Page 4 - Scene Magazine 46-04 April 2021

As Scene By
BY FREDERICK (RICK) D
ERUITER, PUBLISHER
summer air.
Dad would then hand me my own plastic
So, last weekend I bought a ring of chilled shrimp for my wife and I to share while watching a Friday night movie. Geez, I even took a picture of the darn thing and texted it to Terri... “Mmmm. Movie snack!”
deli dish of pickled herring, and a fork. The two of us would sit still, listen, and rum- mage around the onions and cream to find the bits of fish, and almost moan with every bite. Gosh, we loved herring.
When the shrimp was gone, there was a very healthy supply of cocktail sauce left in the plastic dish. I was not about to waste the sauce! So, I patted through the snack shelf in the pantry – hoping to find the perfect chip to scoop the last of that ketchup and horseradish combo.
It was a few minutes before the first pitch. We had a Tiger Dog in each hand and one in our laps... and there he was. ERNIE! He was bouncing up each step, waiving warmly to every fan that said hello. I stood up, and casually placed myself in his path hoping for a handshake.
There would always be at least one time each year when dad bought the both of us
a whole quart of chilled shrimp. The tiny shrimp were already swimming around in tongue-stinging cocktail sauce. I still con- sider the combination of chilled shrimp and cocktail sauce a delicacy – every bite con- sumed with puckered lips and the smacking sound of shrimp between my teeth.
Do you know what looks like shrimp?
Is curved like shrimp? Even has the same size of shrimp? PUFFY CHEETOS! I’ll be honest... the wife was torn between being grossed out and disappointed. “YOU are not gonna dip those Cheetos in the cocktail sauce?!” I answered her with a crunch and a smile... “YEP!”
“Well hi there, young man. How are you today? Looks like you’re enjoying a hotdog or two.” “Hi Mr. Harwell,” I said. “Mr. Har- well? If you see me catch a foul ball today, could you say that a young man from Battle Creek, Michigan caught it?” Ernie smiled, shook my hand, and said... “Of course.”
“How’s your shrimp, Freddie?” my father would ask. I’d answer back with a mouthful... “Better than steak! How come we got shrimp today?” Dad’s answer back was always the same... “Because we’re sophisticated!”
“Why would you do that Rick?” I an- swered back again, still crunching, and still smiling... “Because I’m sophisticated!”
When Ernie continued up the steps,
I turned and asked my dad with a bit of embarrassment... “I made a fool of myself didn’t I?” “Not at all Freddie,” he said. “You couldn’t have been more sophisticated.”
DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
Be a super sleuth... join the ongoing hunt for Rick DeRuiter
Pour through the pages of Scene this month and find the
elusive DeRuiter. Warn your friends. Warn your neighbors. He’s in there somewhere, waiting for the one lucky detective to find him!
LAST MONTH... Page... 31 LAST MONTH’S WINNER... TERRIE MCCLELLAN
LOOK! - Now you can e-mail your detective work too! rick@scenepub.com. Include your name, daytime phone, and what page you found him.
OR on-line at... www.scenepub.com.
WIN A
4 SCENE 4604 I WOMEN IN BUSINESS
During my growing up years, my father would on occasion insist that we sit a spell and listen to the Tigers on the radio. Ernie Harwell, and Paul Carey’s voices would sing through the still
“Dad, how does Ernie Harwell always know what town the people are from when they catch a foul ball, or the ball from a home run?”
It was an unusually warm day for early April. Dad and I had managed a pair of tickets for opening day at Tiger Stadium. The seats were perfect! Just to the left of the net behind home plate, just above the dugout where my Tiger heroes sat, the last two seats that bordered the steps up to the broadcast booth, and within arms reach of the hotdog attendants. It was our challenge that day to see who could eat the most Tiger Dogs from the first pitch until the last out. Need I say it? We were absolutely SOPHISTICATED!
WHERE
COULD HE BE?
Sophisticated.
“Ernie pretends Freddie.” It was slightly disappointing to hear that Ernie didn’t actually know where everybody was from. But Ernie was famous, and sophisticated, so I didn’t press for more details.
Have you found him in this issue?
If yes, call Scene at 979-1410 ext. 307 or email to have your name entered in the drawing to receive A GIFT CERTIFICATE TO A LOCAL BUSINESS. You must make your discovery by May 5, 2021 and the winner will be announced in the next issue of Scene!
VALUABLE PRIZE!