The Last Few Days

Last week-end started out with a bang! The Maysville High School Class of 1959 held its 50th reunion in Maysville. On Friday night, about 50 people gathered at our house on Jersey Ridge for drinks and hor d'ouerves (I know that isn't spelled right, but I can't find it in the dictionary)and had a really relaxed and enjoyable evening. Being exclusively limited to old people, the party broke up about 10:30 and everybody went home. The next day, the committee had organized a tour so that out-of-towners could see for themselves what changes had come over our quaint little burg. Leonard Hendrickson, a classmate who has lived in Maysville all his life said he saw things on the tour he had never seen before and was very enthusiastic. The tour was followed by a picnic lunch at the Riverpark; the weather could not have been more accommodating. Now that none of us have children at home, we can have our reunions in the fall of the year, when the weather is more to everyone's liking, instead of the brutally hot days of August we used to endure. Saturday night at Caproni's was wonderful. Food was plain and simple and tasted good. After supper, the program consisted of the roll call and, when your name was called, you were to stand and tell everyone about your life since 1959 and your fondest memory of dear old MHS. Some of it was hysterically funny, some of it was confessional and a lot of it, tongue in cheek. For instance, I remembered how I played on the championship team that went to the state tournament in 1959. Any of you who know me know that I have never been able to walk and chew gum at the same time, much less play basketball. Incredibly, you could see the looks on some faces as they tried to remember me on the team. Finally, Billy Rex Parker stood up and asked if anyone remembered McNeill playing basketball in high school. Of course, no one did. The next part of the program was the awarding of gifts to those who were chosen because of the distance traveled to get here, the number of grandchildren, and so on. Finally, when the door prize was awarded, Patsy Aldridge drew her own name. Everyone howled. To Amy: Dear, your father was a beloved member of the 1959 graduating class. In school, he was called Gus and I don't think he ever escaped it. He was born, I think, in November, 1941. That may not be right, but it seems like it is. His mother was a second grade teacher at Sixth Ward School (now a parking lot on Broadway St.) for years and years. She did not teach us, having started there the year we went into the third grade. She was just a lovely person. As I was celebrating my fiftieth reunion, my daughter, Laura, was celebrating her twentieth. Sort of a neat coincidence. On Monday morning, a group of classmates, including Jimmy Hart, came to my house to help return tables and chairs borrowed for the Friday evening gathering. He reached down to pat my dog, Earl, and Earl bit Jimmy on the arm, tearing skin and causing a lot of bleeding. We put peroxide on the wound and covered it with two large band-aids. We took the tables and chairs back, and all the while, I was absolutely dreading what I knew I had to do. After lunch, I took Earl to the vet and asked that he be put to sleep. The process is burned into my mind. Earl and I were taken to a small room that has a chair and a stool. A staff member came in and took Earl to, one, give him a calming shot and, two, to insert a IV in his front leg. When that was done, they brought him back to me and I held him on my lap. Dr. Biddle, son of Bob Biddle came in, explained what he was going to do, and with tremendous empathy, said he would wait as long as I wanted. The shot they had given Earl had made him sleepy so that he wasn't struggling or scared; he just had his head down on my leg, lying there. Finally, I nodded and Dr. Biddle inserted the needle in the IV receptacle. Earl never moved and died almost instantaneously. I cried uncontrolably. This was the second time I had been through this. The first time was with my dog Sam. My children gave Sam to me for my birthday in 1995 and he lived with us until 2008. He was a wonderful little dog and my wife and I loved him so much that our children got jealous, we think. Anyway, after thirteen years with us, he got to the point where he could barely see and, Dr. Biddle told us, that his heart was very weak. We always went for a morning walk, and toward the end, he would walk very slowly and without any sign of the pep which had so characterized his life. And so, we finally decided that the kindest thing to do for Sam was to let him go. Under those circumstances, euthanasia for pets is wonderful, because there is no pain or fear. Anyway, when Sam died, we got another dog, whose name is Fred. Fred is a good dog, but he's not the brightest pooch on the planet. He did want me to play with him all the time, and so I thought it would be a good idea to get him a canine playmate, which met with some serious opposition in the hosuehold. Nevertheless, I found a dog on line in a shelter in Dayton, Ohio, and in almost no time, Earl was residing with us. Really cute, scruffy dog, resembling the terrier breed. You can tell, their noses and mouths are a little long for the rest of their body. Earl loved to jump off the ground while walking or standing by your side, and he would usually give you a playful little nip with his teeth. It never hurt and you knew he didn't intend it to hurt. After I got used to this, I happened to look in the dictionary or on-line for a definition of a terrier dog. It said terriers are frequently small dogs, used for routing out rodents like rats and other vermin. The dogs are fiesty and fearless. This certainly was Earl's mantra; he wasn't afraid of anything, nothing! And he greeted everyone who came to the house with a fierce barrage of barking and jumping and had the poor laundry man scared out of his wits. Earl finally made up with him, but he never failed to announce his arrival. Thinking about it, it may have been an accident that Earl hurt Jim, but you cannot have a dog who reacts and injures another person. You just can't do it. I am incredibly sad about Earl and will miss him for a very long time. Pardon all this stuff. I just thought I'd tell you why I haven't been here in the past few days. Fred is Ok, but I think he's lonesome.

Next Week, Dear Reader

I know that thousands of readers have noticed the lack of any activity on the blog. To explain, I have been heavily involved in preparing for the 50th Reunion of the Maysville High School Graduating Class of 1959. About fifty to sixty people gathered here last night for fun and frolic (to the extent any of us have any frolic left) and it was a good time. Today, the class is meeting at the Riverpark for a lunch gathering, then naps, then Caproni's for the final convocation. While I'm not exactly feeling my best this morning, I can tell you very honestly that I behaved very much better this time than I did five years ago at these affairs. Well, enough excuses! I shall be back with a vengeance after the first of the week. Tootle-oooo, as my grandmother used to say.

Television and Fear

Over the years, television has provided the American public with a lot of entertainment, some of it of high quality. It's ubiquitous, but it has changed our country in some ways which are most unfortunate. The story about East Second Street sixty five years ago brings to mind certain unwritten rules in effect then. Children in our neighborhood who could be trusted not to run into the path of an automobile were otherwise free to do just about anything. From the early spring to the very late fall, children played with each other outdoors. Most of the mothers then were stay-at-home women who kept house, raised children, cooked and cleaned and generally worked awfully hard. So, they kept an eye on what was going on in the neighborhood and seemed to have a sixth sense when we were up to something we shouldn't be. I mentioned rules. When breakfast was over, children were free to leave the house and go anywhere we wanted in the neighborhood. And we could stay all morning. The signal for lunch was the whistle at the Pulley Factory, a sound that could be heard all over east Maysville. We were to be home within a very few minutes after the whistle sounded. And lunch was served. For a long time, we had our main meal in the middle of the day, as was the country custom. We called it dinner, while the last meal of the day was denominated supper. After lunch (dinner), some of us were made to take naps early in life, but later, the afternoon was totally free for play. I guess our stomachs told us when it was suppertime, because there was no whistle to announce that meal. There were, however, mothers all over the neighborhood calling their children to come home, wash up, and get ready for supper. After supper, it was back outside where we could remain until the street lights came on. In July, they didn't light up until nine or nine-thirty. And so, with brief interruptions for food and sustenance, our summer days were frequently thirteen hours outside. It's not that way anymore. Parents these days seem to be terrified, really frightened about bad things which could befall their children. There seems to be constant supervision, planned activities and almost no spontaneous creativity on the part of children. Mothers or fathers almost always accompany their children to parks and other places which might interest a child. If you talk to a mom about what she allows her nine year old to do, it's completely different these days and it arises out of her fear for the child's safety. I think this is an unfortunate result of the television set. Recently, the tv news has been flooded with coverage about the 11 year old girl abducted and held incommunicada for years by a perverted child molester. The story is the stuff of a horror novel and is undoubtedly true. But television makes it seem like the story arose in the next block down the street. When this type of news was reported in the newspaper, the effect was not nearly so sensational and there wasn't repetitive coverage all day long and from day to day. There is another story on television which implied that a child's grandmother had hidden her grandchild in a two foot wide room for two years, thereby shielding the child from one of its parents as a result of a custody fight. It's true she hid the child when someone she thought was a threat visited her home, but in those custody circumstances, this isn't all that unusual. But it is the intention of television, I think, to make such stories as sensational as possible. The point of all of this is that television has been extremely effective in scaring our population of things that are almost totally unlikely to happen to their children. You may not agree, and if you don't, I think the television has gotten to you. I know it's gotten to me. Maybe there's nothing we can do about it, but it is a damned shame that kids can't grow with a little more spontaneity, learning as they go. Not everything modern is necessarily good. And television is a first class example!

Comments

If you would like to comment on any of these posts, simply click on the title. That particular post will appear in a new window and if you look carefully at the bottom of the post, you will see a darkened place to click which will then allow you to write what you wish. Next, there is a drop-down menu. Click on anonymous and then click Post. If you want to sign your comment, please feel free to do so in the body of the comment. If you don't want to sign it, that's fine too. I'd like to know what you think even if I don't know who you are. I hope this works!!!

A Merry Christmas Eve

A  long time ago, a man named Bud lived in the 1100 block of East Second Street.  Bud was never very successful at anything.  At one time, he was the appointed dog warden of the county.  Various citizens accused Bud of picking up hunting dogs and selling them;  one of those people, T. T. Barnett, loved rabbit hunting and had a good beagle hound.  Mr. Barnett threatened to kill Bud over that dog and apparently was packing the means with which to get the job done.  The threat produced the dog, tied to a dog box in Bud's back yard.  Shortly thereafter, Bud was no longer the dog warden.

But, I digress. Bud stuttered badly! One Christmas Eve, there was a knock on Bud's door.  He answered and there stood Mr. Harold Willett, Bud's landlord. Perhpas you don't remember Harold Willett, but he was a very tall, slim man, with bushy eyebrows.  He was a mainstay in the Lions Club annual minstrel show.

C-c-c-come in, M-m-m-mr. Willett, Bud said.  Harold walked in and Bud offered him a seat in the living room.  Bud's wife, Bernice, who had a good job at Browning and wholly supported the couple, was off on Christmas Eve and was in the kitchen, cooking. 

Bud and Harold exhanged pleasantries and greetings of the season, whereupon Bud said,  B-b-b-b-bernice, get M-m-m-mr. Willett one of those c-c-c-chocolate-covered c-c-c-cherries.  Bernice did as she was instructed and Harold put the candy in his mouth.  It was tasty. 

Finally, Mr. Willett said that he had just come over to tell Bud that he was raising the rent.   Bud looked at Bernice and said, B-b-b-b-bernice, put the d-d-d-damned candy a-a-away!  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! 

Health Reform Briefly Revisited

Our senator, Mitch McConnell, was in town the other day, bringing a check for $2-1/2 million from the stimulus bill he voted against. I don't really like Senator McConnell very well. I don't think he feels the same way about me; he doesn't know who I am. Anyway, the Ledger-Independent published a photograph of the senator and the crowd. At the rear stood Ann Johnson holding a sign deriding McConnell's stance on health care reform. Later, a Comment Line caller said Ann should not have done that because it was offensive to Senator McConnell and, after all, he was bringing a check to help restore the Cox Building. We should be (and are) grateful for the check. But I think our senator is a little out of touch. Last week, he said that tax deductions for health insurance and tax-exempt health savings accounts would fix everything. I thought that, by and large, the people without health insurance were poor people, people who frequently have to choose between buying medicine or food. Those people don't pay taxes and so tax deductions won't help them much. Oh, and Senator, if you have to choose between buying food or medicine, you haven't really got any money to put in a health savings account. So much for health reform.

Jewels of Maysville - Robert Zweigart

We are accustomed to hallmarking community leaders by the speeches they give, the letters they write, their accomplishments noted in the newspaper and so on. But we all know that some leaders go about their business in a very quiet and unassuming way. While they may not spurn publicity, neither do they seek it nor derive much satisfaction from it. These people, without fanfare or pomp, work toward a goal and not only achieve that goal, but confer a substantial benefit on the community as a whole. Bob Zweigart is one of these people. If you're acquainted with Bob, you know that he gets to work before eight o'clock in the morning, before anyone else arrives at the office. He is usually the last to leave in the evening; and typically, he works all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon (except when the Bengals are playing football). He has followed this routine for at least 40 years, because I have observed it for that long. If you visit his office, you will find numerous files piled high on his desk, but in a very organized fashion. He is no Strawberry Collins, by any means. Strawberry's desk was piled high with assorted papers, books and other items and, it was said that he could lay his hand on anything he was looking for. That may have been true, but no one else could find anything on his desk. Bob can locate anything on his desk, because everything has a place and it is in its place. I have been privileged to observe several of the things Bob has been involved with. He, with Bob Blake and Bob Vance, were the leaders of the effort that built the YMCA in Maysville, a facility the likes of which almost no other town of our size can boast. Bob Zweigart not only played a prominent role in raising approximately $3,000,000, but he quietly prepared most of the legal documents relating to the tax exempt incorporation of the Y as well as the contract documents for its construction. As a board member of Hayswood Hospital, he and Bob Vance did most of the work, spending not days, but weeks defeating the union which tried to unionize the hospital workers. In both of these efforts, an incredible amount of time was consumed, and for a lawyer, the giving of time without compensation is the ultimate professional sacrifice. I drove through the William R. Shugars Industrial Park on the A-A highway not long ago. If you haven't done so, you should go out there and look at the investment out-of-town companies have made in our area. Stober Drives, Mitsubishi, Green Tokai have huge plants there, some of which are expanding. The businesses operating in the Pope warehouses also employ Maysville people, not to mention TRW (now ) and the former Johnson Controls operation at the seatcover factory. I think Bob Zweigart has been involved in all of the efforts on the part of the community to attract those companies. He has represented the Industrial Authority in the financing and building of the buildings, and he has drawn the leases between the Authority and the companies to ensure the recovery of Authority's investment. One of the most complex and difficult projects ever undertaken in Maysville was the financing and construction of the French Quarter Inn in downtown Maysville. The City had made a downtown hotel a priority, and was willing to invest public funds to see that it happened. Buffalo Trace was instrumental in supplying funds, as well, from various grants awarded by the state and federal governments. In addition to the owner, a large private investor put money into the project. Bob filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court to determine the legality under the Kentucky Consitution of investing municipal funds in what was essentially a private enterprize, using the Toyota case as precedent. The court not only had to review the case law and applicable statutes, it had to examine the doumentation, as prepared by Bob, to be sure that the law fit the financing and investments of the various parties. Ultimately, the court approved the package, all of the parties agreed to its terms, and the hotel became a reality. Very few people realize how difficult this sort of effort is. On the levels I've been talking about, almost all of the work is done in huge, metropolitan lawfirms and at incredible expense. While Bob's charges have always been most reasonable, the quality and completeness of his work product is every bit the equal of anything generated in Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville or St. Louis. Out-of-town attorneys are amazed and dumbfounded at the quality of his work, considering he lives and works in what they believe to be a back-water town. The things I have mentioned above are but a few of Bob's contributions. The list could go on and on! The point that I make is that his work ethic, knowledge, skill and patience, all applied in and through his profession, have profoundly inured to the betterment of our community. It is a better place for us to live because of the work he has done over the years and will continue to do. Bob Zweigart exemplifies the very best qualities a lawyer can possess, and he has used them for our benefit.