I have a neat story for all you David Payne fans: I received word last
Friday (May 26th) on our answering machine that D.P. was comin' to town for
the opening of Avondale Pool on Saturday and that he planned to do a little
fishing at the lake. All of you who grew up here in Avondale must remember
with great excitement what that means! Freezing spring-fed pool water, six
cent treats (through the late 50's anyway), ping pong, shuffle board, dibble
dabble, bellie busters, sitting on the wall (that was our punishment if we
disobeyed the lifeguard and Ricky Reyer wins that one hands down!), swim
team practice at the crack of dawn, etc., etc. Great! David was
coming to
town and there was going to be good times at the ole pool again! He
arrived
Saturday and according to my young bikini clad daughter David was in his
glory being back at the pool. (Did I mention that these days they serve free
beer on opening day?) I finally caught up with him late in the afternoon
and he was indeed a sight for sore eyes! Only I'm not sure he could see me
through his blood-shot eyes, but we made plans to get together the next day
after he had done a little fishing at the lake. Well, he went fishing
alright on Sunday after breaking three laws and being given a warning by
Avondale's finest! It seems as though David and his beloved English
bulldog, L.D. (named after David's father, Lord Denis Payne, of course!),
sojourned down to the lake and apparently over in
(certainly not Bobby Allion) called the police to report an unleashed dog
was chasing the local ducks all over the place and that the police were
needed at the lake at once! So the YOUNG police officer makes his way to
the lake and finds L.D. and David and promptly tells this Class of '65
graduate that he had had a complaint called in about his unleashed dog and
asked David for his AVONDALE fishing license. David responds that he
doesn't have an Avondale fishing license because he lives in the state of
Alabama but that he grew up here and his parents still live here. He tells
the policeman his father's name is Denis Payne. Police officer said he
didn't know any Denis Payne. David is beginning to get a little ruffled by
this time and reports to the officer that when he was younger Dewey Brown
looked after all of us and this kind of thing wouldn't be happening if Dewey
were still in charge! Police officer looked David squarely in the eye and
told David he didn't know any Dewey Brown and that he had better pack up his
dog and his fishing gear and not come back and do any fishing 'til he had an
Avondale fishing license! David was incensed and as he stormed off, he
asked the officer how much that Avondale fishing license was going to cost
him! The officer responded, "Nothing, sir."
The more things change the more they stay the same!
And would you believe, our charming classmate snuck back down to the lake
later in the day, dogless this time around, and caught himself a couple of
good sized catfish!
Bruce, where were you? David was sure lookin' for his lawyer!!
Pat