Retirement Relay
:
Question &
Answer Session with
Danny
Alldredge
By Kelly Wheeler
1 : Please provide your full name and your personal background ( Where you grew up , name of grandparents , parents , siblings etc ). Provide some special details that make your childhood stand out and maybe even led to your love for politics .
My name is Daniel “ Danny ” Wayne Alldredge . I was born September 15 , 1950 . My parents were Drennen Alldredge and “ Maxie ” LaRue Alldredge . My paternal grandparents were Steve Alldredge and “ Renie ” Lewis Alldredge . My Maternal grandparents were William “ Bill ” LaRue and Lomar Williams LaRue . I am the second child of 4 children born to my parents . I have one older brother Wallace , a younger brother Charlie and our sister Robbi . I was born at Dr Brown ’ s Clinic at Cleveland Alabama , and I grew up in Blount County in a small rural community of Royal . I attended a 3-room school there in the Royal community through the 6th grade . This 3-room school had a separate building for a lunchroom , and we had out-door restroom facilities . I remember around Thanksgiving , when the ladies would cook turkey and dressing for lunch , it seemed the whole hill-side would be filled with the aroma of Turkey and dressing .
In my early years , we lived on a tenant-farm . My dad and mother grew cotton and corn and at harvest , the landowner would get a portion of the harvest . That was called share-cropping . Later , my parents purchased a small 23-acre farm where we grew cotton , corn , some cows , and hogs . We plowed the fields with mules and horses . We chopped cotton on our small farm , then when we were finished with our farm chores , we would farm-out to pick cotton for other farmer in the community . Our school-year started sometime in the Summer , and we closed school in the fall for “ Cotton-picking ”. After the cotton crops were harvested , we would return to school later that Fall .
It was in this little community of Royal , at Liberty Hill Baptist Church where I accepted the gift of salvation , made possible by Jesus ’ death on the cross . I believe this is the one single event that has had the greatest affect on my life .
2 : When and where did you graduate from high school ? Where did you go to college and what made you choose this school and location ?
After finishing the 6th grade at Royal , I went to a “ big ” school at J . B . Pennington located in Blountsville , AL . Wow ! I came from a school with 12 kids in my grade ( we had 2 grades per teacher ) to a school where we had probably more than 70 in one grade . We were divided up into what they called “ sections ”. All the kids in one section took the same classes and rotated among the 7th grade teachers . While in high school , at that time high school was grades 7-12 , I had a five-minute speech to do in an English class . I had prepared my notes and was ready on the day of the required speech . About a minute into the speech , I passed-out , cold-as-a-cucumber . After graduating from J . B . Pennington , I attended Snead State Jr . College in Boaz . I went there primarily because it was close to home and less expensive than going to a university .
I went to Auburn University in the Fall of 1970 , with a major in Agribusiness Education . During my high school years , I had a teacher , Mr John J . Lewis , who was my Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor . Mr Lewis made a great impact on my life . The influence he had on my life would affect the entirety of my career and even today , I recall some of the things he taught me . He taught , not only the subject-matter , but he taught about life .
3 : Provide special details on your personal life .
My dad was a pastor , and in October of 1963 , my dad came to Cullman County , Holly Pond to Pleasant View Baptist Church as their pastor . I dreaded coming to a new church pastorate , because I was a shy , 13 year-old boy , and I would have to make new friends . It didn ’ t take long for me to realize , this church was different , at least to me it was different . After 8 years , my dad left the church for another pastorate , and by that time I was 20 years old . I went with him to the new pastorate , but after a year , I
28 | SPRING 2021 CULLMAN COUNTY SENIOR MAGAZINE