We were on my Golfing for a Cure tour. It was one of those mornings where it was smoking hot at 7 a.m. It seemed like we were a mile from the sun.
Once we left the interstate at Paducah, we wound through several twisting roads to get to the golf course. At one point, we even passed through the community of New York. That’s right, New York, complete with road sign and all. I must confess that I didn’t know there was a New York, Kentucky.
We finally completed the 90-minute trip and found Ballard Country Club. The course was just nine holes for several years but is now an 18-hole course.
Despite the dry conditions, we found the course to be an excellent place to play. As we got into our carts to begin the round, a short fat dog hopped into the cart with Jonathan and I. The dog faintly reminded me of some human from my past, I just couldn’t quite recall whom.
Well, it wasn’t the first round of golf for the dog. Shorty the dog followed us shot for shot for the first six holes of the course. Shorty wasn’t very well groomed, so Jonathan correctly shoed him away about a 100 times only to see him hop right back into the cart.
Finally as we approached the seventh tee box, Shorty abruptly left without barking goodbye. Maybe old Shorty was a psychic of some kind. He must have known what was coming.
You see, I birdied the first hole on this outing. As a matter of fact, I was only one over par heading into hole seven. Then, my new best friend Shorty, my little fat good luck charm, left me. Despite Shorty’s absence, I hammered a good drive to the left side of the fairway.
Then as we were driving down the cart path to my ball, we saw it. From a limb hanging over the cart path, a rope was hanging down. At the end of the rope was a hanging noose. Now, I don’t know what the significance of the noose was. Maybe it was there for extremely distraught golfers. All I know is that I ended up with an eight on the hole.
From there on, I was my normal inconsistent self on the golf course. Blame it on the noose. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.
For the record, Jonathan and Jerry blistered the course and Coach Wallace played a respectable round.
It is worth noting that the temperature wasn’t the only thing in the 90s that we saw on the golf course that day. We ran into a very nice gentleman, 93 years old, playing 18 holes of golf. The man explained that he had been in the hospital for 65 days. The first 32 he felt like he was trying to die and the last 33 he was trying to get out. Congratulations on the later, kind sir.
Perhaps the best part of the day was the last. Going on former Ballard County Superintendent John Earl Evans’ advice, we went to lunch at the Bluegrass Restaurant in downtown LaCenter. The Bluegrass reminds me of a supped up Cadiz Restaurant.
Everyone there seemed to know each other. It was like the sign you see in the Cadiz Restaurant. “There are no strangers, just friends who have not met.”
Owner Bob Kartapanis was originally from Athens, Greece. Bob welcomed us with open arms. Bob is extremely proud to be a United States citizen. He said it was his dream since he was a child to come to the US. He followed his dream and just recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of his owning and operating the Bluegrass Restaurant.
Bob said, “I love our small community. Everybody here is like family and I am so thankful for my friends here. I really enjoy giving back to this community.”
At the Bluegrass, you will find a full menu seven days a week from 6 a.m. till 9:30 p.m. Bob says, “Catfish is one of our specialties, but you can get just about anything you want. You won’t walk away hungry. Take my word for it.”
I can tell you one other thing. You won’t meet a nicer man than Mr. Bob Kartapanis. You can take my word on that.
OT: Thanks to Mr. Bob for the donation to cancer research and for his hospitality.
Double OT: Some fine Cerulean residents recently went to HUB’s in Hickman and had a great meal and took them a copy of The Cadiz Record.
Triple OT: If anyone goes to the Bluegrass Restaurant in, take Bob a copy of this paper.
Enthusiasm Makes the Difference Mike Wright is the head coach of boys basketball and cross country at Trigg County High School. Emails concerning Coach’s Corner can be sent to jmcgill@cadizrecord.com.
