That's Fred

The same man who has tended the clock tower all these years still tends it. That's Fred. He has served faithfully in a lot of city jobs, more than I know, certainly, but I do know that he was, for several years, the county commissioner. Recently, however, feeling like it was time he retired from a few of his more strenuous jobs, he surrendered the "setting up all the Christmas lights on the square" job to the Lions' Club. They did it one year, and the next year they decided it was so much work they would have to "simplify". A couple of years ago he painted the red steps of the courthouse--a painstaking job with a bucket and brush. At the time, he announced that someone else would have to do that next time. I don't know who. Nobody will be as careful as Fred. As far as the clock goes, however, only Fred knows how it works and what to do if it suddenly goes crazy and starts chiming out too many hours. So he patiently tends it. Some things you can't retire from.