Red, Ed, Red, Fred and Ted

For you Facebook folks, there is a rage going on where folks are creating pages like, “You know you are from Reynolds, Ga if....” People who grew up in or lived in the towns are posting memories and pictures of the good ole’ days of years gone by.

From some posts I’ve read, the good ole’ days happened after I had seen better days. For others, the good ole’ days happened before I was born. And then there are some who post memories of the good ole’ days that were the good ole’ days for me as well.

If you happen to be my age and happen to have your retirement tied up in the stock market in a 401K, today was a day that would make you look back and long for the good ole’ days of two weeks ago. You could almost feel the sky falling today as the Dow plunged 630 points.

Some believe this crash is self-inflicted. From other perspectives, it was just a matter of time.

But everybody has a perspective.

Which brings me to a post I read tonight on the “You know you are from Reynolds if...” page. My friend Ed Swearingen posted about his memories of 3 hour breakfasts’ at Choes Restaurant in Reynolds. There was a group of men who were regulars at the restaurant who met every morning to eat and solve the world’s problems and to talk politics.

John (Red) Owen, the owner of the restaurant, held the daily court. Ed Swearingen, our local Republican activist and later founder of the Silver Dollar Raceway, was the youngest of the group. Then there was Red Windham, a local policeman and Fred McElmurray, a local businessman. Last but not least was Ted Parks, a local farmer and retired civil servant.

Ed’s daughter, Anne, joined them one morning when she was a little girl. Later that day someone asked her who she had breakfast with at the restaurant. Her answer was one for the ages:

“I ate with Red, Ed, Red, Fred and Ted.

These guys understood the issues of the day and had formed opinions about each issue. And they did not mind expressing those opinions even if they did not always agree.

I couldn’t help but wonder tonight what Red, Ed, Red, Fred, and Ted’s conversation would have been if they were having breakfast in the morning after the Wall Street crash today. Or what their conversation would have been during the debacle last week in Congress.

If we could get this Gang of Five back together, I’m sure they could come up with a solution to our country’s problems so we could bring back the good ole’ days.

Yep, we need Red, Fred, Ted, Red and Ed.

Bad.

Sorry I couldn't find a picture of Fred.