2O
Life in the Slow Lane
SPIRIT OF JEFFERSON Farmer's ADVOCATE -- THURSDAY, JULY 14, 188
Gone Fishin '
? .
When the temperature crested at 102
degrees last Sunday, most sensible
people were inside, enjoying the cool
comforts of air-conditioning. But
naturally, me being me, I was doing
something else.
I was meandering aimlessly as I
often do, this time along the Potomac
River outside of Shepherdstown, when
" I suddenly happened upon a little
building that looked like it was lost in
the middle of nowhere. A sign out front
touted it as the Bait and Tackle Shop.
Naturally my curiosity got the best of
me. I stopped•
The owners, Don and Wyvonna
Burkett, claim to have met a lot of in-
teresting characters at their wayside
landing, but I'll bet none more in-
teresting than themselves. They
couldn't have been more down-to-
earth than the big 'ol bumble bee I
stepped on with my hare foot last
week.
And so it came to pass that the three
of us wiled away that Sunday after-
noon, swappin' tales, swattin' flies,
and watchin' the grass burn brown•
Don and Wyvonna have been
operating their Morn and Pop tackle
shop ever since they moved to this side
CHESTNUT HILL
Patsy Everhart
Dial 725-8608
Happy birthday wishes go to Jill
Grove, who celebrated her sixth bir-
thday Friday with a party given by her
parents, Jeff and Donna Grove. Those
who helped to celebrate the occasion
were Jerry and Elaine Grove, Earl
Bramhall, Mandy Thomas, Vickey
Wilt, and Brandy Grove. Jill received
many nice and useful gifts.
Lester and Pauline Wilt were
visitors Friday with Jeff and Donna
Grove and Jill.
Jeff and Donna Grove and Jill, and
Vickey Wilt were weekend visitors of
Jerry and Elaine Grove.
Vickey Wilt and Mandy Thomas
were visitors Saturday with Jeff and
Donna Grove and Jill.
Jeff and Donna Grove and Mark and
Tonia Springs enjoyed the weekend at
Hershey Park, Pa.
Ellen Wilt and Missy Grove were
visitors Saturday evening with Jerry
and Elaine Grove.
Brenda Grove, Brandy and Tiffany,
were visitors Sunday with Jerry and
Elaine Grove.
Roxanne Talton spent Sunday night
with Jeff and Sharon Hetzell, Jada and
Buck, Jefferson Avenue.
Dinner guests Sunday with George
and SOd Talton and Roxanne, were
Dennis and Cindy Crawford and Den-
ny, Malcoma Talton, and Jada and
Buck Hetzell.
George and Sed Talton and Rox-
anne, Malcoma Talton and Jada
Hetzell were visitors Sunday with
Charles and Gloria Talton, Frederick,
Md.
George and Sed Talton and Roxanne
were visitors Sunday evening with Jeff
and Sharon Hetzell, Jada and Buck.
A cookout was held Monday at the
home of Dennis and Cindy Crawford
and Denny, Millville. Those attending
were George and Sed Talton and Rox-
anne, Jada and Buck Hetzell, Randy
and Carol Talton, Gene and Maxine
Wright, Craig and Cindy Wright, Erik
and Missy Hetzell and children, and
Junior and Virginia Milbourne.
Jerry and Mac Nick, Richie and
Wesley, and Peg Nick, were visitors
Sunday with Dave and Tami Nick and
Ashley, Brunswick, Md.
Jerry and Mac Nick and sons aRend-
ed a party Sunday for Nicole
Longerbeam's first birthday. She is
the daughter of Wayne and Debbie
Longerbeam, Arcola, Va.
Jerry and Mac Nick and sons, and
Cliff and Judy Wilson, Jason and Beth,
attended a cookout Monday at the
home of Charles and Mary Gray.
Danny and Donna Everhart, Mar-
sha and Erik, enjoyed Wednesday at
Luray Caverns, Front Royal, Va.
Tina Grove spent Thursday night
with her grandmother, Ethel Breeden,
Shepherdstown.
Eric and Karen Rickard and Erica,
and Jean Rickard enjoyed Saturday at
Kings Dominion.
Lyle and Diane Cook were visitors
Saturday with Edgar Everhart, Wan-
da and Angle.
° Mary Showalter, Gary and Robert,
were dinner guests Saturday with
Gilbert and Mary Staubs.
DIRECTOR OF LWV
Becky Cain, a resident of St. Alhans,
W.Va., has been elected to a director-
ship of the League of Women Voters
of the United States at the league's
convention in Denver June 11 to 15.
A former president of the league in
the Charleston area and later of the
West Virginia League, Cain was
elected to national office by the 1,500
delegates in attendance at the conven-
tion. She is the first West Virginian
elected to the national board since the
1960's.
Other convention delegates from
West Virginia included State President
Nancy Novak, of Vienna, and Karen
Lukens, Lois Kauffelt, Lila Hill and
Lee DeFabio, all of Charleston.
The family of the late John and
Pearl "Cinnamon" Wilson held a fami-
ly reunion Saturday at Clearbrook
Park in Virginia.
A cookout was held Monday at the
home of Marshall and Gayla Grove,
Gary, Machelle and Marshall. Atten-
ding were Terry and Sherry Kelican
and Curt, James and Inez Wilson and
grandson, Nicolas, Clifford and Peggy
Wilson, Betty Crib and Mitch, Lisa
Wilson, Pete and Judy Wilson and
Dean, and Mark Nicholas.
James and Inez Wilson and grand-
son, Nicolas, Harlan, Ken., spent a
week with Marshall and Gayla Grove,
Gary, Machelle and Marshall.
Bill and Petrinia Howell, Melissa
and Aaron, Shelia Mobley, Tommy,
Michael and Matthew, Roger Howell,
Dawn Harding, and Ollie Baer, Jr., at-
tended a cookout Monday at the home
of Harland and Elsie Anderson,
Ranson.
Visitors during the week with Dearl
and Genevieve Grove were Bobby
Longerbeam, Louise Howell, Danny
ridgely, Gerald and Ann Grove, Jim-
my and Christine Grove, Rickey
Longerbeam, Sandra Higgs, Sherry
Kelican and Curt, and Glen and An-
tionette Everhart.
Percilla Marcus and children, Shan-
nondale, were visitors Thursday with
Petrinia Howell and Melissa.
A cookout was held Monday at the
home of Sherman and Dorothy Grove,
Keith, Bruce and Chris. Attending
were BrianGrove and Amanda, Dan-
ny and Sharon Ott, Tracey, Shannon
and Daniel, Tricia Coulter, Louise
Howell and Danny Ridgely•
Paul Cogle, Jeri Everhart, Billy
Grove, Jeff Cogie and Marty Staubs
attended the motorcross speedway
races Sunday held in Hagerstown.
Cliff and Judy Wilson, Jason and
Beth, were visitors Wednesday with
Peg Nick•
Happy birthday wishes go to Johnny
Wilson, who celebrated his birthday
Sunday with a party given by his wife,
Susie and Shane. Those who helped to
celebrate the occasion were Cliff and
Judy Wilson, Jason and Beth, Charlie
and Hattie Wilson and Sam, Lee and
Anita Trout and Amanda, Floyd and
Sharon Nick and Amber, Clifford and
Peggy Wilson, Jim and Sherry Trout
and Travis, • James and Janice
Popkins, Richie Nick, and Danny
Nick.
Weekend visitors with Mrs. Leona
Staubs were Raymond and Ellen Cole,
Vernon and Margie Staubs, Donald
and Anna Belle Staubs, Mrs. Austin
Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Dirk Staubs and
children, Beverly Jackson and
daughter, Rhoda Fetty and Kristin,
and Harold and Delma Staubs and
Patty.•
Happy anniversary and best wishes
go to Gilbert and Mary Staubs, who
celebrated their 33rd wedding anniver-
sary Monday, July 11. They are the
parents of five children, Mary, Ann,
John, Sonny, and Kenneth.
Marshall and Gayla Grove and
grandson, Curt, James and Inez
Wilson and grandson, Nicholas, en-
joyed Wednesday at the pet farm,
Resten, Va.
Gayla Grove, Machelle and Cm-t,
Betty Wilson, Inez Wilson and
Nicholas, enjoyed Thursday at Inner
Harbor, Baltimore, Md.
WEDDING BELLS
Congratulations and best wishes go
to Doug and Kimberly (Buford) Shaf-
fer, Berryville, Va., were united in ho-
ly matrimony Saturday, July 9, at 2
p.m., at Grace Episcopal Church, Ber-
ryville. The bride is the daughter of
Gerald Buford and the late Betty
Buford. Tbe groom is the sen d Wealey
and Nancy Shaffer. Jeremy Estep,
nephew of the bride, was ring bearer.
The reception followed at the church
fellowship hall. They left for Virginia
Beach on their honeymoon.
Tommy and Tammy Estep and
Jeremy, and Carolyn Cogle attended
the wedding Saturday of Dong and
Kimberly Shaffer.
of the river. Previously they had liv-
ed in Henry Ton, Md., with Den work-
ing for years as a stationary engineer
running the heating boilers at a men-
tal retardation facility.
Time caught up to Den, and perhaps
in some ways it was a blessing in
disguise for him and Wyvonna. Five
years ago be came down with em-
physema, due not only to his smoking
but also to prolonged working condi-
tions in an asbestos filled environ-
ment. DOn was forced into disabled
retirement- Wyvonna had sugar
diabetes, too -- but maybe that's when
this engaging couple found out what
living was all about. They were forc-
ed to move, and their better sense of
direction took them across the
Potomac River to West Virginia.
Says Den simply, "I can live and
breathe better here. We're happy."
I guess so. That's because they're
doing exactly what they want to do,
which is fishing every day and enjoy-
ing the company of good friends and
neighbors. Running the store is just an
excuse to meet people and see who can
tell the biggest fish story. Like the guy
who had been in the store the day
before.
"This fella stopped in yesterday. I
can't tell you his name 'cause I'd like
to keep him as a friend, but before he
went out on the water he was about as
fish hungry as a man can get," began
Don with a grin. "Well, he came back
a few hours later, empty-handed, so I
asked him what happened. The fella
told me he caught plenty of fish all
right, a whole stringer full of 'era, but
when he got the boat back to shore he
decided it was too blazing hot to clean
'era so he let 'em all go, or so he says,"
winked Don• "I'll tell you this, if it's
too hot to clean fish, it's too durn hot
to he fishing in the firsplace," he con-
cluded with a hearty laugh•
"Like right now, it's too hot to be
fishing in the middle of the day," ask-
ed Don, watching the heat waves roll
off the street. "But let me tell you,
when the shadow of that big 'ol
Sycamore falls across that vegetable
patch over yonder," he said, gesturing
at a huge tree and a small garden
beyond it, "you know it's time to start
gettin' ready to put the boat in the
water."
I asked this sportsman how many
fish he's taken out of the Potomac.
., "TrillionS," he said with a straight
face. "Why, I've even hauled in
20-pound carp right here in my front
yard."
I swatted another fly. Sure, I stirred
the air a bit, but not enough to cool the
hot air from this tall tale.
Maybe Den was waiting for me to
roll my eyes around, because when I
did he continued with amusement•
"Yes sir, it was just this past May,
after we had all that rain and high
water• Why, the water came to within
30 feet of where we're sittin' this very
moment! And over there in the
brush," he said, pointing past the veg-
gie patch, "Wyvonna and I could hear
the carp splashing around all day long.
j
Don and Wyvonna Burkett relax on the front porch of
their bait and tackle shop and inside their establishment
in the photo below.
( PhotOS
f
j
They were everywhere in the woods !"
Sure, I thought. But don't expect me
to bite at this fish story, 'cause I'm not
even going to nibble at it.
Don and Wyvonna read my mind.
because Wyvonna disappeared into
the back and soon reappeared with
photographs showing them fishing in
the front yard, complete with photos
of the spawning carp caught in httle
sink holes near where we were sitting•
Maybe they weren't pulling my leg
with their story, but they sure gave it
a good tug.
Don promised to take me fishing
with him whenever I gave him a call,
even in the dead of winter. "We'll get
some bread to fetch minnows with,
then go out and get all the bass,
bluegill, crappie and catfish you can
carry," he promised. "Some people
might think I'm crazy for fishin' every
day of the year like I do, but I figure
if you love somethin' you can take it
or leave it." He shrugged, then
answered his own thought with a wide
grin. "I take it."
I'm going to take Don up on his of-
fer. Not because he has a reputation
for being one of the best fishermen
around the county, someone who's
always known to take home a full
stringer of fish regardless of bone-
chilling cold or sauna-like heat. Or
because he might bring me some luck,
since I already know that whenever I
go fishing there must be something
wrong with my pole or the fish are pro-
bably taking a siesta, 'cause they're
never around when I am.
No, I think I'll go fishing with Don
just for the easy conversation. I like
folks who don't need a lot of material
things to be happy, and Don and
Wyvonna are
py growing a
mg an occasional
just sittin'
swattin' flies.
"We love living
Wyvonna happi:
the finest neighbors
friends, clean air, a
the river, you
contentedly.
"And don't
fishing everyday," i
sir, I guess you
all."
My fiance will
this (she's
"real" job), but
and Wyvonna
Theirs is the
story I like to
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