Charlie Wyatt, born in what is now Clark creek KY, has raised a family, made a living and retired here in Berea. He is the husband of Polly Wyatt, and they are the parents of George, Larry and Terri Wyatt. They also have six grand kids and one great grand baby on the way.

When Charlie was young his mother moved his family to Ohio. Several years later his mom brought the family back to Kentucky; she chose to settle in Berea due to the reputation of Berea College. Charlie received a degree from Berea College and knew that it was important to his mother that her children receive a good education. Charlie also joined the Army and studied radar until he turned twenty-seven and was relieved of duties. In 1929 he traveled to Cincinnati Ohio and worked at Western Union. He was required to take training for telegraph reading; and of the one hundred students that started the courses he was one of only ten that graduated.


Charlie Wyatt

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was called back to serve oversees in the signal core. Charlie left for the service from Ohio and served from 1929 until 1944. He traveled from South Carolina to Africa, Bombay, Pakistan, India, Burma to China, Karachi and rode a troop ship from Australia through the Panama Canal and returned to Boston and the United States.

When he returned to Berea, he settled down and got married in 1945. By 1955 he had started White Supply Company. The building was located close to where Dr. Mary Oldfield currently practices dentistry. He paid twenty-five dollars a month for rent and sold block, sand, and cement. The old L&N trains use to deliver the sand and supplies, which required Charlie to purchase a high-end truck, the first in Berea, to unload and move the sand. Later, he bought a ready mix plant on Oak Street as well as an apartment building and an appliance store. Polly remembers, "He would leave the house by 7 am to open the appliance store at 7:30 and by the time he finished all his book work, he did his own book work, he sometimes wouldn't get home until midnight." Charlie compares the old televisions to the computers of today, they always needing fixing; he remembers, "We use to repair televisions all day long; even after we got it working and took it back to them, they would have to call back the next day and say it had quit again."


Club Arena - Old Town Berea

 In January of 1960, Charlie started the "Club Arena" staking rink located in Old Town Berea. He considers this business to be his greatest accomplishment. He first had the idea, and used his supplies from the ready mix plant, workers and spare time to build the building. He broke ground in 1959, and opened a year later. After opening the skating rink, he took his family to Colorado to attend a two-week skate institute. There the children learned tricks on skates and Charlie learned more about maintaining and running a skating rink.

Charlie remembers skating "all over Berea" as a child. He says he first learned to skate on one skate; he used one skate to ride on and the other foot as a safety, incase he needed to put his foot down to stop. He says, "I've enjoyed it [the rink] more than anything else." Charlie can still be found skating almost every sat night at Club Arena. Charlie declares, "I can skate better than I can walk!"

Charlie believes, "It's the people you really enjoy, living in a town like Berea. There is always people you know, wherever you go." Charlie has lived in his home in Berea since he bought the house and 50 acres of land in 1936. He has many fond memories from past years, including the time he splurged on a turkey dinner and spent a whole dollar. He has enjoyed all that he has been blessed enough to experience and still looks forward to good times in the future.

Written by Hannah Billings