July 17, 2008
Thoughts about having fun, kids and the flag are running loose
This week’s column may seem a little on the hit and miss side as I take a look back at the week that was. But it could be an interesting ride.
• Why is it that some people act completely different when they are visiting somewhere else than they do at home? I saw a lot of strange behavior in Ashland this past weekend from different people from different places. I am quite certain they do not act the way they did there as they do at home. If they do, maybe that is why they had to get away for a while.
• Did you know that Kelly Pickler, an American Idol contestant, is quite nice? Just ask some of the Red River Rockers softball team. They met her this past Friday in Ashland. She signed autographs and posed for pictures with many of them. A once-in-a-lifetime chance I know they enjoyed.
• Did you also know that 14 girls age 11-12, along with several chaperones and parents, can be very quiet when they believe they are sneaking back into a hotel after meeting a celebrity and not wanting to awaken a person who already knows? Good times, gooood times . . .
• Apparently some congressmen believe like I do - sort of. Some were asking this past week about the "Made In China" tags on the U.S. flag. Their solution is to take the tag off. I guess they dont see the forest for the trees. Maybe we should just make U.S. flags, oh I don't know, maybe in America?
• Free or reduced lunches may seem like a hand out to some, I saw it as a chance to eat when I went to school. I know pride is important, but so is eating, especially for kids. Besides, if we can get 80 percent of the eligible kids qualified to receive the benefit, then every kid in our school would eat for free. That is a good thing, so where do I fill out a form? I may not be eligible, but I’ll fill them out, so maybe someone else’s child can get a good meal at school.
• Lunch prices will be rising in the Powell County Schools from $1.25 to $1.30. That is not really a bad deal when you see the choices and the quality of the food schools have today. Laura Young and her staff have done a fine job in providing great meals for our kids. Besides a bologna sandwich would cost, approximately, 30 cents. A bag of chips runs almost 50 cents on a good day. Add a juice or soft drink at approximately 40 cents and a snack cake at 25 cents – that totals $1.45 for a cold meal. (All prices estimated based on prorated prices.)
• Have you ever seen portable toilets that are not only exceptionally clean, but also have running water and air conditioning? I did in Flatwoods last weekend. The nicest I have ever seen – and that includes some indoor facilities. I was utterly amazed.
• I’d like to see more parents as understanding and supportive as the group that traveled to Ashland with the Red River Rockers. Thanks for making it a great weekend.
I want to end the column with this. Kids are kids and they deserve to have some fun. The team that went to the state tournament did that. They went swimming, were honored at a ceremony, had a sign welcoming them and had a wonderful cook out thanks to Larry and Edna Miller. Sure they may not have won, but they gained experience and had some fun.
I only wish every coach; every parent and every person who has children around them could have seen the fun the girls had. Every child deserves to have fun and be treated like royalty. Maybe they may not all go to tournaments, but they shouldn’t have to just to get that feeling. We need to slow down, see the child and take the time to make them all feel special. Because they are.
I’m just saying . . .
View from the Mountain...
With a mighty Hi Ho Silver and away
By David G. Griffin, Times Reporter
A few days ago a new restaurant opened in Stanton, and my friend Hayden Johnson informed me that it would be offering cereal as one of the menu items for breakfast. He and I had formerly discussed that we both love a bowl of cereal with our morning coffee, so this was good news to me.
Our conversation reminded me of the countless times that my mother (Bee) purchased a variety of cereal types for my approval when I was a very young boy. Of course, my choice was the cereal brand that contained the newest toy that came inside the box or that could be purchased at a nominal price from the cereal company.
At that time in my youthful life, my favorite toys were small cars or anything that pertained to cowboys. I remember opening a box of General Mills Cheerios and finding an announcement that offered a Lone Ranger ring if you would send in the coupon and a small fee.
The ring was an ugly gold with a small “bump” on the top of it and a hole in each end. The cereal offer asked the consumer to send a photo of a child, and it would appear when looking through the hole that he or she was standing next to the Lone Ranger and Silver, his horse. I hounded my mother to send in the coupon with my picture, and finally she agreed to give me the money for the ring.
The ring arrived to my utter joy in just a few weeks! When I looked inside the hole on the ring, there I was standing next to the Lone Ranger and Silver. I showed it to all my friends and that silly plastic ring became one of my most prized possessions.
Because of my ring, the Lone Ranger also became one of my especially favorite western heroes. I made a black mask out of an inner tube, and I painted my “stick horse” silver so that I could tame the West in our section of Rockcastle County.
My grandparents even bought me a Lone Ranger set of guns and holsters. I had about a dozen silver bullets on the back of my belt.
For those who do not remember, the Lone Ranger was an early television star. The usual opening announcement on the show was, “A fiery horse with the speed of light… a cloud of dust… and a hearty ‘Hi-yo, Silver, away!” The character was a Texas Ranger in the American Old West, who galloped about righting injustices with the aid of his clever, native Indian partner, Tonto. His horse, a beautiful white stallion, was called Silver; his faithful dog was Bullet.
The back story to the show was that a Texas Ranger had been wounded by outlaws, but he was found by an Apache Indian who nursed him back to health. Together they decided to form a team to fight crime and keep the identity of the Ranger a secret.
The Lone Ranger’s use of only silver bullets was supposedly symbolic. The costly metal was to remind him that life, too, is priceless and, like his silver bullets, not to be wasted. During their adventures, Tonto often referred to the Ranger as “kemo sabe”, a word meaning “faithful friend” in his tribe’s language.
My neighborhood soon noticed that there was a new cowboy hero riding a silver stick horse who was there to protect them from “rustlers” and other bad men. And I was diligent in my pursuit of crime.
My mother had to ask me to remove my mask when it was time for dinner. My faithful silver stick horse waited patiently for me beside the kitchen door. I did not even have to tie him to the screen door; he was dedicated to assisting me in eliminating crime in our locality.
I slept with my guns and holsters. I was even known to put Silver under my bed on occasion in case I had to rush out to fight crime in the middle of the night. I even tied a red bandana around his neck to identify him from other silver stick horses.
The television episodes usually concluded with one of the characters lamenting the fact that they never learned the hero’s name. Someone would say, “Who was that masked man?” – only to be told, “Why, he’s the Lone Ranger!” The last new episode of the show aired on September 3, 1954.
The Lone Ranger continued to fight crime in comic books for many years after his final television show. I probably had every edition under my bed in a cardboard box. I read them over and over until I had them memorized.
Often I would take out my ring and wistfully stare at me and the Lone Ranger standing side by side. Then we would proceed to determine where we would fight crime this week. There were no bad guys hanging around my neighborhood – that masked man and I had it covered!
(You can reach me at mtnman@mis.net or you can drop me a line at P.O. Box 927 – Stanton, KY 40380. I appreciate your suggestions and comments.) |
