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Jot'em Down Store
Jot'em Down Store. The little store on the right sit across the street from the Jot'em Down store before it was moved and added to the museum.Saturday May 26, 2012
As a kid back in the 70’s, I would listen to the radio as I fell asleep at night. I had found a radio station that would play the old radio shows on Sunday nights. One of my favorites was the Lum and Abner show. The show took place in Pine Ridge Arkansas. The characters were storekeepers at the Jot’em Down Store. Visiting the Jot’em Down Store in Pine Ridge has been on my list of things to do for a long time. Every time I was in the area there was always a reason why I couldn’t do it. It has been a while since I have been able to take a trip. Driving relaxes me and I needed a trip, so Friday night I decided to take a daytrip the next day to Pine Ridge.
I left Saturday morning at 6 and arrived in Pine Ridge at 10:30. Pine Ridge is about 20 miles east of Mena Arkansas. The store was like I was expecting. Inside they had items from the 30’s and 40’s when the show was being produced. The restroom was an outhouse in back. I skipped this part of the
Store
Another old store and fire engine near the Jot'em Down store. adventure. As a kid, I can remember having to use grandma and grandpa’s outhouse when we visited them and I hated it!!! The store was built in 1909. Some of the characters in the Lum and Abner show were based on people that lived in the area back in the 30’s. The lady running the store said her husband’s family bought the store in 1969. They changed it into the Lum and Abner museum.
After I left Pine Ridge I headed back to Mena. As I passed through Mena earlier that morning, I had seen an old police car sitting at a train depot. I went back to see what was there. The train depot had been turned into a museum and art gallery about the history of Mena. Until 1969 Mena used a telephone switch board for their phone service. It was the old ones where you picked up the phone told the operator who you wished to speak with and she connected you to them just like on the Andy Griffith show. The switchboard was one of the items in the museum. The art gallery had pictures of residents who lived in the area back in the
30’s with explanations of who they were and a little of their history. The actors who played Lum and Abner on the show were from Mena. Every year they have a Lum and Abner festival. It is next weekend this year. Since I can’t go next weekend guess I will now have to add this to my list of things to do sometime.
I left Mena and headed back to Texas by way of the Talimena scenic drive. It is a 54 mile drive from Mena to Talimena Oklahoma. The road goes over Rich Mountain which is the highest point between the Appalachians and the Rockies. There are a lot of vista points along the drive to stop and enjoy the views. At the top of Rich Mountain is a lodge and RV park along with a little train you can ride around the top of the mountain. I didn’t stop this time since Mama and I had stopped there last year. I did stop at several of the vista points just to enjoy the view.
I arrived home Saturday night about 6:30. I had driven 544 miles round-trip. It was a good daytrip. J My next big
Police Car
Police car at train depot in Mena. trip will be in August to Yellowstone.
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Mary Miller
non-member comment
hmmmm
Donna, I'm glad you are seeing things you want to see. So many of us put things off and then we never do it. Enjoy every day and every trip. Seems you're one of the people who isn't afraid of their own company. I admire your desire to carry on.