, he left me behind the wheel to pull the hand brake after he chalked the tires. Dad started pushing the boat, the brake didn’t hold, my legs were too short. The boat trailer and car rolled in the river, nearly running over dad as it went by. The trunk popped open and there went our worms and coffee rolls floating down the river. The look on Dad’s face was one I’ll never forget. This was also the trip Stuart, Barry, and I caught the giant logger head turtle in the field behind the camp. We rode him and pulled him back to camp not knowing he would become instant meal. This was also the time Dad caught the raccoon in the cast net. ‘Never tried that again. Yes, there were many fun things we did on the river. I remember the time Barry sat on a bucket, fishing, and sit it right on a Copperhead. Boy, was that thing mad. We ended up counting to three and kicking the snake and bucket into the river. Oh yeah, Mama was always there cooking her hushpuppies. This was also the trip Mom and Dad went to their favorite fishing spot to catch a mess for supper. They didn’t catch a thing. We sat right there on the bank, stringer full. We provided supper that night. I remember another time Randy, Pete, Barry, and I went with the German boy who lived at the fish camp to a swimming hole. We were in a 16 foot river boat floating down the river when we floated under this limb. We all looked up, just in time to see this 7ft. Rattlesnake falling off this limb and landing in the boat. We all jumped in the water and the snake was in the boat, floating down the river. I never swam so fast in all my life.

Yes, we had a lot of good times when we were kids and had about the best childhood any kid could have. We were bayou kids, thanks to my mother and father. You didn’t need many toys, all you needed was a boat, a crab net, and a friend. And that friend, a lot of times, was Andy Welles. Yes, on the bayou, you could create any adventure you wanted, but that’s the source of another story. Family outings, I remember some of the best times were family fish-frys and uncle Clarence’s barbecues. Yes, from sun up to sun down, eating, skiing, swimming, and having fun. I remember names like Sport, Mullethead, Alex Early, George Gibson, IB Huggins, Bud Harold, Robert Williams, Buddy Hutto, Donald Martin, Joey Bancroft, and many more hunting and fishing buddies of Dad’s. I remember aunt Rose, she looked like a movie star. She had a white T-Bird convertible – boy was it pretty. That was the year Pete sat in the fire ant bed and had to be hosed down, and of course Mama was there, cooking 10,000 hushpuppies. Uncle Clarence used to cook the best barbecue chicken on his grill and we had a pretty cocker spaniel named Lady. She would always be lying near the pit, if you know what I mean. Yes, we had special things we did with different cousins. One of our favorite things was diving off the bayou bridge with Ann, Don, and Clarice. Also, sitting on Uncle Clarence’s porch, looking for shooting stars over the bay at night. Joyce was one of my favorite cousins, we had a lot of bop parties at her house, I guess cause she had all the records. I guess, every year we went to the fair when I was a kid. We practiced a month ahead, jumping the fence, if you know what I mean. I wonder what would have happened if we had been caught? Living on the bayou was great for the menu. Hungry you just went down to the water, summer or winter. Oysters, shrimp, crabs, mullet, or trout. Yes, we had porpoises swim by the dock when we were kids, you never see that today. Yes, some of the good times are gone forever, but our dreams and memories will be with us til we die.

Beach cottages, everyone should have one. We did. Dad bought an old house from downtown, had it trucked down the bay. We spent many a weekend fixing it up. And when it was dark, we would go over to uncle EF’s and catch, scale, clean, and eat mullet. Boy, those were the days. I wish I had a dollar for every one I scaled and a quarter for everyone dad caught. Yes, I owe a lifetime of good memories to my mother and father and all of my aunts and uncles. Uncle EF was my favorite uncle – to me, he was the man of many tools. I used to sit around for hours and listen to stories about the past, kind of like I’m telling you. If you really wanted to see his eye light up, tell him you had a mesh of mullet in the back of the truck. He would say, “Eva, put on the grease and coffee!” Then, he would get out his hunting knife and head to the cleaning table. I remember the time Reed and Paul filled the whole back of his truck with mullet during roe season. Boy, that was the topic over many a cup of coffee.

Mullet fishing, now that’s a good topic. Reed, remember the night we went fishing and you brought Fella down to the dock? Of course, Dad wouldn’t let him go, we left him on the dock, not knowing that he jumped over when we left. By the time we discovered him, we was nearly drowned from following us. That shaggy dog went everywhere with him, even school. I also remember the time Dad and I came back from fishing and I scaled while Dad cleaned. I was really tired and sleepy Dad asked me if I missed scaling any, I said no. Well, have you ever eaten fried mullet with scales on them? I have. I learned how to scale in my sleep after that.

Having fun on the bayou – Stuart, remember the raft that Judge Beall gave me and I towed it home? That became the source of many a raft war. And we all became king of the raft at one time or another. My favorite advisory was Andy Welles. I’d say he was my best friend in those days and probably still is. Even though I hadn’t seen him for years, there’s something about childhood friends that really grows on you. People like Rusty, Billy, Ken, and Dickey Davis – yes we fought like heck over everything from football to mud-fights and tree-fort wars. It seemed it was always between us and them, but we would end up as friends as always on an individual basis. Remember the Vonances? The Bens? The Corners? The Hesses? Yes, all neighborhood families and kids that were the Bayou Bunch. Remember Janet Nativy? The Carters? Hat was Janet deathly afraid of? Stuart knows, don’t you? By the way most all these kids ate a sandwiched fixed by Mama at sometime or other. She was lovingly called Aunt Bo by all. Remember the time Stuart and I snuck Dad’s boat out to go to the top club and on the way back, the motor jumped off the boat? After getting brave enough to tell him, we ended up taking a trip back to the spot for a cold, winter dive. As Dad’s luck, we found two motors, his and an old Johnson 25. As history will show, Stuart planned the deed and I was always caught.

When I reached 16, it was car city. My first car was, you guess it, my famous ’62 Falcon. The one Stuart and I were in when we wrecked, skipping church on Sunday. Boy, if that car could talk. I remember many a moonlight night on bluffs with one girl or another. Those were fast times, fast cars, and a good face slap.

Friday night was Steak Night at our house, Dad would cook steaks on the grill and Mama would have baked potatoes and salad – boy, that was a treat. And when shrimp season started, it was even better. That’s a topic for another story. There’s a fine art to shrimping. Instead of holding your mouth just right, you pulled your net at just the right speed. Shrimping with Dad was quite an experience. Cold water, rough water, sting nettles, sting rays, out of gas, hung up are terms Dad still wouldn’t give up and go in for if the boat was sinking. It was shut up and bail, if out of gas, it was shut up and paddle faster. We didn’t go in until we had shrimp for supper. There’s something about shrimping for hours at a time and catching only 5 lbs of shrimp that makes it stick to your bones and sore fingers. I wish I had a penny for every shrimp my Mama peeled. Love you, Mama. Love you, Dad.

Speaking of Dad, he did it all. I wish I could follow in half of his footsteps. All of us boys and one daughter have a little of him in us. Dad is quite a genius, if it’s based on ‘smart is as smart does’. He could knit a cast net to the finish, make his own fishing leads, overhaul a car, boat truck outboard motor, and he could fix anything we boys tore up and you had to pretty smart for that. He was awarded several combinations for good ideas at the Naval Air Station over the years. I remember the time Barry needed a science project for Mr. Boges’ class. It was during the 60s Space Race – Dad made a rocket out of stainless steel tubing that really flew. They fired it off at school, boy – a real hit. My dad had this real fine lady we called our Mama. She was quite special to us kids. But I’m proud to say she was special to everyone she met. Her friends would tell you she never met a stranger, if she ran out of someone to help or feed, she would go out of her way to find someone else. The kids all called Mama Aunt Bo. Some kids actually would come over on the weekend and forget they had a mama to go home to. Mama’s first words were, “Come on in” and second, “Are you hungry?” I don’t think she ever had a ‘no’ answer. Mama came from a poor family in Alabama and she knew how to make food go a long way.

One of my favorite foods was what she called Depression Patties, made from leftover mashed potatoes and onions, fried up in a pan, and sweet potatoes and apple tarts and one mean banana pudding. Yes, my Mama could cook anything from scratch, a meal fit for a king. Yes, with five kids, I’ve seen 10lb. platters of shrimp fried to a golden brown, served with a baked potato and salad topped off with a gallon of tea and big ol’ banana pudding for dessert. We were not eating at poor folks either. Yes, even today, after twenty years of marriage, Mama puts on a pot of coffee and heating the skillet when she sees us coming down the driveway. Yes, Mama between kids, cooking, cleaning house, nursing puppies, and baby squirrels and chickens, Mama had her hands full. She never one complained, that I can remember.

Yes, we were a close knit family, a real patriotic family, and still are today. I am writing this story as the Gulf War, in its 37th day and we have started the ground wars. ‘Brings back memories of when Dad and all my uncles were in the big war. Yes, Dad was on of the heroes of World War II, he’s on eof the reasons I was born free and the main reason I was born – I love you, Dad. He was wounded in the knee and still has the bullet in his leg. I remember, as a kid, going through Dad’s famous gun locker. Dad had all these treasures from the war: guns, fire helmets, bayonets – even a German flag. With all these trophies, you couldn’t get him to talk or brag about it. Yes, he tried to forget that awful war that he was so lucky to come back from and unfortunate to be in. Another hero to me was my uncle Earl. He left when Dad did, but he joined the Navy. He had a ship blow up, he was on in the Pacific, but he just swan over to another one and kept on fighting. Also, a man we all looked up to all along was Uncle Samp. Mama’s brother, he was a Marine. He fought in Iwo Jima and Guam in the war in the Pacific. He stayed in the Marines all his life. He even served in Vietnam. Another hero during the war was my grandma, she had all the service wives home with her and she took messages to all the troops and families around town. I bet that was hard on her, having all those boys overseas at one time. She was the matriarch of the Bonifay family, but that’s another story.

Grandmothers – I had two of them. My Dad’s side, we called Grandma. My mama’s side, called Mammy. You could tell them apart easily at a family outing. Grandma was the big one with the extra plate. Mammy was the skinny one, all primped up, talking about grandma. I can hear her now, “That’s enough food for an ox”, she would say. Yes, Grandma was some eater, also one heck of a cook. Her cooking was legendary: chicken oyster gumbo, crab gumbo, shrimp jambalaya, red meat and gravy, fish chowder… I hope someone has the recipes. Grandma was so sweet and full of love. She had this wonderful way with kids, teaching them tossing and play the piano with the Lord as a guide. I remember going to church on Sunday with her and all my cousins. She would give us a few pennies each, to put in the offering basket. She never gave up as long as she lived, impressing on the important of the Lord. There are many a tale and joke about her. Being hardworking and fruitful during the Depression, she learned how to stretch a buck and a meal. Wasting food may have been a menial sin, but it was a mortal sin to her. She made dog food out of leftovers and all her orange peels and fruit rinds were poured on her plants. She was a firm believer in talking to her plants, they were so pretty. My Mama has that touch today. I remember as a kid, Grandma having bunco every Saturday at her house. There would be a bunch of little old ladies and some big ones sitting around card tables with pads and dice and a little bell they would ring if they won. I remember names like Delahanty, Noah Kenny, she was so skinny and swift. She loved her bigo bunco and wrestling. That was the only time I saw grandma jump up and down and holler. She really believed it was real fighting. She never quit trying to get Dad to go to church. Dad really loved his mother, he was the baby in the family. He would drop us kids off on a Saturday to rake and clean her yard, I guess that’s where I learned to love working outdoors. After raking her yard, she would help us pick up hickory nuts and we would take them and sell them to the barbecue pits around town. Then, we would always go by the dairy bar and get an ice cream cone or a milkshake. I’ll never forget a trip downtown, with her driving, she went down a one-way street, the wrong way. Hoyce told her, but she never listened to her. We all hollered to pull over, but she just said, ‘those crazy loons’. She always said St. Christopher was in the backseat, but I think this time, he was in front. She was so sweet to everyone, She used to go by Carl’s Bakery and get day-old coffee rolls on the way home from bingo. She’d make her rounds to everyone’s house, making sure every last kid got a roll. She would honk her horn and flash her lights. We kids would run out and help her down the steps, holding onto Grandma, good and tight. We still take doughnuts and coffee today, thanks to her sweetness, get it?

Grandma used to tell a story about her and her sister as kids. They went down to the water to get a bucket of water. They found an alligator’s nest with babies. Along came mother alligator and Grandma said she and Annie had to run zig-zag up the trail to keep one step ahead of that alligator. She said it had big, red eyes. That story has been shared and retold to many a grandchild. I’m sure my grandkids will hear these stories and lots more. Yes, Grandma was one of the best and her love will always be felt by the family, not just remembered. I think part of my heart went with her to Heaven when she died. My other grandmother was on my mother’s side. She was really a character. We called her Mammy. I don’t know if anybody knows it, but when she died, she took Perry mason with her. Yes, I had the special privilege of being one of Mammy’s favorites.

Barry Bonifay
July 19 at 12:36pm · Like · Report

Yvonne Strouse, Debbie Bonifay and Runuts Iam like this.
Moriah Kirksey isn't Evon spelled Yvonne?
July 19 at 1:37pm · Like
Roxanne Spivey Bonifay Larry - I even heard a few things I hadn't heard before....Moriah - That's only the tip of the iceberg, but I love the stories! We'll have to clean it up for the book.
July 19 at 5:18pm · Like
Barry Bonifay Why are Larry's memories so much better than mine? Darn you Larry! I love this story brother.
July 19 at 6:52pm · Like
Nancy Huggins Peters who was IB Huggins, do you remember+
July 19 at 7:06pm · Like