| By Bob Weaver
L to R Dewayne Gibson, "Tap" Kerby
and "Toots" Kerby talk over old times
Old-timers Lucille Basnett (L) and Elah Gibson
Kerby clan enjoys annual reunion
One of Calhoun's Kerby Clans held their annual Labor Day reunion at Mt. Zion
Community Park yesterday. They're mostly folks rooted in downtown Hur and the
Joker area, most of which moved away years ago to seek their fame and
fortune.
Hurite Charles "Tap" Kerby, often a subject of discussion in the Herald, is still
deeply rooted, but then he has been a long distance truck driver for about 35 years.
"Tap" doesn't look worn for wear after barely surviving his childhood, launching his
flying machine from Bear Rock and a dozen other ill-fated adventures that tested
his body, and his will. His wife Phyllis made the Herald by calling 911 when an Emu
was staring through her window.
One of the topics of the day, one of my favorite Calhoun characters, Eddie Austin
Kirby, related to this bunch. Eddie has been the subject of several stories I have
written, with more to come.
I've worn hard on "Toots" Kerby about his escapades with a State Road grader
during his youthful years, but his status as a good citizen has risen immensely.
Then there was Rev. Gene Kerby, now a retired Methodist minister, who spent the
days of his youth around Hur, and was married to a Kerby, Marie, who has passed
on.
Retired Methodist minister Bob Duskey (L)
talking with Foster "Poge" Kerby,
Roane County educator
Hur Christmas program playwright Pauline Kerby Duskey (L)
and Betty McCoy Kerby
of Elizabeth
Attending was the Rev. Bob Duskey, who married Pauline Kerby, she being the
youthful playwright of some serious Christmas plays at the Mt. Olive Church. Then
there was Foster "Poge" Kerby, long time Roane County educator, and his brother
Bob Kerby, long an Ohio resident, who helped play some of the fanciest pranks ever
known in Hur.
Dewayne Gibson, one of our favorite story tellers, and his wife and mother came,
Fred Kerbys bunch, and...well, I could go on and on. These folks, like many others
in Sunny Cal, are special folks to me. It is a joy to be with them.
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