By MAYLON T. RICE
Special to the Saline River Chronicle
Somewhere I saw one of those old metal parking meters in a photograph this past week.
I brought back memories of when Downtown Warren, a real progressive shopping mecca for Bradley County, if not most of Southeast Arkansas, had installed all around the downtown streets, metal parking meters.
You pulled into the marked space, and you fed the parking meter a diet of nickels, dimes or even a quarter for up to one hour of parking time, courtesy of the City of Warren.
These solo icons are now all gone. All that remains on some of the old sidewalks in the downtown area not already redone are some oddly shaped round holes, often with a small metal plate surrounding the missing parking meter.
And for most of my childhood, these meters and making sure the parking spots were being properly paid for by the “silver fees” of pocket change was the downtown policeman who proudly walked a beat, Officer Milton Parrot.
Office Parrot didn’t in particular, I discovered, like the parking meters, but he was a sworn lawman to uphold the city’s ordinance to patrol the meters.
The meters were the idea of locals and the business district folks to help move traffic along and allow for as many shoppers to park as close to the front doors of such institutions as Imogene’s, The Town Shop, Gannaway Drugs, Martin’s, Edrington’s, Morgan & Lindsay or other such locales.
Some stores, like the barber shops along Main back then, kept a handy cup of loose change on the ready, should a meter “expire” in front of their store – most everyone knew whose car was out front. And putting in a nickel where your neighbor didn’t get a ticket – was – well standard back in those days
Officer Parrot like walking the downtown beat as his beloved wife, Eunice worked at a local fabric store along Main Street.
Thomas “Milton” Parrott, was a mainstay in my childhood, frequently strolling the bustling business section of Warren, usually on a Saturday, but every once in a while, especially in the summer, on a weekday.
If my mom brought me to town, she parked and paid the meter, fearful to get one of those little yellow cardboard envelopes on the widow on her car – saying the meter had expired and she was no assessed with a 50 cent fine.
If not paid in a week, the fine, went to a full dollar bill after 5 days, and if not paid in the next 30 days, well the Municipal Court of the City of Warren, with his Honor Paul K. Roberts, a firm law-abiding judge.
Roberts was later a long-time District Court Judge, until well past the retirement age of 70, and was finally defeated by a younger candidate. Judge P. K. Roberts was, quite a character.
If you were found guilty in Robert’s Municipal Court, there was likely, a $5 fine and a firm tongue lashing about overstaying on the meters in downtown Warren.
Officer Parrot – “Milton,” as he was known, to most, “walked the downtown beat” along Main, the side streets and most of the business district. He did drive a patrol car, but most of his time I recall, was walking the streets of Warren.
This couple made friends with generations of Warren children, growing up into adult hood and now into senior citizen status.
Yes, we all have individuals that we can recall having an impact upon us as kids. Some very kind folks worked or ran businesses in the downtown in Warren, that has certainly changed since the 1960s and 1970s. That’s when kids could roam free downtown shopping at a bevy of stores, now long since changed or gone. From West Brothers, to Ben Franklins, Western Auto, Wilson’s Photography, Hurley Hardware and Hankins & Son, those names wash over me now like a rain shower on a spring morning.
Officer Parrott, to his credit, was what today would be called a “school resource officer.”
He knew most of us kids by name. He knew who our parents were.
And he cared about us as individuals. He showed each of us a side of law enforcement that has stayed with me as a respectable calling for public service.
There was always a “Hello” or “Good Morning,” from him, clad in his police officer uniform.
He wore the standard issue police outfit of a blue-black combination outfit. Shirt was light blue, pants a sharp black some with a blue stripe down the outer legs, a black wool cap for winter and a lighter mesh one (still black) for summer. He has the traditional Sam Browne gun belt with his small caliber handgun (which I never saw or heard of him drawing), a pair of handcuffs and a jangling set of keys.
The keys were for opening the paid parking meters and often rewinding the mechanisms.
Yes, Officer Parrot walked the downtown beat, assuring store owners and shoppers that the streets of Warren were indeed safe. He was handy to help delivery trucks needing to double park or to find the back alleyways for deliveries. He also would help with accidents when folks ran the stop signs or red lights.
And once outside Wayne’s Pool Hall, I saw him break up a brief fist fight by some Possum Valley boys and a kid from Hermitage.
One of those in the fight, I recall sure enough had a very bloody nose for sassing the other pugilist about his girlfriend.
The scarcity of downtown retail in Warren or anywhere today, is a problem. Too many times downtown businesses are just offices filled with computers and files not much retail or interaction with locals.
There are many, many other Warren adults, indeed a virtual legion of names all who worked in downtown Warren over the years.
The names of these individuals will, as the memory often jogs itself, to become a Pastime for another day, or even such a memory of an old relic like those metal parking meters.
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