Shiloh Memories

Last night we traveled to Shiloh school for a volleyball game.  When I go there, it brings back good memories from my childhood of going to the Shiloh Holiday Tournament every Christmas.  Even when I mention Shiloh to my grandma, she immediately starts in on how she and grandpa considered that a winter vacation, so-to-speak.  I didn't know this until she told me, but they would actually arrange their cortisone shots to coincide with the Holiday Tournament because they wanted to be able to go and sit in the bleachers and watch basketball in comfort.  Now, that's some planning!

One great story from our many trips to Shiloh would be my dad missing a 90-degree curve and taking my grandparents (my mom's parents) for quite the side trip...into the field.  What really made it great was all the Martinsville people that knew about it because half the town was at the tournament and the only reason you were on this particular road was to get to the Shiloh High School.  I can still remember hearing stories about that night from some of dad's friends. 

Because this tournament centered around the Christmas holiday, I remember having either new clothes to wear or a new toy to bring.  Shiloh was probably one of the first road trips my Cabbage Patch doll, Amy Ann, took.  I can recall my cousin, "Sara," and I both having our Cabbage Patches up there. 

My number one memory is the two-headed, stuffed and mounted, calf that they had in a glass display case in the hallway at the school.  Every time I go up there, the first thing I think of is that two-headed calf.  Last night at the concession stand, I asked about it and the three ladies looked at me like I had lost my mind.  "Seriously," I said, "there was a stuffed two-headed calf in your hallway years ago."  They politely accepted my ramblings with a smile, and that was that.  Until my father walked up to the concession table...

Let me go back a little bit in the evening here for a moment.  I arranged to ride with my parents to the game.  We thought we would stop in a nearby town for supper at this super yummy BBQ place.  My mouth watered all day thinking about that savory pulled pork...Oh, sorry...We ran out of time and decided we would have to just run through the McDonalds Drive-Thru if we didn't want to be late.  Dad ordered a coffee with three creamers and an Angus Burger.  We get our stuff and drive away.

Again, as a little background, if you've been around my dad enough, you know that he wants "hot, fresh coffee."  And he will ask a waitress if the coffee is hot and fresh when he orders.  I was driving last night and didn't ask those two questions.  Shoot.

So not far down the road, dad discovers that his coffee is definitely not hot, which can only mean it's also not fresh.  He had missed his 3:00 coffee, so this was very upsetting.  I can understand this entirely...I get that way over certain things.   Dad had just been telling us how he had tried the Angus Burger a while back and it was the best fast food burger he'd ever had.  He took one bite of his Angus Burger last night and was disgusted.  He couldn't even finish half the sandwich.  It has bacon and onions on it.  I said, "At least eat the bacon!"  (It was all I could do to not grab the bacon.)

So you can kind of imagine how disappointed he was with the cool and not-so-fresh coffee and the super disgusting burger.  I passed him a peppermint to suck on, and then Lane decided to share some fries with him.  Anything to get that awful taste out of his mouth.

Back to the Shiloh concession stand...as soon as we get there, dad says he has got to find the concession stand.  And this is where he comes in after I'd inquired about the two-headed calf.  He asks if they happen to have coffee, they don't, and he proceeds to tell them all about the coffee and burger from McDonalds.  It was hilarious.  We get back to the bleachers, someone sits down next to him and we hear him telling that guy about the coffee and burger.  My in-laws come in and then my brother and his family.  Everyone knows about the disappointing coffee and burger.

The game is almost over and we see one of the concession ladies climbing the bleachers towards us.  She hands a dollar bill to the guy sitting next to my dad and explains he didn't get his change.  Then she turns and sees my dad and says, "Next time you're here, we'll have that coffee for you.  And if you come back during baseball season, I'll have the grill going and cook you a hamburger."   As she turns around to leave, she sees me and says, "Oh, I asked, there was a two-headed calf here, but when the Ag teacher retired, he took it home."  All I could think of was, yes, we're related.  Does it show?