Jack’s Winning Words 8/27/21

“I always was fascinated by neat nicknames.”  (Steve Sabol)  In the “olden days” of baseball, nicknames made the game fun for me.  My father once batted against 3-Finger Brown.  Small players were called, Peanuts or PeeWee.  The Dean brothers were called, Dizzy and Daffy.  Yogi resembled a yogi.   Nicknames can be fun, as long as the recipient enjoys it, but when they are used to degrade someone, it shows lack of both compassion and empathy. How about you?  Did you ever have a nickname?  Bill and Moya Lear (jet airplane developer) named their daughter, Chanda.  ;-)  Jack

FROM WILLMAR REV:  Still can recall back in Osawatomie, Kansas as a kid before the fourth grade where Leroy Butts attended our church and was married to Rosy (Winter) Butts and Leroy’s sister was named and called Lottie. Always happy,  having my first name being, Harry, that Leroy wasn’t my father! 0;-) ===JACK:  You are so funny.  I wonder what might have become of you if God hadn't rescued you?===REV:  Probably a retired bowling alley manager somewhere out in Kansas, never having the blessed treasure of knowing the Reverend John Jack Freed!! 0;-)===JACK:  I'm sure that the Lord has used some bowling alley mangers in His  service.  Did you ever meet one?  If my church had been in Kansas I might have come to your place with my youth group.  We enjoyed bowling as one of our activities.===REV:  Did my share with our youth as well…I enjoyed the 10 years participating in the bowling alleys around high school, Bible College and early on ministry locations in Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota…bowling did more for associating with the working class than the professional class of folk…put the old bowling ball to rest in 1997 and really do not miss it any longer…it was a nice adventure for me in competing, winning/losing experiences, getting to know people and places, and over all enjoyment. 0;-)===JACK:  Maybe in retirement you can run a bowling alley and reach people in a new way while sitting behind the counter.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:   i heard she had a sister named Gonda Lear.   any truth to this?===JACK:  Good one   

 FROM DR ERIC:  Pepper or “Pep” ===JACK:  Yes, there was an energetic baseball player named "Pepper" Martin.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  she was the light of their lives!===JACK:  You have your "clever" cap on today.

FROM DAZ IN CO:  How about the Hogg family with daughters named Ima and Ura.===JACK:  ...and those were actual names, too.  I could see someone giving you the nickname of Zipper.

FROM SCIENTIST:  Never had a nickname stick though some tried to make one for me. My husband and a very few others will shorten my 2-syllable name to only the first syllable sometimes. How about you? Does Jack qualify?===JACK:  Your unusual last name seems ripe of "nicking."  Jack, of course, is a nickname for John.  People who don't "know" me still call me, John. 

FROM STINKY:  AS a youth, I was called stinky. Never bothered me one bit. Worked with a guy named Mark Butt who had a brother Harry. My friend Ann  married Dr. SIPPY she is addressed as Mrs. SIPPY.===JACK:  It sounds like you made up that SIPPY one, but not the Stinky.===S:  True story. Mary Ann and I are acquitances of Dr. (Frank) and Ann Sippy. They live here in Bonita.

 FROM JAN-JO:  The Lear Family lived in G.R. & my close teen friend, baby-sat for Chanda Lear’s family. Your accuracy is confirmed, as usual!   Janjo of Waterford Long-time reader, long-ago correspondent—but no reason for lack of contact. I read ‘em every day! U R continuedly sharp!===JACK:  I sometimes wonder if anyone reads this stuff.  I do it for myself as well as for others.  It was the same way with my sermons...I tried to keep them edgy,

FROM JLT:  Always marvel at winning words and the blog.  Names are fascinating. I grew up in a small community in northern Minnesota. One sister married a man with the last name of Baker. Her sister married a man with the last name of Cook.  Their farm homes were only several miles apart.  I never thought it unusual until I grew up and had moved away.===JACK:  We had a family in our city with the last name of, Turnipseed.