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The Slice: Dumping out the reader mailbag
“I’ve been a minister for 34 years and a few years back I conducted the service for the father of a friend who was an avid horseman,” wrote Jeffrey Neuberger.
The last song was “Call to Post,” played on a trumpet.
“That’s quite a send-off, wouldn’t you say?”
Patsy Wood’s late father-in-law, Bill Sperry, loved going to downtown Ephrata for a snack and socializing. He went twice a day.
“At the end of his funeral, as everyone was leaving, the organist played Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown.’ We all smiled.”
At Grace Reynolds’ funeral, everyone sang the tall-tale folk song “The Frozen Logger.”
“The minister observed that that was a first for him,” wrote Grace’s son, Ed Reynolds.
His mother died at 104. She had hiked all over the world with the Hobnailers hiking club. “One night around the campfire she taught them the song and it became a sort of anthem. How could we let her go without singing it?”
Tales of gullibility: Gary Hutson loved his late mother-in-law. But that didn’t keep him from pulling her leg on occasion.
Once he was telling her about how much he and his wife enjoyed Cougar Gold cheese. He was just sorry it was so expensive, he said.
His mother-in-law asked why it was so expensive. Gary explained that one contributing factor was the number of people it took to hold down the cougar while it was being milked.
“Yep,” he said. “She believed me.”
Mike Kennedy of Athol, Idaho, shared this.
“About 30 years ago, my wife Nan thought a young Mel Gibson was quite attractive. While we were watching one of his films, I asked if she knew who his father was. I told her it was Henry Gibson of ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In’ fame. She doubted but I insisted.
“Next day at work, the workers were discussing Mel at a break. She told all there without any doubt just who Mel’s dad was. That night she let me know how little trust she now had in my movie trivia. We still say ‘Henry Gibson’ at questionable statements.”
Reefer madness: Sandy Tarbox said she is thinking of selling her soap company and converting the space to a marijuana store. She said she might call it More Bong for Your Buck.
Today’s Slice question: What is one little-known power of captains of boats on Inland Northwest lakes?
Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Some kids’ lemonade stands let you place your order online.