It might be helpful to provide a little of Ruth Anne’s work history for you as we begin. Ruth Anne served as county coordinator for the PACS office for quite a while. Eventually she made the move to the county judge’s office where she assumed the role of finance officer. In her various jobs and roles Ruth Anne has seen a lot of stuff happen. Finally Ruth Anne tells all. Well not all, but enough for an interesting column.
Travel back in time mentally if you will to the late 1980’s. Ruth Anne was with the PACS office. Judge Executive Zelner Cossey asked Ruth Anne to come upstairs and be a witness to a wedding. There was a middle-aged couple getting married. This was not a case of two people that were barely acquainted getting hitched. The man and woman had been living together for 20 years or so. As Judge Cossey moved through the ceremony, he eventually got to the part where the couple was to exchange rings. You see, the man had a ring to put on his bride’s finger and vice versa for the woman. Here is where it gets good. Judge Cossey looked at the man and said, “You may now place the ring on her finger.” Without hesitation the man pulled the woman’s ring out of his pocket and placed it directly on his own finger. With even less hesitation, the woman gave her future husband a big time elbow to the rib cage and said, “My finger you fool.” Now a story like that is hard to top, but give Ruth Anne a chance and she will try.
I will close with this one. It was the 1990’s and Ruth Anne was still with the PACS office. Transients would often stop at her desk to ask for money for gas and food. Well, one particular day a guy approached Ruth Anne and pleaded for gas money. He said he needed it to get out of town. Ruth Anne went through the process and got the guy a little gas money. Not long after the guy left, Ruth Anne found out he had been in jail and had another case pending. Ruth Anne was worried sick that she had aided and abetted a criminal. As it turned out, the fellow was only facing nominal charges. Some folks with the justice system were even overheard to say the following, “Ruth Anne if you had any part in helping that guy to get out of the county, then you have done the county a big favor.”
Obviously those aren’t the only two stories that Ruth Anne remembers over the years. Come on now, the woman has a mind like a steel trap. So if you liked the first two tales, let me know and Ruth Anne and I will bring a couple more your way.
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.
