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341 Friends and Fancies

Bob M

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northern Nebraska Sandhills
#341 FRIENDS AND FANCIES
by Bob M

Last Tuesday we went to long-time friend Alan Rice's funeral. Despite stormy weather and the fact that it was the forepart of the week, before any of the local papers had even announced his death, the old American Legion was nearly filled with relatives and friends

Alan (better known as Andy) will be long remembered for his talents and interests. He graduated from Bennett County High School then enlisted in the Army Air Force after he attended one year at the University of South Dakota. While in the Air Force he served as traffic controller at the Great Falls Montana Air Base. After receiving his honorable discharge he returned to the Bennett County farm and finished college at Chadron State where he received a degree in agriculture and one in music.

I was a director of Lacreek Electric. One year, quite awhile back, Elaine and I were invited to a dinner and program which would be choosing the youths to be sponsored for the annual trip to Washington, D.C. Andy had been chosen as one of the judges.
In connection with that is this poem which is self explanatory:

Dear Shirlee and Andy,

It must have been over 30 years ago,
Even though it seems barely a decade.
When Lacreek Electric asked a guy named Andy
To help judge a contest; all expenses paid.

Elaine and I got to go as I was a director
And guess who shared our table.
It was Andy Rice and his date, super nice.
We'd tell you her last name if we were able.

We do know her first name. We'll give you one guess.
You most surely will come up with Shirlee.
We were much impressed and we'll have to confess
Perhaps we predicted matrimony a bit early.

I told Andy much later that we knew it would happen.
He couldn't figure how we knew before they.
I said, "All you had to do is add up'why they should'
With none 'against' showing up yet today!"

Congratulations on your 30th Anniversary!
We will wager there will be that many more.
We are happy we ate together those many years ago
And that our prediction hit that 100 percent score!

Andy belonged and served in offices of many organizations. He was a member of the American Legion Post 240 since 1953, a fifty year member of the Order of Eastern Star and Masonic Lodge. He served on the Friends of South Dakota Broadcasting Board, Bennett County Soil Conservation District Board and was an elder in the Tuthill Presbyterian Church and life long member. He was an avid bowler. He shared with his parents being a rock hound and having an interest in fossils and artifacts but we think he will be remembered, over and above all his other attributes, by the beautiful organ music that he shared. He recorded CDs of his favorite organ arrangements and, at last count, had given more than 1000 to family, friends, acquaintances, associates and complete strangers.

He made full use of those 79 years! Congratulations, Andy!

Grandson, Terrel Vineyard, is in the eighth grade down in Garden County. I heard he was in a class where they have to write stories every so often. I called him up the other evening and suggested he would send something he had written for me to include in my column. This is his response:

"This isn't the best story I ever wrote but I guess it will work.

"The big news is that a very poor man named Jimmy Jones, who was living with his parents, at the time, got the surprise of a lifetime. He found the pot of gold at the end of the biggest rainbow ever spotted.

"He was flooded with more than 5.6 billion dollars in gold chips. This is the biggest treasure found since Ben Gates found the Native American treasure in the Black Hills. That was the biggest treasure known to man.

"This is no fallacy here folks! This is the real thing. When I talked to Jimmy he was almost nauseated with excitement. I recall him saying, "I went from mendicant to King of Ireland."

"He was almost filled with levity, and so giddy that he could hardly talk. He stated, "The pivotal point in the search was when I saw the glow of the gold in the sky. It really drove me to keep going" and also, "I was voracious for gold and so was everybody else. I was just lucky enough to be the recipient."

"He was not to be negated! He wanted to become one of the richest people in the world and did everything to accomplish it but cheat, of course. He flew in a jet all around Ireland trying to get to the end of the rainbow.

"Now Jimmy plans to give money to his parents and move to Hollywood and become a movie star. He also wants to donate money to charity and buy a Ferrari." *

*Some of the words in this story aren't normally in Terrel's vocabulary. The teacher gave them words to find the meaning of and to weave a story around. Good job, Terrel! Now how about sending a story about when you went to Gallup, New Mexico, to participate in the Junior Rodeo Finals? Thanks, Terrel!
 

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