He is a veteran, having served two tours of duty, first in the Korean War, and then during the Berlin Crisis in 1961. After his active military duty he joined the National Guard, retiring from the Guard’s Brundidge maintenance unit in 1968 with the rank of sergeant. Shortly after returning from his second tour of military duty, he began work for Montgomery County as a District Maintenance Supervisor, and was with Montgomery County until his retirement in 1997.

His wife is the former Mary Glen Sanders of Briar Hill in Pike County. Newton and Mary Glen knew each other as children. He has fond memories of the Sanders’ loading up the family in their wagon and traveling to his family’s house to listen to the Grand Ole Opry. Mary Glen worked for MonCre Telephone. She began in 1969 when the company had only two employees in the office, she and Betty Menefee, who had begun work in 1954 when the company opened. Mary Glen later retired from AmSouth Bank and is now a teller at Ramer Bank, where she has worked since the bank opened.

The Rials’ have one son, Scott, an Auburn University-Montgomery graduate who coaches football, baseball, and track at South Montgomery County Academy. Scott also worked for MonCre Co-op in the satellite division. Scott and his wife, Lisa, have three children, Ryne, Kayla, and Reid.

Since retiring, Newton stays busy. He even has a part-time job—which he has had for the last 15 years—at the Pine Level Water Authority, where he helps the staff maintain “pure water, good water for everybody.” He also helps out at South Montgomery County Academy with maintenance tasks. “I think I work more now than I did before I retired,” he chuckles.

Woodworking is his hobby. He began working with wood around the time the school was built. “I helped out and learned some carpentry,” Newton says. Over the years he has built gun cabinets, potato bins, tables and chairs, quilt chests, and bookshelves. Each year he donates some of his work to the school to sell as fundraisers. He insists, however, that woodworking is just a hobby. “I like to do it at my own pace. I’m not in competition with the cabinetmaker in Ramer!”

Like most grandfathers, Newton enjoys spending time with his grandchildren. His oldest grandson, Ryne, 17, plays all sports. Granddaughter Kayla, 11, is a cheerleader and plays softball, recently making the tournament team and making grandpa proud! His youngest grandson, Reid, 6, plays baseball. “Sports have changed so much—especially football—since I played. I refrain from giving any advice, but I bet I’ve traveled a million miles to ball games!”

Newton is devoted to his community, and is proud of it. He predicts steady growth. “A lot of new people are moving into the area to live, though many of them still work in Montgomery. People want more space, and want to not be so crowded. They want to have a house, and a garden, and be able to get away from crime in the cities. Growth here has been steady over the last 15-20 years.”

Newton believes that it is the lifestyle that appeals to many people. “People who live here are not so different from people in other places, but they are more ‘laid back,’ they take life as it comes. They’re not always in such a hurry,” he added. Newton and his wife live on a 195-acre property that he bought from his father years ago.

In addition to his volunteer work and family activities, Newton is a board member at South Montgomery County Academy. In fact, he was one of the original board members when the school opened in 1970. He is also a long-time board member at MonCre, having been on the board for about 12 years. He also served as chairman for several years.

As a result of his service on the board, Newton has come to know the MonCre staff very well. “It is a very good, a very efficient, and dedicated staff. All of them have been working here a long time—they must enjoy what they do. They are not highly paid, but they don’t have to make the drive back and forth into Montgomery every day to work, and for a community the size of ours, the pay is good.”

In addition to a top-notch staff, Newton also has high praise for the state-of-the-art technology and services that MonCre offers customers. “Our switchboards are just as up-to-date as those at Bell Telephone, and we offer just as many services. We have miles of fiber optic cable, approximately $7 million worth, linking all our facilities together. The link with Bell is in Montgomery and Haynesville.”

Yes, telephone service has come a long way from the days when Montgomery County only had those two telephones that Newton Rials remembers so vividly. What hasn’t changed is the community he loves so much. And that suits him just fine.