Summertime in the late 1950s, when school was out in the head of the holler, meant working the crops and gardens. After that, the time was yours. For a bunch of young boys, they wanted to dam up the creek for a “swimming hole,” but the creek was too dry; so, no swimming hole.
Then they decided to form a holler Baseball team. Problem was, they had no bat, no ball, and no gloves. They then walked the 7 or 8 miles to Hoss Halbert’s sporting goods store, in Martin, to plead their case.
Coach Halbert was the coach of the high school baseball team. Thinking perhaps he might get a baseball player out of the bunch, he gave us a bat and ball. One baseball glove on the holler was found. It was owned by an Army Veteran, who gladly donated it to the team.
Nine boys, one glove.
It was decided the catcher (yet to be determined) would use the glove. The pitcher happened to be a lanky, skinny kid. They made a baseball field in a hay field, and they began to practice.
Now, Lester, a full-grown man who lived on the holler, had just returned to the holler after getting out of the Navy. Lester watched the boys and snickered at them.
The lanky, skinny pitcher was Kenneth and, at 13 years old, could hum the baseball, and none of the boys could hit ‘em. Lester finally quit snickering, grabbed the bat, and got in the batter’s box.
Kenneth whizzed one down the middle. Lester swung, missed, and smiled as if he was only fooling. Kenneth whizzed another one. This time Lester swung so hard, he missed and his hat flew off. That made us all snicker. Lester’s face got real, mad red!
On our team we had a real “smart alec” boy named Billy Dean. Kenneth, the pitcher who was calm, motioned to Lester to get back in the box. Lester stepped back, and Kenneth whizzed another one by him. This time Lester swung so hard, he fell down.
Then Billy Dean yelled out, “Lester, Lester, big as a tree…swings like a fat man, swatting at a bee.”
We all froze!
This time, Lester’s face was a burning red! Lester, with bat in hand, headed for Billy Dean. The rest of us boys ran for the hills.
Lester stopped dead in his tracks, dropped the bat, and got a hold of himself. He then smiled and waved to us all to come back down to him. At first, we were scared, especially ole Billy Dean. We started to creep towards Lester.
On the holler was Edna’s little one room store. She kept pop, peanuts, candy, and cigarettes. Lester smiled and said, “You boys, meet me at Edna’s store tomorrow at Noon.”
The next day, at noon, we were all at Edna’s store. Lester rode in on his horse. Sitting on top of his horse, Lester looked like a giant of a man.
Lester looked at Edna and said, “Give these boys a pop and the choice of candy or a pack of peanuts.”
Then Lester said, “Shoot, givem’ both candy and peanuts.”
In front of Edna’s store was a long wooden bench she called “Loafers Bench.” Lester instructed all of us boys to sit down on that loafer’s bench in front of him.
By the creek in front of Edna’s store was a large oak tree. Lester, pointing at the tree, said, “Boys, you see that big strong tree?”
Each of us nodded that we saw it.
Lester says, “That tree is big and strong because of its roots. Strong roots, strong tree. Makes for good timber.”
Lester goes on to tell us that when he joined the Navy, the biggest waters he ever saw was the Beaver Creek and the Big Sandy River. He said that the first time he saw the ocean, his first thought was to himself, “What in the world do they do when it rains a lot? Does the ocean flood?”
We all then decided we never wanted to see the ocean.
Lester then started talking about America and serving his country. Traveling around the world helped him to realize the importance of home, family, and his roots.
Pointing to the tree, Lester says, “That ole tree withstood the rain, sun, heat, and the cold of the Winters, all because of its roots.”
At that point, Billy Dean could no longer contain himself. He sprang to his feet and shouted, “Lester, Lester, big as a tree. He loves us and his country.”
We looked to see Billy Dean and Kenneth hugging Lester around the neck. Soon, all of us nine boys had Lester in a big ole bearhug.
Lester climbed on his horse, starting to ride away, and stopped to point back at the big old Oak Tree.
To this day, I can still remember him saying, “Always remember your roots and you’ll be a big strong ole tree!”
