The local U.S. Postal letter carriers and office personnel want to thank all the folks on their mail routes who generously shared some food with neighbors in need during their recent “Stamp Out Hunger” drive.

This year’s theme, “Fill a Bag, Feed Families,” proved a winner because the carriers collected more than a thousand pounds of nonperishable food. The fine folks who live along the postal routes had the bags waiting next to their mailboxes and many vehicles returned to the post office over loaded.

We didn’t get a picture this year because they delivered all the food directly to the Good Samaritan Food Pantry where it was kept until needed...which wasn’t very long!

The carriers want to thank all their friends on those routes who, year after year, make the food gathering effort a very worthwhile project for the entire community.

They think every one of you is “FIRST CLASS!”

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We were in Columbus, Ohio, last week visiting our middle daughter, Beth. and her husband, Nate Wilbanks, along with their sons, Sawyer and Oliver. And, oh yes, also Yuki and Popo, who look like really cute doggies, but act a lot more like Princesses.

We’ve been pals for years because they know their little royalty act works on me every time!

In addition to a great mini-vacation, Jane and I also received tickets to “Wicked” playing in a beautiful theater in downtown Columbus. It was flat-out wonderful and I can’t imagine anyone who enjoys great music, dancing, and comedy not enjoying it as much as we did.
Surprisingly, it just ended an engagement in Madison a few weeks ago. In fact, we wondered if it was the same traveling company.

The amazing story centers around Glinda, the Good Witch who first met Dorothy after her house landed in Oz, and the Witch of the East, who gives new meaning to the word “wicked,” in the movie, but not the play.

Both ladies had incredibly beautiful and powerful voices.

The dancing was out of this world (of course....it was from Oz). And, there are plenty of laughs, many of them slyly pertaining to the original Wizard of Oz movie. At one point the witch of the East flies by on her broomstick with great special effects, and Glinda yells, “Are you still flying that old broomstick?” The reply from the witch is a classic shot at the movie, “We can’t all ride in bubbles, you know!”

I’m sure it will end up on film like most classic musicals. I’m even more sure I’ll want  a copy!

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With the golf season in full swing, that crazy old high school chum of mine has e-mailed some classic bits of conversation between golfers and their caddies.

For the rest of the season. I’m going to end each column with a chat between an apparently terrible golfer and his smart mouthed caddie.

Golfer: I think I’m going to drown myself in that lake!

Caddie: Do you think you can keep your head down that long, sir?