Special to The

Citizen

Chances are, if you live in

Peachtree City and possibly anywhere in Fayette County,

you have encountered at least one of the Allens.

Glen has crooned a tune or

two to most of the county, and the remainder have

probably borrowed a book or two from his wife, M.T.

Glen Allen was a charter

member of the McIntosh Trail Chorus, which boasted a

membership of more than 100 in 1976. The chorus disbanded

after almost ten years and has been "reborn" in

a number of incarnations. In 1990 Allen helped to form

the Fayetteville chapter of the Society for the

Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartets

Singing in America. As the title of the society is long

enough to be a song, they are called the Barbershop

Harmony Society, "the short version."

Most Fayette County

residents know the society as the Southland Chorus. Allen

sings bass. In addition to singing with the chorus, he

also is a member of the Covenant Quartet with three other

Southland Chorus members.

M.T. Allen recently

celebrated her 20th year with the Peachtree City Library.

She was honored with a reception in April, receiving her

20-year pin for service from Mayor Bob Lenox. Over 50

friends, family and current and past library staff joined

in the celebration.

When she first started

working at the library, it was housed in one room. She

worked one to two days a week to relieve Willard Bryant

"so he could have a day off." Her hours

increased as the library grew and they extended the hours

of operation. As the library manager, Allen now manages a

staff comprised of six full-time and ten part-time

employees. The library, which had around 100 books when

she started, now has over 60,000. Additionally, they have

14 PC's and one Macintosh computer.

Regarding the changes,

Allen said, "I kind of miss the small-town

atmosphere of the one-room library. It was friendly and

homey, it wasn't very busy and I got to know

everyone."

She continued, "We've

become more impersonal in some ways. Things grow and you

grow with it. It's not just books anymore, people are

tending toward tapes and computers."

Currently Allen is training

one day a week on the computer. The library has hired a

technical manager who is responsible for the computer

section. Allen noted, "I'm surprised every day by

what people ask for - they come in to check their

stocks, to look up travel information. It's become a big

operation."

Glen retired from the

Federal Aviation Administration as area supervisor 13

years ago. He then worked for a few years as a real

estate broker, before permanently retiring from the work

force. He says, "My favorite role now is

grandfather. Three-year-old Samantha is the delight of

our lives."

While his favorite role may

be as grandfather, he has some close runner-up roles. He

recently purchased a pop-up camper and is planning his

first trip to Cumberland Island where he plans to

"meander on the way down." Allen likes to meet

and talk to people and is a somewhat adventurous

traveler.

Traveling, camping and

pop-up campers are not new for either of the Allens. The

couple took their children on many camping and day trips

as they were growing up. Glen would tell the children

they were "going to see the Wizard" and off

they would go to their very own land of Oz. He would look

at a map, choose a direction and they would "strike

out in that direction." He said, "If we saw an

interesting road, we'd take it. After all, sooner or

later you're going to get to somewhere you know."

Allen also is a lifelong

member of the American Donkey and Mule Society. He

doesn't own a donkey or a mule, although there were mules

on the farm he grew up on. His interest in mules started

in 1976 during the Bicentennial. He read a few newspaper

articles regarding the Great American Horse Race and got

hooked. The group of 100-plus horses and mules started a

race in New York state and ended in Sacramento, Calif.

There were a number of horses including some Arabians in

the race, but it was won by a mule.

There are a number of Mule

Day celebrations locally and throughout the Southeast. In

1979 Allen participated in the Liars' Contest, which

kicked off a celebration in Tennessee. He won. However,

he lost the braying contest at a later celebration to a

10-year-old girl.

Both Allens come from large

families. Glen has seven brothers and sisters, M.T. had

five. But that is where the family similarities appear to

stop. M.T. is from Auburn, N.Y., is Catholic and from an

Italian lineage. Glen, with a protestant background, was

born in Mississippi and grew up in Alabama. "I spend

part of my boyhood on a backwoods farm. Dad owned a

sawmill."

M.T. said, "I lived in

an Italian neighborhood. The kids spoke American and the

adults spoke Italian."

After serving in the Air

Force during the Korean War and then graduating from the

University of Alabama, Glen took a job with the FAA in

Atlanta as a traffic controller. M.T. traveled to Atlanta

from New York via Kansas City. She started college in New

York, decided after a few months that what she really

wanted to do was go to airline school. She saw an

advertisement in the newspaper, convinced her mother it

was right for her, and started airline school in Kansas

City. She was hired by Delta Airlines "a whole two

and a half weeks after I started school."

Glen and M.T. met at a

social function in Atlanta. When they first met, M.T. was

introduced to Glen by her real name, Mary Jean. Allen,

knowing that teletype operators were assigned operating

initials, asked for hers. He has used her operating

initials ever since, as do most of her friends.

The pair "had a long

courtship," marrying in 1962, about three years

after they met. They had their first child, John, in

1964. "Back then, when you had a child, you retired.

So I did," said M.T.

She said initially the two

families were not very happy with the upcoming union

because of their different religious backgrounds. Her

grandmother, who didn't speak much English, wanted to

know why she "was marrying an American." M.T.

told her she was an American, too. After her grandmother

got to know Allen, "Everything was hunky dory. Glen

never understood a word she said, but they got along

great and he really loved her," she said.

In 1967 daughter Tamara

joined the family, and in 1969 they had their last child,

Danny. M.T. stayed "pretty active, doing the things

you do when your children are young." She was active

in the school, the church, the Boy Scouts, the Girl

Scouts and the family did "a lot of camping."

M.T. decided to go back to

work when her youngest was close to 10 years old. She

tried selling Avon for a while but that wasn't quite her

forte. A part time job became available at the library,

and to use a well-worn phrase, the rest is history.

The couple moved to

Peachtree City from the airport area in 1974. "We

were looking for a better environment for our children. I

had heard about the new model city being built, so we

looked, and we moved," said Allen. The Allens are

still living in the original home they bought on Hip

Pocket Road in the city.

They have three children

and one grandchild, Samantha, age 3. John is a policeman

in Athens, Ga., Tamara works for Delta and the youngest,

Danny, is a bartender in Newnan.

M.T. is active in the

Peachtree City Kiwanis and is currently finishing up her

term as president. She has been a member since 1993 and

has served as vice president and community services

chairman. Asked why she joined she said, "I was real

impressed with the club. I knew a lot of people who were

Kiwanians. They looked like they were having a lot of fun

doing a lot of good things in the community."

She has also been on the

board of the United Way for four years. She is currently

chairman of a new committee that helps to determine were

excess grant money should be allocated. She also is a

member of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church. She is an

avid bridge player although due to her work schedule she

is unable to play as often as she would like. "I

could play every day if they'd let me," she quipped.

Her other hobbies include

reading, crossword puzzles, painting and crafts. She also

collects tea sets and angels.

Both of the Allens like to

putter around in their yard. Glen is currently working on

putting a pond in the backyard. He will be adding

goldfish and a little waterfall because "My

granddaughter will like them."

According to M.T., Glen has

always been very supportive of her endeavors. "He

did a lot of baby-sitting so I could join women's groups,

play bridge, and do school and church activities."

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