Velma Louise Keyt Frazier was born in Van Buren County in 1917.

Her parents were the Rev. Widney (W.G.) Frazier and Elizabeth Ladd Keyt. He was a Baptist minister, so they moved around throughout her young years. "He preached his last sermon at Whorton Springs Baptist Church. That’s where he retired from," Frazier told the Review. She had one sister, Alma Keyt White, and four brothers, Charles, Lloyd, W.C. and Jimmy. Jimmy is her only living sibling.

"We had no money growing up, "she shared. "Preachers never had any money. They didn’t pay preachers back then like they do now. We had plenty to eat, and clothes to wear, but there was no extra money around."

That presented a problem when it came time to go to college, but help came in the form of the New Deal.

"After I got out of high school I wanted to go to college, but we didn’t have any money to send me, said Frazier. "Roosevelt was president, and he saw the need for a program for children who wanted to go to college and didn’t have the money. He started a program called NYA (National Youth Administration) to help young people get to college, I signed up and went to MTSU. It was 1938.

She said her financial situation was still tight.

"We had a meal ticket for five dollars, and that had to do us a month," Frazier remembered. "We ate the cheapest stuff we could find. I’m proud of it, though. I had to work my way through. I worked at the library on campus, and I worked in the girl’s dormitory. I helped the dorm matron with whatever she needed. Whatever she asked me to do, I did it. Whether it was to go get her mail, get her something to eat, or let her know when the girls came in late. We weren’t supposed to stay out after 10 p.m."

After college she came back to DeKalb County to teach.

"I got a BS in Education and a Masters in education. I got into library work because I went to James Webb, who was an educator here, for advice. He told me that when Smithville Elementary got to 500 students, the government would require them to have a library, and he thought that would be a good job for me. So I concentrated on that. When I came back from school, the men had all gone to war (WWII), and they asked me if I would teach a little one-teacher school on Dry Creek called Junebug. I was the Principal and teacher."

After a short hitch working for another system, she came back to DeKalb, where she remained until retirement.

"The next year they integrated Junebug with Dowelltown, and I went there and taught 5th and 6th grade. Then I taught 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th at Pea Ridge for a year. That was in 1949 and 50. The next year they didn’t have a place for me in the school system, so I got a job in Cannon County, and I went to Gassaway. It was a four-teacher school in a big, nice building. It was a good school. The next year I got a chance to go to Smithville Elementary, so I came back to DeKalb County. Mr. W.W. Knowles was the principal. I was librarian, but we didn’t have a library, they just put me in a little room, and I started processing my books. I moved from there to the back of the cafeteria."

She set up the Smithville Elementary library, and stuck with it until she got a proper facility at the new Elementary school.

"We finally got a new library when they built an addition on to the school on Bryant Street. I saw all 850 students every week. I had a good program, I didn’t just check out books, I taught children how to use the library," Frazier shared. "I taught the Dewey Decimal System, and gave tests. They say it’s obsolete now, but then you had to know it if you wanted to find a book. We did activities with the students that would teach them something. I wanted the students to be able to walk into any library and find a book, and I think I did that."

She said one of her students stands out from the rest.

"I had a lot of good students who made teachers, doctors, lawyers, one of them is a newspaper man (Frazier was the authors elementary school librarian)," she said with a laugh.

"The highlight of that was getting to teach (local attorney) Sarah Cripps. She was blind, and I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ But I found out quickly that Sarah might not be able to see, but she had a brilliant mind. I was so fortunate to have the privilege of teaching her. I love Sarah to death, and I think she loves me."

Frazier retired in 1983 after 27 years.

"It has been privilege and a joy to serve the children of DeKalb County. Many life-long friendships were forged throughout my professional career. I still hear from my former principal and friend Ernest Ray, who called this week. He was my principal at Smithville Elementary. He was wonderful. He wanted his school to be good. He wanted the teachers to teach. He wanted his school to be tops, and it was," she said.

She attended school in Spencer, Harriman and McMinnville and Van Buren County before coming to DeKalb.

"We came down here in the early 1930s, when I was a freshman in high school," Frazier recalled. "I was senior class president here. All of my classmates have died but me. Sam Love was the last one, and he died several years ago. I’m the only one living."

She said basketball is still a big part of her life.

"In school I played basketball," she said. "I was little, 5’2", but I could play basketball. I was small, but I could get around. I loved to play basketball. I still watch most of the games. Most of my favorite teams have been beaten, but I am still cheering for North Carolina to win in the final four."

She was a college freshman at Burritt College in Spencer before attending MTSU.

Frazier met her husband Woodrow at a party for young people and they dated on and off through her college years before marrying on April 3, 1939. They were married 53 years at the time of his death in 1993, and had seven children: John Larry (Billie Ann Malone), Joe Ronald (Rita Fuson Frazier, Judy (Jimmy Kimbrell), Peggy (Carroll Ray Thomas), Deborah (Buddy Fuson), Kathy (Ricky Hendrix), Lisa (Gerald Cripps). They have 13 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

"Back when I was growing up there wasn’t much going on except school and church, so we’d have these little get-togethers at people’s houses," Frazier revealed. "I met him at one of those, and we dated about five years. He’s been gone over 30 years. He was an educator too. We always lived in the Dry Creek Community and farmed together and both taught school. We traveled out west, covering many states during our summers off. We would tour parks, caverns, and Indian reservations. We lived out of a camper."

She said her large, loving family still gathers after church every Sunday for a family meal together.

"Our church, Dry Creek Baptist Church, has been my home church since joining in 1939. I have enjoyed working in the church as Adult Women’s Teacher for over 20 years. I started a training union, served as Missions President for Salem Baptist Association, and helped churches start their own Women on Missions Groups.

"I’ve been serving the Lord almost 100 years. I’ve taught the women’s class for over 20 years, and I’m the oldest member up there. Brother Donald Owens is my pastor. He’s a wonderful man. He brings my supper to me every Wednesday night.

"I became a Christian when I was twelve years old. My daddy baptized me up in Crossville in the Little Obie River. I’ve been a Christian ever since. I’ve let that be a great influence in my life. I’ve tried to do right toward others. If somebody needs help I try to help them. When we were raising our children there were two things that we stressed, church and school. On Sunday morning they knew they had to get ready for Sunday school. On Monday morning they knew it was time to go to school. We stressed college. If you were going to be a responsible citizen, you needed an education," she said.

Frazier, the writer of the Review’s Dry Creek Flashes column, marks her 69th year of reporting the comings and goings in the Dry Creek Valley this year. She said she inherited the column from her mother-in-law.

"I started helping my mother-in-law, Lona Bell Frazier, sometime around 1948. I helped her out with the column for a while, but when she got sick a few years later, I started writing it. I just kept her name on it for a long time. I don’t even know when I started putting my name on it. The name was changed to Dry Creek Flashes a few years ago. It was just called Dry Creek Community before that. I don’t know who changed it, but it’s pretty good. I like it."

Frazier said her 66-year streak has only been broken briefly by illness.

"When I taught at Smithville Elementary I was out for a month to have emergency surgery once. I missed some columns then. I write pretty constantly. I think that’s about the only time I’ve missed."

Frazier said her tenure has been surprisingly free of controversy.

"I’ve had a few to call me up and tell me maybe they thought they told me somebody was there for dinner who wasn’t, but I don’t really get negative feedback much. If they do they don’t tell me about it."

She thinks her choice of subject matter helps keep her out of trouble.

"I know better than to write about politics. That stirs people up. I have had somebody call and say ‘Well, you didn’t write about the persimmons this year,’ but they like to read what folks do in the community. A lot of people tell me they read it. I’ll talk to people who read the column from Arizona, Las Vegas, Murfreesboro and McMinnville, to name a few places outside DeKalb County. I do like my Review, and I enjoy reading the entire paper. A lot of people tell me they get the Review to read to Dry Creek Flashes, and of course that makes me feel good."

Frazier has been involved in politics, charity work, and is a member of the Eastern Star.

"I’m a yearly contributor to the Relay for Life," she said. "I’ve helped Mason’s sell papers. I have been a member of the Eastern Star for over 50 years, and served as an officer each year, I still hold a position. I served many years on the executive committee of our local Democratic Party. I also am a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Honorary Teacher Society Beta Theta Chapter for over 50 years. "I helped set up first chapter at MTSU, and served as first president."

She managed to find time for hobbies as well.

"Over the years I have enjoyed embroidery and piecing quilts, canning my own fruit, jellies, and veggies, working in my flowers, and collecting antique glassware."

Frazier said her faith helped her through the rough spots.

"I’ve had some sad times, my husband’s death, losing one son and a daughter-in-law in a car accident, and one son to cancer, a grandson’s death, and one great-grandson. These deaths have been a time we lean on the Lord," she said.

She is proud of her Dry Creek home.

"Dry Creek is made up of valleys, hollers and hillsides. We have a beautiful stream of water flowing through it. It’s fertile, and beautiful. I thank God for it. Ray Stevens made a video here on the creek bank once, and the movie ‘I Walk the Line’ was filmed on Dry Creek.

She said she wouldn’t change a thing if she could.

"I’m proud that I did what I did. I’m proud of my family. My children are good all turned out well, and are a great help to me. Because of the additional help of Gail Thompson, Rosea Young, Matilda Earl, and Fay Adkins I am thankful to continue to live in my own home."

She said her best advice is to get something done.

"Work hard and be productive." She said. "I don’t like to be idle. I value being productive and training others. I’m Nearly 100. If I live until July I will be. I guess I’m getting old, but it’s alright to get old. If you don’t get old you die."

She still loves to can.

"I’ve given away enough jelly to fill this room," she claimed. The author learned that nobody leaves without taking something. It’s good jelly.