A Real Turkey

As the Thanksgiving Holiday rolled around Red decided to give the team several days off.  That meant those living close by could celebrate the holiday with their family.  Some speculated Red had softened because the team was playing so well.  Usually we practiced straight through the holiday and the only recognition of Thanksgiving was turkey and dressing serve on the training table.  Sometimes the training table room was decorated. The cafeteria staff felt sorry for us.

Many of the players lived in Spokane or small towns in Eastern Washington.  They headed for home as soon as the last practice was finished.  I didn’t have enough time or money to travel to Miles City and back.  Bill Ellis saw my problem, so invited me home with him.  He and Dean Roffler were from Pine City, a small town in wheat country a short distance south of Spokane.  Bill’s folks made me feel at home instantly.  We were able to spend several days in Pine City and Bill toured me around, introducing his friends and relatives.  They had obviously been following the Savage team’s progress and were congratulatory of Bills performance.  We ran into Dean Roffler occasionally as we explored Bill’s old haunts.

One outing was an evening affair with five of the local youth joining us.  Bill knew the land around Pine City well enough to identify where a water melon patch was that might have ripe melons.  I went along not knowing what I was getting into.  I visualized getting shot at or having dogs turned loose on us.  It was a large field away from the residence and next to the road.  This would allow a quick get-a-way.  The group was surprisingly quiet and careful not to destroy the vines.  Several large ripe melons were selected.  They were great!

*Taken from "Which Road Should I Follow?, Volume 1, Growing up in the country", an autobiography by Edwin K. Hill.