Skeet was
born Jessie Adams in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1944. Somebody mentioned that day
that he was no larger than a ‘skeeter’ when he was born, and that name seems to
have stuck.
He and his wife of 45 years, Willene, a
great lady who babies Skeet much as Skeet babies his boat, his little red cars
and his big red truck, have lived their life at Pine Bluff until six years ago.
Then they bought a house on DeGray lake, partially to give Skeet’s big,
beautiful bass boat a home close to good fishing waters.
Skeet’s big bass boat may very well be the
most beautiful bass boat most of us have ever seen; bright red, with pretty
sparklies all over it in typical Skeet fashion. He bought it many years ago,
but also in typical Skeet fashion, it has been babied and cared for lovingly so
that one would think it was bought brand new yesterday. I heard a dealer once
tell Skeet that it was probably worth $80,000 today, though it only cost a
small fraction of that new.
Skeet fondly recalls the Pine Bluff of his
youth, when many people had no locks on their doors, and those who did seldom
used them. “Everyone just seemed to get along,” Skeet says. “A Pine Bluff youth
of today, transported back to the 1950’s, would think he had died and gone to
heaven. Even a child, walking alone down a dark street where the beer joints
abounded, with fist fights involving the patrons often going on nearby, was
considered safe.” However, some things were scary, such as accidentally falling
into a shallow grave onto a pile of bones while running through the woods one
night.
Pine Bluff night clubs of the fifty’s,
such as the Trio club, were considered great stepping stones for Memphis by up
and coming young musicians. Skeet
regularly rubbed elbows with the likes of the Uniques, (he dated the drummer’s
sister) Jim Ed Brown, and Jerry Lee Lewis. They often played at area schools,
also.
Once, a young man came out and played with
Skeet and his dog in the street for a while. The next day, Skeet’s dad asked if
he knew who the young man was. Skeet said no. His dad then said, “Elvis
Presley.” Skeet was not impressed. “So?”
Riding his Cushman[BG1] Eagle scooter back to school to pick
up his grades, he accidentally collided with a 57 ford with yellow
fenderskirts, (Only Skeet would be admiring the color of the fenderskirts while
getting his leg broken) and his scooter hung up on one of those
beautiful fenderskirts. The scooter was pulled out from under him. Skeet
emerged with a broken leg. After lying up most of the summer, he went to Dr.
Cunningham to have the cast taken off. When the doctor, who was their family
doctor, realized his parents were not there with him, he asked Skeet how he got
there. “Rode my scooter.” The doctor took him to the back room. The doctor
then gave him a good spankin’ and said,
“I’m gonna tell your daddy!” He did, and Skeet got another spanking when he got
home.
Skeet was a bit wild, at times. He once
was driving his buddies around in his car, took a curve a little fast, and the
car slid out into a yard and partially under a house. Skeet’s buddy went inside
to see if anyone was hurt. As the police arrived, he came running back out, “Quick!
Call an ambulance! There’s a woman dyin’ in there!” Seems she was sitting on
the commode when the car hit the drain, and the commode suddenly disappeared.
She was fine, except for a couple of strategic bruises. She never seemed to
like Skeet after that.
At Skeet’s graduation ceremony at Watson
Chapel High school, he was called up by the Superintendent and recognized as
the only student to ever graduate from Watson Chapel High School with straight
F’s in math his senior year. I’ve often said Skeet walks a very thin line in
life between being a total genius and totally crazy.
Skeet and I both attended Arkansas A&M and
lived in the same dorm, Sorrell’s Hall, for two years. He lived upstairs and I
lived down, and we never met. I do know many strange things occurred upstairs at
Sorrell’s Hall during Skeet’s tenure, such as a trash can carrying a live skunk
appearing in someone’s room as a surprise gift, as well as a limb covered with
honeybees arriving in much the same way. Blocking off the community shower with
huge blocks of Styrofoam glued into place made a great swimming pool until the
dam burst, sending a great waterfall of white water cascading down the stairs
one night. Each of these incidents emptied the building for a time, and the
culprit(s) were never caught. Skeet emphatically denies major participation in
any of these dramatic events, but I do know things settled down up there when
skeet left after two years, to start working at the paper mill and signing up
with the National Guard at Pine Bluff.
After 42 years working in maintenance at the
paper mill, Skeet can fix any broken metal item, making it look new. He’s an
artist with a welder in his hand. He’s also a gifted artist with a pencil in
his hand. My grandchildren regularly fight over who gets to sit next to him in
church. They know Skeet will draw a wonderful picture of a smokin’ hot rod, or
motorcycle, or some such vehicle during the service and the closest kid to him
will proudly get to take it home. All
the college kids flock to Skeet in droves. They know where to find him. He will
always be occupying his accustomed place of honor on the back row.
Skeet and Willene have two children, four
grand-children, and one great-grandchild.
Life is never dull around skeet. It
becomes difficult, over time, to remember just exactly what his face looks like
if he is not smiling, laughing, or telling a story. We need a lot more Skeet’s
in this world, as long as we keep them spread out a bit. I can just not imagine
what a room full of Skeets would be like, and what could happen.
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