A Step Back in Time

Built in the 1880's Fred's News was an impressive building whose architecture was of the Victorian period. Not overly ornate but it had some great features. It's best features were the crisp wooden dental work along the roof line and it's scalloped wood shingles outlining the set of three bowed windows along the front of the second story. The entrance was a door that open in the center of two massive and thick ceiling to floor plate glass windows. These beautiful windows allowed Fred's News to be a stage beckoning all to stop, watch and enjoy! Many local business men, especially in the early years of the place, used Fred's News as their unofficial office. After listening to many an old-timer, I do believe to some it was their only office! One such character was Saul, a crusty and tough old man who owned and operated the local grain store. In the days long before smoking was banned in restaurants or any buildings for that matter, Saul always had a cigar in his mouth. The end of it so chewed up, you wondered how he could ever smoke the damn thing. His outstanding feature was his hands, so large and weathered, they were the strong hands of a hard working man! Rumor was he could carry a hundred pound sack of grain under each arm and another on either shoulder at the same time. Although I never had the opportunity to witness this feat, his tough looking hands, stooped shoulders and bent back was evidence enough he had done this many times! Saul would sit in Fred's News, drinking coffee, waiting for his customers to find him. They'd place an order with him, he'd head out in his old Cadillac, pick up the grain and deliver it. If it was a smaller order, you could see him driving along the road with the grain bags thrown atop the trunk or hood of the old caddy. He did have a delivery truck, a shop and an office but preferred Fred's News as it was the hub of activity and the first place you'd hear all the news that was the news!

Henry was another tough old man who had seen many years of hard labor. Henry and his sons owned the local well drilling company. Henry's hand were so strong and tough they were like leather, So much so that the old-timers tell the story of Henry reaching into the smoldering forge that he used to sharpen his pounding bits, grabbing a hot ember, lighting his cigar, and throwing the ember back, all with his bare hands. Always a colorful character, Henry loved to consume the "spirits". By the weekend, Henry would notify his customers that a relative had passed away and he would be gone for two to three days. So, in the process of Henry finding water on your property, you could expect Henry to loose as many as twenty relatives! Although I never had the pleasure of knowing Henry, my husband did. His sons were just as tough and strong, massive men that were also gentle spirited in their later years. That team could find water in the Sahara!