Those with razor sharp memories might recall my mention of “Billy O. Crop” in a long-ago posting detailing entries in my 1980 diary. Others actually have lives. Either way, the references to this made-up character came right smack in the middle of my second grade year, where my friend Lee Ballinger and I would pretend to be fictional characters Billy O. Crop and Fred R. Floyd, and ‘act out’ what would amount to the childish equivalent of a two-reel comedy…without the cameras. But the genesis of Billy O. Crop didn’t come from Lee. It came with another great friend from my second grade class named Mike Ross.
If Lee Ballinger and Chris Demeter were my best neighborhood friends during this time period, Mike Ross was my best friend in Mrs. Deets’ classroom during the Fall of 1979. He and I had shared a classroom in first grade in Mrs. Fulkerson’s room (as he is pictured below right). We were both perpetually silly boys and often the class clowns. The Billy O. Crop thing came up when one of us took the
simple letter ‘B’ (which we were probably practicing in handwriting), turned it sideways and drew eyes inside them. We then gave this ‘glasses’ character and gave him a name which began with the ‘B’ – Billy O. Crop. Yes, we were in second grade, and yes, we were dumb.
Even still, I really liked Mike Ross and we had plenty of good times at Fairbrook in the early days of elementary school. In fact, I was particularly sad when he moved away to the other side of Beavercreek and resumed his elementary career at the rival Valley Elementary, not too far into the second grade year. Of course he was still in the same town, but it was enough to deter us from remaining friends.
However, I do remember being quite excited that despite being at different elementary schools, we ended up on the same t-ball team the followwing spring and we were thus ‘reunited’ – and I have the picture to prove it!
Spring t-ball, 1980
Five years later, we ended up right back at the same school: Ankeney Junior High and continued school together for the next six years. But the time had passed. Billy O. Crop was a kid’s memory, nothing more. We didn’t talk about it, we didn’t hang out, we were no longer pals during this time.
But wouldn’t you know it? Almost as soon as we ran into each other at the BHS 20-year reunion on Saturday, July 17, 2010, the first thing we began to talk about was Billy O. Crop. And Mike, like I, recalled exactly how it was that we created him. How cool it was to have a shared memory of something so insignificant and silly.
But more importantly, it was good to see that Mike is still a very nice guy. He married a former graduate named Jennifer Simpson and they have four boys and live in the Columbus area. I wonder if his kids shared his mischievous sense of humor. If so, it must be an interesting household.
Hangin’ with Mike at the reunion
Return to the BHS 20-year reunion…
Continue to the next reunion…
Leave a Reply