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Post by Caretaker on Mar 6, 2012 8:23:13 GMT -6
What an honor to serve the Lord that way Drew! Now, let's talk about the hair thing... ;D That's what I get for climbing out of my work clothes and right into my suit. I was thinking maybe I need a wig ;D
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Mar 6, 2012 8:51:22 GMT -6
;D
proof that everything gets better with age...
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Post by Keith on Mar 6, 2012 12:37:02 GMT -6
I was thinking maybe I need a wig ;D THAT'S YOU?!? I've arrested guys that look like that. ;D
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Mar 6, 2012 13:22:14 GMT -6
when the Deputies brought in guys who looked like that...first thing I did was a drug screen...
hand 'em a cup ... and said "go pee, preferably in the cup."
;D
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Post by Caretaker on Mar 28, 2012 6:11:42 GMT -6
It was 23 years ago that they were doing a controlled burn north of our lake where I am caretaker. Two older fellers came wheeling in with a 4x4 wildfire truck from Dunlap, and they asked if I would like to help by riding the stand on the front and operating the 1" attack line to control the backfire. Melvin and his younger brother Kenneth who were on the truck, and they had this big dummy on the front that did not know that the fire nozzle was adjustable, and who was so thankful for Melvin's patience as he drove and Kenneth on the back to put out the fire I missed with the booster line.
A few weeks later Melvin's son Glen brought me some fire gear, and it has been my honor and privilege to serve with these heroes for the last 23 years. At 10:00 AM, this morning we will gather at the Dunlap Methodist Church and honor the life of Melvin. After the service we will go to the fire station and stand at attention next to Engine #1, with the light bar going and the empty bunker gear displayed on the front. We will be in our award jackets with the bars for 5 years service, and the stars for 10 years, and we will place our caps over our hearts as the hearse and procession goes past. Melvin's jacket will have been hung over the back of a chair at the front of the church with its four stars and a bar. It was almost ten years ago that we had six heroes honored for forty years of volunteer fire fighting. Melvin, his brother Kenneth, Junior, Francis, Gale Lee, and Dale. This will be the third time that an empty jacket with four stars will have been displayed at the front of the church. Francis, Kenneth, and now Melvin have had to leave the fire line, but their legacy of heart, courage, and dedication will live on in each of us who remain.
Melvin was a man of physically small stature, not much over 5' 4" in height and probably not over 150 pounds soaking wet, but he was a giant of a man in heart and courage, and in his love of family, community, and his faith. He was there driving a truck, and servicing the tanks in the Normandy invasion of WWII. Glen shared with me last night that his dad had a diary/notebook and on the map there was an "X", and that it marked the spot where the war ended for Melvin, when a rocket attack took out his building, buried him in debris and brought him his purple heart for a nearly fatal skull fracture. Along with his purple heart Melvin would carry a knot on his forehead, which the mortician asked about and Glen explained the badge of courage and honor in the knot.
He came home farmed, worked, married, raised his family and dedicated himself to his small community. He was a man of honor, respect, courage, dedication, who helped care for his community from birth as he was on the hospital board, to death as he was on the cemetery board. Being a leader on the Fire Board Melvin was instrumental with our Fire Chief, in building the Dunlap Fire Department from one small 4x4 attack truck to one of the better rural departments, with two stations and seven trucks, and one of the best rural responses.
Melvin was as tough as our rolling hills of flint, and when the call would come in he knew every inch of the terrain in which we would be responding. He had been over every fence line, every roadway, every creek and gulley. When he could no longer physically respond to the fire line, Melvin would be at the station and our trucks would started, pulled out of the station, the lights flashing, and chomping at the bit to go forth and challenge the "Dragon". He would remain at the station and operate the radio, helping to provide guidance and support as his heart rode with us, and the fire scene unfolded in his mind's eye.
Melvin has gone on to join Kenneth, and Francis in our history book, but his heart, his courage, his faith and dedication are our legacy and will ride with us so long as the fire tones sounds, and we don our armor and go forth once more to slay the dragon. Thank You Father God for the life and legacy of this hero, and thank You Father for the multitude of blessings which he has brought to us all.
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Post by Keith on Mar 28, 2012 6:44:54 GMT -6
May he rest in peace.
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Post by Caretaker on Apr 7, 2012 14:31:20 GMT -6
Dunlap District #9 Fire Fighters. From the left: Gail Lee, Kenny Higgert, Eric Shoults, Drew Doug Montgomery, Richard Birk, Melvin Whitiker, Lee Viar, Glen Whitiker, Richard L. Allen, Phil McCreary, Dustin Miller, Richard W. Allen. (November 2010)
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Apr 7, 2012 18:39:16 GMT -6
Nice lookin' group of guys...
;D
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Post by Keith on Apr 8, 2012 8:39:48 GMT -6
The 'Dirty Dozen'! ;D
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Apr 9, 2012 7:36:36 GMT -6
picture taken after Saturday night bath...
;D
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Post by Keith on Apr 9, 2012 8:06:46 GMT -6
;D
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Post by Caretaker on May 24, 2012 5:10:34 GMT -6
God bless you each so very much. I just wanted to share my sister in Christ, Ann's testimony. She operates the Caring Hand's Ministry in a rural area of Appalachia. Yesterday Ann posted an emergency prayer request, as a truck delivering critical food and supplies was delayed, uncertain of arrival, those who had volunteered to help could not schedule without knowing the time. There were so many praying for Ann and for the ministry, and for the dear ones so in need and those involved. Our Father answered and blessed so many yesterday. This is Ann's posting on the I Love Jesus forum: Her prayer request from yesterday: "This day has potential for a lot of confusion and strain or for a lot of blessings. I choose blessings. Please stand in agreement with me. We have a shipment of 10-14 pallets of frozen food coming - who knows what time despite call after call after call to try and find out. We have people who could help unload if they knew when but they don't know when. We have lost one helper already who was scheduled for 8 and no food came at 8. others coming at 11 food could com before or after that. 2 local business owners willing to send their paid help but they need some notice on time. So do I since that is 45 min away from home and Charles does not do happily getting up when he has had almost no sleep and does not know of there really is a reason for it and then I have to worry about his falling asleep in wheelchair or trying to get out of chair and getting hurt - Lord please protect him - add in strains with the folks who also use space at Appalachian Help Center and the fact that a several other ministries are getting stuff on this load. Lord help please! thank you and thank You Lord" __________________ "Ever have one of those days? If someone can mess it up they will. The 8AM truck arrived at 2:15 PM. Our helpers were made very unwelcome by the ministry that shares space at Appalachian Help Center with us. I finally had to take the guy who came to talk about helping us raise money to the pizza place to be allowed to talk to him w/o interference (coming to see us in over a 2 hr drive for him) and it went down hill from there. BUT when the truck finally came we had some great helpers. Several other ministries came to be blessed. Someone who had sort of absconded with diapers given Caring Hands brought some of them back. Then Erica and her sis took food and diapers to a couple of the sort of place you do not want to go alone. People poured out of the trailers and shacks to get things. Many said they had no food at all. They were so glad to get to eat that some especially the children were crying with joy. One lady whose husband is in jail due to a mix up in ID* found out they had diapers and told everyone "See God answers prayer. He does not abandon us. You knew I prayed for diapers and He sent us diapers and food. Food for all of you too. See how much you need Jesus" *or so we have been told, here public defenders defend at court but do nothing about months in jail waiting for the court date so that is not unlikely That must have gotten to Erica not just because she called to tell me about it but because she took food to a man who had been threatening her and her family. She said he was amazed "I don't know why you would help us. I don't know why you care or how you knew that we are completely out of food" caringhandsmin.tripod.com/
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Post by Keith on May 24, 2012 7:04:49 GMT -6
When the Lord works through you, it's unexplainable. Awesome.
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Murph
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Post by Murph on May 24, 2012 8:51:52 GMT -6
Isn't it...just too grand!
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Post by Caretaker on Nov 4, 2012 15:22:45 GMT -6
I remember putting up hay with Grandpa Drew, and Dad, and a couple teams of horses. Dad had rode the sickle-bar mower and laid it all down. I would drive th e buck rake with a gentle team and as the rake filled up I would hit the foot lever and the tines would raise up and dump into windrows. After the hay was raked into windrows I would switch over to a hay buck, which was like a big pitchfork with a seat on the back and the singletree to hitch each horse on a side. The stacker was a large framework with a wooden pitchfork arm and a cable system. The team would be hitched to a connected double-tree, and as they would be driven out at an angle and it would rotate the arm up and over to dump on top. The horses would be backed up to lower the arm back down for the next dump.
I would be filling the hay-buck and then sliding it onto the loader, backing out, and then Dad would drive the team out which would dump the load onto the stack. Grandpa would be forking the hay to make even layers so at the very top the stack would be formed into a draped "loaf" shape to more readily shed water.
As the sun would move towards high noon we would unhitch the horses, leaving the harness on, hop up on their backs and ride them home for lunch.
During the winter we would drive the hay rack to the field, and use a long saw to cut out of the stack and load the hay rack to go feed. We also piled it up loose stacked up in the hay mow. This was in the old days, and I was still in grade school. When Dad bought the Oliver with a front loader we used it for stacking, but still sickle mowing and buck raking.
We also picked corn by hand with Mike the 16-Hand Mule hooked with Queen the big bay Belgian, Mike hooked on the left Queen on the right, Haw and Gee, hitched to the old box wagon with the sideboard. We would start them down the row and they would just walk along. I would be picking ears from the two rows next to the wagon, grandpa in the middle two rows and Dad on the outer. We could pick a six row swath of shucked corn, and at the end of the rows Dad would catch hold of Mike's bridle, feed them each a half ear as a treat, and lead them around to the next rows. When the wagon was full we would drive home to both shell with a hand cranked corn sheller, or to chop up the ears in a belt-driven grinder.
Thinking about the sunrise at its proper time kind of took me back for a bit down the distant back-trail to a simpler day and time. God bless Y'all.
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Nov 4, 2012 16:10:07 GMT -6
Wish we could all go back there and stay...
I don't like today very much.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2012 16:27:49 GMT -6
The bestest thing about being in Heaven with Jesus is that you never ever haf to wish for the good ole' days again! ;D
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Nov 4, 2012 17:15:33 GMT -6
Was thinking along the same lines when I wrote what I wrote...some day they will all be the good ole days!
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Post by Caretaker on Nov 2, 2020 23:16:12 GMT -6
Was thinking along the same lines when I wrote what I wrote...some day they will all be the good ole days! Thought I would resurrect the "Reflections" and maybe add some new. God bless each of you so very much.
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