with Mary Lynn Lambert
Attendance was low at the Veterans Program held at the Fire Department on Nov. 9. The program was great, and the fellowship was very uplifting. After enjoying hamburgers, hotdogs and dessert, Wanda Young thanked each attendee and encouraged the audience to continue their support of the Fire Department and to ask neighbors to become a part of the Fire Department.
After a very inspirational tribute to the veterans, the program turned to comedy. Donna (Wiley) Waldrip shared a memory from her childhood. She has named this memory “Baptizing the Rooster.” She had her listeners almost doubling over with laughter. She began by giving a brief history of her childhood. She is proud to give God the glory for watching over her, her family and the country after the great depression. Life was hard, and money for farmers was scarce. As a child, she had very few toys, and she and her siblings had to make up their games to play. One Sunday, the family attended a baptismal service that was held at the Pinetop pond. Fourteen people were baptized. When they arrived home, her mother and sister went into the kitchen to prepare their meal. She and her younger brother went outside to play. They decided to have their own baptismal service. The black wash pot was filled with water—the perfect place to have their baptismal service.
They decided the cat would be a good candidate. Her brother preached a sermon, she sang a song and then they baptized the cat. The cat was not a good candidate. It came up fighting and meowing. The cat got away and ran into the woods. The cat never returned home. Their mother was concerned about the cat and asked them if they knew what happened to the cat, but they decided to remain silent.
After the cat disappeared, they decided a rooster would be their next candidate. They were not able to catch the white leghorn rooster, so they turned to the Rhode Island Red rooster, their mother’s favorite. Her brother preached another sermon, she sang another song, and they put the rooster under the water. They thought he needed to be baptized again, so they dipped him two more times. When they brought the rooster up, they knew he was dead. They shook him by his feet, and water was squirting out of its mouth. They tried their version of CPR. They knew they were in bad trouble and had to tell their mother. They knew the value of the rooster. They went in the house to tell their sad news, but Austin, Donna’s brother, asked his mother about rooster and dressing. She answered, “No,” so he asked about rooster and dumplings. Again, they heard “No.” They confessed up and told their mother the story. She informed them they would be in trouble when their dad came home, but they felt good about the rooster going to heaven because he had been preached and sung over plus being baptized. They put the rooster in a cardboard box with an old towel and went to their pet cemetery to bury the rooster. After they got the grave dug and the rooster buried, they put wildflowers on the grave. They went to the house to wait for their dad to come home. As they expected, when he arrived, they did receive a “whipping.”
If you see Donna, ask her to retell. Be prepared for a good laugh.
