When Hillary Clinton talked about it taking a village to raise a child, she described a cradle to grave socialist program. When I grew up in the 1970’s and the half decade of the 1980’s it was community that made us kids what we were.
It wasn’t a socialist program, it was men and women wanting to spend some time investing in the future. Not because it looked good on their list of community activities but because it is what they thought was right.
A highlight of my youth was my years as a Boy Scout with Troop 538 which met at St. Paul East United Methodist Church in the East Knox community of Sunnyview.
My Scout Master was Nick Holbert who passed away on January 1, 2004. I could and would walk to his house and ride to scout meetings with him. He had a briefcase that had all the scout stuff in it and as the troop scribe for many years, I lived through that briefcase. Nick’s son had some friends that would gather in the basement and play as a band. My first memories of being a groupie. Nick also made his own shotgun shells and that may have been an influence in how I always look for a better more economical process for nearly everything.
Today, my Assistant Scout Master Ray Haynes was laid to rest. Ray was an avid reader, he always had a paperback western on every trip we went on. So, as I realize there are several writers I like and am loyal to explains a lot. But selflessness was the greater example from Ray. The troop was on a mountain hike and I became very ill. The older scouts ran ahead and Ray stayed with me, even carrying me on his back off the mountain.
HAYNES, RAYMOND ALLEN – age 87 of Knoxville passed away Monday evening, September 1, 2014 at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. He was the son of the late Ernest and Annie (Crowell) Haynes and was preceded in death by his wife, Edith Mae Patterson Haynes; and brother, Wendell Haynes. He was a member of the St. Paul’s United Methodist Church East and was a retired structural engineer for Bender and Associates. Raymond was an active member of the American Legion Post # 2. He is survived by his children, David Haynes, Michael Haynes and Laura Ann Anderson; grandchildren, Suzanne, Dustin, Christopher, Hannah and Rachel; great-granddaughter, Makayla; numerous nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. Funeral services will be held Friday, 7:00pm at Farrar Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Darrell Chambers, officiating. Interment graveside services, Saturday, 10:00am at Grants Chapel Cemetery. Family will receive friends Friday evening, 5:00 to 7:00pm prior to services at Farrar Funeral Home, Dandridge. www.farrarfuneralhome.com
Of course there were at least two others, Tom Ballard was another Assistant Scout Master. But he was also my youth director. Today, he is the Superintendent of the United Methodist Church in Morristown, TN.
Also, my own dad, Jack Hornback, he went on several scout trips, I remember him being in the sleeping bag beside me on the February Cumberland Mountain hike. Never been so cold, could never get a warm enough sleeping bag for that trip and we did it every February. Every February to this day, I have a flashback to those numerous trips. As I get older, I think maybe it’s time to go back now.
Dad was the hardest working man, I know, even today, he works more than anybody I know. He is still my go to guy when I need a house repair, a car repair for one of the kids cars or anything. Dad knows it all.
My Paternal Grandfather, Jim Hornback, had a dump truck and hauled rock for people. I remember riding with him over off John Sevier to load up rock and then deliver it to somebody for their driveway or whatever. I remember how I would find him on a tractor cutting hay for people. He probably instilled the politician side of me. Papaw died the day after the wife and I married in 1988. I never really got a chance to say goodbye and tell him what I loved about him.
My Paternal Grandmother Elva Hornback, was a caretaker for an older lady when she passed away and her companionship and service to others was likely a factor in who I became. She passed on the night before my brother and I returned home from Scout Space Camp in Huntsville, Al.
My Maternal Grandmother, Myrtle Blake had a great impact on my life. We lived next door and I spent a lot of time with her. She always went to sleep with the radio on, I still do that sometimes. She was loved by everybody, had a great work ethic. Papaw Blake passed away when I was very young and she lived by herself and having her influence in my life has made me a better person. Mammaw passed in 2009 totally unexpectedly, I never really got to tell her about her influence and impact on my life.
There are a lot of others from my youth, one day maybe I will take on the teachers and church folk that impacted me. But for now, that was my support team. But they weren’t villagers, they were people that had the gift to give.
