WCMessenger.com: Odd couple leads to a little investigative work

Many newspapers say they find and print all the news that's fit to print. Sometimes though there are stories that you "can't print." So, you save them for 50 years and write a column so you can finally tell the stories. There are stories that would have been embarrassing at the time or, while hilariously funny, would have insulted the participating parties.

So, all these years later and in places far removed from the original scenes, they can be written with the names changed so as not to embarrass anyone and so the innocent (namely me) can be protected.

Newspaper reporters in small towns have "beats" - police, schools, courthouse, sports and many others - and they make the rounds regularly to find the news in each.

A courthouse reporter was making the rounds one Friday and, outside the district courts' offices, saw a rather odd, lovey-dovey couple sitting on a bench. The woman was obviously in her 80s and the man looked to be in his 30s. Being naturally inquisitive, the reporter went into the court coordinator's office and asked about the couple.

The coordinator told the reporter the couple had just received a marriage license from the county clerk's office and were waiting for one of the district judges to come in so they could ask for a waiver of the three-day waiting period before the marriage ceremony could be performed. The coordinator suggested the reporter could get "the rest of the story" in the county clerk's office.

Having a definite nose for news, the reporter went to the clerk's office and found the very concerned clerk and her staff working to find a way to stop this odd couple's impending matrimony. Yes, indeed, the clerk informed the reporter there were concerns about the marriage in addition to the age difference. The woman wasn't wealthy but did own a car, a home, other real estate and was known to have a "pretty decent bank account." The clerk and her staff had already run some checks on the "groom" and discovered he was a paroled convict, lived in his car and suffered from Tourette's Syndrome.

The huddle of the clerk and her staff was a strategy session seeking to undo this wedding before it took place. They feared for this woman's very life, they told the reporter.

The county clerk, being the thorough sort she was, had noted the bride-to-be had a freshly-done "salon do." So, the clerk was about to call her sister, who owned a beauty salon, in the hopes the sister would know who did the bride's hair.

As the reporter stood by, the clerk made the phone call and struck pay dirt. Her beautician sister had indeed done the bride's hair and was knowledgeable about her family.

The silver-haired woman was a widow but had a son who drove an 18-wheeler and happened to be on the road at the time. Sister Beautician gave Sister County Clerk the name of the company for whom the son worked. A call was made to the trucking company, the son located and informed of his mother's impending matrimony. He said to stall the ceremony and he'd be home in a matter of 24 hours. The judge cooperated and refused to waive the waiting period.

The son came home, dispatched the prospective bridegroom and saw that his mother got a lot more attention.

There wasn't a word we could write about that story in this little town but we were witness to a good deed involving concerned neighbors who no doubt saved this lonely little octogenarian from great embarrassment at best and perhaps much worse. That was always the beauty of being a newspaperman in a small town.

Willis Webb is a retired community editor-publisher of more than 50 years. He can be reached by e-mail at wwebb@wildblue.net.