I was in Talladega, AL a few weekends ago speaking for the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. The occasion was the Alabama School for the Blind annual Alumni Association meeting. I was there because Patti Anne Chastain, daughter, and former office manager, of the late, Bryan Townsend contacted me several months ago looking for an after-dinner speaker.
“Mr. McCall,” she said, “since Daddy died, I’ve kind of been out of the loop. Do you know of any speaker who might fit our audience?”
I told her I was no longer in contact with speakers I could recommend, but I was available. We worked out the details, secured a date, and made our plans.
Her father, Bryan Townsend, was a true Southern gentleman. And he became one of my best friends among southern humorists. We had many things in common including a love for the Lord. Bryan started the original Whosoever Will Men’s Bible Class in Talladega. His class sponsored an annual fundraiser called Humor on the Square. I was invited to speak there one year and was introduced to his class.
As southern humorists, Bryan and I differed on one unique point. Bryan had a quick wit which most great comedians share. I am more of a storyteller. He called his wife, Judy, “Judy Babe.” He would say, “My wife, Judy Babe, is a professional shopper. She shops at Talbots, Neiman Marcus, Chicos, and places like that. I only shop at Cabela’s and the Bass Pro Shop. It’s hard to buy gifts for a professional shopper when your options are limited. I thought about buying her one of those camouflage nighties, but I was afraid I couldn’t find her in the bed. So, I put up a deer stand in the bedroom and hoped I could see her walking by!”
For many years Judy worked as a volunteer with the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. Working with the deaf she became very proficient at “signing.”
Bryan said, “Sometimes, when Judy Babe gets real angry with me, she gets so mad she can’t talk. When she does that, she starts signing to me. I just let it go in one eye and out the other!”
Bryan was a member of Carpenters for Christ. It is a group of men who come together once a year and build churches across the country. A church will secure land, raise money, and purchase building materials. On a specified date, over 100 carpenters and helpers will show up and build a church from the ground up. The builders will finish the project in only 2 weeks.
A few years ago, the “Carpenters” were set to build a church in Franklin, TN. Six weeks out, for undisclosed reasons, the deal fell through. All those carpenters and workers had vacation time set aside and nowhere to go. In less than six weeks Bryan Townsend hired an architect, had plans drawn up, raised the money, cleared codes and zoning, and was ready for the Carpenters for Christ to come to Talladega. They built a brand new, modern meeting facility for the Whosoever Will Men’s Bible Class of Talladega, AL.
I visited them on Sunday morning. The spirit of Bryan Townsend still lingers in the building.
Back to the speech on Saturday evening.
I told some of my life’s best and funniest stories.
I quoted the unflappable, blind Helen Keller who said, “Life is a daring adventure, or nothing at all!”
And from a book titled The Little Prince, I quoted the little talking fox who said, “That which is essential is invisible to the eyes. Only with the heart does one see rightly.”
And if you are wondering, persons who are blind can laugh with the best of them.
Copyright 2024 by Jack McCall
