As a community journalist, I’m always looking for unique and different stories.
       A week ago I saw a post on Facebook about young mister Coyce McNaul who attended the College World Series in Omaha with his grandparents, Jim and Bev Smothers.
      When their grandchildren turn 12, they take each of them for a one or two day trip. Coyce, who isn’t quite 12, wanted to go to a world series baseball game.
    While watching a game between Tennessee and Florida State, Coyce caught a home run ball hit by Volunteer first basemen Blake Burke in the top of the ninth inning.
      The catch was caught on television and his mom, Mindy, saw the catch from Montezuma. Check out the complete story in this week’s edition.
      I enjoy interviewing young people as they have some of the best stories and experiences.
     Talking with Coyce reminds me of back in the day when I played baseball.
     I was in the first or second grade and played for the Lanier Lions at my elementary school, Sidney Lanier, in Tulsa.
     I was scared of the ball and would stand in the outfield hoping that it wouldn’t come my way. All I wanted was the win and the cold Pepsi all the players received after the game.
     My next door neighbor, Mr. Belknap, who I called Mr. Bell, was a big baseball fan.
    He grew up in the small town of Harris, Iowa in Osceola County in the northwest part of the state. Born in the late 1890s, Mr. Bell left Iowa to attend college at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth.
      Just the thought that he was able to attend college in that day and age is amazing to me.
     He met his wife, Blanche, while working for the Pinkerton Agency in Texas. He later sold advertising on ink pens, keychains, rulers, calendars and much more.
     I always enjoyed raiding his garage and taking home many of his old samples. I don’t have any of them these days and have know idea what happened to them.
      The couple were married for 60 years and lived many of those years in Tulsa.
     Mr. Bell had season tickets to the Tulsa Oilers baseball games. The Oilers were a minor league team that existed on-and-off in multiple leagues from 1905 to 1976.
      The team’s stadium was three levels and had circle ramps. It was near the Tulsa Fairgrounds and less than a mile from my boyhood home.
     In April 1977, part of the stadium collapsed during a major league exhibition game. It had started raining and fans had sought cover on the ramps, causing the stadium to collapse. Thankfully, no one was killed in the incident, which injured 17 people and children.
     The Tulsa Oilers became the Tulsa Drillers that same year and moved to a new stadium one-half mile east.
In 2010, they moved into their new home, ONEOK Field in downtown Tulsa.
     Anyway, I used to go to some of the old Oilers games and later the Drillers games in the 1970s with Mr. Bell. One year when I was a little fellow, he bought me a mini baseball bat, which I still have to this day. I keep it in my dresser drawer.
      I spent many days at the Belknaps home playing dominos with Mr. Bell in his office on an old card table. He had a nice set of white double six dominos.
     When I was age 7, my parents bought me a new bicycle. Every day after school, I would go to Mr. Bell’s house and feed the birds. He had a trash can lid he used for a feeder and a water bath in his backyard.
      On my birthday, I went to his garage and opened the door and there was shiny new red bicycle.
I don’t know if I got the birds fed that day.
      I always mowed Mr. Bell’s yard when I mowed our yard. Our front yards connected, so it was just easier to mow both of them at the same time. I even mowed his backyard many times through the years. 
     And many times when I would stop to see the Belknaps, Mr. Bell would cook me a batch of popcorn with butter on the stove. We’d set at the table and eat it together and talk.
    He had an old step stool that doubled as a seat. I would sit on it while he cooked the popcorn. Every so often, when I wasn’t looking or thinking about it, he’d cup his hand and slap me on the knee.
I would jump six inches off the seat and yell, “Ouch.”
     I have lots of good memories of boyhood days hanging out with the neighborhood kids, playing the piano, going on family vacations and just enjoying life.
     For some of us, we need to take life a bit easier, slow down and take time to enjoy it. There’s always going to be work to do and busyness going on in this world.
      Turn on a game, cook a batch popcorn and enjoy an afternoon of rest and relaxation. Your body will thank you!
       vHave a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.

​       The places I go, the things I do and the people I meet!
       Life is amazing.
      I attended the “Wave Fore the Kids” Golf Tournament at the Montezuma Country Club on Saturday, June 15. The event was a fundraiser for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.
      Herky the Hawk, the University of Iowa mascot, was in Montezuma and I had a chance to meet and have my photo taken with him.
     I just happened to be wearing my Oklahoma Sooners ball cap. Herky saw it, pulled it off my head and acted as if he was rubbing the name off the front. He even gave it a couple squeezes under his armpit and then gave it back to me.
      He was a good sport about it. I decided to wear my ball cap backwards for the photo. Maybe I should have worn my Mizzou Tiger ball cap.
      That was my first time meeting Herky and it made for a fun Saturday.
     There were a lot of nice folks and all the volunteers were great. I pitched in a few dollars and enjoyed lunch while at the golf course.
     Herky was posing for photos with kids and adults alike and having fun with everyone. He even took a golf cart loaded with youngster and tooled around the course meeting the golfers and having pictures taken.
     It was an awesome event that raised an estimated $30,000 for the children’s hospital. A big thanks goes out to Siraj Thomason, farmer and owner of the Longhorn Saloon in nearby Barnes City, and all those who worked hard to make this event possible.
    I’ve met the Iowa State Cyclone mascot and saw the Kansas Jayhawks mascot from afar. I also saw the Sooner mascot some years ago at an OU vs. Kansas basketball game in Norman. I once met the Washington Redskins mascot many moons ago after going to a Monday Night football game that pitted the Dallas Cowboys and Redskins in Dallas.
      Dallas thumped the Redskins, 44-0.
      It happened that the Redskins mascot was staying in the same motel as I was and I got a chance to meet him the next day after the game.
     I saw his limo parked outside by his room and the next morning I asked the desk clerk who was staying there. She told me the Redskins mascot and then asked me if I wanted to meet him.
      “Sure,” I said.
       She called him in his room and he said to send me down.
      I ended up buying a Washington “Hogs” T-shirt, a Redskins ball camp and ink pin, all for about $30. That was a lot of money back in the 1980s.
      Anyway, I enjoy golf and have watched numerous games on television through the years, but only recall playing the game once back in the day with a friend in Tulsa.
      LaFortune Park in south Tulsa had a lighted nine-hole golf course. My good friend, Scott, and I decided to play a round.
      I’d played a lot of miniature golf, but never the real game, and never at night.
      My friend grabbed his set of old clubs and off we went.
      I was wanting to look and act like as if I knew what I was doing. So, I grabbed an iron and begin working on my stoke as I waited to tee off.
      I got a little too close to the dirt and knocked a divot of God’s creation from its resting spot and hit a fellow in the side of the head.
     “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I kept telling the fellow as he shook the dirt from his hair.
     I’m thankful I didn’t hurt him, and even more thankful that he didn’t punch me in the nose.
     I’ve covered state boys’ golf here in Iowa and while a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, I was sent on assignment to cover golf as a staff photographer with the Columbia Missourian at one of Columbia’s finest courses. I show up with a camera and a 300mm lens to capture the action.
     I might have gotten a few good photos, but nothing worth writing home about. I do OK when players tee off or are putting on the green, but have a tough time covering golf.
    I would much rather watch golf on television and spend my time covering football and basketball. Even then I have to keep an eye out for players getting too close to the sidelines.
      Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.

       While checking out the nice variety of cars and pickups at the annual Brooklyn Ruritan Car Show last Sunday, I discovered a customized 1967 C-10 Chevrolet truck. It was decked out with a bright coat of red paint, custom wheels and an aftermarket big block Chevrolet engine with lots of chrome.
        It reminded me of the time my parents bought a brand new 1967 white Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck from Bradley Chevrolet in Broken Arrow, Okla.
       The truck featured a 283 cubic-inch engine with two-barrel carburetor and a three speed on the tree and no air conditioner. And it had a pushbutton AM radio.
       Every now and then I would sit in the truck and turn on the key and listen to the radio. I didn’t listen long as I was afraid I’d run the battery down.
      Our first trip right after buying the truck was to Six Flags over Texas in Dallas. I remember we stayed in a motel and my mom took me swimming in the pool.
       A couple weeks after buying the truck, my parents bought a Chief brand shell camper with a walk-in door. My mom had three beds made in the back and ordered three customized mattresses to fit the beds, which were narrower than a standard twin mattress.
      We stored our Pepsi ice chest and Coleman cooking stove, picnic basket and our luggage under the beds. My younger brother, Tom, slept on a mat in between the beds.
      I can still hear my dad. “Load and unload, that is all I do,” he’d say while putting our camping gear in the truck.
       We took many trips in that truck through the years including traveling to San Diego, Calif. in August 1975 to see my mom’s cousin. We drove across the Arizona desert with no air conditioning. The trip also included a stop at Disneyland in Anaheim. In August 1972, we traveled to Niagara Falls on both the Canadian and America sides; and we traveled to Nashville where we visited Opryland in 1974.
      We didn’t get to attend the Grand Ole Opry because the truck broke down and it was in the shop at a gas station about 100 miles west of Nashville. The mechanic got us going again, but it was too late to get opry tickets.
    We took many trips to Southeast Missouri, where my mom was born and raised, to see family and go camping and fishing. I remember one trip when we left late and hadn’t quite made it the Bootheel of Southeast Missouri and had to stop for the evening at a campground. It was about 400 miles from Tulsa to the Bootheel.
      My dad said he wasn’t dragging all the cooking gear out that late, so we stopped at a nearby restaurant for supper. I saw another family enjoying a pizza, so I ordered one and ate the whole thing.
      We also took the truck to see family in Alabama and Mississippi and on our trip to Niagara Falls, we spent a few days with my mom’s uncle in Flint, Mich.,  who was a retired GM employee.
      I was just shy of my 13th birthday at the time. My mom’s uncle lived in a rural area outside of Flint and up the street I saw some neighborhood boys playing baseball. I asked if could join them and they welcomed me. I wasn’t too good at hitting the ball, so those boys let me swing until I hit it and ran the bases. I will always remember their kind gesture and generosity. To them, it wasn’t about winning or losing, it was a game and everyone was welcome.
      We also made a stop at the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Mich. where we enjoyed a shortened version of a company tour. We arrived just after the last tour, so the staff gave us the shortened tour because we had driven so far from Oklahoma. I received a 3D baseball card that was being put in the cereal on the tour. The guide took it right from the machine.
     One year we went camping and fishing at Grand Lake northeast of Tulsa when I was about age 10. I went fishing and caught a huge fish. I was so excited that I dropped my fishing pole before getting the fish reeled in. My dad stepped into the edge of the water and grabbed the pole before the fish took it into the lake. It was four-pound carp. My mom cleaned it and we ate it for supper.
      We also camped and fished a number of times at Greenleaf Lake southeast of Tulsa near Muskogee and also at Oologah Lake northeast of Tulsa. My dad could sit on the riverbank all day with a line in the water. Even if he didn’t catch any fish, he loved being outdoors and finding folks to visit with him.
       In talking with the owners of the customized truck, the fellow told me that it was an old farm truck with a hayrack. He had planned to rebuild the engine, but opted instead to by a crate engine because it cost about the same. A crate engine is a fully assembled engine that is sold as a standalone product, and comes in a wooden crate.
       I think the truck won a special award at the car show.
      It also brought back lots of good memories of time spent with family fishing and going on vacation. I hope you are able to enjoy some vacation time this summer with family. It is time well spent.
       Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.

         It was one of those life moments that I will never forget.
        On Saturday, I traveled to Ames with my oldest nephew, Gavin, to help man his Boer Certified Meat Goat booth at the farmer’s market.
        It’s good to have a second person on hand at these events to help out when needed.
        We left at 5:45 a.m. as everything had to be set up and in place before 8 a.m.
       We had a good day and I met some nice folks. I walked around the market twice and stopped and visited with people, including one vendor selling fresh vegetables who I talked with about being from the south and enjoying okra.
        “I love okra,” he told me.
        Unfortunately, he didn’t have any for sale.
       Another family from Ames was selling homemade ice cream made in White Mountain ice cream coolers powered by an antique John Deere small gas engine.
        The market lasted until 12:30 p.m.
       After packing up, we traveled to Duff Avenue in Ames to fuel up at Casey’s and eat lunch at B-Bops. The drive through eatery was closed, so we traveled a few blocks to Culver’s, one of my favorites.
       After getting lunch to go and heading home, we were at a stop light in Ames when Gavin said something to me about the time he and I traveled to Iowa City to attend a post card show and enjoy lunch. I believe that was 2015 as Gavin was 15 at the time.
        “I’m returning the favor and you are going with me,” he said.
It was a nice moment and reminded me of the importance of family. And it was icing on the cake of what was already a great day.
       On the way home, we had to make a stop in Newton at a family member’s home. When we pulled into the subdivision, we saw a sign for a garage sale and had to check it out. It ended up being three garage sales.
         I stopped at the first house and it was stocked with all kinds of goodies. I ended up buying seven antique cast iron seed planter plates to hang up in the garage with my dad’s old saws, old singletrees and other farm implements. I always wanted a few after seeing them in the red barn at Helm’s place north of Montezuma. 
       I also bought a nice antique buck saw and a fence post driver with handles, a must need on any farm with fencing. I think the one we have is borrowed, so now we have a nice one to keep and use.
       I then made my way across the street where I found some Denim Days figurines. We have a bunch of the Denim Days figurines at our house, and I thought the price was right and bought five more for $5 each. We have way too many, but a few more isn’t going to take up too much space. True words from a mild hoarder.
     After stopping at Gavin’s home in Montezuma and unloading, we headed to my mother-in-law’s place north of town to watch the end of the Oklahoma Sooner vs UCLA softball game.
       The Sooners won the game, 1-0, and have one more game to play on Monday against the Florida Gators for a chance to make it to the finals for the fourth straight year. UCLA played them tough, but the Sooners prevailed with the great pitching by Kelly Maxwell, a cross-state OSU Cowboys transfer.
        As Debbie said, “she had ice in her veins.”
        I’m happy to be living in Iowa, but I will always be proud and cherish my Oklahoma heritage. My parents did their best to teach me right from wrong and share with me the truth of the Good Book. They took me to church and taught me to be truthful. They also taught me the value of hard work and giving my best in everything I do.
        No matter where life takes me in the days ahead, my wife, family and friends love me and that makes life good.
        Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.

           One of the most aggravating things in life is no internet.
         Since we rely on the internet to tell us how to live life, it is unsettling and downright upsetting when it goes out.
           That has been the case in the Parker house over the last month, not once or twice, but four times.
         We’ve had the repair technician visit us the first two times the internet went out. He had to replace the modem both times after they both bit the dust. Our internet went out twice again. The third time was more broad and was fixed in a couple days without a visit by the technician.
        The fourth time, a week ago, I called the service folks after it went out again. They set up for service technician to stop after Memorial Day. I then received a phone call saying the issue was an identified network outage. I was told they would fix it and get us back in service soon.
          I’m still waiting.
          It seems like every time it rains or storms, our internet goes out.
        It’s getting a little bit ridiculous to have to keep calling the service folks so we can go about doing our daily business.
         It’s amazing how much we rely on the internet. 
     And of all times, it went out during the college softball super regionals and forth coming national championship tournament that gets under way this week.
      We’ve had to settle for watching the games on our cell phones using data.
        If we want to use the computer or watch a game on television, we have to turn on our hot spot on the cell phone. We have unlimited data on our cell phones, but not hot spot use.
       Debbie has already drained her hot spot use limit watching softball games and I’m about halfway through my limit doing newspaper work and working on freelance photography projects. Our hot spot use doesn’t reset until June 3.
         Being without internet is a good time to be thankful for what life has to offer or tackle a project or follow a dream. A little work in this department is much needed in my life.
          And in the scheme of life, there are so many things that are much more important than posting a photo or sending a message on Facebook.
         I admit, sometimes it’s kind of nice to have no social media. It’s gives me and I’m sure others a chance to find our way using an map or looking up what we need in a dictionary.
         I’ve done neither this week, but maybe I should. I do have an old set of encyclopedias in the basement that came with the house, but I haven’t cracked one of them open since moving here in 2006.
         Using these old-fashioned tools have become boring now that the world is at our fingertips thanks to the internet, which is currently out of service in the Parker house.
      I remember numerous times my mom would visit the AAA service in Tulsa getting directions for our annual August vacations. They actually had live people who helped you map out the best route on old-fashioned maps to get you where you wanted to go.
       We often left AAA carrying a white plastic bag filled with a dozen maps and numerous brochures for stops along the way, depending on our planned journey.
      Many tourist rest stops and hotels still have racks filled with brochures advertising area attractions and stops. When staying in a hotel, I usually take a few moments to check out the area offerings.
      We camped on our vacations in my dad’s 1967 Chevrolet S-10 with a shell camper on the back. My mom had three custom-made beds in the back. One for her, one for dad and one for me. My brother slept on a mat in the middle and we storied our suitcases and camping gear under the beds.
       KOA Campgrounds were our most used destinations on our travels.
      We had a KOA Campground in east Tulsa and my mom would drive there and pick up a catalog of all their campgrounds across America. That’s a very handy tool when traveling.
     A lot of that information is now available on the internet as is state maps, which surprisingly are still published.
     I usually pick up a new Iowa map each year at the Iowa State Fair and toss it in a pile somewhere just in case I need it, if I can find it.
     If you find yourself without the internet, take the time to get to know your neighbors and reconnect with your friends in person.
      You might actually like it.
      Now when is that internet repairman coming?
     Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.