You Are Never Too Old For Toys
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DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
My friend, Don Dalrymple, stopped by to see me last week. The column I wrote about my driving record prompted Don to let me know that during his 70-plus years of driving he has only been involved in two vehicle accidents and neither were his fault. He didn’t mind telling me that his record was more impressive than mine – as you may remember I wrote that I had one wreck where
I was at fault and another that was partially my fault.
I sure hope Don doesn’t mar his pristine driving record, as he recently purchased a new toy that boasts 455 horsepower with an estimated top speed of 185 MPH. That’s right – at age 87 Don bought a 2017 Corvette Super Sport convertible. It looks a little like the bat mobile and is a beautiful car. He has only ripped up and down Main Street with the top down once since he purchased it, and that was an unseasonably warm Saturday a couple weeks ago.
I thought this is impressive at his age, and Don explained he couldn’t afford a Corvette when he was younger.
He went to a dealership in Memphis to do a little tire-kicking and spotted the car on the showroom floor.
Here is the funny part, if Don heads out from his house in Point Pleasant, he has to leave 10 minutes earlier than usually if he is behind the wheel of his Corvette. This is because he only drives around seven MPH on County Road 180, a gravel road, before hitting pavement. Next week I may share about his skydiving experiences!
Don Dalrymple purchased a Corvette convertible.
Another friend, Mickey Howley, stopped by the office Monday afternoon to visit. I see Mickey in the road occasionally, but we haven’t had much time to catch up lately. Mickey worked for a long time as the director of the Water Valley Main Street Association. More recently he worked for 18 months as the director of the Main Street program in Natchez, and is currently helping with Woodville Main Street program.
Mickey and I enjoyed reminiscing about the ups and downs during our years together. Mickey wrote a weekly column in the Herald about the Water Valley Main Street Association for a dozen years or so.
Mickey has tremendous knowledge about historic buildings and currently serves on the Water Valley Historic Planning Commission. I always like to share my story of Mickey’s intervention into the Herald building renovation project. The façade of the current Herald building had been mutilated before I purchased it. Mickey said it best – the 1880s-era building had a storefront that resembled a 1960s ranch house grafted on the front from decades of patchwork.
With my limited knowledge about historic buildings, I was just about to botch the next chapter for the old building when Mickey intervened.
Mickey reached out to Leigh Ann Black, who designed a new façade that honored the architectural history of Water Valley and turn-of-the-century storefronts. The façade renovation project earned a Heritage Award for Preservation in 2016 and I am thankful for Mickey’s and Leigh Ann’s work every time I pull up to the Herald building!
