Billy and the Turkey
Shoot
A Thanksgiving Story
By Danny Tillman
More Guests are arriving!
Meanwhile The Crowd was growing larger outside on Rufus' and Mary's front lawn. Cars and trucks were parked all up and down both sides of Girvin Road in the vicinity of the house. Jacksonville Times-Union reporters, note-pads in hand, were interviewing guests and writing info for a Thanksgiving Special in Friday's paper. Staff photographers were shooting pictures of anything that moved or didn't. Word about the now-famous Albey Yark and his appearance at the turkey shoot had gone out far and wide.
There also was a big crowd from Micanopy, 70 miles to the south. Aunt Mary's relatives from that neck of the woods were pouring in, including Betty's sister, Anita and brother, Paul, who rode the Greyhound Bus which let them out at the intersection of Atlantic Boulevard and Girvin Road. Cousin Jerome was there too, although Deuie couldn't remember who had bro't him--maybe Anita & Paul?
From the town of Barney, near Adel in southern Georgia, came the Ellis family, which included Uncle Rufus' sister Edna, her husband Greely, their daughter, Jean and son, Bud. They also arrived by Greyhound Bus.
The Cochran family, including Cousin Cheryl, her little brother Johnny, and her dad and mom (Deuie's Uncle John and Aunt Cathryne) drove up all the way from West Palm Beach, about 300 miles down state on the east coast of Florida.
Val Singleton, Mr. and Mrs. Roche, Mr. and Mrs. McDowell and Pastor Harold Allen and wife: all members of Wonderwood Baptist Chapel, along with Mrs. Nichols, Sonny's first grade teacher at Atlantic Beach Elementary School, were in attendance also, and keeping a keen eye on the conduct of the young people.
As soon as Yark and Company had disappeared into the woods bordering the back yard, some of the grownups in Yark's company, now in American Indian attire, who had remained behind and been assigned to keep everyone clear of that area, now headed back to their trucks to get the bows, arrows and targets, for a shooting contest for the youngsters.
It ended up that the Lincourts and Aunt Elizabeth Hawkins were supervising the laying out of the food on the tables in the front yard, getting help from several others. Out back, the Tondalayos, Thornroses, Uncle Everett and Tootsie[1] were set to supervise the games and contests and try their best to keep the younguns under tight control & injury-free.
[1] Editor: DID I EVER introduce you to Tootsie? You may think of "Tootsie" as a girl's name, but the first "Tootsie" I ever knew was a teenage boy. He used to come over to Mary's house once in a while on his bicycle. I'm not sure of his last name, but in this story, I will assume he is Ronnie and Fletcher's older brother, Tootsie "Gainey." A girl named Linda also used to come over. She was younger, maybe between 8 and 10, and I guess she was a Gainey also.