Old Friends and Good BBQ

When I was beginning junior high back in Reynolds, Georgia, the local high school consolidated with the other county school in Butler, Georgia and although I didn't realize it at the time, this was a pivotal event of my life. I think that it was my 8th grade year that my life-long friends, Scott and Julie Posey, were sent to the school in Fort Valley, Georgia rather than being put through all of the educational uncertainity of local events. This was a tumultuous time in Reynolds, because generational friends were split as to whether to send their children to the the consolidated high school or to send their kids elsewhere. There was a fairly large contingent of parents that elected the "elsewhere" option and that "elsewhere" was Fort Valley High School (about 14 miles away). The parents of the kids that were going to FVHS purchased a used school bus and hired a driver to make the round trip from Reynolds to Fort Valley every day. I was in that group even though my parents had a difficult time coming to that decision because of their loyalty to Taylor County. For reasons too numerous to mention here, it was the correct decision. Scott and Julie just made the switch one year early and Scott would come home and tell my brother and me about all of his new friends and experiences at the new school. One of his new friends was a kid named Chip McMinn and Scott introduced me to him at a gathering somewhere (birthday party ?)! This was the 1965 - 1966 school year and I was in the eighth grade. By the time my freshman year rolled around (1966-1967), I was on my way to FVHS and a whole new life, but I did have one friend there ... Chip McMinn.

Chip and his family treated Scott and me like they had known us all of their lives. We would go over to his house after school and eat snacks before we went to basketball practice. On game nights we would eat dinner (supper) with them, so we wouldn't have to make the trip back to Reynolds. They did everything they could to make our lives better and this family will always hold a special place in my heart.

Chip and I spent a lot of time together during my years at FVHS and he even started dating my next-door neighbor, Debbie Whatley. He was in Reynolds a lot and because Debbie's parents had a swimming pool, we spent week-ends together sitting around the pool drinking iced tea and eating Maryland Fried Chicken (remember that chain??). My mother always considered Chip "just one of my children"! Chip was the star quarterback of the football team and was a great basketball player and would have been a star baseball player, but FVHS didn't have a team. (he would have been a star Tiddly-Winks player if they had a team). He was/is a "natural"!

Finally, in 1970, we graduated and life took us in different directions. I went to the University of Georgia and Chip went to Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennesee on a football scholarship. Later, after several injuries, Chip transferred to UGA and joined the Chi Psi fraternity where he was in charge of their athletic program. I was a Lambda Chi Alpha and although our paths crossed frequently, we were really in separate worlds by then.

But one's best friend from high school is always a part of your life, no matter what the years bring about.

We both live in the Cobb County area, but for some stupid reason, we never really saw each other that much. He married his college sweetheart, Jan, and they have reared 4 children and have stayed together all these years.

At our class reunions, we would tell each other that we would do better, but we didn't. In June of 2005, we drove together to our 35th reunion and had a great, extended visit during the trip. We promised that this time, WE WOULD DO A BETTER JOB OF STAYING IN TOUCH, but we didn't. We have talked frequently, but our families have never really met (I know his wife and I met his kids when they were children)!

The number of classmates who attend the reunions dwindles dramatically each time and some of our classmates have had drastic changes in their lives, but Chip is still the same ole' guy and when we talk, it's like I just saw him yesterday. Since our last reunion, one of our classmates died and during conversations about her death, we decided that we just had to make the effort to get together. What better time than Christmas.



We set up the meeting at one of my favorite BBQ restaurants, BBQ Street, in Kennesaw and finally we got together. We arrived at 1 PM ( to miss the lunch crowd) and stayed till about 4:30 PM. We had a great visit and our whole collective lives flashed before our eyes as we talked. Although his and my parents are deceased, visiting with him makes all those memories of them come back to life.

Like we just saw each other yesterday and just took up where we left off!


There are two things that will always be in my life: Old Friends and Good BBQ!




We're gonna do better from now on. I promise!

A Man Who Measures Up

I first met Don Jackson somewhere around 1985 and through the years our friendship has just been one of those that keeps on going. For some reason we just can't get out of each other's lives so it must be meant to be! I have dragged him kicking and screaming into more stuff than you could imagine, so maybe he just maintains our friendship in the hope that one day he can "get me back"!

Don was born in Newnan, Georgia on January 1st, 1925 (27 years before me) and graduated from Bremen High School in Bremen, Georgia in 1942. Like so many of his time, after Pearl Harbor he joined the armed forces to serve his country and Don chose the U.S. Navy. He served throughout the South Pacific on a destroyer escort (DE) called the Elden. He was in the Marshall Islands, Leyte Gulf, Guam, Okinawa and many other places, but most interestingly ... Iwo Jima! One has to search diligently today to find a veteran of Iwo Jima, but to you folks in Cartersville, Georgia just stop by Jax Supply Company at 19 Gilmer Street and meet one. Don is physically able to do anything that I can do and I have never even had a thought that he couldn't. As a matter of fact, he just opened this business last year (2006) at the age of 81. I challenge anyone to find a survivor of Iwo Jima that just opened a business!

After the war,Don attended college at Emory University where he earned a Bachelor's degree with a major in psychology. He was in the Navy Reserve and was called up again during the Korean Conflict but he fortunately served this time at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida. Don eventually wound up in the insurance business after a stint at General Motors Chevrolet plant in East Point, Georgia. At GM he refused to join the labor union, so they made his life miserable. He gave them the fickle finger of fate and was next employed by Hardware Mutuals (which later became Sentry Insurance) in outside sales but quickly realized that being a salesman was not his bag so he came inside to be the manager at the office at 5th and Peachtree in Atlanta.

While managing the office, he was in charge of contracts with cleaning service companies that maintained the building the insurance company occupied. He quickly noticed that this was his opportunity to work for himself and not have to answer to a boss. After making a decision to start his own janitorial services company, he went to his supervisor and asked for the contract to clean the insurance building. Being granted this contract, he was on his way to a long and successful career in the janitorial services business. A few years ago he retired, sold his home in Marietta and moved northward to the countryside of Bartow county. His retirement, however, didn't last very long and soon he was in negotiation for a lease on a building in downtown Cartersville to house his Jax Supply business (770-606-1996), which is a distributor for janitorial equipment and supplies. I'm glad he did this because now when I am working in Cartersville it is easy to drop by and take him to lunch and shoot the breeze for a while.

When Don and I attended the same church years ago, he was nominated to serve on the diaconate. For some reason he didn't think he measured up to the task, so I urged him to serve anyway and to remember that if any of us had "measured up", there would be no need for Christ. We serve out of gratitude because we don't measure up and yet God accepts us as righteous anyway because of the perfect righteousness of Christ. He did a fantastic job as a deacon!

Later I joined a barbershop chorus ( The Marietta Big Chicken Chorus) and was having a blast singing with this group of about 150 men. Don is a pretty good bass so I urged him to join. He told me he didn't think he measured up! "Here we go again", I thought, so I had to explain that nobody cared if he wasn't the best bass in the world but that he would surely miss out on having a great time if he didn't come sing with us. It wasn't long before he was standing on the risers just singing away! He went with the chorus to England and Scotland! We traveled all over the United States every 4th of July week to our international competitions and during this time Don became a leader in the chorus and was recognized for all of his hard work by his many friends. Believe me, he measured up and a whole lot more.

Don gets up early and stops by the gym to work-out almost every single day and is in better shape than most men I know that are half his age.

The girls at Doug's Restaurant in Cartersville love him and I love to take him by there and watch them make a fuss over him.

It always amazes me that Don still has a tendency to think that he doesn't measure up to something. The only thing that he doesn't measure up to is "liberals"! Stop by his shop and bring up the names John Kerry, Bill and Hillary Clinton or Ted Kennedy; then just sit back and watch the fireworks!

The truth is that I don't know of anyone who measures up to Don!

In my life I have had the good fortune to have some great friends and acquaintances, but I wouldn't trade my friendship with Don for any of them.

Don, you have enriched my life more than anybody I know and I look forward to many more lunches with you at Doug's!

If it makes you feel that you could measure up better ... you pay next time!

The New Crack Cocaine

Our human depravity causes us to always seek the next big high. We just cannot be satisfied with the every day gifts of our lives ... we must always seek a new thrill, something different or a new escape.

A few weeks ago a friend introduced me to this substance. I have had a similar substance back in my younger days, but this was so much better than any substance I have ever experienced. She warned me that it was highly addictive and that if I were to use it one time, it would ruin my life ( like it has ruined hers). She gave me just a little a first but soon I was begging her to give me more. It only took a second. I should have known better! She tried to warn me but I would not listen.

Last night I found myself driving towards Publix supermarket in a blind stupor only to find that they had sold out of my new addictive passion. Sure they had other flavors made by the same company, but it is not the same! I forced the manager to call around to other Publix stores to see if my substance was in stock.

Finally my search was over! I don't even remember the drive but I DO remember running down the aisle to the ice cream freezer. It's expensive and full of calories, sugar and saturated fat, but I don't care. I used every ounce of my energy to drive home, run into the house, rip open the package, grab a spoon and jump to my usual seat on the sofa.

Relief at last!

Christmas in North Carolina

I must admit that I get fed up with Christmas-time in the Atlanta area. The traffic, noise, confusion, attitudes and general mayhem tend to set my teeth on edge, so I am truly thankful that my wife and I have a respite in the North Carolina mountains to break-away to. This week-end was no exception and I was glad to escape the madness.

As we were getting ready to leave on Friday evening, my mountain friend called to inform me that there was no electricity on our mountain! It seems that the winds of Thursday evening had caused a few tree limbs to fall over some power lines and Duke power could not promise an exact time to restore our power. Because it's cold in the mountains, my wife and I decided it was better to wait and make an early Saturday morning drive than to risk getting to Bryson City in the night with no heat.

We arrived Saturday morning to find a beautiful day upon us and that our home had been restored to full power! We piddled for a while and then decided to visit a local restaurant for lunch. The cafe was packed and we quickly learned that the Annual Bryson City Christmas Parade was about to begin. Why not? We haven't been to a Christmas parade since who knows when. Let me tell you, these people take their Christmas parades ( and every other holiday parade) seriously. We stood right outside the restaurant door for at least an hour for the entire procession to pass. It was really great to see so much pride on display in this little town. We saw representatives from local businesses, high school bands, elementary school bands, youth league football teams and their cheerleaders, girl scouts, brownie scouts, fireman, rescue squads, motorcycle riders, horses (along with the poop), dignitaries, The Christmas Queen a.k.a. Miss Merry Christmas, the local high school homecoming queen and her court and floats from almost every church in town and one with the pastor at the pulpit with a congregation in the back of a truck. The most fun of all was to hear all the kids squeal with excitement as candy was thrown to them from the floats. It was truly a great parade and I was struck dumb with awe at the pride this little mountain town displays to each other and the many tourists who pass through.

My wife had informed me that she wanted to make the short trip over to Dillsboro that evening to see the Luminaries. I had no idea what the Luminaries were, but being a good husband, I was certainly going to find out! After darkness fell, we drove into the little town of Dillsboro only to find it packed full of visitors. You see, a few years ago, someone in this little town got the idea to line the streets of Dillsboro with little white bags with lighted candles inside. The idea is to have visitors walk along the sidewalks and visit the many shops and restaurants. Each store offers free cookies and cider. We even found out that there is a sort-of competition among the shopowners as to who has the best cookies. I would hate to be a judge! We didn't stay too long, but we visited bookstores, a Christmas decoration shop, art-stores, restaurants including the Jarrett House and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There were no "thugs" to be found. Without exception, everyone we met was thoroughly delightful and made us feel that they were genuinely happy we were there.

Living in the big city has soured me! I need more Christmas in the mountains and less big city mess. It really did me so much good to have this experience.

A big thank-you to all you mountain folk who have held on to the real Christmas. May God bless you all and Merry Christmas!