Was saddened to see that Jack Ufkes passed on Thursday. He was the Ufkes in Brody and Ufkes Auctioneers. In later years their auctions were often held at the fair grounds in Carthage. He will certainly be missed by family, friends and customers.
Today the Quincy paper had an opinion column about an error they made last week. I read that column last week and it disheartened me and made me begin wearing a mask again. Was good to learn that they had made an error on a very important statistic about new covid cases among the vaccinated. There was also an article about workers in prisons, nursing homes and other places where people live and how few of the workers have had the vaccine. This is not right. There are people who cannot live on their own and must be in a care facility. The prisoners in lock up no longer have a choice of where to live. They made that choice before they were incarcerated. But neither group of people should be subjected to getting sick because the people who care for them refuse to be vaccinated.
I own a store and my store is not open on Monday however I was doing some work there last Monday. A friend came to bring me some tomatoes and talk for a few minutes and he was wearing a mask because he cares about those around him. Though the lights were not on and the open sign was not on, a gentleman came into the store and started making comments about the “guy wearing the mask”. Though in business it is often said that “the customer is always right”. In this case he was not right and after asking if I could help him, told him we were not open. If you insist on risking both your life and that of those around you, at least do not make disparaging remarks about those of us trying to do our best to stop the spread of covid.
While on the subject of covid, one can purchase “at home” test kits for covid at Walgreens. There are two tests in a package for 23.99.
Reddie and I were sitting on the patio on Sunday evening and Reddie kept looking toward the road. Finally turned on my flash light to see what he was looking at and there were three racoons by my mail box. Three! My live trapping has been very successful this week. I have caught a stray kitty and a possum. Both were a bit indigent. The kitty refused to leave the trap and the possum hissed at me to show its displeasure. I have not set the trap for the last few days! Let the wildlife relax for a few days.
I have been watching the Olympics each evening and there is one of the best commercials I have ever seen on during that broadcast. It is for Chevrolet trucks and features Walter the cat. If this commercial comes on, do not go get a snack, watch it. It is really cleaver.
Carolyn Webber brought customers to my store this week. They were from Texas and I loved having them. Thanks.
The bank in Plymouth is closing so all the accounts, safety deposit boxes and CD’s have to be moved. Did not realize what a nightmare this was going to be. It seems there are many rules which must be followed to move an account and I am treasurer of way too many organizations. Glad I started working on it before the bank was close to closing. Thinking that the bank in Augusta may need to hire additional help.
The Plymouth Village Board met on Wednesday. They voted to move the Village accounts to Augusta. They also discussed the purchase of new benches for the Village and needed fixes to get the new bathrooms operational. Will be glad when the bathrooms are functional because how does one tell a child that they cannot use your bathroom at the antique shop.
Had a gentleman in the store asking for the King Cemetery in Plymouth. He showed me his information and it said it was in LaMoine Township in McDonough County. I tried to explain that Plymouth was in Hancock County. He wanted information from the 1800 so I handed him a very early plat book for McDonough County. Guess he did not understand just how rare and expensive those early hard cover plat books are because he promptly broke the cover off the book and did not even apologize for doing so. I eventually told him that I could not help him. I am always glad to try to help people find cemeteries and former schools etc. and I have the history books to do so. Many old histories and plat books mark the location of both.
My home is a Payne home. Mark Cox wrote an article about the Payne’s this week. I appreciated it. My home is in the book “ Payne’s Modern Homes”. I carry copies of it in my store. It is a plan book and gives drawings for many Payne Homes and who they were built for and where they are located. It also gives details about size and cost. The two generations of the Payne family made Hancock County fairly famous in the early 1900s. There are several Payne homes in Carthage including Mike Sullivan’s home.
This week was the Old Threshers celebration near Hamilton. There was a feature about it in Hancock County Journal Pilot. It mentioned that the former Friendship Church is located on the grounds. It indicated that the church was located near Colchester. Actually it was located three miles north of Tennessee and two miles west. It is the church which I grew up in and was married in and I am so glad the building was saved for others to enjoy.
I guess having two gentlemen in the store this week that needed “training” is not too bad considering all the nice people who also came into the store. My the number of nice people you meet this week out weigh the number of those who need further training and may we both have the patience to deal with them kindly.
Have a great week. It is even more important to “scatter Kindness” now than ever as so many people are having a rough time. Do no harm, do good and be patient with those around you. Sorry John Wesley.