A couple of weeks ago Steve Pu, Mike Walker and I played in a golf tournament in Dexter. When the pairings for the Saturday round were announced the starter called out the three-person team we were playing with "Nash, Nash and Nash," he said.

Nash turned around and said, "Hi, I'm Roger Nash."

I recognized the former superintendent immediately.

Roger was superintendent of schools here for one year, 1996-97. He's retired now and lives just outside of Rolla. Roger, his wife, Kim, a first grade teacher here that year and son J.D., were playing in their first Ron Hill Memorial Golf Tournament.

Roger said he is retired now and they travel around the state playing in different golf tournaments throughout the summer. Mike was familiar with him, having played against Roger and Kim in several other tournaments.

They asked about several folks from here and from their questions have kept up with the school news pretty well.

J.D. will be a high school junior next year. He started first grade here and his mother reminded him he also got his second spanking here. Dad got him once in kindergarten and mom got him next year.

J.D.'s a pretty good golfer. His freshman year he finished second in the state and was seventh as a junior. They out-shot us on Saturday, but I don't know how they finished up for the weekend.

On Sunday we were paired with the pride and joy of Malden's David Black.

The threesome we played with consisted of David Crank, son-in-law of the esteemed Mr. Black, Kyle Black, son of Allen and their partner. I believe his name was Paul Slovan.

You can decide for yourself, or ask David, which one of these guys is the pride and which one is the joy.

David is a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper and a Malden native. He works the upper end of Troop E in Madison and Iron counties. Steve, Mike and I decided that the roadway between the two golf courses in David's zone is probably the most well patrolled of any in the entire state.

Interesting read

Jerry Stillman dropped off an interesting monthly newspaper/tabloid that a friend of his publishes over in Virginia. I immediately liked the slogan of The Rockbridge Advocate - "Independent As A Hog On Ice."

Maybe not

The following was excerpted from James Taranto's online column Best of the Web, the online version of Opinion Journal and The Wall Street Journal.

"Great Moments in Conference Planing.

"International Conference on partnerships to enhance tourism safety and security in the Middle East and North Africa"--title of U.N. World Tourism Association meeting scheduled for Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 30-31."

New toy

Several weeks ago I told you about Damon Richardson's new boat. Regular readers will recall Damon got a new boat just a couple of years ago, but promptly put it on the bottom of the lake on its maiden voyage. He later tried to use it as a dredging tool on the Black River. So, while that new boat's stay at the Richardson's household was brief, it was none the less eventful.

Damon brought himself a new bright red boat this spring. I've never seed this boat, but those who have just rave about how nicely equipped it is.

Rumor has it that Damon put the best of everything on his new rig. He's got it ready to catch everything from a crappie to a bass to a marlin. And I don't think there are any fish that size around here, but apparently this guy's going to be ready if he sees one.

He's got a nice fancy radio, probably even a CD player on it. I think he has a satellite hookup that will connect him with the state conservation department so he'll know where the fish are biting on any particular body of water at any particular time.

One of his friends even suggested Damon might have a DVD player and a plasma TV stashed away somewhere on board, but he couldn't be sure.

Curiously, for a guy who seems to have trouble with boats and the rocks and tree limbs at the bottom of the water, one gadget Damon doesn't seem to have is a depth finder. Now it occurs to me that if Damon had possessed a depth finder on the boat he bought a couple of years ago he might not have sunk it or might not have skipped it half way up the Black River.

Several days ago Damon was visiting a friend on Norfolk Lake when this friend showed him a depth finder. Apparently Damon was amazed at all the information this particular device could give him. To this ol' boy's credit, he immediately decided he had to have one.

There are a bunch of people who will breath easier now knowing that Damon has a depth finder on his boat: his friends that occasionally go out with him on the lake, his wife, Rebecca who will let him take number one son Ryan out in the boat, his parents, Glen and Judy (did they really buy Damon a life jacket for Christmas last year?), and of course his insurance agent.

Bud Hunt is publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.