Odd stories of Presidents

 

March 29, 2026

 

Weird History of Some of our Presidents

 

    Theodore Roosevelt and Teddy Bear

        After noticing a photo of President Abraham Lincoln this morning, I got an idea for today’s topic. It was a photo showing President Lincoln preparing to give a speech at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 120 days after a battle between the North and South was fought there.

            Two talks were delivered at the site on was November 19, 1863, a time where there were still 3000 bodies of both Union and Confederate soldiers still strewn nearby. The first oration was given by Senator Edward Everett of the State of Massachusetts. It was a magnificently worded speech of 13,000 words, and took the Senator two hours to complete. When a few thousand citizens travel the distance to Gettysburg to hear a couple of speeches delivered by two prominent men, they intend to hear some good stuff.  

            Senator Everett’s beginning sentence alone contained 74 words. -- “Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the mighty Alleghenies dimly towering… yadda, yadda.” -- Those were only the first 24 of the74 words in the first sentence.

            When Everett ended his talk, thousands of people went wild. They hollered and applauded for a man to who took two hours to get his point across. The people may not have understood all of what he said, but they ate it up. Some in the crowd were still standing when Lincoln appeared at the podium. He began with these 30 words. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

            When he finished his speech, some in the audience were still mingling, having yet to sit down. Granted, they all anticipated that Lincoln would try to match Senator Everett’s time at the podium. Two minutes vs two hours. Lincoln didn’t get much applause due to the fact that only a handful had heard what he said.”

            After giving a blessed talk for one and half minutes, Lincoln ended with “We here, highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

            To his credit, Senator Edward Everett later sent Lincoln a letter in which he wrote, "I should be glad, if I could flatter myself, that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

            It’s a crying shame that Lincoln was assassinated only five months into his second term. One can only imagine the changes that might’ve taken place in both the North and South had he lived to finish his second term. The position of Presidency has not seen the likes of him since. In actuality you can say that about any President who ever served. None had the same delivery. Each had a different method of dealing with issues in this country.

            Before leaving the topic of Gettysburg, I choose to mention the 65 soldiers, Union and Confederate, who received metals for their bravery at Gettysburg. The last to receive the Medal of Honor was 1^st Lieutenant Alanzo H. Cushing, who was killed while fighting off the men under General Pickett’s command who made the last Confederate charge at Gettysburg. He was 22 years old at the time. His award was given generations later to a distant relative, Helen Loring Ensign, 84 years old who is now living in California. Before handing the award Mr. Obama said that the award "…reflects our obligation to our men and women in Armed services. No matter how long it takes, it is never too late to do the right thing."

            From both sides, there was a total 50,000 soldiers who died during that three-day battle. Although it was the turning point of the Civil War, the war was not declared over until April 6, 1866, by all States except for Texas. We didn’t get the word until August 20, 1866. I was born 86 years later, on the same day of the year. 

            In January 1865, slavery was prohibited in the U.S. In 1868, people of color were given the right to citizenship in the U.S. And in 1870, all states except for Delaware agreed that all men should have the right to vote… in U.S. elections. Before 1870 most Southern States had laws that people of color couldn’t vote unless they could pass certain literacy tests that many whites couldn’t have passed.

            It was a sign of the times. Bad times. I’m not yet certain as to what times we’re sitting in right now. Whatever it is, I doubt we’ll get through it during my lifetime. Regardless, the one thing we can each do, is “Brighten the corner where you are.” That’s a song that a Homer Rodeheaver came up with in 1915. That’d be 111 years ago. I can’t believe there was a need for such a song back then! -- That was a lousy joke, and unfortunately, still appropriate.  

end

hayter.mark@gmail.com

The Actor in the Family

 

March 15, 2026

 

“A story about the fourth Hayter brother"

  

            One of the toughest questions I get asked is “How is your brother doing?” The problem is I’ve got three brothers and none of them do the same thing. If we didn’t have similar looks and body language, I would think we had different parents.

            Larry is the eldest of the group. The guy started working after school in the ninth grade. That’s pretty much the only way he could get money, because Dad worked at a refinery and had trouble keeping seven kids in food, clothing and a home. Larry was a great baseball player, and when the family played flag football during the holidays, he was an animal.

            What he does now is read. During my lifetime I have never seen as many books as he has read. He now finds himself halfway through a book before he realizes he’s already read.

            Dennis is the second brother in the Hayter family. Dennis and I are close. He was the best athlete in the family. Baseball, football, and track were his three major sports. I played in all three, and couldn’t hold a candle to my big brother. Right now, he’s got leg issues, so I can now run faster than he does.

            The youngest of the brothers is Big Al. We called him that, because he started out scrawny. It wasn’t long before he grew into the name Big Al. He was big enough to break me in two. I don’t know why God allows certain people to suddenly become taller. Basketball and football were his specialties. At least they were until he started acting.

            In the field of acting, Al surpassed all three of his brothers. I thought I was a fairly good actor until Al started. Do you know how many movies he’s been in? I don’t either. I had small parts in five or more. I was never in a movie in which I got paid. Al has never been in a movie or a commercial in which he was not paid.

            One of Al’s lesser-known movies was shot in Conroe. I remember it well, because I was there when Daniel Baldwin’s character slugged Al, knocking him to the concrete. I thought for sure my brother would never act again. However, after director Chuck Walker, said “Cut!” I went over to ask Al how bad he was hurt. He said his head never hit the street. That’s when I knew for sure he was a great actor, because it sure looked to me like he cracked his skull.  

I’m not sure how many westerns or commercials Big Al has appeared in. I was present during the shooting of three of them. In one of his films, I was hired to chauffeur the actors. It was a horrible job. Do you know how much money the actors were making? I don’t either. Al wouldn’t even tell me. But what really irked me was when an actor would ask me to pull over at a store and loan him some money for cigarettes, something to drink, or to eat. None of them thought of bringing money with them.

Nor did they think to pay me back. The actor who still owes me the most is Billy Zane. Do you have any idea what it’s like to drive rich actors thither and yon, while paying for their stuff? I was making $50 a day, which amounted to about five dollars an hour.

            However, I must say that the experience was worth it. The best part was getting to meet George Kennedy. Al even invited me to be in a photo with them. I haven’t met nearly as many actors as Al has, but I’ve gotta tell you, George Kennedy was a most pleasant and humble person.

            On one of his trips to California to see Eric Braeden’s star being placed on the walk of fame, Al saw George Kennedy near by. He walked over to him and said, “I’ll bet you don’t remember me.” Kennedy looked at him and said, “Of course, I do, Reverend.” In the movie the two of them were in, Al played a preacher who rode with a group of thugs. I remember Arman Assante, Billy Zane, and a few others whose names escaped me. In the movie Eric Braeden played the good guy, who the thugs thought they had killed.

            The movie is about Braeden going around killing each of the bad guys. Though playing the roll of a preacher, Al rode with the bad guys. When Eric Braeden’s character found him, he hung my kid brother on a cross inside a church building. That’s why Kennedy called him Reverend.

            I don’t know what or when Al’s next movie or commercial will be filmed. I’ll be among the last to know. I don’t think he likes me going on about him, for fear I’ll include him in an article. That’s just the way some famously humble people behave.   

end

hayter.mark@gmail.com

 

         

View from the Back Porch

 March 8, 2026

“From the Back Porch”

            You’re a bit late, but that’s okay by me. I’m just back here on the back porch waiting for you. I have every confidence that you were involved in something important. While waiting, I walked to the wooded east-corner of our fenced-in backyard.

            You may not remember me having a huge pile of pine tree sections tossed among every grabbing piece of vine and bush in the area. By the way, the vines and brush actually grew up after the log sections were dumped.

            Michael was the gentleman who cleared the whole area out for me. He worked for Joe Jackson, the other gentleman who was in charge of the project. Joe is older than I am, so he furnished the trailer and a nice young man named Michael to load and haul a wheelbarrow back and forth to the trailer parked in my driveway. Michael hauled no-telling how many wheel barrels loaded with tree sections. Of course, he had to cut a lot of vines and yaupon bushes to even get to it.

            Michael was one tough son-of-a-gun. The young man completed the entire project in four hours. I thought it would take him two days. I have carried out some tough jobs in my day, but there’s no way I could’ve removed those pine tree sections and all of the vines and limbs in four hours.

            Even if I got Kay and both my neighbors to help, we couldn’t have done it that fast. Big Al is the only Hayter brother who might come close to being able to haul everything to the trailer. Had I offered to pay Al the same as I paid Mr. Jackson, I know that he’d say, “No, but you might call Larry and Dennis.” Those two are the oldest of the four brothers and are both less healthy than me. No way could I handle that job.  Maybe by Christmas.

            With that out of the way, let’s take a few minutes to listen to the birds. A great sound those tree sitters. I think I heard a warbler. In the background I can now hear a sparrow. Wait! Wow, that sounded like the Dark-eyed Jurico. That is an actual bird; I’ve just never seen one. The thing was dark enough to hide itself well.

            Not to completely change the subject, let me tell you about last night, I read that the people in Europe do not put their chicken eggs in the icebox. So, let’s spend a few minutes in Europe. I’ve never been there. I have all confidence that I’ll be able to say that on my deathbed.

            I noticed that one of you asked why egg-eaters in Europe keep their eggs out of the fridge. First of all, we both know that Europeans aren’t like us, nor DO they like us. But they do eat eggs, just not ours. For one thing they think it’s dumb that we store our eggs in a refrigerator. It just so happens, if you keep your eggs below 50 degrees, it can cause the shell to develop both moisture and bacteria. When you’re finally ready to eat the thing, bacteria could have seeped into the yolk. No joke. If you eat a bad yolk, it could keep you seated in the restroom for a good while.

            Europeans don’t clean the shell of their egg until they’re ready to cook them. The yolk not the shell. When cleaning an egg with poop on its shell, there could be some of the fecal matter that seeped into the yolk, thus making someone sick. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen in Britain.

            I’ve got many more fascinating things to share with you, but I must go to Home Depot to get a few bags of big rocks. You see, after all of the wood and vines were hauled off, I saw three holes dug under the fence. The back neighbor’s two dogs dug their way into my yard a couple of weeks ago. The third hole under the fence is likely a very large armadillo. Because no dog would intentionally dig from my backyard into someone else’s. An armadillo? In truth they don’t have a clue what they’re doing. That’s why I never write about them.

end

hayter.mark@gmail.com