A lyrical litany of little known Littles of Virgina

Published 4:00 pm Monday, December 18, 2006

I just got off the phone.

I’m a little bit nervous because I left a voice mail message on Trinity Lutheran’s voice mail machine and I’m not a Lutheran.

At least I don’t think I am.

With a name like Freeman, who and where and what have always been interrogatories to me.

Sometimes when I am around my quick-witted temple pals, I feel like I could be Jewish.

I love humor, I love mothers and I love chicken soup.

Yet when I am around my Texas cousins, I feel like a Baptist. Southern, of course, with Wednesday night prayer meetings and potlucks and skydiving and barbecue after Sunday service.

Today I will probably feel part Presbyterian and part Bahai’an when I attend Layli and Tyler’s afternoon wedding ceremony and reception. Having been raised and confirmed Presbyterian at Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio, I already know how to feel Presbyterian.

That feeling would be confused, guilty or joyous depending upon which part of the Nicene Creed I recite.

When I lived and worked in Hollywood I had the opportunity to attend a Baha’i celebration at the San Fernando Valley home of Jimmy Seals of Seals and Croft. I knew Rollie, a roadie who drove one of the equipment trucks when Seals and Croft were touring the West Coast.

I’m pretty sure that I am not a very big part Bahai’an because I had to drink my beer in a 1970 Volvo. No alcohol was allowed at the celebration. What kind of tradition is that?

Layli and Tyler will hopefully forgive me today should I cross over to the Presbyterian side for a brief adult beverage. In the Midwest we Presbys celebrated communion every afternoon about five, but not before noon on Sundays.

We always were advised to wait until right after the benediction before imbibing.

There will be several celebrities attending the Layli Lewis and Tyler Thompson ceremony today including Layli’s folks, Craig and Carrie Lewis; and Fred and Sally Thompson, parents of the groom; Randy Thompson, brother of the groom; and Betsy and Chris Little, aunt and uncle of the groom.

Little be known, the Littles live outside McDowell, Va., site of the War of Northern Aggression’s Battle of McDowell.

I cannot remember the name or the number of the road they live near, but it’s the one that you turn left on just before you get into town.

Sound familiar?

While many people with a McDowell mailing address live outside McDowell, it is like Freeland.

McDowell is small and there is not room for everyone who resides there to live there.

Coincidentally, when you walk in the back door entrance of the Dog House Tavern in Langley, there is a black-and-white picture of a stern faced preacher framed on the east wall, right behind the door.

Pete Jacobs used to tell me that he thought the guy in the picture looked like me as an old man.

So, one Wednesday night before an Island Arts Council Poetry Slam, I took the picture off the wall to see if there was any explanation as to who the stern faced figure was.

Sure enough, Preacher Stern was a preacher from Highland County, Va., right down the road from the Littles.

So, today I did a word search for the Littles on Google and discovered that on Friday, April 22, 2005, also my pal Jennifer’s special Earth Day birthday, the Little’s letter to the editor was printed in the Highland County Recorder.

The Little’s letter is reprinted herewith without their knowledge and permission.

“Superintendent should resign” is the headline.

“We can’t recall seeing such an overwhelming vote of no-confidence in a public official as we have recently in the case of school superintendent Nancie Lightner. The public, parents and teachers have made abundantly clear their lack of confidence in Superintendent Lightner. The only gracious, and responsible, thing for her to do is resign.”

Chris and Betsy Little

McDowell, VA.

And resign she did.

I hope to find out at today’s wedding why. That also gives me a foot in the revolving door to talk about our last four.

Little be known, the Little’s nephew Randy, brother of the groom, is a student at Evergreen State College where my nephew Oliver graduated last June.

Oliver grew up in Highland County, Virginia, no doubt drinking some of his earliest water at the Three Ponds Farm owned by the Littles.

Oliver used to enjoy playing in the fields by The Sugar Tree Country Store, located in McDowell, primarily known for it’s own brand of maple syrup, drawn from sap in Highland County and cooked and bottled in a facility behind the store. The store was sold a couple of years ago to a family of Mennonites.

Oliver did not play near the only funeral home in the county, the Obaugh Funeral Home, with G.S. Obaugh as Manager/Director.

Behind the funeral home and next door to the Sugar Tree Country Store is a Highland County Historical Museum, a grand old house that served as a hospital during the Civil War.

Little be known, the Littles live near the McDowell Presbyterian Church, a lovely Civil War-era building, probably pastored at one time by the preacher in the photo on the Dog House wall.

The new pastor of the church is Beth Pyles, who has recently spent time in Baghdad as a reservist member of Christian Peacemaker Teams (see http://therecorderonline.com/features/635/mcdowell-pastor-also-a-baghdad-peacemaker).

Oh yes.

Why did I call Trinity Lutheran to leave a message on their voice mail, you ask?

The H in Christmas was missing on the north side of their reader board, but after a brief prayer for clarity, it made sense to me.

Someone in the neighborhood needed an extra H for today.

An extra H to say — Happy Hanukkah!