Ronnie Mabe
By Beverly Belcher Woody
Ronnie Mabe recently shared some interesting stories about his service in the military and being one of the few telephone men in Patrick County. Mr. Mabe grew up in Patrick Springs and attended Patrick Springs Elementary School and Hardin Reynolds High School. In fact, his class was celebrating their 61st reunion this past weekend.
Shortly after high school, Mr. Mabe joined the United States Army and served with the Third Division, 36th Infantry, during the Berlin Conflict. In the fall of 1961, with the threat of nuclear war rising, Mr. Mabe’s division was put on Red Alert. Twenty miles of Russian tanks, three rows deep were on the eastern side of the Rhine River pointed at the soldiers on the West German side. Mr. Mabe said they were ordered to dig foxholes and hold their position. He had an extra perilous duty, serving as a radio man, answering calls and reporting to headquarters.
Thankfully, Mr. Mabe made it home from the service and got a job working for a utility and mechanical contractor in Martinsville. He was sent to Lee Telephone Company to bust up the concrete (in front of the building) with a jackhammer. He had to make a hole 40 inches by 40 inches that was deeper than he was tall. Mr. Mabe recalled that it was 101 degrees that day and when he crawled out of that hole, he was completely covered in dust.
Mr. Mabe started through the door of the phone company and his boss asked, “Where are you going?” He replied that he was going into the office and apply for a job. He asked for the man in charge and was directed to Jesse Helms. When sticky, dusty Mr. Mabe walked into the manager’s office, Helms asked him if there was a problem outside. Mr. Mabe told him no, that he had come to apply for a job. His gumption must have impressed Mr. Helms because it wasn’t long until he was hired by the phone company.
Mr. Mabe didn’t get his driver’s license until after he came home from the service. He had an Army license that qualified him to operate personnel carriers, but these vehicles were steered by pulling levers, like a bulldozer. When he took his driver’s test in Stuart, the examiner told him he sure was yanking on that steering wheel awful hard! The first car that he purchased was a 1955 Chevy, black with 4 doors. Mr. Mabe said that “every time I filled up the gas tank, I had to put a quart of oil in it too.”
Mr. Mabe was approaching thirty years of age and was still a bachelor. One day, he and a coworker were working on the telephone lines near the Bull Mountain fire tower. His coworker was ribbing him because he hadn’t got married yet. Mr. Mabe told him when he found a bride, he would get married in the fire tower.
The day came when Mr. Mabe met the special girl that he would make his wife; plans were made for a fire tower wedding. The time was set for 7 p.m., and the nervous groom and Reverend Luther Hopkins waited at the tower. 7:15 came, then 7:30, then 7:45 p.m. Mr. Mabe told Reverend Hopkins that he was leaving at 8 p.m. At three minutes until 8, the panicky bride and her parents came driving up. Mr. Mabe’s in laws had two flat tires on the way to the wedding!
The wedding was back on and the groom, his bride, and Reverend Hopkins made their way to the top of the fire tower. It had gotten dark by this time and Mr. Mabe held his sweetheart’s hand while they counted five steps, turned, went five more steps, and turned until they reached the top. Reverend Hopkins could not read the wedding vows, it was so dark, so he had to ad lib! He told the couple, “I think I got it all in.”
Mr. Mabe was a telephone man during the time of the party line, so that was an interesting experience in itself. He related a story to me that reminded me of Maude and Cora tying up the phone lines, talking about their high button shoes being too tight on the Andy Griffith show. Mr. Mabe said that one of the customers told him he didn’t want his phone anymore because it was worthless. The man would pick up the phone and the other party would be saying, “Well, I haven’t fixed my husband’s breakfast. Let me lay the phone down for a minute so I can fix him something to eat, and I will be right back.” Apparently, these ladies talked all day long and never hung up the phone.
Mr. Mabe also had some dissatisfied customers when upgrades were made so that one could no longer hear their neighbor’s special ring, just their own ring. He actually had customers ask him how they would know when their neighbor got a phone call!
Mr. Mabe told me that there were 891 telephone poles between Stuart and Martinsville and that during the heavy ice storms, it would take two weeks to restore long distance service between the two towns. When I remarked that the telephone pedestal boxes look like a maze of confusion, he shared that each phone customer has one pair of wires that are identified by a number between 1 and 2,200 and that all these wires must be kept straight!
Thank you, Mr. Mabe, for your courage, bravery, and service to our country and for taking the time to share some of your favorite memories. Thank you to Larry Wood for the photos of Mr. Mabe and his family.
(Woody can be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com.)
