About Dad [Part One ]

A lot of people always ask about my Dad . How's your Dad ? What's Willy up to ? What's your Dad into now ? Well Dad's almost 80 so not much ! Umm if your not watch'n anyway ! That guy will not stop . From making a bunch of post-hole diggers out of old lawn mowers or a band saw out of a big-rig flat bed and that's in the last 2 years . He's always doing something . My Dad quit school in grade three and ran away from home at thirteen . Since then he has chased a million dreams & made some dreams come true for a lot of people , including me . So where should I start ? How about the time Willy built a go-cart track in a rural area . This track was way cool ! It had bank ovals & it tied into a back road coarse for two types of racing . At the time it was the largest track in North America , second largest in the world . Told ya Dad was a dreamer ! When he dreams he dreams BIG ! We ran the track for two years and it did well . Drivers came from all over the world to race and civilians came to rent the fastest carts anywhere . There was a problem though we didn't own the land , some farmer did and his buddies hated the noise coming from the property . You know what happens next right ? Dad & Mom were sued by the neighbor's & the cops would come by daily to give out fines . We were forced to give up the business . Hey great memories though ! Broke and nothing on the horizon young Will decided the road looked good . " Lets join a Carnival" . "We'll buy a truck put in a soft icecream machine ". "Hmm that's not enough we'll sell hot dogs , hamburgers , & corn on the cob ". So off we go . " DA Traveling Wally's" ! This idea was a great success , maybe to much of a success ! Mom & Dad did have great ideas , "let's sell corn on the cob , but on sticks and let's put different flavors on them ". " That's cheaper than butter and it's different " . BBQ Spice , garlic spice etc... rolled and rubbed on , also back in the early 60's hardly anyone had seen Charbroiled Burgers let alone from a truck . We had line ups everywhere ! This success didn't go by closed eyes , the Carnival manager wanted a piece of the action or at least a bigger piece . "This rube is gonna be a easy touch" ! Now my Dad had a quick temper & if you pushed him he'd take you down . HARD ! He's not a guy to cross ! That manager found out , the hard way . Anyway when the manager got out of the hospital we were asked to leave . Funny thing though some of the other carneys came with us ! I guess they were squeezed by the fat bastard too ! These people are still friends of the family . We all joined up with another troupe and finished the season . By that time Mom had enough of the road and the Carney culture , besides it was time for us to go back to school . Dad has done a number of things in his life & brought his family along for every adventure , but looking back at that time of my life I received a life lesson . I think that manager represents the "Fat Cats" in life [ bankers , lawyers , politicians ] always in your pockets , thieves ! My Dad represents the working class guy, [ the person with the ideas ] the guy who works hard to succeed but gets fucked over ! My Dad was never a successful businessman , but as MAN he is a HUGE SUCCESS ! In one of my next blogs I'll tell ya about the time I dropped him off a 6 storey building . Sa Wallycrawler .