ham, always a ham

By JAINE TREADWELL

Bob Gordon said he’s not a full time volunteer at the Colley Senior Complex. Mary Ann Casey says otherwise "so it might be otherwise."

Gordon laughingly said he does exactly what Mary Ann Casey, director of the senior complex, says.

Gordon said he has found a second home at the complex after he stumbled into the center to go to a poetry class.

"You can’t be around Mary Ann too long before she puts you to work," Gordon said. "She put me to work and she won’t let me quit."

Gordon wouldn’t quit if he could.

He’s found a new bevy of friends there and fun things to do, so "why would I quit?"

Gordon is a newcomer to Troy but he doesn’t feel like one.

He moved here six months ago to prepare tHE way for the coming of two of his sons and all of his grandchildren. He brought his mother along with him from Arkansas "and I say that quietly," Gordon said. "The president – you know."

"When I heard two of my sons were going to be in the same place at the same time, I knew I was going to be there, too," Gordon said.

Drs. Ely and Michael Gordon joined the Brantley Clinic during the summer and, by the time they arrived, their dad had made himself right at home.

"In most of the country, even in the small town where I lived, neighbors aren’t neighbors anymore," Gordon said. "They don’t talk over the backyard fence. But, here in Troy, the first thing you do is find out who your neighbors are."

Gordon said the good Lord removed several obstacles in order for him to be able to move here so he believes this is where God wants him to be.

He has a third son, James, who is a police officer in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. Other than James, Gordon has his family clustered around him in the fashion of a mother hen and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just as family is important to Gordon so are friends and there is no better place to make new friends than the Colley Senior Complex.

Everybody there knows Gordon. After all, he’s the one up front doing all the talking. His role of emcee for the center isn’t official, yet, but it’s a role he fills well.

"I’ve always been a ham," Gordon said. "I’ve always had the gift of gab."

Gordon said he was a song and dance man, not literally, while in the military. A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, Gordon was quickly labeled as a "good presenter."

Throughout his military career, it was is duty to present ideas and thoughts at a high level. With that much practice, Gordon is always at home in front of a crowd.

"I’ll do whatever I can out here at the senior complex," he said. "This place is amazing and the people are amazing. Being here among them makes me want to be involved. It keeps me busy. It keeps my happy."

Gordon’s gift of gab is a welcomed sound at Pike Pioneer Museum where he is also a volunteer.

"The museum is something all of Pike County should be proud of," Gordon said. "Pioneer Day Saturday offers something for everybody and hopefully everybody will find time to enjoy all of the activities planned."

Gordon will be playing the role of a schoolmaster in the little red schoolhouse and he invites everyone to come in and take a seat for a few minutes because, boy, does he have a few words for you."

Nov. 11, 1999, 10 PM