OK Solberg: 00:00

I want again welcome you to The 04:05 Coffee Break. You ever get tired of that? Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.

OK Solberg: 00:07

Spring wheat $5.54 a bushel. 550lb steer calf crowding that $5 mark $4.99 a pound. A butcher hog in Iowa 62¢ a pound, and a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $2.67 a pound. But guys, there's more, Much more.

OK Solberg: 00:30

Okay. Okay. Okay. Here's the deal. Someone asked if I wrote these stories down. I said, not yet. But now I'm doing it one at a time. You listen, I tell the story. And I honestly hope it's half as enjoyable to you as it is for me. Now these stories are real and true and part of me. So you heard about the 1st grade country school.

OK Solberg: 00:58

You heard about me writing on the playground in 2nd grade and getting in trouble for it. You heard yesterday about my exciting stay with Eddie Schwartz, an overnighter. Now today, that brings us to 4th grade. And that year, I had Mrs. Lila Raymond. You have to understand that I was still friends with Eddie Schwartz.

OK Solberg: 01:22

That didn't end. But oftentimes and most of the time your closest friend was in your own classroom. Eddie wasn't in my class that year. Hey, but my friend from Longmont was in Mrs. Raymond's class too. How you doing down there in Longmont? But a real close friend in 4th grade was Jimmy Taylor.

OK Solberg: 01:46

So let me tell you this story right after our bible verse for today. Now listen carefully because I don't quote from the book of Nehemiah very often. Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 43. And on that day they offered sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy.

OK Solberg: 02:12

Even the women and children rejoiced so that the joy of Israel was heard from afar. Now I shared that verse because today you're gonna hear my joy from afar. So it's 4th grade and Mrs. Raymond's class and Jimmy Taylor is gonna have a birthday. Well, guess what guys? I got invited to his birthday party.

OK Solberg: 02:36

Are you kidding me? Now listen carefully, for this had never happened to me before. Understand I did get invited to Danny McAfee's house in second grade for his birthday party. Todd Smith too. Todd ate so many roasted marshmallows at Danny McAfee's birthday party that he got sick.

OK Solberg: 02:58

So, yes, I'd been invited to a friend's birthday party before, but not like this one. I want a drum roll, please. This is bigger than electric football at Eddie Schwartz's house. Drum roll. At Jimmy Taylor's birthday party, we got to go bowling.

OK Solberg: 03:21

Guys, up until that time, I didn't even know bowling existed. I had never heard of bowling. I never heard of a bowling ball. I hadn't seen a bowling alley. This is uncharted territory.

OK Solberg: 03:37

This is big. As Barney Fife said, I mean, this is really big. So we had the cake and presents up at Jimmy's house up there in Hillcrest. Before, there were very many houses up in Hillcrest. I do remember that Jimmy as a 4th grader told his mother that, no, he didn't need to have candles on his cake.

OK Solberg: 03:58

That was for little kids, I guess. But I still like candles on my birthday cake to this day. Yeah. That's just a little sidebar of inconsequential importance. Here is the main point.

OK Solberg: 04:13

We then went down to the bowling alley guys. Can you imagine my excitement on entering that new environment? I'm telling you, honestly, it couldn't have been more exciting than a kid going to Disneyland. Now I knew horses, I knew tractors, I knew chickens, and I knew pigs, but bowling? Wow.

OK Solberg: 04:35

I had never ever seen this before in my life. I remember standing on the lane and realizing how big this really is, looking down that alley. And know this, it was a new bowling alley. I know there had been a bowling alley in Malta in the building that now houses Stretch's Pizza, but this was the new Mustang Lanes in 1966 '67. We got to drink a pop while in the lanes.

OK Solberg: 05:05

Of course, I had to add soda pop, but not too often. And when it was my turn to order, I got me a Coca Cola. And there were 5 or 6 other young boys, no girls allowed at that age, and we bowled. Guys, oh, did we bowl. But listen to this, never seen this coming.

OK Solberg: 05:30

Of all those boys, I got the high score. What? First time ever, I get the high score. Really? Yes, siree Bob.

OK Solberg: 05:41

Orvin Solberg, the country kid that wrote in the playground and got in trouble for it, got the highest score of anyone there. What about that then? It was a day to remember. Never thought of bowling before that day. Never stopped thinking of it after that monumental day in 1967, February 24 to be exact.

OK Solberg: 06:05

Oh, you might be wondering how high I scored on that monumental day. Are you ready? A 91, a nine one, the highest score of the day from the birthday party boys. It's a day I'll never forget.

OK Solberg: 06:23

So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.