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Ruralite CafeBy Lynn HotalingGetting started is always the hardest part |
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Some things never change. Just like when I was in school, the hardest part of writing anything original is coming up with a topic.
Occasionally one will fall in your lap, like Martin Cook and the Inspirations did two weeks ago, but more often a lot of effort is required. Lunchtime in the Cafe this week didn't have much to offer: Frosty was off hunting in Alabama and everyone else just wanted to rehash the Super Bowl. The meat loaf and mashed potatoes really hit the spot, though. Turning to the national papers, I gleaned several items of interest: - A new trial is scheduled this week in Ohio in connection with the notorious Sam Sheppard case, the basis for "The Fugitive" television series and movie. Dr. Sheppard's son is seeking to prove that the state of Ohio wrongfully imprisoned his father for a decade. Convicted of the murder of his wife in 1954, Sheppard served some 10 years of a life sentence before a second trial ended in an acquittal and set him free. He emerged a broken man who had to resort to appearances as a professional wrestler. That Sheppard's story inspired the television series and a movie that featured a train wreck shot in Dillsboro is apparently small consolation to his son. His father was treated unfairly, says Sam Reese Sheppard, and the state of Ohio should pay. The younger Sheppard may get some money, if he wins, but how can he ever be compensated for the fact that his father was imprisoned while he grew from a tot to a teen? - One of last week's contestants on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is complaining that he was treated unfairly by the show. The question was "Who was the youngest president at his inauguration?" Answers included Bill Clinton, Teddy Roosevelt, Ulysses Grant and John Kennedy. Bob Best's answer, Kennedy, was ruled incorrect and host Regis Philbin said Roosevelt was the right answer. However, Best is saying now that he knew Kennedy was the youngest elected and Roosevelt was the youngest to be sworn in (following the assassination of William McKinley), but he had never heard the word "inauguration" used in connection with Roosevelt's first oath-taking. He thought it was a trick question and chose Kennedy, he said. Officials at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation backed ABC, saying that they use "inaugurate" in the strict dictionary sense, "to induct an official into office with a formal ceremony," and that Teddy was inaugurated at a private home with some 50 persons present. - And speaking of "Millionaire," how many caught the reference to former Western Carolina head football coach Bob Waters? In a question during Saturday's pre-Super Bowl special show, Waters, WCU's coach from 1969 through 1988, was listed as a possible answer along with John Brodie, Steve Spurrier and Billy Kilmer. The question was, "Which player was not part of the 1961 San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Shuffle'?" The answer was Spurrier. He was too young, as the contestant correctly surmised. - While we're on the subject of Western, the university was named in an article in Feb. 1's USA Today about Patrick Henry College, a new four-year institution slated to open in Virginia next fall. It's primary mission, apparently, will be to serve students homeschooled for religious reasons who say they have difficulty finding a college with a satisfactory Christian foundation. Unfortunately, the mention of WCU came in a reference to current student Rebekah McDonald, who said she hopes to transfer to Patrick Henry. But at least they spelled Cullowhee correctly. |
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