I had been trying for weeks to get a copy, or copies, of a press release for Sept. 14 that featured my club’s activities during the Les Gemmes National Board of Directors meeting the second weekend in September. The majority of our members didn’t see the edition and I wanted to forward one to our national president in Atlanta.

I had made many attempts to get copies, that only led to dead ends. I was also told by a reporter that the office to that paper didn’t file extra copies away as we do here at the SN-H for future inquiries or references.

Then, last Wednesday my prayers were finally answered.

I visited Mike Duman Auto Sales to have my car inspected. That inspection had me staying there for a two-hour waiting period. While I was in the customer lounge, I noticed a present edition that showed Mike Duman Auto sales listed as a sponsor. I went to the cashier’s window to inquire about the paper and an employee in that office, Ashley Goodman, followed me to the lounge, looked on another table in a corner and handed me a copy of that edition that I had been seeking for so long. She seemed very eager to try to please me, so I dug a little further in the pile and came across two additional copies that she told me I could keep.

I paid a higher price to pass inspection for other repairs that my car needed that day, but it was worth it, because being in the right place at the right time to satisfy a desperate request paid off equally as well.

Dancing ain’t what it use to be

On Friday, my sister, Earlene Banks, and I were asked by her granddaughter, Charnele Banks, who is a junior at Kings Fork High School, to chaperone the school’s very first homecoming dance, sponsored by the DECA Club. On Saturday, I covered the 50th class reunion of the class of 1956 of the former Booker T. Washington High School.

Have you ever heard of the phrase, around the world in 80 days? Well, Benford Hunter, DJ for the homecoming dance and 50th reunion, took me through five generations in 24 hours, from songs like Chicken Noodle Soup and dances like the Shoulder Lean, to songs like Poison Ivy, to dances like the Twist, that were done in the late 50s and early 60s.

Charnele was anxious for me to chaperone because she was responsible for ticket sales and assisting chaperones. However, Sonya Peele, a calculus

instructor at the school, who was chaperoning her post beside mine, and I got into an interesting conversation about homecoming activities and dances that we attended during our school days.

The music went non-stop, and I learned at least one thing — you don’t really need a partner of the opposite sex to have a good time dancing. Students danced alone, or with whoever — male or female — was standing beside them. My senior-citizen friend, Hunter, put the phrase “when

in Rome, do as the Romans do,” to the test, because on Saturday, his music was the complete opposite, and so were the dancers.

At the 50th anniversary, dancing partners were in full view, with fancy hand-dance steps and the Shag, and a two-step slow dance. Now you can plainly see that I like being active and being around active people.

Getting back to the younger generation, I want to congratulate KFHS, because they had plenty to celebrate. They won their homecoming game against Wilson High School from Portsmouth, 35-14.

However, through both dancing events, Hunter did it all, and did it his way.

Wall is a former News-Herald reporter and regular contributor to this page.