Country Lifestyles
“Mr. Telephone” – Gordon Holmes
By Judy Wade
Are you old enough to remember the first telephone in your home—a big wooden box on the wall with a mouthpiece and a crank to summon an operator? It came with a party line and at least one nosy neighbor. Next we updated to the candlestick and then the black desk phone. Colors came later at an extra charge. Following that was the rotary dial when most people were finally free of the party line. Pushbuttons came next and then the wall phone with a 25 foot cord to reach all over the house.
Cordless phones gave us more freedom, and then the bag phone or brick phone let us take the phone with us anywhere. Small flip phones soon followed and now the smart phone allows the owner to access almost anyone and anything anywhere in the world.
Since Alexander Graham Bell said, “Mr. Watson, come here. I need you,” on March 10, 1876, we have been fascinated with the telephone and now feel we can’t live without it.
Gordon Holmes of Byers, affectionately known as “Mr. Telephone,” is a walking encyclopedia on the development of the telephone and was directly involved in it for the majority of his life. “I was born in a telephone office,” he laughs. “My mother was the business manager for the Iowa Park phone system where she operated the switchboard in our home, supervised three or four girls, did all the hiring and firing and took care of all the bills and was paid $200 a month. That’s where I was born,” he explained.
After second grade, the Holmes’ family moved to Eliasville where his dad took over the phone company there. With the oil boom in the Kamay area, they moved there where his dad set up a phone system. Holmes attended Valley View School, graduating there.
He worked for his dad in the phone business until the day before his 18th birthday in 1946 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. During his two-year enlistment he visited the Panama Canal and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Holmes was also sent to electrician’s school in Great Lakes, Ill. and movie operator school in California before his ship returned to Norfolk, Virginia.
To read more pick up a copy of the May 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Dal Houston
I am terribly saddened by all the argumentative discourse that seems to be going on in today’s world. It seems as though it is no longer enough just to disagree on certain issues. We are expected to classify someone as an enemy if they do not always agree with us on all issues, lest we be considered weak.
To make things even worse, because those who disagree with you are now considered enemies, the sentiment seems to be that it is only fair and proper to destroy them, because they are the enemy, again with the fear of ridicule for being weak if we do not fight.
With all that said, and seemingly unrelated, I am a big John Wayne fan. From watching him dive into his role as a cowboy, to marveling at his time portraying a soldier or appreciating his acting gig as a sailor, there is seldom a week that goes by without me watching at least one
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Martha Crump
That old adage, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.,” may have some basis in truth when applied to minor situations. However, when what you don’t know is presented in the form of a “Trojan Horse” and is what amounts to an incredible attempt to fleece American property rights, it becomes a different story altogether.
To put this unbelievable tale together, we need to step back to Joe Biden’s 2021 Executive Order which pledged commitment to help restore balance on public lands and waters, to create jobs, and to provide a path to align the management of America’s public lands and waters with our nation’s climate, conservation, and clean energy goals.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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