The Man in the Black Hat

Many years ago, when I ran for County Commissioner, I wore my black Stetson. Well, my competition in Goldendale happened to wear a white hat, so The Goldendale Sentinel labeled me the "Man in the Black Hat."

My original newspaper column was "The Diary of a Candidate," which I wrote while campaigning. It was quite well accepted by the public in general, and I stopped writing it after I lost the election. However, many of my friends encouraged me to continue to write so, of course, I was pleased and agreed to continue.

I had been paying for my column, so I went to The Enterprise and told them the story and said that I would write a weekly column called "The Man in the Black Hat," since that was my new label. I said that I would not charge them if they would not charge me. So, we made that agreement and I wrote the column for two years after that, until I left town for awhile.

I believe the interest in my column was that I was always saying what the ordinary man on the street wanted to say. I wrote about controversial items which provoked thought.

So, when I picked up Lyle Pioneer Days, I wanted to start up my column again as a means of keeping the public informed about what I was doing and how the celebration was progressing. This newspaper was very cooperative, and has my gratitude.

"The Man in the Black Hat" got that old hat down off the shelf and dusted it off. I didn't want to have it cleaned, because it might look like new and that would be a misrepresentation. Now, I wear that scroungy old hat mostly for identification and a little nostalgia. After all, in looking, I find that the real old-timers are gone, and I have advanced to that category. Even so, there aren't too many of us new old-timers left.

Steve Graves and I should start an "Old-Timers Club" just to count who is left. I know there are some of us scattered here and there in these here hills, so send in their names and we will identify them. No meetings, just an honorary association. We may celebrate birthdays but that's about all.

If they are over 80, we'll let them in. How about that, Steve and Barbara?