each day. Finally he decided that he was ready to play the game. The first
round that he shot was an 85!! It wasn’t long until Pete’s game was in the
70’s and they were ready to have at it. They would play almost every day and
they might start out playing twenty dollars a hole but by the time they would
finish they might be playing for one hundred dollars a hole.
I don’t remember who
caddied for Phil but Pete’s caddy was “Bulldog” Qualkinbush and Pete paid him
well. “Bulldog” was the type of caddy who would go the extra mile to help out
his golfer. Phil Miller was a big man and one day he caught “Bulldog” kicking
Pete’s ball out of the rough into the fairway. Phil let him know in no
uncertain terms that if he ever saw that again he would wrap his club around
his neck!!
All the dealers were
decked out in tuxedos. To be a dealer at the Brown was considered to be the
ultimate in achievement and those men were very proud of their profession.
This club was owned by Ed Ballard and it was managed by his cousin, Norman
Ballard, until his death then Elmer Thacker became the manager. During the
winter, Elmer would go to Florida and work as the “pit boss” in one of the
big casinos. He lived up towards the top of Washington Street in French Lick
and his house was the closest thing to a mansion that we had. He had one son
and one daughter and neither attended the local schools. Norman Ballard had
two daughters and neither did they attend the local schools.
A few years ago a
lady from California contacted me for help in tracing the Thacker family. I
told her about Margaret and I thought she was living in Indianapolis. She
located her and they would carry on long conversations about the Thacker
family. Margaret said that her father lived in deadly fear that someone would
discover that he could not read or write! She said he could understand numbers
and write his name but that was about all. As a youngster I remember Elmer
real well. I was in awe of him. He always carried a newspaper under his arm
when he walked home. I have passed him on the sidewalk and he never even
glanced my way.
To be continued next
issue….
The old City Park
Back in those terrible thirties when
no one had a dime to spend, French Lick had a city park that took a back seat
to none. It was situated on a hill behind “Piggy” Newlin’s house. It had all
the usual rides plus a twenty-foot slide that was not for the squeamish. It
also had adult swings that would swing real high. In fact, they went so high
that once I thought I was going ‘over the bar.”
There was a
championship clay tennis court that stayed busy all the daytime hours.
Sometimes you would have to wait two or three hours in order to get on. During
those busy times it was always doubles play and the winner would stay on the
court until they were beaten. Just about the best player