Better Times A Comin'

Better Times A-Comin', by Hazel Wells Tison, contains articles printed in the weekly hometown news paper over a time span of 15 plus years from 2004 until 2021. It covers growing up on a 2 mule farm in the rural south during "Hard Times" better known as Hoover Days or The Great Depression.
This large family, like so many of that day, not only survived, but overcame through hard work, perseverance, Faith in God and each other.
Farm tasks such as hog killing, syrup making, pea picking and shelling kept them not only busy but well fed with no time for trouble making. However, daily life was not the grim drudgery one might think. Swimming and fishing in the creek or river brought relief from toil. Singings and dinners on the grounds, neighbors dropping in for one of mama's country dinners, shivarees, watermelon cuttings, cane grindings, and walking parties provided social outlet for these rural people. Out of town visitors or friends, family and Primitive Baptist Church folks brought contact with the outside world and of course the battery radio with WSM kept us current on the Grand Ole Opry. In fact, the book title is from a popular Blue Grass tune played often by the Tison Boys and Uncle Max Wells.
The Author of Better Times A-Comin' is a retired middle school teacher who graduated from the University of West Florida, Chipola Jr. College, and began her teaching career at Holmes County High School at the age of 41 in 1972, two years after the graduation from there in 1970 of eldest son, Hiram. Her first teaching assignment was all the 9th grade English Students. Her daughter Cindy was a member of that class and the following year she had the privilege of teaching her son Glen.
From 2004 until 2021 she has written a weekly column for the Holmes County Times-Advertiser under the title Happy Corner. The title was chosen from the nickname she was given as a high and middle school teacher, Happy Hazel. While voluntarily working on the Heritage History of Holmes County in 2003 and 2004 and writing publicity articles to encourage families to write their stories, Tison was asked to do a weekly column for the paper. Better Times is a compilation of some of those columns. It contains personal essays and articles, many about growing up on the Wells Family Farm in the 1930s and 1940s on Bonifay, Florida Route One in Washington County.
Born in 1931 at the height of the Great Depression, she and her eight siblings learned early the value of hard work on a farm. Her industrious parents concentrated on growing mostly produce for the local markets, so there was no scarcity of jobs for the Wells children.
In 1949 Hazel Wells married Jack Tison, a WWII Veteran and graduate of the University of Florida College of Agriculture. He taught vocational agriculture in Holmes County for 34 years at Bethlehem and Holmes County High Schools. They have three adult children, all of whom are graduates of the University of Florida, with son Hiram and daughter Cindy following in their father's footsteps and teaching vocational agriculture.
When husband Jack retired from teaching in 1983, the Tisons started a 5-acre blueberry farm on their north Bonifay Meeker/Tison family home. In 1993, Hazel retired from teaching and continued involvement in the blueberry operation as "marketing specialist" for Tison Blueberries, now operated by son Glen. In 2008, the Tisons were chosen to represent Holmes County at the North Florida Fair in Tallahassee as the Holmes County Farm Family of the Year.
The Tisons have always been active in Agriculture production, education, and FFA. They have been involved in the community and active in the First Baptist Church where she taught preschool Sunday School for 25 years and sang in the church choir for many years. She continues involvement by serving on the bereavement committee.