Butch Says Goodbye and Thanks!

   In the fall of 2019, Tim Timmons asked me if I wanted to write a few columns for The Paper. I had written three books on local history and a book of poems when I was a teacher and police officer, but never a newspaper column . . . so I decided to give it a try. Tim told me that I could write about any topic that came to mind. Well, I did for sure! I wrote about my childhood, going to school, my family, people I have known, local sports stars, my hometown, farm life, police stories, and many other topics, including many memories of my life…mostly happy, some funny, some crazy, and a few that are sad. And also, against my better judgement, I wrote about politics on a few occasions.

   Since September of 2019, I have written a total of 600 columns. I guess those of you who have taken the time to read those columns know me pretty well by now. My favorite topic to write about was my childhood. I grew up in a special time and a special place. Things were just different back then. I had a fun and carefree life. My four siblings and I had loving parents who gave us a lot of freedom . . . to learn about life, explore the world around us, and yes, make mistakes now and then. I loved going to school, and I respected my teachers and my coaches. I enjoyed going to my little hometown, visiting all of the businesses at that time and talking to everyone . . . learning much common sense knowledge along the way. Little did I know then that I would become a teacher and coach, police officer and county sheriff, and a librarian. Through the years I also took up several hobbies . . . fixing up old cars, drawing and painting, buying and selling old firearms, and writing . . . all of which I still do today at age 77.

   A few years ago, I considered retirement, but I enjoy working and helping people, and I hope to continue working as long as I can and my health is good. I have seen others my age retire and then slowly go downhill. My goal now is to write a children’s book and have it published.

   When you reach my age, you start thinking more and more about the past. Your mind tends to recall the good times, not the bad. My favorite author, Edgar Guest, wrote a poem entitled, “The Lanes of Boyhood.” Here are a couple of lines:

   “Down the lanes of boyhood let me go once more, Let me tread the paths of youth that I have trod before; Let me wander once again where the skies are bright, Freckle faced and tanned of leg, roadways of delight.

   “Down the lanes of boyhood, where innocence abounds, A medley of colors, a revelry of sounds, Where hearts are never broken and wrong is never known, Where sorrow never enters and no one weeps alone. And yet we never can return when once we’ve journeyed on; Old age is ever wishing for the joys forever gone.”

   Thanks for putting up with me, and if you get a chance, stop by the Darlington Library for a visit some afternoon! I’m the silver haired guy behind the desk.

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 37 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.