Lee Daniel

I can recall when neighbors were few and far between in the Backwoods section where Lee Daniel and his good family lived just a short distance from our home. A small creek separated us, and as a very young chap I can recall along with some other boys in our town about my age using this creek to swim in. Nature did not provide this creek to be very deep. Uncle Lee as I recall helped us kids to make dams from mud, rocks and cedar bows. He showed us how to hold the water in a fairly size pool in this manner. Folks, I want you to know you have never seen kids raise as much mud and fuss as we did. I can see him to this day sitting upon the bank of this creek with that big smile that he always had. He was enjoying our fun as much to say "I would like to be in there with you." Uncle Lee’s garden was just above this spot. He had warned us not to run through it. This we didn’t because all the kids respected his word. He wasn’t harsh but firm. If there was a kid that ever grew up in our neighborhood that didn’t respect him, I have yet to learn about it. I can’t forget the kind way he always advised us kids, even while he was Mayor of Hazard. He didn’t have any trouble with kids on such nights as Halloween. As the years roll on, many of you younger kids that are growing up today will hold a memory of some one always in your mind that was a friend to you in your younger days such as I do in my memories of Uncle Lee Daniel. 1957