O.M.G. It’s happened again; the county has been struck with the first case of the Dread of the Season. No, not the Cold and Flu Season, that would be simple to fight, a few days out of work. Mom’s chicken soup, plenty of fluids and bed rest. You all know the drill.
The malady that I speak of has been known to make people so deranged as to do things that they would have never thought of, at any other time of the year. Surely, it is not during the 4th of July, not even Labor Day.
What I bring to light so early in the season is. C.D.S., yes, I said those dreaded letters. This curse is upon us. Keep your children close, as this season of the Dreaded C.D.S. has been looked upon as one of the worst in modern history.
As I stated the first of our citizens to fall to C.D.S. was the gentleman, only known as Mr. Anonymous, we will call him Mr. A, Mr. A has been decorating the tree on Hwy. 220 North for the last 10 years. This year he was hit very early with C.D.S. — nooooooo, it’s not life threatening, but it could be in some cases. It just depends on just how far you are willing to let it go and how deep your pockets are. For some it will take about a year for all the symptoms to go away. The Die-Hard cases even longer. For these people they are truly ravaged by,” THE DREADED, CHRISTMAS DERANGEMENT SYNDROME"
We see it every year, truly normal people going B.S. Crazy — figure that one out on your own. For some it’s shop til ya drop, accompanied by spend, spend, spend, spend, spend, spend — they go together, they're old friends. With others it’s "you can’t put too many trees up."
This is the C.D.S. that’s living in Mr. A’s head, bless his little deranged heart. The quest for more trees started early in April. He found one on the side of the road. It was almost in the yard of Little’s Detail shop on Hwy 74. The tree was overgrown and needed trimming. The trimming brought out the beauty of this tree. Before this took place, Mr. A went to Hamlet and talked to Mr. Little at his Service Station to get permission to cross his property to get to the tree — a cedar.
The conversation started as any other between two strangers and it ended with two men knowing the heart of each other. Meaning they found that they had one thing in common — that being the first tree to be decorated on Hwy 220 It brought smiles from both. Smiles and laughter bring hope and understanding, these things must live on. For we as men are fragile and perishable things at best.
Here is when the C.D.S. gets really good. I understand wanting to decorate the first two trees, but a third? Come on. Let it go, get over it.
It did not work out that way. To make a long story somewhat shorter, Mr. A found a full-grown tree that is 20 years old, 14 feet tall and over 20 feet around its middle. The derangement took over; it was eating at his very core. He had to have the tree. It went from a want to a need. Give a Marine a mission and get out of the way.
Permission was given to Mr. A to have the tree transplanted on the side of the road going South on Hwy 220 in Rockingham. The tree was dug up, transported and planted at no cost to the county. For the next two years, it will need daily then weekly care. This will be taken care of by Mr. A.
The tree, although not rare, is not common. The tree is of the Asian Cyprus family. The trees came here from New Zealand in 1984. Their homelands are Japan, Russia and Korea. When decorated, the tree will have one half of a mile of lights and garlands, it will be covered. C.D.S forever. Learn to laugh at yourself. What does it hurt to smile? That smile is as contagious as C.D.S,. Just try it one time. Your face will not crack. I can promise you that.
Now the real reason for the story. The new tree is being donated anonymously in the name of 1st Sgt. Roger Boone, U.S.Army Ret., to all the citizens of Richmond County. First Sgt. Boone is the son of the late Rev. Joe and Lucille Boone.
The Boone Family is one of the finest Richmond County has ever produced. They have made a difference in the lives of many of Richmond County’s citizens. Roger, after he retired from the Army, went on to teach JROTC at Richmond H.S. While serving he would see action in Granada and Panama. He also served in the deserts of the Middle East. He was part of the 82nd Airborne with the 3rd of the 325. He received his Ranger Tab, and went on to be an instructor with the Rangers. Roger is one of the finest men I have ever known. The new tree on Hwy 220 from this day forth will be forever known as the Boone Tree.
Mr. A will take care of the three trees until lack of life takes him away.
Have a silly side, have a happy side, have fun with life.
If you did not like the story, don’t read it again. BUT I BET YOU WILL.
May each and everyone have a Happy and Blessed Christmas Season.
Because of C.D.S., Mr. A’s Christman Season will last about two months. It said online it was OK, and we all know if it’s online it’s got to be true, really.
Don’t you believe in Santa?
