We have a friend who is a very good writer, and she suggested that I might write about some of the folks who have influenced me.
Since she has put her writings in more than the one book I have, I should follow her advice. My biggest influence came from a city manager named Arthur Owens. He was the city manager in Roanoke, Va. When I was discharged from the army, he came down to Augusta, Ga. which was home to Ft. Gordon. He interviewed me and hired me as an assistant. That alone showed what kind of a man he was. It was a great position and normally candidates would have had to go to Roanoke for an interview. I often wondered why he came to see me, and I never did learn the reason. I worked for him for three and a half years. He was a very kind man and got along with everyone, except for two of the meanest city councilmen I have ever seen. He treated them the same as the other council members. One of his goals was to build a walkway along the river similar to one that existed in San Antonio, Texas. Each year he would build a little more of the walkway. One of his favorite expressions was, “You can eat an elephant, if you cut it up into enough pieces.”
Then, there was another of his favorites, Mill Mountain. You can drive to the top of the mountain directly from the city. There was a large white star on top of the mountain. It shown over the city as a nice beacon. However, if there was a traffic death he would change the color to red for a few days as a warning to people to be careful in their driving. In addition, believe it or not there was a colony of chipmunks on top of the mountain. Kids naturally enjoyed seeing them. The chipmunks seemed to enjoy the kids as much as kids enjoyed them. It has been a long time since we were in Roanoke, but I understand that the facilities are even better now.
Arthur and his wife Julia were a good influence on both The Blond in the House and I as they had a very happy marriage. Our first son was born while we were in Roanoke. Julia was as excited as we were waiting for the birth. As soon as our son was born, she zipped down to the hospital. She told the hospital folks that she was the grandmother so she could see our son. In those days they kept the mother in for a week. I think the birth cost us $15 which was obviously well worth it. It is too bad that the mean councilmen finally got Arthur. Roanoke lost a real treasure. However, he moved on to Furman University where he helped with its upgrading plans. I followed his work there for some time and he received nothing but praise!
Another piece of wisdom that Arthur gave me was to mention that if somebody offered me a position that paid $1000 more than I was making, I should take it. Well, one day I did, and I left to become a city manager in Elizabethtown, Pa. I used some of his concepts while there. E-Town was a nice community. When you walked down the streets, you could smell chocolate from the Klein chocolate factory. E-Town is only a short distance from Hershey. Klein helped Hershey get started, but they eventually became rivals. Hershey had their big nickel candy bar. Klein had their three cent Klein bar. Klein was bought out by Mars many years after we left. As everyone is aware, you cannot now obtain even a small chocolate bar for a nickel, let alone three cents.
Since then, I have had others who have influenced me. However, on a daily basis the winner is The Blond in the House. There is no one else close! That is especially true on Father’s Day when a rhubarb pie appears!
Barry Evans is a columnist for Villages-News.com.