Chicken Fat: Marietta Police, Retired (Mostly)

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Marietta Police, Retired (Mostly)

Yesterday, Friday, August 28th, 2015, The Marietta Museum of History had a "sit around the cracker barrel session" talking about the Marietta Police Force of times gone by.

I was glad to see some old friends that I grew up with, like Jerry Millwood, Haydn McLean, Rupert Raines, and others. They had a panel, sort of mostly retired MPD officers. One, Tommy Maloney I think he is still on the force. I used to work with his late brother Phil .

About a half dozen ex Marietta cops got up told of their memories, which were mostly hilarious. The memories also showed they were humans with big hearts.

One retired policeman, I don't remember the name, at the podium asked for people born in Marietta to raise their hands. Almost everybody and I raised their hands.

Then he asked how many people went to Marietta High School. A good many of the people, including me raised their hands.

Then, he asked for people who rolled Marietta High School to raise their hands. As far as my peripheral vision could tell, I was the only one who raised a hand.

Maybe I had better explain:

At a football game two friends and I arrived fully stocked under our coats with rolls of toilet paper.

Every so often we would throw a roll high in black sky and it would unroll as it traveled in the air. twice it looped over the power lines.

MHS was playing Roswell. When the Roswell Band came marching on the field at half time as they march we let the toilet paper fly. Rolls flew and mysteriously did magic tricks like wrap around the legs of the band member trying to march,, tangled around tubas and other horn instruments. I think some long streams of toilet paper got hung up in shoes and trailed them as they tried to march in cadence.

I think everybody on the Marietta side were happy with the Roswell Band Half Time Show for a change.

I am pretty sure the statue of limitations has ran out.

One lady in the audience stood up and talked about the time her late father was on the force. She was an articulate speaker. She said her father's name, Harold Griggs. I perked up. Lawdy! She was Grethen Griggs. We went back to the early 1940s when we were toddlers.

It was very enjoyable seeing the policemen talk. Police are like Marines, they are in it for life whether they are paid for it or not.