When our schools were smaller, we knew most of the kids from Grain Valley, Odessa, Buckner and Blue Springs. The schools all looked alike. They were two-story brick buildings with all 12 grades and a gymnasium. Oak Grove was the only one that did not have a gymnasium in the school. Our gym was located in town in an American Legion Building. Buckner’s school was located on the southeast corner of Buckner-Tarsney Road and 24 Highway.
One night, Buckner had a basketball game with some other school. My cousin Kenneth Turner, who went to Grain Valley school and had a girlfriend in Buckner, was going to fix me up with one of the Buckner girls they knew. The game was just about over and we had made arrangements to meet the girls outside at Kenneth’s car. In the meantime, the girl’s older brother had gotten wind of the meeting and didn’t approve. He had paid the biggest farm boy in Buckner to wait outside for us. It was cold and there was snow on the ground. When we walked around the corner of that building into the dark, all I saw or felt was a big fist. My cousin was behind me, so when he saw me lying on the slick sidewalk, he thought I had slipped and fell. He picked me up, and you guessed it, that big old farm boy hit me again. I was on the ground getting ready to say, “Don’t pick me up again Kenneth, leave me down here!” The next thing I knew, he was down there with me. I guess the ol’ boy didn’t know which one of us he was supposed to get, so he nailed us both. I looked around and here came the girl’s brother with two more guys. The big guy was still there, no doubt waiting for his money.
One thing about going to school at Oak Grove, our superintendent and teachers taught us common sense. Common sense told me to get out of Buckner, which we did.
After that night, Buckner girls never did much appeal to me.
Jack can be reached at PO Box 40, Oak Grove, MO 64075, or jackremembers@aol.com. Visit www.jackremembers.com
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