June 9 set for Hwy. 24 dedication

There will be a highway dedication ceremony June 9 at 2 p.m., for two people who are huge figures in the history of Franklin County.

The stretch of Highway 24 from the Mississippi state line to Belgreen will be commemorated as the Tammy Wynette Highway, the stretch of Highway 24 from Belgreen to Russellville will be known as the David Morrow Highway.

The Tammy Wynette Highway was first dedicated in 1989 by then-Gov. Guy Hunt, and new signs are being erected on the new four lane Highway 24.

Tammy Wynette was born, raised and schooled just across the state line in Mississippi in the Bounds Crossroads community and later attended Tremont High School in Tremont, Miss. She herself said that Red Bay was her hometown, which was the closest town she lived to, where she would shop, go to the movies and the doctor and visit relatives. Five benefit concerts have been performed by Wynette that benefited Red Bay School. At a young age, a divorced Wynette Byrd moved to Nashville, Tenn., with three young daughters to pursue her singing career. Paving the way for other female country singers, Wynette went on to become the First Lady of Country Music after being the first female artist in country music to sell one million records. She had four daughters, Gwen, Jackie, Tina and Georgette, the last with her then-husband George Jones. Wynette was the first to receive Female Vocalist of the Year from the Country Music Association. Other awards include two Grammys, The Living Legend award in 1991, Lifetime Citation of Merit for the American Music Awards and many others.

David Morrow was a native of Red Bay, and his first business venture was as the owner of Morrow Hardware and Furniture Company in Red Bay. He later became mayor and served three terms, longer than any mayor for Red Bay. He was the first and only president of The Bear Creek Watershed Association, which included people from all walks of life from the five country area of Franklin, Marion, Winston and Colbert in Alabama and Tishomingo in Mississippi. Their dream, along with then-Congressman Carl Elliott, was to harness Bear Creek. Morrow was a man raised to work and work hard and thought everyone should do the same. One of the major accomplishments of BCWA was the Bear Creek Water Control System. It was projected to cost $32 million and be built in five years, but it took more than 15 years to build at a cost of $85 million due in part to new laws that required environmental studies and competition for funding. Many trips to Washington, D.C., by Morrow and others were made to make a case for funding before the Appropriations committee. The system included four dams and 25,000 acres of shoreline with lakeshore industries, permanent sub-divisions, vacation-type housing and recreational facilities.

Today Franklin County is known for Big Bear, Little Bear, Cedar Creek and Upper Bear dams that provide and attract thousands of people for recreational use, as well as controlling flooding in those areas.

Morrow was married to Lucille Vinson, and they had three children, Marvalene Morrow Stanphill, Julia Ann Morrow Weber and Horace Morrow.

The dedication is special to Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, nephew to David Morrow, who recalls his efforts as a freshman legislator to see Highway 24 become a four-lane. After indicating he would vote no on a 7-cent gasoline tax to fund a highway development program that did not include Highway 24, Johnny Mack Morrow said he recalls remembering “that my Uncle David Morrow was best friends with Congressman Tom Bevill. This friendship began in 1967 when Mr. Bevill was elected to Congress.”

“The very next week,” Johnny Mack Morrow recounted, “Uncle David, my dad and I made a trip to Jasper to visit with Mr. Bevill. We met the congressman at his office, and then the four of us walked a short distance to the home of one of my most admired public servants, former Congressman Carl Elliott. My father and my Uncle David had known Carl since childhood. They had all three grown up in the Vina/Halltown communities in rural Franklin County.

“There on Carl Elliott ‘s front porch we discussed this project, and Congressman Bevill agreed that Highway 24 becoming a four-lane was now a top priority for him.

“That day was certainly one of the most productive and enjoyable days of my life.”

It was David Morrow’s dedication to seeing the Highway 24 project come to fruition that has been a factor in this stretch of the highway being named in David Morrow’s honor.

Friday’s dedications will take place on the lawn of Belgreen United Methodist Church at the intersection of Highway 187 and Highway 24 at 2 p.m. Members of both families will be in attendance, along with Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow and other invited dignitaries.