In high school, Albie (nickname for Albert) was on the small side and skinny. One time during football practice, we stuffed him inside a locker. When we finally let him out, after letting him holler for a while, someone said, “Well, I’ll be.”
We teased Albie Parker a lot, but it wasn’t the mean kind of teasing. Everyone liked Albie, and he took it well. We sort of looked after Albie.
After graduation, Albie worked construction. Albie was always in so much trouble, that the town cops of Monroe required that Albie check in with them when he was leaving or returning to town. In this manner, if something happened around town, they would know if Albie had been involved.
Albie lived in an apartment off the town square in Monroe with two of his buddies. A pivotal point in Albie’s life occurred when his two buddies were drafted into the Army. Albie signed up to go with them on the Buddy System. As fate would have it, Albie flunked his physical. One of the saddest points in Albie’s life occurred when he waved goodbye to his two buddies. He returned to Monroe, and had to break into his old apartment to find a place to sleep. What was he going to do?
Albie got a job as a mechanic at the Chevy garage in Knoxville. Soon, he was shop foreman. Albie also liked drag racing and sprint cars. He raced at Eddyville, Cordova, and Cedar Falls. He was always working on his buddies’ cars, as well as his own. It wasn’t long before he bought an old building in Monroe and started doing mechanic work. In those days, this was around 1970, a little ambition and $500 could get you a start.
Albie likes to tell the story about a farmer who brought his pick-up to town for Albie to work on. The farmer had an electrical problem under the dash. When Albie went out to take a look, there was a fat hog sitting on the seat. Albie refused to work on the truck until the farmer removed the hog.
Soon, Albie bought another building and began building engines for dragsters and sprint cars. Then he bought a gas station, and another gas station. Because of Albie’s mechanical ability, the people who owned the Monroe bowling alley talked Albie into taking it over. The pin setting machines needed constant work. Then Albie built a game room in Monroe. At the tender age of 20, Albie Parker had seven businesses and 17 people working for him.
Later in life, Albie owned Oscar’s Lounge in Newton. Oscar’s could hold over 700 people, and had bands three nights a week. Bands such as the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Iron Butterfly played at Oscar’s.
Pushing 60, Albie is back at his true love, building racing engines. Albie owns Parker Machine and Performance in Newton. He now builds dragster and sprint car engines that go all over the world. In 2009, his engines won five Sprint Car Championships. He was number one in points, and Engine Builder of the Year for 2009. When you walk into his shop, the floors are so clean it looks like you could eat off them. Machining in tolerances of ten-thousandths of an inch, and operating computer controlled machinery that cost nearly half a million dollars, Albie Parker and his employees build hundreds of engines per year — dragsters for high-end technology and power, sprint cars for endurance and longevity. Having never taken out a business loan, Albie Parker’s business in Newton now grosses over a million dollars per year.
Well, I’ll be.
Have a good story? Call Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant toll-free at 1-866-385-3955 or email him at cswarm@humana.com.