It was a sunny autumn day in the 1940’s. Elkin High School had a football game scheduled at Mocksville High School that evening. One of my good friends Mary Mitchell and I decided that we wanted to attend the game; this was a spur-of-the-moment decision. We had made no plans or prior arrangements on how to get to Mocksville which is about forty miles south of Elkin. Neither of us had our driver’s license; the only way for us to attend the game was to thumb a ride. Not only was it dangerous to thumb rides with absolute strangers; it was even more foolhardy to go that far out of town without having a way home. To our irrational teen-age brains it was a perfectly logical thing to do. Not only that, it promised to be a wonderful, exciting adventure.
It was warm, sunshiny, and pleasant as we began our trek south toward Mocksville on Highway 67. The first milestone of our journey would be the tiny town of Boonville, North Carolina, about seven miles from Elkin. We passed the highway sign that read “Boonville Five Miles.” There was a small white house, that has since burned down, across the street from the sign. We continued on toward Boonville, and it began to rain. Mary, who had on a sweater, took it off and insisted that I wear it to protect myself from the downpour. I never understood this but I was greatly impressed by her thoughtfulness. Before we reached Boonville we got a ride with an accommodating couple who carried us right to the football field where the game was already in progress. Friends and acquaintances were surprised to see us; many of them were incredulous and could not believe that we had thumbed to the game.
The details of our reckless adventure soon permeated the Elkin High School crowd along the sidelines and finally reached the ears of our illustrious coach and biology teacher, Mr. George “Fluffy” Watts. He came to our rescue by promising us a ride home with him.
I don’t remember much about the game or even who won, but I do remember our ride home with Coach Watts and the Reverend Ralph Ritchie, pastor of the Elkin Presbyterian Church. Reverend Ritchie, who was driving his car, had a very positive influence on the citizenry of Elkin. He and his wife Blanche and their four children were beloved members of the community. At his untimely death in 1952 from heart disease, a memorial scholarship fund for Elkin High School students was established in his name.
The ride home was pleasant with lots of joking and stimulating conversation. I’m sure that the two of them thought us very foolish to have embarked on such a careless adventure, but they didn’t scold us. We, in turn, felt privileged and important to be riding home with Elkin’s intrepid bear of a football coach, George “Fluffy” Watts, and the slender, auburned-haired, inspiring Reverend Ritchie.
The patron saint of reckless teenagers must have been smiling down on us that day, providing us with the lovely couple who carried us to the football field and with Coach Watts and Reverend Ritchie who so kindly gave us a ride home.