March 2007                                                   The Megaphone                                                       Page 6

Franklin College: A Tradition

by Cindy (Benedict) Odom

Franklin College is named on behalf of Benjamin Franklin and has his statue standing in front of it. We have lived here since 1982 and as long as we've been here, submissive Ben seems to get quite decked out from time to time. In part because of the senior graduating classes. They always paint him in very nice colors.

I would drive to work and pass the college every morning. Ben would be painted and decorated and when I would leave work and drive by the college, men would be out washing him off. But usually the bath was short lived. Within a few days, Ben would be decorated once more. For years now, this seems to be a tradition. And eventually Ben would stand painted and decorated for a long time. With the cleaning crew finally giving up and waiting to wash him off after allowing the town to catch a glimpse of Ben in all of his glory.

Ben never seemed to get painted in a distasteful or offensive manner. The paint is not permanent and he is never damaged. He is not painted out of disrespect in any way. He seemed to get decorated for a variety of events. Graduation, Fourth of July, Labor Day . . . and many other times down through the years. This is something that is going to happen without fail. People here have grown to expect Ben to get painted and decorated in some way and for some event.

As I recently drove past the college, good old Ben was delightfully painted yet once more. He looked like an Indianapolis Colt player. He even sported a helmet and blue wardrobe. I haven't been by in a few days, I wonder if the cleaning crew have been out to give him a bath yet? And so it goes, and this will probably remain a tradition for as long as the statue of Benjamin Franklin remains in front of Franklin College.

Cindy (Benedict) Odom, '69

Ode To A Compulsive Sears Shopper
by Cindy (Benedict) Odom

Be it winter, spring, summer or fall,
He likes to go to our local mall.

He will go inside to do some shopping,
Perhaps he has trees in need of some chopping.

Or maybe he lost his good Craftsman socket,
That fell out of the jeans with the badly ripped pocket.

It just might have been that he jammed up his drill,
He should have been looking where his coffee would spill.

Even his hammer did make him a wreck,
One day it just broke while he was fixing the deck.

No matter the excuses I've been getting for years,
If I can't find my husband...
He is shopping at Sears.