Billy the Bear Was a Great Childhood Friend by Kendall Goode

Unable to have conventional pets due to living next to a busy highway, a five-year old from north Mississippi takes up with a chained black bear in 1962 – an era which was much different from current prevailing opinions regarding animal captivity issues.

 

By Kenny Goode
  Most five year olds have either dogs or cats for pets.  Of course, I would have to be different.  My pet was a black bear named ‘Billy’.  As a child, I lived in the village of Hickory Flat, in north Mississippi. It was as idyllic as Mayberry in those happy and carefree days.  We lived on ‘Goode Hill’ where several families of Goode kinfolks all resided in close proximity.

  My grandfather, John Goode, owned an auto repair shop, known as Goode’s Garage, where the flower shop is now.Across the street, Florene Elliott and her husband, Luther, owned a restaurant and service station, which was where the barbecue restaurant is now. Florene and papaw were distant cousins. Billy belonged to the Elliotts.

  My parents would no longer let me have any pets because they always got run over in  busy, two-laned highway 78, which ran between Memphis and Atlanta.  But, that didn’t matter. I had my wonderful friend, ‘Billy’.   He was also a tourist attraction for those who continually came through on the way to some other destination. Luther and Florene had brought Billy to Hickory Flat from Georgia, North Carolina or somewhere in the Smokies. He created quite a stir to motorists who stopped by.  I liked him too!  Every day, after lunch, I would go and see Billy. Sometimes, I would slip off – a BIG no-no since you had to cross the busy highway.

  Billy loved soft drinks and my grandfather had a coke machine at his business. They were only about a nickel in 1962.  He preferred Pepsi, which he is shown drinking one photo made at that time, but he would drink Coca-Cola too. He was also partial to Orange Crush soda!   When he emptied the bottle, usually in one great big chug-a-lug, he would toss it to the four winds, Russian-style! No recycling for Billy! Florene was constantly sweeping up broken glass in the parking lot, due to Billy’s antics.

 

Now, as I said previously, Billy liked Pepsi and Orange Crush, but would drink practically ANYTHING.

 

  This was a different era regarding animal abuse.  And some nefarious characters always thought it was funny to give Billy moonshine and watch him get drunk

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