By John Cofield

I’ve written about the Holiday Inn before because it holds a handful of distinct memories that bring smiles to most all. 

We splashed away several summers in the pool there. We savored every bite of hot fudge pie in the restaurant with special thoughts about family meals after church. 

Church aside, Clyde the bartender was a legend in his own time. 

My special memory is of the Rebs winning on Saturday and my jumping out of bed early Sunday when Dad woke me to go with him to get the newspapers. 

He’d have a handful of quarters and when I jumped back in the car he would pop open the sports section to find Archie there running in Rebel blue with the ball in his hand before he threw the winning TD. It is among my sweetest childhood memories.

The Holiday Inn, where the Graduate Oxford hotel stands today, was one of the many steps the town took that left us kids thinking that we were looking mighty uptown now.