This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Filmed and created by Robey Landreth and Hattie Johnson of Sulphur Rock Elementary, EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology, Inc.).
Katie Vinson (00:04): I play team sports because I enjoy being with my friends, the competitiveness of it all, and the challenge of every game.
Katie Vinson (00:11): It taught me hard work, responsibility, and good communication skills.
Katie Vinson (00:18): I've made some lots of time friends that I'll have always. We will go to Mazzio's and get a mini chocolate chip pizza before every home game.
Elaine Vinson (00:32): And I thought, "I've got to find something to give my girls some direction," so I told them the story of the geese, and how you've got a head goose up there. But when that goose gets tired, he can go back and someone else takes the lead and takes over. So we talked about that quite a bit, and sometimes they'd get tickled at me just talking about it. Well, we were going into the baseball field, or softball field, it was the fields at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Our bus was turning in, and Amanda Inman screamed, "Coach, look, it's a sign. Look at all the geese." And there were some geese swimming around in a ditch. And I started laughing, everybody started laughing. We walked onto that field in a good mood. We stayed in good mood for two days and won the State Championship.
Katie Vinson (01:26): My favorite memory from sports probably would have to be winning the State Softball Championship my senior year in high school. It was on the same day that I graduated that night from high school, so it was a big day, big life event, and it's something that I'll never forget.
Elaine Vinson (01:42): We were playing Greenwood, and the coach was so nice there, and everybody talked and we decided we would play at noon because we were actually supposed to play that night. And they decided we would play at noon, where my kids could get home for graduation.
Katie Vinson (01:56): So, we got to get off the bus off all sweaty and nasty, but at least we had a State Championship and then get ready for to go graduate.
Elaine Vinson (02:04): We had a welcoming committee driving into town. People were cheering. I worked at the middle school at the time. They had already announced it over there, so it was... We were very welcomed. Like I say, I was sure wasn't expecting Channel 8 to be there, like Katie said. We all get up, even me, we were all get off the bus, hot and sweaty, and the girls are talking, they're being interviewed. It was just, it was nice.
Asset: 8680
