By Kristin Finney
Greene Publishing, Inc.
When it comes to remembering information about Greenville, Johnny Carroll is the man for the job. Carroll has lived in Greenville all of his life. He grew up working on the family farm in Greenville, he raised his family in Greenville and to this day he stays as involved in the community as he can.
Johnny Carroll went to Greenville High School growing up. While most kids now-a-days spend their afternoons laying around, playing video games or watching TV, Carroll didn’t do that. Instead, he had to work on the family farm. “Back then we had to work a lot,” he said. After he stopped working on the farm, Carroll held jobs with a heavy equipment company, driving a school bus for Madison County for 16 years and he also worked at Pepsi Cola, Inc. He retired from Pepsi Cola. Carroll has been a deacon at Sirmans Baptist Church for 40 years. He has also been the song leader (Music Director) for 40 years.
Greenville has changed in many ways over the years. Some of the biggest changes Johnny Carroll has seen are, “We used to have a theatre in Greenville growing up. I went their a lot with friends. We also had a restaurant, Sidney’s Restaurant. I had a lot of friends when I was growing up. We would ride bikes all over Greenville. Back then we weren’t worried about getting hurt or anything bad happening. We also played baseball or softball on weeknights or Sunday afternoons. We even had a town league. We used to play ball at the old ball field in Greenville.” This might be hard to imagine now, since most of these things are no longer in Greenville, but back then there were several saw mills and even a barbershop in Greenville.
When he did have time for fun, Carroll liked to spend his time fishing. He also loved to spend time with his family, a trait he carries on today with his children, two grandchildren and a new great grand child. He also owns a small yard service business. With this business he is trying to help people in the community with different things that they need.
He loves to go to Cowboy football games and baseball games. “I really love people. I like to visit and help people. I attend the city council meetings, I am a part of the Country Christmas Committee and I try to be involved in any other projects here in Greenville. I just really love to help people. Recently, after Jacob Bembry had his incident, I felt like I needed to do something. So, I went and got his dad and family and took them to the hospital to be with him. I just love helping people,” explained Carroll.
“I have seen a lot of changes come through Greenville. There are new rules and regulations. There have also been a lot of businesses come in and go out. I have seen it grow and I have seen people get more involved,” he said.
Anyone interested in being interviewed for this article can call 973-4141 and make an appointment with Kristin Finney, or may drop by Greene Publishing, Inc. any day before noon. Those interviewed must have lived in Madison for a large portion of their life, and be able to recall a few things that have changed since that time.
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