P CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE - WWW.NFLAONLINE.COM - SERVING NORTH FLORIDA AND SOUTH GEORGIA The Advent Christian Village Home and Orphanage . - Later Grady was to say, "In spite of the sulphur water and the hard farm work, I found a family here." He arrived when things were changing at the Home and Orphanage. Early mornings were spent milking the cows. It was cold and dark. Then a rare snow covered everything. Pomeroy Carter began cal- culating that they could buy milk cheaper than they could produce it. Those cold, early milking times were over. There were about 40-50 purebred black Angus cows and 20 hogs to be cared for. At 13 Grady learned to drive the old Farmall tractor to take hay to the cattle and slop to the pigs. The tractor was also used to pull a wagon for hay rides and to carry clothes from the laundry and food from the dining hall. Smiling, Grady says, "It was a good life. We were treated like family. And there was always the fun of swimming in the on the rope tied to the old oak tree. Whether we were attending school, partici- pating in community activ- ities or other outside events, we were always accepted by the communi- ty and never singled out or looked upon as being dif- ferent or outsiders. The people always welcomed us and treated us like we belonged." The DeLong Building housed the boys down- stairs and the girls up- stairs. Grady remembers the Duckworths and the Liddys who were house parents and Ethel Fielding was the relief houseparent. As the boys got older they worked tobacco at the lo- cal farms. This was Grady's first job and he made $3 a day. There were five horses on the place. Grady rode Tony the most. He called Dynamite an idiot because he was a wild, bucking horse. And there was Jack, who was hard to ride be- cause he always wanted to go back to the barn. Grady and Allan were joined later by a sister and 529 S. Ohio Ave., Live Oak, FL Bus. 386-362-1389 Fax: (386) 362-6131 S.C. Sullivan (386) 362-1389, Evening 362-2990 (1) 3+ Acre Tract on paved road with scattered trees. Driveway in place. Good buy @ $19,500. Terms. (2) Off CR 49 5 acres in grass with scattered trees, fenced on 3 sides with survey. Only $4,900 per acre. (3) CR 51 & Pinewood St.: 2.29 Acres, city water and sewer, zoned office. Good location REDUCED TO $159,900. (4) Off CR 349: 10 acre wooded tract with a two bedroom CH/AC log home in excellent condition cont. approx. 1200 sq. ft. under roof, 30'x40' pole barn. REDUCED TO $145,900. (5) Industrial Park: 1.13 acre corner tract good exposure. Reduced to $34,500. (6) 40 acres with 835 ft. on paved road in 13 year old planted pines. Priced to sell at REDUCED TO $149,900. (7) CR 143: 9 acres on paved road with a 3/2 CH/AC home const. in 2002 with a 2 car garage, 30'x50' bar, 8x8 storage, nice fish pond. Good buy @ $175,000. (8) Hamilton Co.: 10 acres on CR751 and the river approx. 1300 ft. on the water and approx. 1300 ft. on paved road. Priced to sell at REDUCED TO $64,000. (9) Farms of 10 Mill Hollow: 4 acres in grass/cropland with scattered trees. $32,500. (10) Near City: Off US 90 East 5 acres wooded near golf course. Good buy @ $44,900. (11) 190th St.: 10 acres in planted pines approx. 15 years old, with a 3/1 CH/AC SWMH, 2 car carport/shop. Priced to sell @ $49,000. (12) 169th Rd.: 5 ac. in grass with a 3/2 CH/AC DWMH cont. approx. 1,850 sq. ft. under roof in excellent cond. 2 car detached garage. Good area. REDUCED TO $99,000. (13) 193rd Rd.: 6.59 acres wooded on paved road. Good area. Good buy @ $37,500. (14) Hamilton County: 40 acre wooded on county road. Good hunting area that adjoins SRWMD. REDUCED TO $129,500. (15) New 3 bedroom, 2 bath CH/AC home. City sewer & water, privacy fence. REDUCED TO $90,000. (16) Off CR 249: 3 wooded lots, will work for mobile homes, on county road. Good buy @ $12,600 for all three. (17) Near City on paved road: 6 acres in grass with scattered trees, 36'x36' horse barn with tack/feed room & loft (2009), 2" well, fenced & divided into paddocks with horse type fence. REDUCED TO $84,900. (18) Off CR 250: 1.45 acres with a 3/2 CH/AC brick home with fireplace, kitchen furnished, cont. 2700+ sq. ft. of living area, 2 car detached garage, 12'x16' metal storage building. Priced to sell @ $139,500. (19) Suwannee River Charles Springs area: 1.88 ac. wooded with 137 ft. on the water elevation survey. Will support regular inground septic tank. Good buy @ $39,900. (20) 104th St.: 7 3/4 acres with a 3/2 CH/AC 2006 Fleetwood DWMH, kitchen furnished, fireplace 4" well, 2 septic. Priced to sell @ $99,900. (21) CR 136 West: 5 acres in grass with a 3/2 CH/AC DWMH in excellent condition cont. approx. 2,100 sq. ft. of living area, kitchen furnished, 30'x42' carport and storage. Priced to sell @ $93,000. (22) Off US 90 West: Two 5 acre wooded tracts, good area. $29,900 per tract. R2a45R-F a brother and even later another brother. They loved to go back to Vir- ginia to see their Daddy who was content with where they were living. Grady remembered that the kids always did things together and could get up a game of softball and bas- ketball with no trouble. On Sunday they were taken into Live Oak to the church. He remembers that on Easter the boys dressed in black pants and white shirts. The girls were freezing in their Easter fin- ery because it was always cold. Every child had a spon- sor, either a church or a couple. They would send gifts and if they sent mon- ey, Pomeroy and Jerry took them shopping. Jerry and Pomeroy steered them to- ward wise purchases. Grady said, "Jerry always had a calming influence." He suspected she also was the number one elf who bought and wrapped their Christmas gifts. He re- members each child re- ceived a large box of gifts under the tree. One of Grady's jobs was to weed the watermelon patch where the Carter Vil- lage Hall is now located. No one questioned that a few melons never made it to the dining room. Anoth- er job was planting the pine trees in the Village. The residents in River Woods can thank Grady and Steve Bridges for all the mature pines on their property. In those days, if there was squabbling and dis- agreements among the boys, they settled things themselves. "There was al- ways a good camaraderie among the boys." Pomeroy was quick to think of ways to keep them all busy. Grady explained, "Pomeroy, always the thinker, seemed to know what to do." Cottages were built for the children to live in like a family. In Keeper's Cot- tage, Grady roomed with Steve Bridges. The twelve boys were expected to keep their beds made and the rooms neat, to sweep the halls and to help with meals. Grady laughs as he re- membered getting up early before the children lined up for the school bus and $i COUPON LIVE OAK- COUPON LIVE OAK with Mervin Libby running through the woods to hitch a ride to Clayland Elemen- tary School. One day when they didn't get a ride and didn't beat the bus, they found the principal waiting to give them six licks. Grady adds wryly, "Game was over." School was hard for Grady and math was im- possible, but he was an outdoor boy and enjoyed the farm work. John Mox- ley was the farm manager. After Law School, John came back to help the Vil- lagers with their legal is- sues. At 18, Grady went to the Florida Barber School in Jacksonville. Thus, began a career of cutting hair that has lasted forty-three years. Eventually he got his own shop in Gainesville called "Grady's Hair Quarters." By now Grady had reached six feet four with black hair and was slim as a teen-ager. Pomeroy was still a part of his life and encouraged Grady to come back to the Village. Grady came explaining, "This felt like home to me." While the Village Shop was being completed, Grady worked at the Live Oak Barber Shop. He opened the Village Hair Cropper and hung his bar- ber pole out front. This was a part-time job, so he held down other jobs, like being a house parent in Colton Cottage and work- ing on the grounds cutting grass. He worked along- side Craig Carter who also went away for college, but then was drawn back. Grady remembered there was a lot of fun with Craig and Pomeroy loving a practical joke. Years later, in 2010 at Pomeroy's urg- ing, Grady returned to Ad- vent Christian Village for the third time. This time, though his hair had turned to silver, Grady was still tall and slim. He hung his barber pole at the Village Hair Cropper again and went back to barbering. When Grady was a teenager, Pomeroy's father, M. A. Carter, had a great influence on him. He wrote about one day fish- ing with Mr. M. A., who asked him, "Did you know that there's a treasure here in the river? There's a trea- sure here, all right, and if you want to find it, you'll have to keep coming back." Imagining pirate's gold, or something from the Indians, Grady came often to look in the river for the treasure. Years later Grady wrote that he realized that Mr. Carter's treasure was, Nriii.ii less than the star- tling beauty of the Suwan- nee, which fairly shouts the glory of God's handi- work. And I realized, too, that the Village's unique treasure could never be measured by its buildings or by its silver or gold. It's measured, instead, by its insight: that each of us is a treasure, the work of God's hand, valued for who we are and for who we may yet become." Maybe, just maybe, Grady answered the ques- tion of why people are ir- resistibly drawn to the Vil- lage again and again. They find here the treasure -- themselves. W Suwannee graphics PRINTING * COPY SERVICE Color Copies * Blueprints 621 Ohio Ave. North * Live Oak, FL 32064 (386) 362-1848 * Fax (386) 364-4661 * 1-800-457-6082 Timne to Upgrade. If youe sarchng far that perfect set of wheels, look no further than www.nflaonline.com PAGE 2, OCTOBER 27 & 28, 2010 1 11,713-1 Coast to Coast. Around the Cotner I