Polly Easterwood may have been reluctant about moving to Holly Pond several decades ago, but now there is no place she would rather call home. In 1988, Easterwood retired from teaching music at Holly Pond after 35 years. Retirement did not mean a time to slow down. It was simply the beginning of the next chapter.
By the time she retired, Polly and her husband, Felton Easterwood, had raised three wonderful boys: Tim, Tam and Tom. Sadly, Polly and Felton lost their middle son, Tam, in 1995. Tam was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died exactly one month later.
Polly said of her late son in a speech she delivered when he was posthumously inducted into the Spirit of Atlanta Hall of Fame, “From as long as I can remember, Tam always wanted to play in the band. But our high school didn’t have one. Then, when he was in the sixth grade, he was so excited that his dad, the principal, implemented the starting of a band. Tam wanted to play the trumpet because it was shiny and loud. Our house had trees all around so into the woods Tam would go to practice. By the time he got into high school, he was loud.”
Tam accomplished many great things in his life, including teaching himself piano, becoming a member of the Marching Southerners at Jacksonville State University, serving as assistant band director at LSU and being a member of the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps. He took a 35-member band program at East Coweta High School, outside of Atlanta, and grew it to 325 members. His band traveled to London and Macy’s in New York City to perform.
Tam had applied and was chosen as one of the directors of the Olympic Band for the 1996 Olympic Games. Polly said it had been a dream of his. Sadly, Tam passed away a short time before the Olympics began.
Hundreds of family members, friends and band members attended his funeral service in Holly Pond. One of Tam’s friends wrote a piece called “Tam’s Song” to honor his late friend and musician.
The Easterwoods present the Tam Easterwood Memorial Award each fall at Hanceville’s Mud Creek Marching Festival, to the best color guard performance. Tam was instrumental in helping to establish the long-running marching band competition.
Polly said of her husband Felton, “The only game he ever missed was when Tam died. The next week, the regional tournament started in Hanceville and they made an announcement that Felton Easterwood’s, superintendent of education, son had passed away and wanted everyone to stand and have a moment of silence. I thought that was so sweet.”
To this day, that game is the only one the Easterwoods have ever missed Holly Pond play in at Wallace State.
Polly continued, “I go to ballgames because I always have with Felton. The one thing I asked him not to be is referee. I just could not sit there in the stands and hear all this, what goes on to referees and sit there and not tell them what I thought about them.”
When asked if there are bad referees, she laughed and said, “Oh, YES, of course there is. Gosh yeah, we had two of the lousiest ones last week! I don’t know what county they were from; they weren’t from Cullman County.”
Polly is very talented in so many ways. In addition to crocheting and knitting, she does cross-stitch and ceramics.
“When I retired, I was going to start quilting. I bought all the goodies. I bought the scissors. I bought the material. The one I wanted to do was called the ‘attic window.’ I had it halfway done and right in the middle, I had turned the attic window the wrong way,” she said. “I promised the Lord then that if he ever let me finish that quilt, he would never catch me quilting again.”
Polly loves to knit, but said she “can’t talk and knit at the same time.” She chooses to crochet at ballgames because she can watch the game and talk without looking at the stitch. The walls of the Easterwood home are decorated with family photos and the many pieces of needlework Polly has created. Each of her cross-stitched pieces have the names of Tim, Tam and Tom hidden in them.
Family is the most important part of Polly’s life. She has four grandchildren, whom she is extremely proud of and describes as “good Christians.” She also has five great-grandchildren and another one on the way. She is currently finishing a baby blanket for the new baby. Most of the family lives within walking distance to Felton and Polly.
“We are just happy!” Polly smiled.
Polly still plays piano and organ for funerals, sings at church and plays in the pool and yard with her great-grandchildren.
“I have had a good life. There’s nothing wrong with me and I don’t take any medications. I go for a check-up every six months,” she said. “God’s been good.”
Polly finished by saying, “We have good times. We’ve had some bad times, but we have good times. Hey, I am just as happy. I don’t wish I had a lot of money. I don’t wish I was somewhere else. I am perfectly content, I really am. As long as I can keep Felton’s TV down.”
Read part 1 here: www.cullmantribune.com/2020/02/04/senior-spotlight-chatting-with-polly-easterwood-part-1.
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