Doug Bernardi sent me a copy of his prized 1964 opening day program of Johnson City’s Little League Baseball. The publication celebrates the 14^thanniversary of the annual sporting event. Doug played on the First Peoples Bank squad between 1961 and 1965 and today manages the Optimist team.

Johnson City resident, Peggy Harvey Street, a member of the Harvey Family Singers, called the Press recently to remind readers that Paul Anderson, a former Elizabethton weightlifter, won a gold medal in the 1956 Olympic games held in Melbourne, Australia.

Paul was born on October 17, 1932 in Toccoa, Georgia. After winning a football scholarship to Furman University in 1950, he returned to his parents’ home in Elizabethton one year later with a strong desire to become a weightlifter.

Paul began developing innovative ways to lift weights and increase his strength. For example, he would squat all day every other day and on alternate days, work on the bench press. He placed objects in concrete to lift them and would sift through junkyards in search of heavy objects to use. 

In 1955, the muscleman broke two world records at the World Championships in Munich, Germany and became world champion in his weight class. Upon his return home, then vice-president, Richard Nixon, thanked him for being a goodwill ambassador for the United States.

Recent issues concerning Memorial (initially called Roosevelt) Stadium at 540 E. Main Street evoke cherished memories from many older residents who attended SHHS football games and other sporting events there.

A few months ago, I penned a column from material supplied to me by Peggy Harvey Street. She and her late husband, A.J., were once acquainted with 304-pound weightlifter, Paul Anderson, 1956 Olympic gold medal winner. Recently, two readers added their recollections of this famous strongman.