Colony Hall had fallen weary and into
neglect disrepair
he arrived in the rural California
town from Minnesota
he heard tell that during the 60s
ranchers kids rode their horses to high school and left them to pasture in what
was then known as Stadium Park an
unfulfilled plan which lay fallow for more years than the School District cared
to remember although later saw fruition a football stadium and track was erected tall seating rose on either side of the
field taller lighting structures for
Friday Night games above them there were
bright concession stands concrete block restrooms it was tailored
to encourage rivalries
he counted himself very fortunate
he enjoyed good luck to be able to attend
a few select functions dinners at Colony Hall before it descended into its impeding
death throes
he witnessed its collection of framed
black-and-white photographs chronicling local dignitaries and well-known
visitors and easily imaginedcobbled together an abiding respect for its now-fading
dignity one had only to experience it he
believed(he gave people more credit than they were due) experience its warm-rubbed
wear the stoic dining tables and chairs broad countertops elegant cabinets tin-tiled
ceiling and the fine handsome redwood bar its wellmade stools to recognise the
towns valuable history
whoever owned or managed the
property then tried to defray costs
they shut the eatery down
however the annex was the heart of the Hall and
within a few months the motel was shuttered its doors chained and
padlocked the property and buildings sulked
behind cheap For Sale signage for one realty after another realty after another
a few years ago Best Western Corp
acquired it and after modest renovations the motel was reopened as Best Western
Plus Colony Inn
to their credithis undying
respect they retained the old marque along the roadside which boasted the
defunct Colony Hall
someone was assigned to interactoutreach
to the community and Public they were to
change its lettersbroadcast succinct messages
its only rival frankly was owned
by the Christian Science – First Church Reading Room better than a mile south on the same thoroughfare the Churchs messages however were stodgy for example
COME ONTO ME ALL YE
THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN
AND
I WILL GIVE YOU REST
it was too wordy to be read from
a moving car and YE really
also off of Curbaril the next intersection down from the Reading Room it should be
noted that across the street from where Sinoloa intersects it was a house whose owner
stood up a traffic horse flanked by blackboards on the roads dirt shoulder on it he or she hand-scrawled chalks messages they too bore religious context contained no Ye’s but more of a fundamentalist nature(it was
everything he could do to respect the messages and not stop to erase and correct
its misspellings)
these admitted at first most of the Colony Hall marques
messages whiffed like a spastic at the plate before a competent pitcher
they were brief readable
but hardly contained any worthwhile messages
then some person appeared who was inspired and despite that he was afoot reading the
marque sign he troubled himself stopped and jotted its message down on scrap paper
leaned against an old peeling white fence which bordered a seeming no-mans land
between properties the fine old oleander
tree behind it must have owned it
THINGS SHOULD
BE
AS
SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE
BUT NOT SIMPLER
HE WHO HAS
A
WHY TO LIVE
CAN BEAR ANY HOW
whoever this cat was if they stay away from YE the Lord HEAVY
LADENif they kept it up theyd do alright
maybe put Best Western Plus
Colony Inn on the proverbial map a necessary
curio to be seen
whoever they were they were
finally off to a good start(for whatever his two cents were
worth)
1319, Day-between-Two-Ts, 2 8.
17 & 1146,
Friday, 4 8. 17
0944, Saturday,
5 8. 17
Havana Casino Orchestra El Manisero (The Peanut Vendor) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj7NfrrnaKE
Jane Powell and the Xavier Cugat Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlnHrFd4fYg
(every small town ought to use them)
