William Earn Harper

Back in the late forties and early fifties there was an old blind man, a musician, that used to play on the street corner near Sweeny’s Drug store. His name was William Earn Harper. He would sit and play for an hour or two and I was fascinated by the sight. I would always look for him and would stand and listen while Mom did her shopping. I was always disappointed when he wasn’t there. Mr. Harper was a definite influence on my life.

At the time I was singing a song or two with Mom and later would learn to play a little on her guitar. Still later I played in several bluegrass bands for nearly fifty years. Every time I took the stage I remembered Mr. Harper. It was almost like he was watching over me, urging me on. Over that span of time I thought of Earn Harper often and was thankful that he touched my life and helped me with my music.

A few years back I started writing songs and playing as a solo act at wineries and other venues in Southern Illinois. After they demolished the old Sweeny Drug store I started to go up to the corner on the same Saturday as the Route 50 rummage sales are scheduled and sit on a bench and play my guitar and sings some songs as my personal tribute to Mr. Harper.

In an effort to learn more about William Earn Harper I have talked to one of his grand sons and others who knew him. I even tracked down his old guitar. The “f” hole style resonator guitar has been refinished and is still in the area. I was thrilled to find out that I could actually play and sing with his guitar.

Well, the Route 50 rummage sale weekend is on May 16 and 17. I will pay my annual tribute to William Earn Harper on May 16th, on Sweeny Corner, between 11 AM and 2PM in Salem, Illinois. I will be playing on the very instrument that Mr. Harper used to play, thanks to the new owners.

There was an item in the local paper a couple of days ago about some youngsters were in trouble for defacing structures in the park. They had painted graffiti on a building and broke some windows. They were all junior high aged kids. It certainly was not harmless mischief.
I don't think the kids today know what harmless mischief is. Our childhood days seemed to be filled with it and we had loads of fun. Now, in today's conditions, some of the things I'm about to tell would be extremely dangerous so I'm not recommending that anyone actually do these things.

Out in the country where we lived, we could roam about on our bicycles at night and that was prime time for pranks. One of our favorite things was the "invisible rope trick". When we would see car lights coming down the road we would get set by positioning ourselves on each side of the road, usually a couple of us on either side. As the car drew closer we would act as if we were pulling on a rope stretched across the road making sure to make it look as real as possible. The cars would always slow down and sometimes we would get one to stop completely. This was cause for triumphant celebration and great laughter as we jumped on our bikes and escaped with the satisfaction of pulling the whole thing off.

In the summertime when the watermelons were at their peak of juicy sweetness we would commit downright thievery. Sneaking around fence rows and crawling on our bellies to reach a patch, then carry off one of those that you could tell by thumping was dead ripe. After reaching safety we would bust it open and eat all of its goodness. Sometimes we would steal melons out of Grandpa's patch. He would have given us all we wanted but it was more fun stealing them. One time, my brother Jack and our friend Larry Wayne busted open a couple of melons right in my Aunt Lela's patch and they were still a bit green. Aunt Lela caught them at it and made them both eat most of their ill gotten gain.

A lot of the harmless mischief took place around Halloween, of course, and of trying to scare the hell out of each other and the neighbors was at the top of the list. Tic Tacking was my favorite. One 16 penny nail, 100 foot of snare cord and a chunk of rosin was all you needed. Sneak up to the house, tie the nail on the end of the cord and push the nail up under the weather board siding of the house. Unwind the cord as you went away form the house to a safe hiding spot. Stretch the cord tight and start rubbing the rosin on the cord as you held it tight. When you do this, you can't hear a thing but in the house it sounds as if it is going to collapse. It moans and groans as if it's haunted for sure.

Well, that's a little harmless mischief. No one destroyed anything and nothing was defaced. Pretty tame but loads of fun. Next Halloween go out and get yourself some Tic Tack stuff and have some fun. I don't know if it works with vinyl siding.