Street Talk

In preparation for the March 16 “Green Gala of Yalobusha” I’ve been going over my old poetry books, looking specifically for limericks. You see among other things going on that night there will be a limerick contest. I am hoping to find some inspiration. Just for your information and to slightly jog your brain, a limerick is a five-line “nonsense” poem with a strict rhyme pattern of AABBA.          No, that is not also the name of a 70s Swedish pop group.  Limericks are named so as they are said to originate from the county (or city) of Limerick in Ireland. I find that quite strange as many limericks that I have heard use the word “Nantucket” and I know that is an island just south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.     Most of those Nantucket limericks are a little too coarse to print in such a family friendly paper as the North Mississippi Herald anyway. Here is a Nantucket limerick that is printable;

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
But his daughter, named Nan,
Ran away with a man
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

You get the idea of the rhyme pattern and pun. Here is another;

The limerick packs laughs anatomical
In space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

But even if limericks are not your thing, the Green Gala will still be a great costume and dance party. That’s because the group throwing the party has a track record of making the best parties in the state. Your Water Valley Arts Council has won “Most Creative” party in state three years in a row. Imagine if our football team had won state that often, you would be bragging some hard on them.         The WVAC are the champs for a number of reasons, they plan a new super party with a creative angle each year, Water Valley folks really come out and participate, and it is all for a good and creative cause.
So be thinking about your outfit, green can be “green” in so many ways. Green as in the color. Green as in environmentally friendly. Green as in re-cycled. Green as a leprechaun. Green as in lots of cash. Green as in the little green men from outer space.  Green as in reptiles and amphibians. Some of you are borderline lizards anyway.
So think about how you’re going to look and start practicing you green boogie moves.
Be a “Greenie” downtown at Bozarts Gallery Saturday at 7:30 on March 16.

Reflections

Country Was ‘One Big Family’ In WWII

By Charles Cooper

Hello everyone, hope you’re having a good week.  
It seems that each week I’m offering condolences to the families of someone that I have known.  Unfortu-nately by the time I get my paper, I don’t learn about it until later and for that I am truly sorry. I didn’t know William McNamee but his dad, Pat McNamee, and I have been friends since third grade at Camp Ground and later we were in the same graduating class at Water Valley.
Although we only live about 40 miles apart, we don’t see each other as much as I would like. Pat,  Lupe and  I offer you and your family our belated condolences.  
When “Reflections” began in January 2001, the premise was, among other things, to write about people who were never mentioned except in an obituary. Little  did I think that many of my friends, living then, would be on that list. So, I’d like to dedicate this column to the memory of Cathy Ward, Ludie Appleton, Bruce Gurner, Jim Oakley, Eddie Nelson,  Joe Elliot,  Janie Larson,  Chester Joyner, and Ed Shearer.  Every one of them  had contributed in some way to the success of this column and I still miss them.  
Now friends, this is where I change directions. We  have a radio station here WEVL staffed by volunteers that features gospel, country and western, big band, blues, jazz, and ethnic music funded by donations and commercial-free. Several programs feature old time country music going back to the 1920s as well as classic country of the 1940s and 1950s.
The other day they  played an Ernest Tubb song recorded during World War II. I remembered how united we were at the time in support of the troops and the war effort in general.
The country stars all had recordings of a patriotic nature. Ernest Tubb had “It’s been so long darling,” Floyd Tillman, “Each night at nine,” Zeke Clements “Smoke on the Water,”  Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys with Tommy Duncan on vocals “When the yanks raised the stars and stripes on Iwo Jima Isle,” and Cowboy Copas “Filipina Baby.” Now before someone writes to tell me it’s Filipino, the “A” at the end denotes female and the “O” male in Spanish—trust me on that.  
Copas took a little literary license.  But, since  he was such a great artist, he’s entitled. Unfortunately he died 50 years  ago this month with Patsy Cline and  Hawkshaw Hawkins in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee.   
I was just coming into my teens during that war but I remember feeling like the entire country was one big  family and we were all in it together. As an example, many things were rationed including gasoline and you had stamps which had to be pulled by the station attendant.  I’ve known instances where someone needed gas but was out of stamps and someone would ride with him to the station and give the attendant his book, which was legal. It was illegal to tear the stamp from the book or give it to another individual to use.  This was just another example of neighbor helping neighbor.  
Somewhere along the line we seemed to have lost that but since the first of this year when the radicals started the push for gun control, I’ve started getting the feeling we were once again coming together as a nation—us against them.   
With that upbeat note I’d like to invite you again to share your memories with us as they are always appreciated.
My email address is cncooper1@hotmail.com or write me at P.O. Box 613189 Memphis, TN 38101 and have a great week.