"All day I’ve faced the barren waste without a taste of water, cool, clear water, water (echo).” So goes the first verse of the western song, “Cool Water,” that was written in the 30’s by Bob Nolan. The song tells the story of a man and his mule (Dan) who are lost in the desert and who begin to see mirages. Bob, along with Leonard Sly (Roy Rogers) and a couple of others, were the founders of the singing group, the Sons Of The Pioneers. My cousin, Lloyd Perryman, became a member of the group in 1936 and remained until his death in 1977. He was born and raised in Zion, Arkansas, an Izard County community. The only time I met Lloyd was at the state fair and livestock show sometime in the 60’s. Anita and I took Brenda and Steve and drove to Little Rock one day to see the SOTP who were appearing at the rodeo with Fess Parker who played Davy Crockett on TV. It was a fun day and we got all their autographs and pictures. The Pioneers appeared in over eighty movies, mostly with Roy Rogers and his sidekick, Smiley Burnett. “Cool Water” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” were their most requested songs. The first verse continues “Old Dan and I, our throats are dry and souls that cry for water, cool, clear water.” In 1931, Ted and Dorothy purchased a drug store in the small town of Wall, South Dakota (pop. 350). Ted was a pharmacist. Business was very slow, but they stuck it out, agreeing that they would move on in five years if things didn’t improve. By 1936, they were about to give up until that hot, July day when things suddenly changed. Things were slow in the store and Dorothy had decided to go upstairs to their living quarters and take a nap. She didn’t stay long and explained she couldn’t rest because of the noise out on the dusty highway, noise made by the travelers on their way to the new attraction just up the road called Mt. Rushmore.
Ted and Dorothy came up with an idea that they thought might cause some of the tourists to stop by the drugstore. They put up signs on the highway advertising “free ice water.” It worked and I know you have all seen the signs, “xxx Miles to Wall Drug” that are now all over the world. Google “Wall Drug” and read the full, inspiring story about one of the top, tourist destinations in the state of South Dakota. In the chorus of “Cool Water,” the man encourages Dan to keep amovin’ and he says “Dan, don’t you see that big green tree where the water’s runnin’ free and it’s waitin’ there for you and me. Cool, Clear Water.” We have it so good here in America. All we have to do to get a drink of cold water is turn the tap. But did you know (or even care) that there are over one billion (yes that’s billion) people in the world that do not have access to clean drinking water. Fortunately, there are people that care and are trying to do something about it. The other evening as I was leaving the meeting of the chamber of commerce board, I saw Mark and Linda walking their dogs. They was a tall gentleman with them that I presumed was a friend. He had on a tee shirt on which was printed “Living Waters for the World.” It turns out that Will was one of the founders of this organization. I was somewhat familiar with this group because of a power point presentation that Mark had made to the local Lions Club a few months ago. If I could, I would nominate this organization for the Nobel Peace Prize because I believe they really deserve it. Mark has made numerous visits to Haiti and the things he has done there are mind boggling. The Bible states “…if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
(Matthew 10:42, NIV) Check out http://livingwatersfor the world.org and see for yourself. When I was a boy, we kept a pail of water on the wash stand that was located on the back porch. There was a long-handled dipper in the pail that everyone drank from and used to dip water into the wash pan that was beside it. Some people didn’t have a store bought dipper but used gourds instead. How primitive!! Are we just fortunate or are we blessed? I better leave the preaching up to the professionals. Anyway, you can hear “Cool Water” on YouTube along with other SOTP favorites. Getting thirsty here in the Queen City, so I’ll just say Bye for now.
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