sissydear

Malcom Strong, Eddie Graves, Buck Brown

Jack Tinsley shooting, Hank DeGruy standing. In the background are Buck Houchens, Paul Davis, and Larry Denton seated. They are playing Rolley Hole.

Joe Schlemmer working on a marble sale. I bought a pretty one from Joe. Don't have a pic of it. I'll have to look for the marble.

This is the Rolley Hole tournament. Buck Houchens is standing, Paul Davis shooting, and I think that's Billy Emberton standing on the right.

This is Buck Brown at Malcom's marble yard. Buck lives in Glasgow, Kentucky and he has a marble yard at his place too. These guys have a regular schedule each week. They play at a certain place on certain days.

This pic is in the building at Standing Stone where the game Tennessee Square is played. That's Cathy Runyan walking, Malcom Strong seated, Buck Brown standing. I can't see the person shooting well enough to ID.It may be Russell Collins.

My contemporary marbles are special to me because I know the artist who made them. Some of that artist is in each marble made. I feel the same way about these stone marbles. Most of them are made of flint, which is very hard. They are meaningful to me because I understand how they were made, who made them, and they are a part of the folk art of the Kentucky/Tennessee region.

Malcom asked me if i would like to see how they made round marbles before electricity. I wanted to know. He walked me down to the stream running below his house. In that stream, malcom had a pump that worked on "water power". It was attached to some hoses that ran up to his house. The pump supplied water power from the stream. This rock is a grinding stone. The marble is place in a depression reminiscent of a wooden or graphite block used to make glass marbles round. He turned the water on at the faucet and a stream came out and began spinning the flint rock in that depression. Malcom says they don't use that anymore because it takes too long.

You can see the flint rock being ground by the grinding wheel. Here is another photo of the same machine.

They're special because these guys make their own. They've been playing with these marbles for years. They don't like glass marbles. They make jokes about what they can do to a glass marble with one of theirs. They are sserious players. I watched 75 years old drop down on hands and knees, take their shots, and jump up as nimble as an 8 year old. Buck Brown told me they can do that because they never stopped playing. There is pride in the marbles because they make their own. I'm told that they give their marbles away to other players. These are folks that when kids could not afford the glass marbles. They're inventive, making marble machines out of old car parts. Malcom showed me how they did it without electricity. Here's a photo. This is the marble making machine that Malcom Strong made. It runs on electricity.

Come on over! I'm flying to Nashville and then being picked up. I'm going to have a very nice tour from the player side of it. I'm certain with what I learned last year and what I can learn this year that I can write a much better Newsletter article. The folks that play are fine people, very welcoming to strangers. they were very good to me, telling me things I needed to know about the games and the players. It was a great experience and i think this year will be even better.

I also bought this Paul Davis marble made of Red Rainbow Agatized Wood from Carefree, Arizona. The marble measures .7510 inches. If you go to the site, other handmade stone marbles are available. The money spent is a contribution to aid the kids.

I bought some flint marbles made by Timmy Walden at the website http://usmarbles.org/ The smallest marble measures .7780 and the larger one measures .7805 The money benefits the young people going to national championship.

Sorry, I got some names wrong. I relied on people I was sitting by to tell me the names. Edna

If you've never seen a marble tournament, this is the place to go. They have marble games for kids and marble games for adults. These folks are serious players. Some in their 70's have played their whole lives. I can hardly wait to watch it again. Edna I was at Standing Stone in my own car and I drove myself to all the events I wanted to attend. That included Malcom Strongs home and the events at Standing Stone. I did not go to meet Paul Davis, Darren Shell, or see the Marble Dome but I may do that with the Kimmells this year.

I bought this book and I met Rondell Biggerstaff who is on the cover at Standing Stone Park. I did not meet the author. I think you can buy this book at the U.S. Marble Champions website and the money benefits the kids by helping to pay for their trip to the National Marble Championship. Web site is: http://usmarbles.org/ Darren Shell donated books to them for a fundraiser for the kids. Click on Marble Books to find it. Cost is $10.00 plus shipping.

Hank DeGruy playing Tennessee Square at the Rolley Hole tournament.

Hank and Dale DeGruy and Wink Tinsley playing in the Rolley Hole Tournament

Larry Denton and Russell Collins playing in the Rolley Hole tournament.

Malcom Strong and his brother Junior B. Strong.

This is Paul Davis shooting. They are playing in Malcom Strong's marble yard. It's in a barn and it's heated so they can play in the winter.

The large flint marble was made by Malcom Strong, the smaller one was made by Paul Moore and it is the kind they shoot with. It's about .81 inches. They play Tennessee Square with these marbles. They were given to me by the makers. The marbles were given to me at a game of Tennessee Square. I know they are both used for that game. I eyeballed the marble and said about 3/4 inches. Sorry, I measured now and I was off .06 of an inch. Thank you Mr. Sturtz for pointing out my error. I will give marble measurements precisely now. The larger marble is 1.2120 inches.

Thanks for posting this. I attended the Rolley Hole tournament last year. I recognized some of the people in the pics. Shawn Hughes, the park ranger; Hank DeGruy, a player; Paul Davis, a player and marble maker; and a few others. It was amazing to watch these guys play. I was there early and got to watch a game of Tennessee Square at the marble yard of Malcom Strong. Malcom has his own marble yard and the guys play marbles indoors in the winter. Malcom also makes his own flint marbles. I have some pictures I'lll share in this post. I have a couple of Timmy Walden marbles, a Malcom Strong marble, a Paul Moore marble (we lost him this year), and a Paul Davis marble. I hope to add some more to my marble collection. I am going back for Rolley Hole this year. The tournament is September 16 and 17th. I wrote about the experience in the Texas Marble Club Newsletter. I will be the guest of Jeff and Molly Reecer Kimmell, both US marble champions. The pic is Paul Davis' box of hand made flint marbles.

Hope you get lots of marbles for your birthday. Edna