For your reading enjoyment, we continue to publish Rambling Vines by the late Marylea Vines as she recalls events and names of Corning folks from many years ago. We are currently in the year 1990

Burness Weldon Dalton, Piggott, has been traveling the county the past couple of weeks, gathering signatures on special greeting cards to be sent to servicemen in Saudi Arabia… one of whom is his son. I first knew Burness when he was pre-teen, tagging along the campaign trail with his father, B.O. Dalton. Then he grew up, got into politics, and was around shaking hands and knocking on doors in his own behalf. It is hard to realize that he is old enough to have a son in the military, but that’s the way it goes.

Passing the Buck… Deer season is here, which prompts me to comment that hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t sic me onto some cause, then caution, “Don’t use my name” or I go to a meeting and listing as some public official blows their top, only to have them say, “Don’t report what I just said.”

I have mixed feelings about the requests like that, seems to me that if a local tax-paying citizen has a problem, they should feel comfortable going to the source of the problem and finding out the answer on their own, without involving me. Now, I know that they may not be too well received… neither am I at times, but if I think something is right (or wrong), I’ll stick with my belief through thick and thin, even if I stand alone… like on the Community Christmas Tree in the middle of the street, destroying the depot, doing away with Hop Alley, marking off private parking places at public facilities paid for by all the citizens (this does not include Handicapped parking spaces which I favor), the need for a museum, the need for a traffic light at the intersection, the need to get tougher on speeders, politicians who don’t know Northeast Arkansas exists except on Election years, and on and on… I have lots of Band Wagons of my own.

First, I have always been able to find enough trouble to get into all by myself and in the second place, a statement made by a public official during a public meeting should be public information… if they don’t believe in what they are saying, they have no business saying it. And, if I am not going to report what is said and done at a public meeting, I about as well stay away.

I had a nice surprise the other day when Mrs. Jennie Hancock delivered to me a tee-shirt, inscribed with “U.S.S. Vines.” The shirt was a gift from Clay County 4-H boys and girls for being a “Friend of 4-H.” I was invited to their Saturday night meeting held here, but I had a previous out-of-town engagement and couldn’t show up. The shirts, used at 4-H camp this year, were not named after me… they carry the name “U.S.S. Vines” in honor of C.A. Vines who was director of the Arkansas Extension Service for a number of years. I never did even know or see the man, but I wanted one of those shirts ever since I saw a group of 4-H’ers sporting them upon returning from camp last Summer. So, from a former 4-H’er to the 1990 Clay County 4-H’ers, thanks!

In all the talk about earthquakes in recent weeks, I heard something the other day for the first time… it is important that people have up-to-date tetanus shots. That’s about the kind of luck I would have… survive an earthquake, only to step on a nail and end up with tetanus. If you haven’t had a tetanus shot in the past four or so years, it might make sense to see about getting one.

Well, this is the weekend to Fall Backward when it comes to watches and clocks and the end of Daylight Savings Time for another year. I like DST, but I still don’t understand it. Part of my problem is I don’t care how dark it is when I leave home for work, I like to have some daylight left at the end of the day. Seems to me that DST would be better in the Winter months when the daylight hours are cut short by nature. Sometimes in the Summer, I get ready to go to bed before it gets dark and, in the Winter, when there is something to go to at seven o’clock, it seems that I am leaving home in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t complain if we just went to DST all the time. One of the reasons in favor of having people stir around one hour later in the Winter months is due to youngsters having to wait in the dark for school buses and I can go along with that. I learned years ago that I can’t always have things my way, there are other folks to consider… and if it going to make it safer for school children, let’s do it!

We went over to Old Davidsonville last Saturday, more to be out than anything else. It was a beautiful Fall day, with the leaves just barely beginning to turn. Upon leaving there we decided to return home via Delaplaine and look for fields of cotton. Before coming on home we stopped over to visit at Lake Ashbaugh, then at Holland’s Lodge. We found lots of cotton in the Brookings area and if people go to jail for getting gone cotton stalk, my uncle Elmer and I will soon be peeping through the bars!