My father was one of the smartest people I have ever known.His occupation was electronics which he learned while serving in the US Navy.In the navy his specialty was communications and there he learned radio repair which he would then persue as his lifes career.He worked with a partner for a number of years and then alone after Charlie's retirement.His expertise in this field was recognized by many of his customers as a top notch service.He was good at what he did.
For many years my father was involved in the Boy Scouts,Troop 9 Stamford CT. He became the scoutmaster after a while and donated his time and effort into keeping young lads out of trouble and heading in a positive direction.Holding scout meetings,events and dinners at the elementary school took time and effort out of one's personal life and few were apt to apply for the position.
In the Pinewood Derby race a scout purchased a kit containing a block of wood,four nails and four plastic wheels and was required to fashion his own entry for the contest.Parental "help" was suggested.
It was painfully obvious that "my" car wasn't built by me.I was delegated to sand between coats duty,I did a half-assed job.Six coats of of automotive laquer covered the contoured body. I remember the "seafoam green" color the best. The axles were polished and then graphited to reduce friction.Lead was added to bring the car to the maximum allowable weight .
I won first place with the green car.
Some of the boys were older than me and even though I mentioned that I was a wiseguy,I had nothing on them.They were a bad influence.One kid,Sandy Z always called my father "Baldy" and generally antagonized the hell out of him constantly.He was bad,very disrespectful..It wasn't nice to witness this.But they progressed in rank achieving none the less and reached Eagle Scout before to long.
Many years later,my nephew needed a Pinewood derby car and my sister asked me to help.Cutting the body on one of my miter saws to achieve the rough shape,I then hand carved my own version of The Batmobile and painted it with four coats of black laquer.He did a half assed job sanding between the coats.Polished the axles with 2000 grit sandpaper.Added lead and graphite and presented it to Kyle.It was an awesome car , "New and Improved" and painfully obvious that Kyle didn't build it.OK so the learning skips a generation,so what? I decided to attend the race.It was at the usual haunt,my old elementary school in the gym.There was a good crowd and they were noisy but a whistle then cut through the din and all eyes went to the Scoutmaster.Imagine my surprise when I saw that Sandy Z was the scoutmaster.Another full circle maybe even qualifies for two for me and the car and Sandy being the Scoutmaster.
They stopped awarding prizes for the winners somewhere in the time between but I kept a watch on our entry and it was a really fast car and it won every race it was entered in.
I don't know where all the scouts have wound up after all these years or how they've faired in life but I know some and I know that they are good and upstanding people.I really don't know how much of a part my father had in all of this but I think I'm a reasonable guy so if I had to hazard a guess I'd would say there is a better chance he did than not.
Bye Dad,Thanks again for everything.
Rob
For many years my father was involved in the Boy Scouts,Troop 9 Stamford CT. He became the scoutmaster after a while and donated his time and effort into keeping young lads out of trouble and heading in a positive direction.Holding scout meetings,events and dinners at the elementary school took time and effort out of one's personal life and few were apt to apply for the position.
In the Pinewood Derby race a scout purchased a kit containing a block of wood,four nails and four plastic wheels and was required to fashion his own entry for the contest.Parental "help" was suggested.
It was painfully obvious that "my" car wasn't built by me.I was delegated to sand between coats duty,I did a half-assed job.Six coats of of automotive laquer covered the contoured body. I remember the "seafoam green" color the best. The axles were polished and then graphited to reduce friction.Lead was added to bring the car to the maximum allowable weight .
I won first place with the green car.
Some of the boys were older than me and even though I mentioned that I was a wiseguy,I had nothing on them.They were a bad influence.One kid,Sandy Z always called my father "Baldy" and generally antagonized the hell out of him constantly.He was bad,very disrespectful..It wasn't nice to witness this.But they progressed in rank achieving none the less and reached Eagle Scout before to long.
Many years later,my nephew needed a Pinewood derby car and my sister asked me to help.Cutting the body on one of my miter saws to achieve the rough shape,I then hand carved my own version of The Batmobile and painted it with four coats of black laquer.He did a half assed job sanding between the coats.Polished the axles with 2000 grit sandpaper.Added lead and graphite and presented it to Kyle.It was an awesome car , "New and Improved" and painfully obvious that Kyle didn't build it.OK so the learning skips a generation,so what? I decided to attend the race.It was at the usual haunt,my old elementary school in the gym.There was a good crowd and they were noisy but a whistle then cut through the din and all eyes went to the Scoutmaster.Imagine my surprise when I saw that Sandy Z was the scoutmaster.Another full circle maybe even qualifies for two for me and the car and Sandy being the Scoutmaster.
They stopped awarding prizes for the winners somewhere in the time between but I kept a watch on our entry and it was a really fast car and it won every race it was entered in.
I don't know where all the scouts have wound up after all these years or how they've faired in life but I know some and I know that they are good and upstanding people.I really don't know how much of a part my father had in all of this but I think I'm a reasonable guy so if I had to hazard a guess I'd would say there is a better chance he did than not.
Bye Dad,Thanks again for everything.
Rob
1 Comments:
wow... <-speechless..
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