September 2006                                                  The Megaphone                                                                Page 9

Virgil Wesley Ledford

by Julie (Stout) Crim

  My Father had a younger sister named Emma. Her husband was Virgil W. Ledford, also from Elwood. They are both gone now and I never knew them well. They lived in the Anderson area, off State Road 9 north of town and down a lane on the west side of the road. One couldn’t see their house from the highway and when you had turned down their lane you would see a small old place, pretty much run down with rabbit cages sitting here and there. They were “different” according to my parents. I thought of my aunt as simple and my uncle as very shy and quiet. They were nice enough though when they came to visit, never staying long. I was never inside their house. If we went over there they would hear us coming and meet us in the driveway and we would visit there. It someone would ask for a drink it would be brought to them. Never were any of us invited in.

  Virgil worked at Delco Remy for many years, retiring and eventually dying. I had virtually no contact with them as my adult lift progressed through the decades. After Virgil died Emma eventually went into a nursing home and my father was her executor. Sadly Emma was beyond communicating by this time. A book of poems was found in the little house that evidently Virgil had written. It’s a small blue book that says Record on the front and the pages are lined. I could buy one just like it today. I suppose he could have copied the poems but I have the feeling he wrote them from his heart. They reflect a man so very different than the one I thought I knew, if only slightly. They are poems of love and I have no idea if he wrote them to Emma or to another.

  I would love to find someone that may have remembered him. The dates on some of the poems are in the 1970s. His penmanship was beautiful and they are a joy to read.                                     

My Ambition

by Virgil W. Ledford

I wish I could make the world so happy,

That it would laugh, ‘till it would cry.

Then I could hope that well, just maybe,

Someone would love me ‘till I die.

Then after that, perhaps a prayer,

To help me safely over there;

Until at last, when I shall arrive,

‘Tis then my soul shall come alive.

I stole a dream from Heaven,

For I knew, it would come true;

God smiled when he saw me take it,

Then he changed that dream into you.

Your heart is no good, ‘til you lose it,

Somewhere along life’s way;

And a smile is no good, if you don’t use it,

Many times each and every day.

Julie (Stout) Crim ‘57

Yuma, AZ

Subject: [The Panther Den] School -- August 4, 2006

from Linda (Meltzer) Harris

Hi Everyone,

  It's that time of year again when it seems everyone's thoughts are on returning to school . . . some with enthusiasm and some with dread. I remember that the Indiana State Fair was always the last week of August and then school started the day after Labor Day.

  The fair was always a highlight of our life. I remember my uncle, who lived in Wabash would come and take my cousin and me to Indianapolis early in the morning and then Uncle Charlie and Aunt Helen would come after work. Uncle Tom would drive his Dodge automobile which had a beautiful red and white striped marble gear shift. It always took a flip of the coin to see who would get to sit next to the gear shift and shift the gears while Uncle Tom pushed the clutch in at the proper time.

  We would travel down SR 37 and would admire the new houses that were being built on the west side of the road. Bedford stone was really in style at that time and we always drove slowly past these sites. A house in the woods . . . ahh!

  Going to the fair also served the purpose of breaking in new shoes. My cousin and I would get new shoes for school and invariably, we wore them to the fair to get them more comfortable. Remember the movie about the Red Rider gun and, "You'll put your eye out"? Our comment on breaking in the shoes was, "You're gonna get blisters!" and we sure did. I especially liked to get loafer shoes and my dad thought that was awful. He was sure they would ruin my feet. I thought they were a whole lot better than those god-awful oxfords that he thought were cool. I begged so hard for a pair of loafers one year and I haven't been able to throw them out yet.

  One time at the fair, there was a terrible storm and the officials were afraid that the cattle would stampede and run everyone down. This was before the cattle barn was built and so my dad and my uncles went to assist trying to hold the big tent in place until the storm was over. It was a terrible lightning type storm and I know we didn't get home until after midnight that evening.

  Later, when I was in high school, our group of friends would twist Herman Hocker's arm until he would agree to take us to the fair on his bus. He would let us out by the Tee Pee restaurant and then Sara Jane Richards' dad would pick us up after the show that evening. Funny how it would take us a bus to get there and yet we would all pile in Mr. Richards' Ford three deep (or so) to ride back home.

  We would go first thing to get our tickets for the evening performance and what a thrill. We saw Tennessee Ernie Ford and because there was such a sell out, we managed to get fold-up chairs just below the stage for $1.25. It was rather ironic that the governor was seated in "front row" seats directly behind us and Nat King Cole's wife Maria was seated just in front of us with their two little girls. Ernie sang his heart out and our favorite was "16 Tons." Ernie had such a powerful voice that he didn't even need a microphone! Our Mr. Brugger did a great rendition of "16 Tons" for us whenever we could get him in the notion.

  I remember seeing Julius LaRosa on the Easy Gwynn Show which traveled to the fairgrounds.

  There was something about the smell of the fair -- cooked corn on a cob, the candied apples, the fries... Guess we always knew when it was fair time when the tomatoes came to town to be cooked at Fettig's. The leaves were on the verge of turning their glorious colors, the kids were all ready in their jeans, white shirts and a colored neck tie and saddle oxfords with plaid shoestrings. Once there was a fad to have a dog collar with bells on them around your ankle. Guess that was to warn parents when the kids were coming around!

  Well - I need to go see what's in the fridge . . . a big red juicy Indiana tomato would be so nice! Or a Wolff's breaded tenderloin . . . ooh dear.

Linda (Meltzer) Harris '57
DeBary, FL

  PS -- Sounds like you all should come south - where it is a cool 94º!!!! [04Aug2006]

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