(c)2008 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL Drew Douglas shows an old Douglas Avenue street sign given to him by a police officer when the sign was replaced many years ago.

Heat wilted weeds that basked in the cooler light of the new moon over our hometown with the sounds of hot engines racing at local tracks in the distance.

Friday night at the Holiday Inn, I joined a small group of people invited by Annette Mason and Garner Bounds to learn more about Newport Speedway. Track manager Ron Crane and promoter/owner Ed Surrett welcomed us. We learned a lot about this unique business and will share some thoughts with you. It was a tribute to our community and great lifestyle to hear Surrett, a well-established and successful contractor, say he is ready to sell out and move to Newport. He loves the town and racing so much. I was also surprised to hear what a big racing fan Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults is, as he enjoys helping out at the track. What sold me on Surrett's strength of character and why he will win here is that he is an ardent fan of Relay for Life. Ed's father died from cancer.

You recall that last week we took a stroll down Douglas Avenue and talked with Drew and Patsy Douglas to learn who and where folks lived some 50 to 60 years ago. He has been in the West End neighborhood since World War II. Other long-time residents still living are Omega Jackson, who lives at the end of Douglas and still teaches piano, and Sybil France. During our visits, Drew loaned to me several old photos you may see here or in Duay O'Neil's upcoming "A Place Called Home" edition. One is a large, poster-sized photo made on the hillside probably above where Kathy Holt's Exxon station is. It shows a gravel Douglas Avenue, the old knitting mill, a church, and a two-story white house. The photo comes from Bob Kermit through Drew. I am having a digital copy made in Knoxville.

Last Wednesday on a hot afternoon, Patsy told me that the white house still stands off Northside Avenue, just off Kirk and parallel to Douglas. The Douglases were living at 146, when Lee and Elsie Buckner moved into the two-story house. He is her uncle being related through her Mom, Bonnie Buckner Ealy. She still has a living sister, Vernie Dyke, of Bybee. Patsy's recollection is that Lee Buckner served on the highway commission during the 1950s and lived up to his promise to get Douglas Avenue paved.

She said that the Arms family of Bybee now owns the two-story historic house and rents it out. There is a yellow two-story duplex next to it between the Arms' property and the Sybil France home on the corner of Kirk and Northside. Trees block a good view of the houses. The Douglases had read last week's column, and my mention of Arvis Keys' wife, the former Yvonne Brooks, living off Northside. She lived in the yellow two story house about the time Drew and Patsy were married. In the other side lived TV repairman Lloyd Haynes' mother, Lucy Haynes, and daughter, Katherine. She is married to Jimmy Hillard. I also found out that Debbie Johnson, who operated Debbie's clothing shop downtown is a granddaughter to Lucy.

I also found out a little more information about the stone houses built by the late Rev. A. A. Haggard. The one on the corner of Kirk and Douglas at one time was the home of barber Bruce Roberts. I refer to it as the first stone house, though I don't know if anyone recalls in which order the three 1930s houses were built.

There is an old 8-by-10-inch black and white print of a woman standing at the front door of the stone house with a bird perched on her right forearm. This woman is Roxie Davis, who was a sister to Elsie Roberts. The photo appeared in an April 1955 edition of the Newport Plain Talk, which at that time was owned by Judge George Shepherd. Patsy believes that Roxie is still alive, living in a nursing home near Rogersville. I am not going to speculate about someone being dead. It is a lot better in print to mistakenly announce that a dead person is still alive rather than declaring a living soul a dead soul.

The second stone house off Douglas is vacant and has been rented out during past years. I am not sure who owns it. Many years ago, Leonard and Pearl Davis lived in the house. Another old home with a well-known family is the Holt home just two doors up from the Douglas home. In between the two and torn down by Tommy Crowder excavation within the past year, was the former Clay and Essie Laws home. At one time, Buford and Ruby Hall had rented it. He was a clothing buyer working with Reid Bailey at Parks Belks.

Sibyl France is still active and at her Northside home. You probably know her son, Joe France, who I know from his many years teaching vocational education. She is best known for her many years as a great cook at the old West End School and then Cocke County High School. Her husband, Harley France, was one of many who worked at Enka in the 1950s and 1960s. Drew recalls that he suffered much with arthritis and continued to work. The fellows car pooled with Dub Allen from the neighborhood.

Directly across the street from 146 Douglas, I saw a Honda Accord in the driveway. It was Richard Barnes and his son. Richard is the son of the late Earl Barnes who was married to Phyllis Barnes, who had lived at the house for many years until recently.

In plain talk, whether in gated communities, mountain estates, or humble quiet neighborhoods, there's no place like home in Newport.