WEDNESDAY'S LIST ... of beans 'n greens 'n other things: HIS NAME was Gerald Harbin and he was my "First Buddy.""Gerp" was buried this past week. With his death came memories of a boyhood when only a mountain separated us from the trouble that seemed to arise when we were together.
Without going into detail, there was one summer day when Harbin came across the mountain for a visit. Without names, I will tell you we had a jar of "the recipe" and slipped away to a small pond for sampling.
Near the pond was a watermelon patch. With inspiration born of liberal testing of "the recipe," a great question arose as to whether watermelons could float.
By the shank of the day, it looked as if you could walk across that pond on watermelons.
The next day, the owner of the watermelon patch had a brief conversation with my dad ... with two results:
1. My dad beat me like a sore-back mule.
2. I had to work for the owner of the watermelon patch the remainder of the summer for zilch.
From over the years, I can still hear Harbin's silly little giggle in getting off "Scott-free" while I was hit with the death penalty.
Rest easy, First Buddy ...
Hop, for years, ran a general merchandise store in "downtown" Delta. To put a bottom line on that, his store was a "community center" before community centers were "cool."
The man is special. So is his wife, Esther Mae. For the record, Saturday also marks 72 years for the Sims' marriage.
I suspect Hop would tell you Esther Mae is the very best birthday present he ever got.
That one didn't even get out of the gate. Seems Mr. Finn, who talked with the city council in a salary range of $90-$120,000, got a bit greedy once he finished number one on a five-man list.
The council, rightfully, has "fired" Mr. Finn before he was actually hired.
Another "WOW!" is that's another 5-0 vote . . . wasn't it?
George Smith can be reached at 239-5286 or e-mail: gsmith731@gmail.com
