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About Town

Weave these words into your vocabulary.

Au Courant – (o koo ren) well informed; up to date.

Mea culpa – my fault.

Jacob’s ladder – ladder made of rope, wire, etcetera, used on ships.

Jacob’s ladder – ladder from earth to heaven that Jacob saw in a dream.

Mazeltov – good luck or congratulations.

Paparazzi – free lance photographers.

Propitious – boding well, favorable.

Schizoid – quiet, introverted.

Somnambulism – sleepwalking.

Voluptuous – full, shapely, sensuous figure.

At a holiday dance, Chico the Disc Jockey let us know he is one of our regular readers. A word that caught his eye was “desultory,” as in a desultory conversation, one that lacks direct relevancy, but contains random observations. For a lively party, Chico is “The Man.”

Rick Smith hosted a late autumn shoot-out at Williams Country Club. Two foursomes participated. The host was somewhat erratic and not in top form, while I, too, was off stride and hacked it most of the way. In fact, I may have shot my social security number.Winners were Brad Clark, Cole Clark, Rudy Vajenic and Bob Crane, who out-played Rick Smith, Bernie Bish, Jim Craig and myself. The historic course, as always, was a treat for all.

Some interesting items from a friend in Ohio:

Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

The full name of Los Angeles is: El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula, and abbreviated? Simply L.A.

There is a city called Rome on every continent.

Siberia contains more than 25 percent of the world’s forests.

Woodward Avenue in Detroit is designated M-1, so named because it was the first paved road anywhere.

I was sorry to learn that the fabulous Statler Brothers retired. They ended their long career as one of the very best gospel quartets in history.

A shout-out to our good friend and former secretary at Weirton Steel Co., Virginia Roach of Steubenville, who is recovering from a broken hip sustained in a fall.

Then there was this football player who was so tough he came into this world in a three-point stance.

Good golf quote: “Every hole should be a hard par but an easy bogey.” – attributed to renowned course architect Robert Trent Jones.

Who said, “life is just one damned thing after another”? It was Elbert Hubbard, author and newspaperman.

Who’s reading what: Lorna Young, “Improper Influence,” a legal thriller; Susan Trader, “Black List”; and Linda Cattrell, “The Man Who Killed Kennedy.”

A couple of cleverly-worded signs sent by our readers:

On a plumber’s truck: “We repair what your husband fixed.”

At a tire shop in the Midwest: “Invite us to your next blowout.”

On a maternity room door: “Push. Push. Push.”

Here’s a verse by one of my favorite authors, Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959).

“The Proof of a Golfer”

The proof of the pudding’s the eating, they say,

But the proof of a golfer is not

The number of strokes which he takes in a day

Or the skill he puts into a shot;

There is more to the game than the scores which you make

Here’s a truth which all golfers endorse

You don’t prove your worth by the shots which you take

But the care which you take of the course!

And a little more of Edgar Guest:

Life is shaded, through and through

Mostly by man’s point of view.

Count your troubles – you’ll be sad!

Count your blessings – you’ll be glad!

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