Hadley Ford was in town last week. The retired farmer, although I suspect the pharmacist was around as well. Mr. Ford was the recipient of a Certificate of Appreciation for his contribution to the Veterans History Project.

The history project was created in 2000. The focus of the project is to collect and preserve stories from veterans who have served their country in times of war. According to the website, the primary focus is on gathering first-hand accounts of U.S. Veterans from the following 20th Century wars: World War I (1914-1920), World War II (1939-1946), Korean War (1950-1955), Vietnam War (1961-1975) Persian Gulf War (1990-1995) and the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts (2001-present).

Mr. Ford left me a note along with the certificate pointing out that he is a "94-year young retired cotton farmer, ex-4 year U.S. Navy CPO during WWII aboard the un-sinkable 'U.S.S. Prichett' DD#561 (all 4 years sea duty) survived several close combat missions where bullets and shrapnel were flying thicker than house flies around a bootlegger's illicit moonshine distilled in the woods along the river bank.

His parents, John M. and Viola Bell Ford sent five sons off to fight in WWII and "proudly displayed" five stars in the picture window of their home in Hornersville. Four of those stars were silver signifying the service of four who returned home safely, One gold star was placed in that window for Anderson Ford who lost his life in New Guinea.

The certificate was signed by U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, who represents Missouri's Fourth District.

The Veteran's History Project is yet another example of these men and women serving their country.

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A challenge

Professor Jules Mercier has been invited to attend the early morning Rotary Club. The professor has been known to state that anyone can sing with just a little bit of help.

I've heard this group. I don't know if they can blame it on the hour of the day, the caffeine not yet kicking in or lack of talent, but they might need more than just a little bit of help. In case you think I'm picking on them, most of the club's members tend to agree with that idea.

This year's hostess, Jessie Greenway is finding out what a challenge she has before her to get this group on key and keep them there.

Perhaps if the good professor can work his magic with the Rotarians he might get really serious and take on the Kiwanians and a bunch of Lions.

I don't believe LaFemme Club and Women for Kennett struggle with this like the predominately male civic groups. When women began joining once what had been the all-male civic groups several probably figured the singing, among other things, would improve. Guess the gals just got dragged down by the men.

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Getting older

The annual Beloit College Mindset List is out. That's the list which purports to remind us how much our culture has changed over the last two decades. What it really does is remind some of us how old we're getting. This was an AP story last week.

College freshman were born in 1988. For them disposable contact lenses have always been available. These young adults have known only two presidents - I guess that assumes they really didn't "know" 41.

"Google" has always been a verb to this group. The Soviet Union has never existed during their lifetime, only in books. There has only been one Germany. And remember that some people remember when there was one Germany before there were two and then reunited.

Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.

DNA fingerprinting has always been available as evidence in court. They have always searched for Waldo. Reportedly, a few of them have even found him. Television stations have never concluded their broadcast day with the National Anthem.

Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America.

Carbon copies are oddities found in their parents' attic.

Combining several of these items, we can observe that they have moved from faxing as a means of communication to e-mail to text messaging.

Reality shows have always been on television. They have never put their money in a "savings and loan." And finally, they have never had to distinguish between St. Louis Cardinals baseball team and a St. Louis Cardinals football team.

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Fussy eater

Parents are accustomed to their children having different eating habits. For most that means their prodigy not eating anything green or yellow. On occasion, however, a youngster will throw out a line that lets the parent know there's more thinking going into their child's eating habits than they think.

A Sunday ritual at the Mobley household involves dinner out after the morning service. A couple of weeks ago Will and Jill Mobley told their son, Joe, they were going out to the country club for the buffet. Joe's reply indicated he wasn't too interested in that bill of fare.

Joe told his parents he wasn't didn't really care to eat food that had "been picked over by the Methodists."

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Sign of the week

"Beat the Heat,

Come to Our 'Cool' Church"

First Baptist Church

Kennett, Mo.