Me & Redd

The Great Motorcycle Wreck

The Great Motorcycle Wreck

Our adventures with Bubba are still talked about today. Bubba was our hero but mom and dads worst nightmare.

Bubba came to our house one day on a motorcycle he had just bought. He had been doing some work on the bike and was ready to try it out. So he was going to give us rides as he checked it out to make sure it was running OK.

We went to the back field where the muck is dumped after the barns are cleaned every morning. This field had a long dirt road that would be great for running a motorcycle at full speed. And at full speed is exactly how he was running.

After Alan and Jerry had taken their turns, it was now my time to go.

As we zoomed through the field Bubba hollered back at me that we were going to jump the muck pile. This really didn’t seem like a very smart thing to do but I was having so much fun I just hollered back to go for it.

Now, muck piles are not very good jumps. They are no more than straw and hay and manure. Not something one should be jumping with a motorcycle.

When the bike hit the muck pile it instantly catapulted me through the air. The only thing that saved me from injury was landing in the fresh pile that had just been dumped that morning. I smelled bad but I had no broken bones.

Bubba wasn’t as lucky. When he hit the ground the back landed on his leg. Nothing was broken but the muffler left behind a pretty good burn.

This should have been a lesson well learned but I’m afraid we went on to do other things even crazier than this.

Rescue Riding

Rescue Riding

One of our favorite past times was horseback riding. It seemed like horseback riding came natural to us. We use to go out in the fields with the old retired mares and hop up on them and ride them with no bridle, no saddle, just bareback. We would ride for hours.

When we were in our teens we began to rescue ride. This is where one person rides by as fast as he can and grabs hold of the guy on the ground and pulls him upon to the horse. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn‘t.

Alan waited at one end of the field as I galloped from the other end. As I approached I positioned myself in the saddle and reached down. Somehow Alan didn’t come aboard like he was supposed to and I was slammed into the ground as the horse galloped on without a rider.

This wouldn’t have been so bad except we had an audience.

There was plenty of laughter as I painfully removed myself from the field leaving Alan to catch the horse.

Alan, The Great Animal Trapper

Alan, The Great Animal Trapper

I guess being attracted to animals is just a kid thing. Well I guess Alan had it worse than the rest of us.

Alan learned that there was a cat living under our house. Alan wanted that cat. He didn’t care how, but that cat was going to be his.

One day Alan gathered some food, went to the hole in the back of the house and waited. He waited and waited and waited. Finally after a long while the cat appeared. He wanted what Alan had to offer.

Sometimes we need to stop and just ask ourselves, “Is this a smart thing to do“?

Well Alan kept feeding that cat until the moment finally presented itself and Alan grabbed that cat and the fight began. Alan was determined he was going to hold that cat and the cat was determined he wasn’t. Needless to say the cat won the battle.

When Alan entered the house, he looked as if he had just fought a World War II Battle. He had bites and scratches everywhere.

The cat was never seen again.

Dad The Song Leader

Dad The Song Leader

There are few things I remember from the time I was born in 1959 through 1969 when we moved to Versailles, Kentucky. But there is one story that I have to tell because it has been told so many times through the years.

We attended a quiet little country church in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Whenever they needed someone to lead the singing they would call on dad.

One Sunday morning on the way to church mom was complaining to dad about his song leading and how she wished that he would not volunteer for the job anymore. Alan and I were just sitting in the back seat quietly listening.

Later when the church service began they announced that they needed a song leader and asked if dad would please fill in for the morning worship service. As dad began to walk down the aisle Alan in a loud clear voice said “well mom, there he goes again”.

As the laughter broke out through the sanctuary mom ducked her head to embarrassed to look up.

Farm Boys Games

Farm Boys Games
Told By Ricky Sholar (Oldest Brother)

My brother’s and I were very good at finding trouble. But when our cousins moved to the same farm with us our amount of trouble doubled.

Kenny, David and Kim Ann, were my moms brothers children. Kenny was my age, David was Alan’s age and Kim Ann was close to Jerry’s age. This made things mighty convenient.

Kenny, David, Alan and myself came up with a most unusual game.

Everyday, someone had to drive the tractor to the back of the field to dump the muck from cleaning the barn that morning. So we would volunteer to do the job. One would drive the tractor while the other three sat on the front of the wagon.

Object of the game: Drop off the front of the wagon, let the wagon go over top of you and grab hold of the rear axle as it comes to you and try to hang on as the driver dragged you through thistles and horse piles and try to lose you. There could be two people under the wagon at once which really made things interesting. When you finally emerged from underneath, you were far from smelling like a rose.

After the muck was dumped we would continue our game on the return trip. There were a few times when one of us would get lucky and be able to hang on, but those times were few and far between.

We often wondered why we were wearing our clothes out so fast.

Sleep Walking In Church

Sleep Walking In Church

Our parents had us boys in church as often as possible. We really didn’t complain much about it because most of our friends went to the same church.

Every Sunday morning would find the Sholar Family in their favorite pew listening to Brother Ken preach the sermon. That is most of us would be listening, little brother Jerry would be leaned up against mom asleep. This was not occasionally, this was every single service.

One Sunday morning as everyone stood and began to sing the benediction, Jerry stepped out in the isle and began to wobble towards the preacher. Yep that’s right, he was sleep walking in church. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an arm reached out and Jerry disappeared. A friend setting several pews in front of us seen what was happening and caught Jerry before he made his way all the way to the preacher.

He never stopped sleeping in church, but that was the last time he ever walked in his sleep down the isle.

Cops & Robbers

Cops & Robbers
With Bubba Rankin

First, you have to know this before I tell this story.

When my brother Jerry was two-years-old, he fell underneath a car and was run over. It’s a miracle that he’s alive.

Now for my story.

When my dad moved his small family to Versailles, Kentucky, we moved on a farm where my dad was going to work. On this farm lived the owner of the farm, Robert Alexander and his family, Thomas Rankin with his son and daughter and now us. Thomas Rankin son bubba became our best friend. Bubba always had something cool with an engine. He started out with a motorcycle and then worked his way up.

Bubba had bought a small car. He came to our house one Sunday morning and picked us up to take us for a ride. Now a ride was supposed to be all we were going out for.

After some time had passed and we had not returned home, mom came out to look for us. When she topped the hill she could not believe what she saw.

The car was speeding across the field with bubba behind the wheel. I was hanging out the window with a toy machine gun firing away at Alan who was running on foot in front of the car and hiding behind tree’s with Jerry in the back seat hollering out orders.

Needless to say mom was a bit upset.

We were grounded from spending any time with Bubba for quite some time.

Cowboys & Indians

Cowboys & Indians

My brothers and I grew up in a world without video games or computers. You would never even find us in the house. We were always out on the farm playing Cowboys and Indians.

Now playing Cowboys and Indians for us meant that someone was going to be hurting. Because we used BB rifles and BB pistols. That’s right, we made sure that when we shot someone they felt it.

There were rules that everyone had to bide by. You had to aim for the lower part of the body. The butt was the best place to get shot. It didn’t hurt as much.

As the battle ensued, somehow Alan had gotten me pinned down. I could not move. Up from us, peeping out from behind a tree, Jerry hollered to Alan “don’t move or I’ll shoot”.

Both Alan and I were laughing so hard because we knew that Jerry didn’t stand a chance at hitting anything from that distance. As we laughed Jerry fired his BB Rifle. Alan screamed and dropped his gun. Jerry had shot him in the hand. The littlest brother had defeated the older brothers. Laughter had cost both of us the battle and Jerry walked away the winner.

Kind of like the story of David and Goliath.

The Sholar Kidnapping Escapade

The Sholar Kidnapping Escapade

It was another routine day in court. The Sherriff and his deputies were escorting a prisoner to the court house. As they proceeded to the court room the prisoner somehow slipped out of the grasp of the deputy and ran out of the court house and through the nearby neighborhood where my parents lived. At this time the town has come alive with sirens screaming through the streets in search of the escapee.

As my mom went about her daily routine, my brother Alan was preparing to go to bed. Alan, worked as a security guard at one of the local factories. He worked at night and slept during the day. He wore a uniform that looked a lot like a policemans uniform. Thats why we still can't believe that the man who had knocked at the front door showed no signs of concern. He said that he had run out of gas and needed a lift to a neighboring county. Alan was more than happy to give the guy a lift. So they got in the car and left.

As the police searched the street where my parents lived they soon learned from my mother that the man they were in search of had just left with my brother. Not long after that the TV News were on the scene and my mother was in hysterics. Mom thought for sure that Alan would never survive, that she would never see him again.

As Alan drove, the man who introduced himself began to talk and laugh and joke as he told Alan step by step the way to go. Alan's car was low on gas and he needed to stop but had no money. His passenger informed him that he also had no money. Alan talked to the man in the store and they made a deal. Alan would leave his shirt to his uniform and his wallet and would bring the money back to the store after his passenger paid him for the lift. They got their gas and went on their way.

The police were not far behind but finally lost the trail.

As the news people kept the community informed on the progress from my parents driveway my mother was slowly going insane.

As Alan drove on he handed off his prize knife he had just purchased to his passenger as his passenger took it and looked it over. He told Alan what a beautiful knife it was and handed it back. As they finally reached their destination the convict had Alan pull in front of a small house. He disappeared inside for a moment then came back out and gave Alan some money and thanked him for the ride. They said goodby and Alan left.

Back at my parents house my mother is still slowly losing her mind as she thinks the worst is happening to my brother.

Alan stops at the gas station, pays the attendant, picks up his shirt and wallet and heads home.

As Alan drives down the street he notices all the Police cars and the TV Stations van. He has no idea what is going on. As he pulls into the parking area my mother comes screaming and crying out of the house, throws her arms around Alan and sobbing so that she can't speak.

The police has my brother take them where he had left his passenger but the man had already hit the road. They had lost their prisoner but I had not lost my brother.

That night as the local TV Station aired the days events the scene was of my mother running out of the house screaming and crying as she grabs my brother and holds him tight.

It truly was an event that will never be forgotten.