The Carnival

I'm off to be a "one-handed" plumber this morning, assisting our friends, the Anthonys. They immigrated from Singapore several years back and are a good Christian couple. M is confined to a wheelchair as a result of Muscular Dystrophy so S now is working from home and is his full-time caregiver. M is now unable to work which leaves S to be the sole breadwinner for this remarkable household. Money is tight for them and S is constantly looking for ways to be thrifty. I admire the determination this woman exhibits! She had transmission trouble in their "Handivan" a while back, and that plucky, remarkable woman replaced it herself! We have assisted them in the past with a failed water heater. A local plumber was called out and told her the water heater was bad, and needed replacing. They were quoted a replacement cost of over $1000! Renee had told me of their woe and I offered to ride over and take a look. Of course I discovered that both elements in the water heater were open, burned in half. A quick trip to Home Depot followed and I returned with an upper and lower element. Thirty minutes later we flipped the breaker on and heard the satisfying sizzle of flowing electrons converting their motion into work in the form of heat transfer. The fruit of our labor and a total cost of $30 resulted in a source of hot water, and a warm heart. I love helping people, and both of the folks encouraged us to be kind, respectful and to treat others like we want to be treated. Upon completion of the repair of the Anthony's leaky fitting we had a quick prayer and I thanked her for such an opportunity for fellowship and a blessing. The repair held, and we returned the thanks.

The Johnsons loved "Mr. Knozit", the show that was broadcast by WIS-TV for so many years. Joe Pinner held our rapt attention when he put on that goofy smock with the stylized, embroidered "K" on it and interviewed kids on the show, played cartoons and "Little Rascals" shorts, and featured segments about good things in the Palmetto State. I loved Mr. Knozit, partly because of the content and partly because I always thought he resembled my childhood friend Kennan Shortt! One morning, he announced a fundraiser sponsored by WIS. To raise money for research into Muscular Dystrophy the station was asking viewers to host "Carnivals", the proceeds of which would be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Oh boy! A Carnival, held in backyards of Sandlappers like ourselves sounded like the most magical, the most totally awesome neatorriffic thing ever. The address of the station was displayed where we could write to receive an information brochure and "Carnival Package" and we excitedly wrote it down. Mr. Knozit had a special guest on that day, a young girl named Karen who was suffering MD. Her condition was pitiful but this young lady had the best sense of humor and absolutely beamed as Mr. Knozit introduced her to the viewers. Our hearts were softened (and my 8 year old self thought she was cute!) and we made the pitch to Mamma and Daddy to allow us to host our very own Carnival.They agreed and Mamma helped us pen a letter to Mr. Knozit to receive our very own packet of carnival preparation material. How exciting! We were going to have the best Carnival Bennettsville had ever seen! Later that evening I went out on the front porch to see what Mamma and Daddy were doing out there. I caught them in an embrace, tears flowing down their faces. I softly asked "Mamma, Daddy? What is wrong?" Mamma choked back her sobs, scooped me up into a tight hug and said "nothing is wrong Scooter, everything is just fine." I know why they were sobbing, as those were tears of joy. They realized that their hard work of parenting was paying off, that their three boys had love in their hearts.

After a week or so, our packet of Carnival material from WIS-TV arrived, and we tore into it. Wow, we couldn't believe what we saw! Posters to advertise the Carnival, tickets, festive signs to identify the Carnival activities, a suggestion list of Carnival games and a signed glossy photo of Karen. We set about making plans for the Carnival, and did we ever have plans! For two weeks we labored, brainstorming ideas and laying out the floorplan of where the various attractions would be. We tacked up posters at our schools, visited with Cub Scout and Girl Scout troops, put an ad in the Marlboro Herald and Daddy even got Ken Harmon to announce the event on air at WBSC. Man, we were famous, and it seemed to us the whole town was buzzing about it! The big day finally arrived, a beautiful, bright sunshine-filled Saturday morning. We had a "Fishing Booth", a bake sale, Koolade stand, Basketball free-throw competition, Bingo, Paper Airplane competition, Ring-Toss, a "Bobbing for Apples" washtub, a Rummage Sale of items graciously donated by the community, Sack Races, Three-Legged Race, "Pop-O-Matic Trouble" tournament, a Baseball-Toss booth, a Petting Zoo which was little more than our collection of critters on display, and various other Carnival games, Daddy showed old film reels of cartoons in the garage on the old Super-8 silent projector and a short reel he had from the 1940s called "A Thrill A Second". We even resorted to showing some home movies of the three of us boys at Christmas which drew roars of laughter from the audience, delighting at the looks of joy on our faces when Santa Claus arrived. Osmond Ross "Buddy" Brown had a minibike and he offered rides around the front yard. There was also a Bicycle Show with prizes for the best bike, ugliest bike, longest wheelie competition. A Hot Wheels track was set up in the hallway of 105 S Cook Street and bracket races were held and Mamma was responsible for my favorite attraction, the "Marlboro Mystery Museum". We had an old camper shell, one of those that fit into the bed of a truck that our Grandfather "Pop Pop" had given to us boys which we named the "WalScoMat" and was our secret clubhouse. Mamma had come up with exhibits that only she could have dreamed up, including a set of "Bigfoot Tracks" which were those fuzzy green footprints popular in the 1970s, a display of a "flying saucer" (a hubcap suspended by fishing line), one of "Santa's Reindeer" (our dog "Tippy" with a couple of twigs tied on her head), and a "Real Live Carolina Panther" (our cat "Happy"). We had quite the yard full of kids for the two hours we ran the carnival, and the three of us boys were busy manning booths, serving Koolade and running errands. Several neighborhood kids had been pressed into service to run various attractions, even old Ronnie "Raunchy" Meachum! Of course the Hamers were helping, as were the Taylors. It was indeed quite the circus there at good old 105 S Cook Street, and we were having a large time. Mamma and Daddy were absolutely radiant that day and were "busting their buttons" with pride and joy. Well, the carnival came to a close and we cleaned up behind the crowd and returned the house, yard and backyard garage to some sense of normalcy. I think we brought in a whopping $30 when the cashbox was tallied. The funds were converted to a check, and Daddy mailed the check and a report of the festivities to Mr. Knozit. The following week, Mr. Knozit had a special program, aired at 7:30 pm on a Saturday night to announce the results of the Carnivals. Karen was his guest of honor, and he displayed the names of the families and the amounts they raised. The grand prize winner was announced and they had raised more than $500 with their Carnival, which kind of broke the three of us boy's spirits. We just knew we would win the grand prize, which was an all-expenses paid trip to Columbia to appear on the show. Mamma had allowed us to eat dinner (spaghetti......we ate a lot of spaghetti back then!) in front of the TV, which was a huge "No-No" in our family. Dinner was eaten at the kitchen table as a family! To be able to eat dinner and watch TV was a real treat. Anyway, Mr. Knozit started scrolling through the names of families and the amounts they raised. We whooped and hollered and stomped and danced when the graphic "The Johnsons, Bennettsville, SC $60" appeared on the screen! We were famous! We were beside ourselves, and there wasn't a dry eye in the den. Later I quizzed Mamma: "Mamma, I thought we only raised $30. Why did Mr. Knozit say we made sixty dollars?" Mamma said, "Well, Scooter...your Daddy Bud made a clerical error, and found an extra $30 that had been unaccounted for". I cried myself to sleep that night. I was a smart kid and realized that the folks made a sacrifice to pad the final tally to keep us from being in last place. Ain't God good? Have a rice day, y'all and give thanks for those less fortunate than ourselves. The blessings you will receive are mighty!