In Our Community
William Conrad, actor, producer and director was born John William Cann, Jr., on September 27, 1920 in Louisville, KY. He was the deep throated, authoritative voice of Marshall Matt Dillon on the adult western Gunsmoke on CBS for the entire run of the series. Considered too stout for the TV series, however, some of the radio actors from Gunsmoke were considered but were voted out. For several years the network had wanted to develop such an authentic, honest sounding series. Gunsmoke seemed to fit the bill. Conrad, who was averaging 10 to 15 shows a week, specialized in drama with roles on The Whistler, Romance, Lux Radio Theater, and Suspense to name just a few. He was also the opening signature voice on Escape in the distinctive mode of Orson Wells.
The heavy set Conrad got his first paying job at age 17 at KMOC Beverly Hills. “I was fascinated with radio and used to hang around with a dear friend who was an announcer,” he said in a 1969 interview. “He'd let me do a commercial every now and then.” During WWII he worked for the Armed Forces Radio Service. After Gunsmoke, he filled the TV screen in titled roles in Jake and the Fat Man, Cannon and Nero Wolfe. His films included The Killers and Sorry Wrong Number. In voice-over work he was heard on the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV series. Conrad claimed once that he was on approximately 7,500 radio programs, not to mention the many TV series that he was part of. Because of his CBS contract, he sometimes appeared on shows on other networks under the pseudonym Julius Krelboyne. William Conrad died Feb. 11, 1994 in North Hollywood, CA. VA by the Numbers
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been going all out to provide expanded access to care to veterans. They’re calling it Access Sprints, and it means they’re scheduling more appointments at night and on weekends, as well as scheduling more veterans into their daily schedule.
The effort seems to be showing progress. Just this year so far the VA has had 25,000 more new patients than they did during the same period last year. Appointments increased by 11%. Per the stats, 12% fewer new patients had to wait over 20 to 28 days to get an appointment, and 14% fewer new patients are having to wait to see community providers because of wait time eligibility. This is on top of the care they provided in 2023 in over 116 million appointments. Other 2023 stats are equally impressive. The crisis line took over 1 millions calls, over 33,000 veterans received emergency care in suicide crises and 5.5 million dental procedures were completed for over 560,000 patients. Nearly 5 million veterans were screened for toxin exposure, an important step in monitoring their health. (As of March 5, 2024, veterans exposed to toxins and meeting other requirements have become eligible for VA health care, even before enrolling for other VA benefits. This means those who were in the Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror or any other combat zone since Sept. 11. Any who weren’t deployed but who trained and were exposed here in the U.S. are included in eligibility.) Even the non-medical efforts saw success: Ten million veterans have individual pages in the online digital Veterans Legacy Memorial website, with over 5 million of those being created in the last year, and 5.6 million policyholders got life insurance coverage. The VA was able to hire over 61,000 staffers to provide care to the increased number of veterans seeking health care, bringing the total to over 400,000. Not a bad year for the VA ... and veterans. © 2024 King Features Synd., Inc. |
Ordinary Is Good
I saw a photo of actor Andy Griffith, taken in 1964, working a field with his 1952 Ford 8N tractor on his 53-acre property in North Carolina. I grew up driving a similar tractor on my uncles’ farm. I found it interesting that a famous actor was finding enjoyment in driving a farm tractor, something I frequently did as a teenager.
Then I recalled how actor Paul Newman took great delight in launching a line of salad dressings, donating the profits to charity. Comedian Tom Smothers also came to mind, having left show business and buying a 100-acre winery in California. I also reflected on how social media often has selfie posts by famous people walking their dog. Sometimes they post videos sharing a favorite dish they’ve created in their kitchen or doing some common activity. They may live upscale lives that are generally unencumbered by the need to do ordinary tasks, but they often seek out such tasks anyway. The rich and famous can’t walk on a red carpet all the time. Most of them must also deal with the ordinary like the rest of us. They walk on regular sidewalks, brush their teeth staring into a mirror, and put on their shoes one at a time just like we do. There’s comfort in seeing the rich and famous finding it necessary to do what’s ordinary. It’s encouraging that they find enjoyment in the events and tasks that most of us do every day. I often marvel how Jesus, the Son of God, spent over ten years of His adulthood working in the carpenter’s shop, a common occupation. His active ministry took place only during the last three years of His life on earth. Even after His resurrection, in His resurrected body, we have record of Him preparing a breakfast of fish along the lakeshore for His disciples, an ordinary task. Ordinary is good! All of life takes on special meaning when we recognize that God is present with us no matter what we’re doing. His presence makes everything sacred. We can also call upon His help, realizing He’s already doing so by giving us our breath and strength, which makes Him a partner with us as we go through each day. Then too, when we’re open to His leading and obedient to His will, we can experience His pleasure. When it comes down to it, we don’t need the rich and famous doing ordinary things to remind us that the ordinary is a necessary and significant part of life. When we allow God into our seemingly ordinary days, they’re not ordinary at all! “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters”(Colossians 3:23). I guess there is nothing exceptional about eating out unless it is for a special event like a birthday or something, but it can be fun when you get together with friends and share a few stories about the past.
Recently seven of us ate out at a well-known restaurant. There were five widows and one couple. I guess you might say our escort was the only husband sharing time with us lovely ladies. He was a gentleman at all times. The proprietor had put two tables together that would accommodate eight guests. Our escort was seated at the head of the table. He was not seated there for honor but for the fact that he was a tall man with very long legs and needed the space for comfort. We were there for the luncheon special served from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. This was less than 10.00. There were four choices and each came with the entree, soup or salad, and free coffee. Several of us had our choice of the special. And since it is so popular the restaurant was very busy. But there was a lot of exchange of topics that were discussed with those closest to each other. Part of one conversation I picked up on was banking and the interest rate right now. It wasn’t too long before the meal time was in full swing. While I was eating I couldn’t help but notice that there were three booths in a row with only one man at each table. They came in ate and then left after about an hour or so. I guess because I am a writer I can almost see a story in each person eating alone. Perhaps they were on a late lunch break. Maybe they were married and the wife worked a job where she couldn’t get off whenever she wanted too. Of course one could just be a person that liked eating alone sometimes. Whatever. It was fun to record the scene of people just doing their thing. Of course, I would have loved to interview at least one of them. I might have had a whole new column for next month. After the food server cleared our table of empty plates we continued to spend some time chatting with each other about any number of things. We have all been friends for many years and have seen our families go through the good and bad situations every person experiences during a lifetime. But when you hear the laughter of people simply sharing an afternoon of good food and friendly talk, you know it’s been a good day. Now, call a friend and invite them to go out to lunch someday. Tell them to bring a friend. Pass around the laughter. Bye for now. |