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Besides planning trips, Burdell also writes this weekly column which tells about sports happenings now and 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago, sometimes a trip down memory lane that some of you may relate to, what the Ancient Sportsman (Burdell) and Ancient-ess (Charlotte) have been up to and about trips they have been on. Each week is a new adventure.
Tales of the 
Ancient Sportsman
    Back in the saddle again! Sorry that I couldn’t get a letter out last week, but I just ran out of time. With a tour leaving early Monday morning, a football story to write and ministry responsibilities on Sunday I just couldn’t pull a mailing together.
    Our tour was to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter and what a fabulous tour it was. In 25 years of doing this tour thing I have learned that there will be days when things just do not go as planned. Monday was one of those days. At several times during the day it seemed like we were trying to drive a square peg into a round hole. Little things kept popping up to delay us. But our God is faithful and He met our needs. 
    Our destination was Shelbyville, IN and our first stop was at Cracker Barrel for an excellent evening meal. Next was a check in at the Holiday Inn Express. After we got all of our luggage to the right rooms, it was time to settle in for some much-needed sleep.
    Tuesday morning we had a little more than an hour to get to the Creation Museum. We had tickets for all 45 of us at the Planetarium for the early show. The seats in the place laid you back where you looked up into the solar system above you. I saw a few stars and then the lights came on. The show was over and I missed it. There is something about leaning back in a chair that makes my eyes go shut.
    After leaving the Creation Museum, we made our way to the historic Hill Forest Mansion that overlooks to Ohio River in Aroura, IN. We toured this delightful old mansion and then enjoyed a delicious evening meal on the first floor.
    Lodging was at the Double Tree Hotel on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Lawrenceburg, IN. It is a beautiful place, but two of our ladies experienced falls at the hotel. God’s protecting hand was evident as there were no serious injuries. We were so grateful to have a doctor with us on the tour and he provided excellent assistance. 
    Wednesday was spent at the Ark near Williamstown, KY. What a beautiful place. We have not been there since the Covid pandemic and I was so impressed with the improvements made. We left the Ark in mid-afternoon and headed west. The Monday segment at Shelbyville was repeated and by Thursday evening we were home.
    I was so blessed to have my cousin Janell and 16 members of her First Baptist Church congregation in Boone with us on the tour. Janell did her seminary work at Sioux Falls University while I did my seminary work at Eddyville High School. That may be said in jest, but those kids taught me a lot about the ministry.
    I did get back on the sideline Friday night for football. I had the Sigourney-Keota game at Pleasantville and it was a battle. S-K, P-Ville and Pella Christian were touted as the top three teams in District 6 of Class 1A and the Trojans had already lost to PC. Pleasantville did not want to take another loss and it was their homecoming. The Trojans played lights out in the first half and took an 18 – 7 lead. Going into the fourth quarter PV still held a 24 – 14 lead. S-K scored with 4:40 left in the game to cut the deficit to 24 – 21. All the Trojans needed to do was grind it out and seal the win, but they couldn’t do it and they had to punt the ball away. S-K is a team that seldom passes, but on fourth and nine Sawyer Stout fired a 45-yard bomb to Cole Kindred down the left side line for a first down and the PV 31. The Cobras drove the ball to the nine-yard line with 12 seconds left. Caden Clarahan boomed a 25-yard field goal to tie the score and send the game into overtime.
Sigourney-Keota got the ball first and on the fourth down Jake Moore blasted one yard to score. The Trojans could not match the score and the Cobras had dodged a bullet with a 31 – 24 win.
    The big game for this Friday will be Pella Christian at Sigourney-Keota with the marbles on the line in District 6. I am assigned to that game as well and I am looking forward to it.
    Now for a pet peeve. It is homecoming time at many of the area schools and the pictures of the homecoming courts appear in the local papers. In so many cases the girls in the picture are dressed in garments that look like they came from Mother Hubbard’s rag bag. If that is the style, then the boys should dress in bib-overalls and chore boots with a little of the barnyard residue left on them. 
    Sorry, but that is exactly how I feel. Come on kids, lets show some class again.
Sounds like another beautiful week ahead of us. Have a great one.
 

    
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