Football was on the minds of everyone in Brewton and East Brewton as both home town teams were in the play-offs 20 years ago. In 1995 both T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal  were in Class 4A. As the classification is based on the number of students, that has not always been the case.

In the first game in the play-offs for the Miller Tigers was against Ashford Yellow Jackets. They won the game 35-13 and advanced to the second round, beating the Beauregard Hornets 38-27.

Neal faced Dale County in the first round and came out the winner 21-0. They also won the second round by defeating Lanett 28-14.

Now we all know how much our high school football games mean to most of us. It is so exciting to have both local teams go into the play-offs. I used to attend as many of them as I could, but can’t climb those steps anymore. It is not easy to get older.

In other news, charges were filed against a former Brewton police officer and another former police officer was expected to be charged with theft of 68 college football tickets.

I don’t know much about college football tickets, but how does one find and steal 68 of them?

A man was shot to death in the Springhill Community by his friend. The shooter was sentenced to 18 years.

A new law was signed by Governor Fob James called the “Pre Trial Diversion” which allowed the district attorney to skip criminal trials in certain cases.

East Brewton announced that with the help of money in a grant, they would be able to expand the number of new water system customers by 60.

At the same time, Brewton made the announcement that the city was losing money on their sewer system. There was a shortfall of funds of $50,000 which meant the cost to the customers was to be raised.

I love having my water, sewer and garbage systems taken care of by the city, but it seems as if the bill has gone up drastically. It used to run around $25 and now it is in the low $60 range.

The City of Riverview Town Council was having its own problems. At one meeting, three members walked out and resigned over fire protection changes. The next meeting of the town council was called off because of the walk-out. The three members later returned to the fold.

City fathers in Brewton received a grant for the Burnt Corn Creek Project. Plans were already being made and even completed for this massive project.

Today, 20 years later, things are slowly changing in the park that has been renamed the Ted Jennings Park. Many events are planned for the park and the Blueberry Festival now calls it home.

The Choo-Choo Market initially began there but has moved to the area beside Bank of Brewton. It now offers a place to display and sell local items.

Fourth graders were treated to a “Walk in the Woods” by the Longleaf Chapter of the American Foresters with lots of demonstrations and fun for the students to learn about the forests.

A wreck on Ala. Hwy. 31 South injured six people. One of the drivers was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

Ever since my granddaughter was killed in a vehicle accident in April, I cringe every time I hear about something like this. I guess you don’t think about it until it happens to you.