by Karen Day McCall

Elizabeth "Betty" Towery, 72 lives in a lovely home on Jonestown Road in Golden Valley. Several years ago she heard I was working with a writer's group and she needed help with some stories she wanted to publish. At that time, I was collecting stories and historical data about Golden Valley. I went out to meet her and found a phenomenal woman and delightful story teller.

When Betty was a young woman she loved to sit and listen to her husband, Talmadge's aunt Cleo tell stories about the valley. She always felt compelled to jot them down. At the time she was too busy to sit and write for hours. She kept her notes stuffed in a small drawer. Eventually the drawer was so full she had to hold her bits and pieces in the drawer and try to close it with her hand still in the drawer.

Where could she keep her notes, out of the way, but safe?

Her husband had brought a molasses barrel that his Uncle Clarence Towery had used to make molasses, to his shop to put "shop trash" in . It was clean, dry, rodent proof and safe from children's sticky fingers. Betty knew that would make the perfect home for her notes.

After jotting Cleo's stories on, whatever paper was available, a sheet of loose leaf, a piece of brown paper sack... she'd drop her notes in the barrel where, one day, she hoped she'd have time to pull them out and write them up properly. She was afraid if someone didn't keep the stories they would be forgotten.

Well, one day Miss Betty felt the time had come. Her children and grandchildren had gotten her a computer. She taught herself to type and learned to use the only program she cared about, the word processor. Now, she was ready to begin the work of putting the stories on paper, but she wanted to do it right, and she hoped I could help her.

I took one of her stories to my writer's group and we cleaned it up, polished it carefully, but an odd thing happened. When you correct everything, something precious is lost. Betty's voice. Betty's true voice is not the voice of a scholar. She's an honest mountain woman, taught herself to write, and to type. If you take the woman's voice from the tales you shortchange her and the reader.

In 2005 she published her first book of Golden Valley stories. "Short Tales from Golden Valley", Volume 1. After the first book sold out, she busied herself and put out Volumes 2 through 6. Betty had a little time to spare so she busied herself and wrote three books volume 1&2& 3 of Aunt Cleo's Stories, complementary books of Short Tales The color of the books are gold whereas Short Tales are dark Blue and all are approximately 53 pages per book. With the nine books behind her she decided to rest a spell. Asked, is she finished and she'll tell you, "We'll see. There are more stories and they seem too good not to share with others and there is a lot of our Valley's history in those stories. I've been doing some thinking. My time is like land. God isn't making any more. So, I best stay busy."

You can buy Betty's books in the local Golden Valley stores, Fireside Bookstore in Forest City or get them directly from the author. All books are leather bound $20.00 pick up price. You can call her at 828 245-4709, or email her at:btowery01@netzero.com .Write her a check for $24.50 and she will mail a book to you or to anyone in the United States. Betty Towery, 995 Jonestown Road, Bostic, NC 28018

She has reprinted the earliest volumes and they are currently available. Get yours while you can!

Betty collected Aunt Cleo's stories then began collecting stories other people told her, her first stories were collected in 1949, fifty seven year' ago. Most of her stories went directly in the old molasses barrel.

For more information, or to submit material for this site, contact Karen McCall

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