When life gives you popcorn,

Make Popcorn Balls!

JWS has been wanting a popcorn machine.

He has searched all the regular sources,

Ebay,

Craig's List,

Restaurant Warehouse,

Etc.

Not just for at home,

he thought the fair needed one.

There was one,

years ago.

And

that brought back the memories

of

Don Pennington.

I am not sure how I met him,

but he became a friend.

Twenty years older than me,

but we both had a love for all things old

and primitive

and worn out,

long before

"primitive"

was popular.

He would dig around in old barns

and attics

and

basements

and find stuff that no one else wanted

or even knew they had

and bring it home

and fix

and clean

and strip

and refinish

and

a treasure would be born.

He would stop at my house

and stop at work

and tell me to drop in his workshop

and see his latest treasures.

The original "picker".

He always had a project for me

and

I have to say that he was the person

instrumental in getting me involved

with helping at the fair.

Years ago,

two small little girls in tow,

we would head to the fair

to work on whatever painting

he would get me into.

Then,

a few days before the fair

he would show up with the coveted

gold passes for those same two little girls

so that they could have their week

at the fair for free.

So many memories.

But,

back to the popcorn.

Don always ran the popcorn concession at the fair.

Some time,

no ones knows when,

the popcorn concession ended

and the popcorn machine

became a lost mystery.

It was sold,

It was given away,

It was scrapped...

until yesterday, when

JWS digging under the grandstand,

found something wrapped in black plastic,

and there it was.

The Missing Popcorn Machine.

He cleaned,

he buffed,

he ground,

and

scraped.

Then he wanted to go to Lowe's.

At four thirty yesterday,

after I had managed to recuperate

from a night with two of the

grandchildren,

we headed to Lowe's for some parts

and

$50

later,

(and some more cleaning)

here we were.

Not the greatest pic,

but this is one

huge

fast

popcorn machine.

Propane

and

Electric.

We didn't have enough bowls to catch it all.

And the boys could not eat it fast enough.

The birds are going to love our place today!

Now the fair has a popcorn machine again.

JWS is happy.

And Don?

He would be so proud!

Not only is his popcorn machine

back in operation

again,

but

done in the fashion that he would have done it himself.

Picking in a dark,

cobwebby

area

and

finding a treasure!

Don,

I could not have missed you more yesterday!