ASSOCIATION ON THE EARIE
On The Earie continued
He wished me well and said, “I of- fered the Holy Mass for your intention, praying that all goes well. I pray with the skill of the doctors and nurses and medical profession, and with all the prayers of your friends in this industry, that all will go well and that you will have a speedy recovery. Carnival bless- ings always!” I can’t miss with all of that going for me. Thank you, Father John. He is a busy man these days, serving six parishes in the Ruskin, Florida, area with both English and Spanish litur- gies. These are large parishes with from 6,500 to 1,100 families. Even though the 50th anniversary of his ordination was May 24, he will celebrate it with fam- ily and friends on July 14 at St. Joseph Church in Milford, Iowa, followed by a dinner and reception. For those who would like to attend, call Susan Reiser at 712 338-2274, or email sreiser@
milfordcomm.net.
Another email came from Bill Owen,
Indiana Ticket Co., who I first got to be friends with during his days as a sales- man for National Ticket of Shamokin, Pa. He is now based in Longwood, Florida. “I wanted to touch base and wish you a speedy recovery. I had lunch with Bob Johnson, and we spoke about
the OABA and about your columns and how much we enjoy them. One of my favorite stories that you told me was that you kept running into Rod Stewart when you were in Ireland for a Notre Dame vs. Navy football game. Funny stuff.” It turns out he was an imperson- ator, but a darn good one. “Get ready for the Big Dance, and I think our beloved Phillies have a good shot at the National League East, at least a better shot than last year. Your Boston Red Sox are still the team to beat in the AL. I can’t sign off without saying my back is still sore from picking up all those horseshoes. Those were the best picnics ever.” Owen referred to when Jack Conway, Bill Alter and Ned Ludes had the National picnic at a city park where we played softball, drank beer, starting early in the morning, and pitched horse- shoes. Alter was good, throwing a lot of ringers. I couldn’t bend over so Owen would always pick up the horseshoes for me. I remember Conway offered $2 to the members of the winning softball team, and $1 to the losers. I have never played harder in my life, but I think the team I was on still lost.
Johnny Hobbs, who never missed Gibtown when his health would allow, is
91 and not doing well. On a visit from Christine and me the other day, one of his sons, Joe, heard us talking about the friends we had lost from the glory days at the Nashville Palace – Pigskin Louie, Shorty, Mr. Mac, The Quiet Man, Lou, The Private Eye, Councilman Guy Bates, his wife, Clara, and others whom we had known from our days in the Knights of Columbus. All of a sudden, Joe said, “they must have decided that since it has been so long for you and John to join them in heaven, the both of you must have gone to hell.” Ouch! I can hear Mr. Mac, my brother-in-law, Dean McGhee, Doug Ferris, who owned a bar called the Ferris Wheel, and Herb (The Spoiler) Larson saying, “They aren’t coming. Shut up and deal.” Meanwhile Herb’s wife, Beverly, who ran the Flamingo Lounge is saying, “Let’s have another drink.”
I took David Starkey and Harold Case to the Flamingo on the pretense it was a fancy restaurant. Every time they got close to Nashville, they wanted to go back for all she served, burgers and French Fries.
Please send news to
tomp@oaba.org, or call 615 319-1258.
Have all great days, and God Bless!
10 OABA ShowTime Magazine | JUNE 2019
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