I like to read Zane Grey’s novels. In some of his western novels he would mention that an old cowboy in his story sought the shade of an old Box Elder tree. I wondered what kind of tree that was but let it slide. I just didn’t know and didn’t try to find out. That is not until I bought this place in Allen that had a big Box Elder in my back yard. It made good shade and was a lighter green than my other shade trees. I finally looked it up and found that genetically it was related to poison oak but was not poisonous. That explained why I had so many suspicious looking (poison oak) sprouts in my yard.

This past Saturday night we Allenites were under all sorts of storm warnings which I (as usual) ignored. I had been in Tulsa all day enjoying a family event and was just too tired to even look out a window, much less pay much attention to current weather. When I arose on Sunday morning my yard was thrashed. It was reduced to a mess of broken limbs, twigs and a truckload of other debris. Yes, the worst and largest was my big Box Elder. Half of it had sheared off and was lying helpless in my back yard. I am at this time in consultation with various sundry folk about how to rid myself and my yard of this large dead body of a tree.

I was complimenting myself on my lawnmower last week. One of life’s biggest disappointments to me has punctuated by my lawnmowers. No matter what, my riders always seem to lose their belt and cause me untold misery. These mowers seemed to have a bad personality too, not wanting to start and their batteries always needed to be replaced. I was always bailed out by Melvin Margerum and his well-equipped shop of repairs but then he decided to go another direction with his life. I always felt it was just to get away from me and my many problems with my mowers. Sorry Melvin.

So, about 6 years ago I bought this Cub Cadet. I really like it. Went 5 years before I had to spring for a new battery. It runs smoother and quieter than my old Sears model did and until yesterday had never lost a belt. Well, that record ended last evening and now I am in pursuit of a new belt. And no Melvin.

I hear the Allen Alumni had a good weekend at their annual meet. They do a variety of things. They not only just meet and dance and eat down at the park, but they have a great time doing it. They usually meet and have a big go at it down at the park. There they find shade, a free swim in the pool, other things that have been put in for the kiddos, but you know they are having a lot of fun. One thing I know about this is that this particular Alumni association has a record of being the most consistent, long-lasting alumni association in the state of Oklahoma. Congratulations to all for making yet another great year of meetings and fellowship.

Next weekend is the time scheduled for my own school’s annual get together. Yes, the Stonewall Longhorns. We too have a long history of alumni banquets and meetings, but I fear it is winding down. The ones that kept it going, did the grunge work and saw to the details are disappearing. The grim reaper is doing a number on us. The big alumni programs and meetings which wound up each year has been set aside for a long time and I can see why. It’s a lot of work to make that happen. The big alumni meal has been kept up. But let’s face it we all like to eat but that too is scaling down. Last year the attendance was the lowest in my memory. I was the only one in my class of 1952 to show up at all. Again, its age and time doing a number on us. The main problem seems to be that younger ones don’t seems to care for this type of stuff. In fact, I was told this could be our last go ‘round. If it is, so be it. I’ll just sneak into some of these great Mustang get-togethers. I was born here in Allen back in 1935 so heck, I should be able to pull it off.

Hope your week is good and be sure and go to your church on Sunday. They are sometimes like an alumni association. They need our support