Great story, Lee! G. Lee Hearl wrote: > > >> I am "only" 52 and I remember it well. It was a real social event. My > uncles would all play fiddles and guitars and sip on their homemade > "medicine". I remember the frsh pork loins the women would cook up. It > was > "good".<< > >>I'm guilty of calling it a churn stick alright. That's the part i was > allowed to do. Woould sure enjoy hearing some of those stories sometime<<. > > Short Story: > My Grandpa had seventeen children and he had to make a lot of molasses! > When one of my uncles was about ten years old, he liked to appear older > than his age, so one night when they were going to boil molasses.. he put > on a new suit grandma had made him and came out to where everybody had > gathered around the boiling pan...stood around the grown-ups, hands in his > pockets, trying to look important and older than his age.. > When the molassess was done, the pan was removed from the fire and placed > on a sloping place so the molasses could be dipped out.. Grandma had popped > a big dishpan full of popcorn and as soon as the last of the molasses had > been dipped out, she poured the popcorn into the remaining molasses to make > popcorn balls for the children...but..about that time...my uncle, who was > standing at the upper end of the pan, hands in pockets, leaning slightly > backward, looking "grown-up", stepped backward and fell into the molasses > pan..SLID HEAD-FIRST.. to the lower end..popcorn went everywhere.. and he > rolled over three or four times.. trying to get out of the still-hot pan! > When he finally got out, he was covered from head to foot with molasses and > popcorn! He ran and jumped in the creek which was almost cold as ice.. The > molasses hardened and stuck the popcorn all over him! luckily, he wasn't > burned and he grew up to be a pretty good feller'... Infact, he turned out > to be a real "Cracker Jack"!! > That is a TRUE story! > G. Lee Hearl...Authentic Appalachian Storyteller.. Abingdon, Va... > P.S. I will be appearing at the Barter Theatre in March and November this > year, Drop By!