LEEK LOOT: Harold Pier of Remsen, N.Y., writes, “My son, David,
who is living in Brooklyn, N.Y., e-mails me that leeks are selling
for ,10 a pound in the specialty stores down there. Is there a
possibility for a fortune in leek exports? Other than the price of
bad breath, I have never paid for leeks.”
Our wild leeks are a valued component of many fancy dishes – we
know, we’ve seen the recipes in Gourmet magazine – so this
assertion would not surprise me. They jazz up any meal.
ON PATROL: Kristie Bentley of Virginia Beach, Va., writes about
a recent RTS subject: “I remember being chosen to be a patrol back
in the ’70s. One of my best friends was also chosen, so he and I
hung out the entire trip to Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian Air
and Space museum and the Lincoln Memorial pop into my head when I
think of that trip. Oh, yes, and the rain. Lots and lots of rain.
So much that we patrols were soaked most of the time.”
“And right on cue, I developed my annual spring case of
bronchitis.
“Now I must digress for a moment. In my circle of friends and
family, my cough is legendary. My paternal grandfather would tease
me, pretending to look for a beagle, my cough is that
bark-like.
“So needless to say, the chaperones on the Washington trip were
quite frightened that I had the croup or pneumonia. I kept assuring
them I was fine, but they didn’t believe me.”
We also heard from Toni Kan-Boatwright of Lumberton. N.J., on
her brother’s recent recollection – or lack, thereof – about his
brief stint on the school patrol: “Oh, how our memory escapes us.
The reason Chauncey Kan was relieved of his patrol duties was
because he threw me in the snow.”
“Mr. Peabody (aka Mr. Johnson), a teacher, witnessed this act of
tyranny. And, yes, I was handed the job and I did get to go to D.C.
in the sixth grade. I found it very exciting to hang out with some
of the kids from the city of ‘Bradford.’ A few years later, in the
ninth and tenth grade, I would meet up again with some of these
Bradford kids at the Bradford Speedway on Sunday nights.”
