Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's holiday and that 2008 is a great year for all of us.

I will resume posting after the holiday. Until them, please know that I appreciate all of you and am very appreciative for the blessings I have received this year.

Sincerely,

Dale Cox
www.exploresouthernhistory.com
www.battleofmarianna.net
www.twoeggfla.com

Merry Christmas!!!

Just taking a second here to wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2007 has been an interesting year, with its share of challenges and blessings. Thank you all for being a part of it. I hope 2008 is all that you hope it to be.

Here are a couple of my favorite Christmas quotes for you. I hope you enjoy them:

The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

Luke, 2:33-35

Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset....

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Two Egg books still available by Christmas

If you would like to purchase copies of Two Egg, Florida: A Collection of Ghost Stories, Legends and Unusual Facts (or any of my other books) by Christmas, they are still available.

I checked this morning and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/ both have copies in stock and are promising delivery by December 24th.

If you are in Two Egg or Northwest Florida, a few copies are also still in stock at Chipola River Book and Tea at 4402 Lafayette Street in downtown Marianna (across the street from the Battle of Marianna monument).

Thank you again for all of the support on the writing projects this year! The profits from the books is donated to a number of worthy historic preservation organizations, so you have helped in more ways than one.

World War II Crash Site

I've mentioned before that, due apparently to the location of a radio beacon there, Two Egg was the site of numerous airplane crashes during World War II. Aircraft flying in or out of the Marianna Army Air Base (later Graham Air Force Base) would use the beacon tower at Two Egg to help with navigation.

The photograph at right shows the location where one of these crashes took place. James W. Hart, Jr., who later retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a brigadier general, remembers that a training flight crashed on this site during the final years of World War II.

Although Hart was a young boy then, he remembers being with his father in Greenwood when the crash took place. Seeing firetrucks and other rescue vehicles pass by, they joined with other local residents in following them to the crash scene. The military plane had crashed into this field and both of its occupants had been killed. Hart remembers that the rescue crews used a large crane to pick up the wreckage and place it on the back of a flatbed truck for removal from the scene. The site is just west of Two Egg.

There were numerous other crashes in the vicinity, most of which claimed lives. It is a little known fact that at least 941 military aircraft crashed in Florida alone during World War II. At least 1,941 lives were lost in these incidents, most of which took place as pilots were training for combat missions.

Last chance to order autographed copies before Christmas

Today and tomorrow are pretty much the last days I can guarantee you autographed copies of any of the books in time for Christmas. After that, the mail volume is so high that they may not arrive by the 25th of December.

If you would like an autographed copy, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox and you can order them there. Just include a note with your order requesting a special inscription and we will make sure you get it.

Pearl Harbor Day

Today is December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day.

Please join me in remembering the hundreds of thousands of American men and women who served in World War II. It was a war that our country did not seek, a war that was fought with enormous sacrifice and a war in which American servicemen and women brought peace and freedom millions.

The sacrifices of our fathers and mothers should never be forgotten.

Southern Heritage on Chipola TV (CCTV)

I had a great time last week visitng with Robert Daffin and Ashley Pollette, the co-hosts of the "Southern Heritage" show on Chipola TV (also called CCTV). They do a great show that so far as featured on a variety of Southern topics.

I was on to discuss my books, including Two Egg, Florida: A Collection of Ghost Stories, Legends and Unusual Facts.

CCTV is a cable channel that can be viewed in Marianna and is also available as a live video stream online at http://www.chipola.edu/radio/index.htm.

The Two Egg book, by the way, continues to do well. You can still obtain autographed copies for Christmas at Chipola River Book and Tea, 4402 Lafayette Street across from the Battle of Marianna monument in downtown Marianna (the same block as Watson's Drugs and the Gazebo restaurant). It is also available at www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com.

Thank you, Jackson County!

I want to thank everyone who came by the book signing at Chipola River Book and Tea in Marianna on Saturday. The event was a big success and the turnout was very heart warming. I enjoyed having the chance to talk with so many friends and the opportunity of meeting so many new ones.

I remain amazed at how much people seem to be enjoying the Two Egg, Florida book. You never know when you write something how it will be received or whether people will enjoy reading it. I'm glad that everyone is finding the stories to be so much fun. There wasn't a great deal of creativity involved in this one, the stories just tell themselves.

If you still would like an autographed copy for Christmas, Chipola River Book and Tea has a few left. They are located on Lafayette Street in downtown Marianna right across from the Battle of Marianna monument (on the same block as Watson's Drugs and the Gazebo restaurant).

A historic marker for Two Egg

I spoke with Pat Crisp of the Chipola Trust for Historic Preservation today about the possibility of erected a historic marker in Two Egg.

We are working on pricing for such a project and I hope to be able to update you soon!

This has been a pet project of mine for some time and I think it would be a nice addition to the little community. Two Egg may very well have the most unique name of any town in America and I think both locals and visitors as well would enjoy such an addition.