Mrs. Jeanne M. Parrish

What a wonderful Saturday that Pat and I had this weekend. Our day started off with going out to breakfast in Palmetto, we ate at Norma Raes (I recommend you try it) on 10th Ave. I think we were smart to eat there on Saturday and beat the Sunday “Mothers Day” crowd…..ha
After we ate we went to the Palmetto Historical Library to hear a famous speaker. It was the general meeting of the Palmetto Historical Commission. It must be a very secretive and important club. They meet in the basement of the library, how many clubs do you know that meet in a basement in Florida?

The guest speaker was my most beloved teacher from Manatee High School Mrs. Jeanne McMullen Parrish. I would like to share a little of what she spoke to us about. Also I would like to share some of the photos that I took.
Mrs. Parrish started off with her normal sense of humor story. She apologized for her first move at the club. She told us that she went to the snack table and got a sandwich and a cup of coffee punch. As she turned to come back to her table she explained that her sandwich slipped off her plate. She further stated that as she bent down to retrieve her sandwich she tilted her cup and it poured out. You know Mrs. Parrish, the way she told the story you were in tears while you were laughing.

She was introduced by Alta Dowd Griffen a 1947 Manatee grad. Mrs. Parrish started with her personal memories of Braidentown which she arrived here in a Model T ford in 1925 from Donaldsonville Georgia (her birth place). She shared with the group that she had lived in Palmetto for a very short period of time. This was the delight to most in the room especially Richard Pack (attended Manatee in 1958) who is married to the lovely Carol Muir.


Mrs. Parrish visiting with Rev Sterling Forrester and his wife Mary Jean (Cox) Forrester. Both are from the class of 1951.

She told us about how beautiful downtown Bradenton was with all its stores. She named them all and told us about three movie theaters, Palace, State and one other where she watched silent black and white movies. She told us that her dad had a drug store in downtown Bradenton and lost everything in the depression. I thought I was listening to my life as my father also had a drug store (in Brooklyn) he also lost it all during the depression. She shared with us that at one time she lived out near Samoset near a store; the name of the grocery store was DeSears. She explained how they would put appliances outside the store and as the sold them they bought more. Soon they moved to 9th street and became DeSears Appliance Store.

She told us that hamburger meat was $.18 per pound and bananas and bacon were $.20 per pound. She told us how she misses the full service gas stations. She talked about the Hotel Dixie Grande and the Manatee River Hotel. She told us a lot of people used to buy gas at the gas station across from the Manatee River Hotel, the station was owned by the baseball player Dizzy Dean. She said that they used to go shopping in St. Pete; they took the D-Line ferry boat out of Piney Point.

She explained that the beginning of Manatee H.S. was in 1926, it was built as the Biltmore H.S. The Biltmore had 24 class rooms; it cost $280,000.00 to build and had 501 students. During WWll she taught at Braden Jr. H.S. During the years of existence Manatee did not have a football field or stadium. She explained how they played behind MCKechnie Field. They would rope off an area and play a game there.

Bradenton had a USO at 6th Ave & 12th street where girls would go and dance with the soldiers. Yep, you guessed it; our Jeanne danced and danced her heart away. She said the men were so nice and everyone had a great time. They girls who danced there were known as Military Maids. It was a volunteer’s situation where if you danced many hours you became a Capt. She still has her Capt bars till this day. Later on the USO was moved to the Memorial Pier; she said the dancing did not slow down a bit. She told us how strict the government was with what was said in any letter you received. She shared with us that the mail was called V-Mail that you received from a soldier. You will notice in some of the pictures one that she received. She donated it to the Historical Club today. They are a great group of people in that club, Pat and visited with Doris (Cox) Decker Class of 55 and other folks.

She told us that she was born in Donaldsonville Georgia in 1918 and moved to Palmetto in 1925. She attended the 1st grade in Palmetto and that her mother was also a teacher. She told us that the first year she taught at Manatee her salary was $790.00.

She was asked about her fondest memories at Manatee H.S. She said that there are two things that stand out in her mind. The first is a program call “Domestic Exchange Students”. They would take 30 students and visit other states. She said that they traveled as far as Colorado. The students were treated to a tour of the towns they visited by students who lived there. They traveled by train to the location that they went to each year. The second memory is how her students have never forgotten her until this day. She goes to as many class reunions as possible; she says she is treated like a Queen. And why not she is a Queen!

She finished her sharing with her rendition of “How my Car ran me over”. As usual the audience was in stitches and could not stop laughing.

All I have to say is I would not have missed this day for anything. “God Bless her”, she has touched so many lives. We will never know how she made a difference in this world. To Mrs. Parrish I say, “We all Love you and thanks for making a difference”!

Have a Blessed day and be a Blessing to some one today.
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)