| Message #: | 1885 |
| Date Posted: | 04-18-2002 |
| Subject: | |
| Posted by: | Pat Walgamott |
| Email: | pat2 ix.netcom.com |
| Surnames: | GARRITS |
HALLOWEEN OF THE MID 90's
The Old Band Hall
Playing Tricks on Fritz Garrits
(Excerpted from Einfeldt's Barn)
That old band hall back of the bank had a platform that was raised up to the
heighth of the building entrance making about three steps up and down in the sidewalk.
These steps were wide and some boys (I was told about this. note: Smitty had nothing to
do with this one ) got some boards and cut a couple of broomsticks for rollers and placed
them under the boards on the steps and waited for someone to come along and it was not
long until one Fritz Garrits came slough-footing it home. He had been somewhere. He
navigated the steps up to the platform and then when he stepped down on the first step, he
immediately went into a terrific spin and down on the back of his neck with a thud. There
are times when under conditions like this that a fall like this would not materially act to
dispose of the individual and in this case Fritz arose and shook himself and started on and
when he stepped on to the second board it took on the act of inertia and so he went down
for the second time. By this time he was quite roiled but as no one was in sight, he turned
and wandered on toward home up Stovepipe Alley and turned into the gate and soon the
house was in darkness.
During this time some others were up in a certain haymow building a man-sized
dummy that they took up the alley and stood it up just at Fritzs' gate and then proceeded
to install a tick-tock on his window. Crossing the street with the string they proceeded to
dangle those nails against his window. It was not long until out of the door came Fritz
with a big blunderbuss of a 10-guage and tore loose at that dummy in the face and ribs and
said, well,I killed a man in Germany and now one here, too.
Fritz was really a harmless man. He was of the typical old woodcutter type, but
would not work at it longer than he had to. He was well educated in his native country
and from what I can find out his family grew up under very adverse conditions and have
done quite well. I can still see Fritz down on the bank of that grand old river with his old
pole cut from the brush hauling out the old red horses and suckers. I would give a lot of
bucks if I had about 25 feet of 8mm film of his sitting there.