I had the pleasure of driving Grand Marshal Bud Hannaford in the Old Settlers’ Day parade Sept. 24.

After Margie got him settled on pillows in the back seat of our convertible, Bud remarked, “this is really living.” When we turned the corner off of Walnut Street and took our place in the parade lineup, Bud offered a few remarks that really got my attention.

Bud said that when he was a young corporal in the Army, one of his duties was to drive for an Army colonel (who was bossy, rude, and an unpleasant person to be around). But now the tide had finally turned, and the young corporal was now the man, and his driver was a colonel.

I knew what was coming.

“Don’t swerve.”

“Stay in the center of the road.”

“Keep a steady pace.”

“Don’t get too close to the American Legion motorcycles.”

And a few other comments that were too funny or not politically correct to print.

I was exhausted from laughing, and at the end of the parade his parting shot was “Thank you, young man. You are going to be a fine driver one of these days.”

I replied, “Thank you, sir. It was my pleasure.”

Dick Schwartz
Retired Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps
Marion County Lake