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www.starnewsgaonline.com StarNews December 11,2022 Page 13
Tommy Allen
story by Wayne J. Reynolds
Tommy Allen, age 73, was born and raised in Tallapoosa. He opened Allen’s Florist and Gifts in Tallapoosa, October 1977 and is now a Haralson
County institution. He joined the Army in June 1970 and was sent to Vietnam December 3, 1970, and left Vietnam exactly one year later on
December 3, 1971. “I spent my first Christmas in Vietnam just after arriving in 1970. It was my first time away from home. It was culture shock after
being from a conservative, faith-based background, and I learned a whole new language.”
“I sat on top of a bunker, in the moonlight, writing letters home. I spent Christmas Day on the Fire Base which supported the grunts in the jungle. I
was a grunt serving in the 1st Cavalry Infantry. On the 26th, I was back out in the jungle. I had that one day out of the jungle.”
“The USO would send packages for the troops. I remember receiving a package from a girls’ group from the Baptist church in Opelika, Alabama. I
wrote them back that I appreciated their package. After that, every two or three months while I was there, I would receive packages from them. After
the war, probably three years later, I stopped by that church and talked to the church secretary and told her how much those packages were
appreciated.”
After returning home from Vietnam, Tommy has kept in touch with those he served with in Vietnam, meeting with them every two years.
Zach Kahler
stoiy by Sue Florn Evans
Nine year old Zachariah Adam Horn Kahler can barely hold inside the
tremendous anticipation and overwhelming joy he feels as his tenth
Christmas season approaches. Well, scratch that. He doesn’t hold it in at
all. Waiting while feeling all those feelings is really difficult. The Great
Countdown began in August, “Hey, Google! Hey, Google. How many
days until Christmas? OH! Hey. Mama. It’s 136 days until Christmas!”
Zach is diligently, patiently homeschooled by mom Hannah, with dad
Jacob following up with assignment reviews. Zach has been reading (flash
cards and large newspaper headlines) since age two and a half, and has
been cooking since he was five. He loves to tell long-winded, winding
stories “It’s just my imagination, I can tell it how I want”; tending to his
kitten Keller “Who’s the softest kitty? Huh? Who-o-o-o’s the softest?”;
drawing and painting, and playing hard, like really hard outside - the
swingset shakes as he pushes to reach the sky; and cooking on his own
“Hey, Google, how do you make homemade whipped cream?”.
He knows the capitals of all fifty United States, recites a variety of
recipes from memory, has an extreme fascination with machinery, and is
the family’s go-to-guy for remembering a name, date, or what someone
said in a conversation last month. When corralled and interviewed for this
Christmas story, Zach responded to questions with concise answers
accompanied with the assured confidence of tone of an only child.
What would be your best Christmas ever? Sucking in a quick, excited
breath, Zach exclaimed, “Opening presents! And buying some Christmas
balloons! And some Christmas signs! And looking at washing machines!”
Uh. Okay. Where would you look at washing machines? “At Best Buy.
Low-ees. And Home Depot.”
What was your happiest moment on Christmas that you remember?
‘When Larry my Paw-Paw came over on Christmas.”
And what happened? Zach happily feels his strong place of importance
in his extended family, and responded with a big, sly smile, “On
Christmas, if I didn’t hug my Paw-Paw, if I didn’t hug him, on Christmas,
he’d feel sad, you know.”
What is your favorite Christmas food for dinner? “Ham.”
What else? “Ham. And chicken.”
What kind of chicken? “Um, um. Chicken croquets.”
What will you cook for Christmas? “Ham.”
What else? “Stuffing. Onion stuffing, And mashed potatoes. And orange
sweet carrots. And latkes.”
Are you a chef? “Yes.”
What makes you a chef?” Question ignored.
“Um, Um, Um. To make latkes, you have to shred the potatoes, add
eggs, and flour and then you mix it up and then you fry them and then
YOU SERVE.”
And what’s that called? “It’s, it’s, um, it looks like, um. It’s a potato
pancake.” Are they delicious? “Yes. They are.”
Tell me what your favorite Christmas ofall was, when you were little,
when you were a baby? Stand still. And we will go look at washing machines.
“Opening my Christmas teddy! And Christmas toy lights! Green, red,
orange, yellow. And green and purple and violet - and pink! And a star!
Hey, hey, how many days until Christmas?!”
What were you thinking when you went to bed on Christmas Eve last year?
“About Paw-Paw coming over for Christmas Day.”
Is it easy to be good or hard to be good? “Easy to be good.”
How is it easy? “I listen to my mom and dad. They are counting on me.”
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