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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2003
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Ken Davis Strikes it Rich at SPLASH |
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Ken and
Linda Davis at home.
Ken Davis of McKenzie has a twinkle in his eye
whenever he lets people know he met his wife, Linda, at
SPLASH.
"You met her at the casino?" is some people's
incredulous response when they think the two made their
acquaintance at the Tunica gambling establishment.
Ken grins as he explains SPLASH is actually an acronym
for "Single People Loving and Serving Him", a nationwide
Christian singles ministry.
It was just after mid-summer in 1993 that Ken began
attending the gathering of like-minded West Tennessee
singles in Jackson, about a year after his long-term
marriage had ended. Before that, his social life
involved going to work at the Foamex plant and attending
church services at the First Baptist Church, both
located in Milan where he then resided.
"I'd been praying that if it was His will to bring a
Christian woman into my life, and if not to give me the
strength to go it alone," Ken says quietly, "and I asked
him to give me the patience to wait."
Included in his petition was one more request: "I told
the Lord that when he did bring someone in life he'd
have to hit me between the eyes with a two-by-four,"
says Ken, who mistrusted his own naïve judgment.
It was during an October gathering of SPLASH that Ken
received his wake-up call. "She walked in and it was
just like nobody else was there that night."
While everyone else blended into scenery made misty by
his single-minded aspiration to meet Linda, Ken says he
"followed her around like a little puppy," an admission
that has Linda peering over the top of her glasses as
she nods in agreement.
When the meeting was over, Ken was excited when someone
suggested continuing the fun at Shoneys over pie and
coffee. There, as the evening winded down, Ken grew
bolder and began asking more concrete questions about
Linda's beliefs and lifestyle.
"Everything just fell into place," he says with a smile,
though he grew nervous when, unaware of her old
fashioned principles, she didn't return his Monday phone
call. He vowed that if she didn't called back by
Wednesday he would assume he was mistaken about their
mutual attraction. When his resolution caved in and he
called again on Tuesday, however, her cover was blown as
jewelry party guests in the background echoed, "Is it
him? Is it him?"
The couple started dating and attended alternating
Sunday evening services at Milan's First Baptist Church
or at Linda's home church, Long Heights Baptist Church
in McKenzie. The two were married on April 16, 1993, six
months to the day from their first date, and honeymooned
in Gatlinburg.
Linda McCaslin, originally from Greenfield, had lived in
McKenzie since 1974 after living in California for a
year and a half. She had attended the vocational school
in McKenzie after her 1968 graduation and worked for
attorney Robert Hearn for three years before her
out-of-state jaunt.
She has now worked for Attorney and Judge Larry Logan
for the past 21 years and though she was also previously
married, she has no children of her own, though she
adores nieces Karen McCaleb and Tammy Corbin (the
daughters of sister Kay Allen from Huntingdon) and Dana
Aimsworth (the daughter of sister Rose Brummitt who
lives in Memphis) as well as four great nephews and a
great niece. Her brother Donny McCaslin lives in
Trenton.
Ken's daughter, Karen, was three years old in 1974 when
he was transferred to the Sears Catalog Store in Milan
after completing Sears' manager trainee program and
working for a time at the Sears store in Benton,
Arkansas. Karen now lives in Gibson where she and
husband Brian Hill are the parents of Brandon, age 11,
and Bruce, 6.
Ken had remained in Milan after deciding to leave Sears
a year and a half later, working with Electrolux vacuum
cleaners for a time before settling in with the Foamex
company (formerly Firestone Foam) in Milan. He worked
there for 25 years before the plant closed in February
this year.
A graduate of Arkansas Tech University with a degree in
Park and Recreation Administration, Ken had started his
career as Tulsa Recreation Center Director in Oklahoma
before moving back to Benton.
~ Ken's Childhood ~
He was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas on April 12, 1944.
Soon, his parent Kenneth, Sr. and Lucille, built a small
house on an acre and a half lot down the road from Ken's
grandfather. The dirt road joined a county road that was
connected to the state highway, providing just enough
"country" to make a growing boy happy, although there
were a few disadvantages.
Ken relates a story told him by his mother, who
investigated the moanings of their Great Dane only to
find him sitting between Ken, who was four or
five-years-old at the time, and a "spreading adder" that
she then killed with a hoe.
His father was a "jack of all trades", according to
Ken's mom, now Lucille Lovell, who now resides at
McKenzie Health Care Center.
"I don't remember much about him," says Ken, explaining
his father died just before his seventh birthday after
contracting spinal meningitis at the Memphis VA hospital
where he had traveled for treatment of tuberculosis. Ken
and his mother spent a year and a half at the
Booneville, Arkansas TB hospital as well, where his own
early stages were caught in time for healing and his
mother survived with a collapsed lung.
Lucille remarried when Ken was ten years old and had his
brother Al the following year. Ken relates how she had
met another interested suitor prior to her new husband
but decided against him when he didn't want Ken to be
"part of the package."
"Mother and I had a special bond, she and I were there
together for four years," he says.
She worked as a waitress in a little café in town, then
worked for the Benton Courier while attending night
classes at Draughn's Business School after which she
worked for the United Steel Workers of America for 35
years.
While she was working, Ken spent much of his time with
his grandparents, enjoying a life of childhood adventure
with his uncle Clyde McCulley, who was three years older
than he, and other children who lived on the adjoining
roads.
"Two boys lived on the county road - we'd cut across the
field to play with them," he says, "and a brother and
sister lived down the dirt road."
Two more boys lived on the state road where their
parents ran a "tourist trap" where chenille bed spreads
hanging out front alerted travelers to stop and examine
their wares.
"We spent lots of time off in the woods swinging from
grapevines over ditches and playing cowboys and
Indians," he recalls, "Living out in the country we made
our own activities."
The boys built tree houses and once built a log cabin of
small trees. "It wasn't tall enough to stand up in so we
dug a foot and a half out of floor," he grins. "When it
rained we couldn't get in it."
Another playhouse was built of lumber with old tin for
the roof. Inside, cubbyholes were the only access to
three bunk beds. When the boys decided to crawl in and
spend the night, they were awakened the next morning by
an unexpected alarm.
"Granddaddy picked up handful of gravel and threw it on
the roof," Ken says laughing. "We about hit our heads
scurrying out of there; we done thought the world was
coming to an end."
In the summer time the boys would cut through the woods
to the drive-in theatre where they would watch the movie
from old chairs placed in front of the concession stand.
"When we moved to town the two biggest things we did for
awhile was play marbles and monopoly," says Ken. "It's
not the same growing up in town as growing up in the
country, especially for a boy."
He attended the Seventh Day Adventist church school
through the eighth grade then began public school when
funds to attend the academy were too hard to come by.
After playing baseball every summer with the boys he
would be going to school with, they wasted no time in
talking him into going out for football as well, a sport
he enjoyed before twisting his back during spring
training his sophomore year.
"The orthopedic doctor said I might want to choose
between football and walking," says Ken, who spent his
junior and senior year as a manager for the football and
track teams before graduating from Benton High School in
May 1962.
~ Nowadays ~
Since February this year, Ken says he's accomplished
quite a list of "honey-dos" while searching for new
employment.
"I got several things done around here; repainted the
foyer, painted the outbuilding and the utility room," he
smiles.
The couple enjoy participating as active members of Long
Heights Baptist Church where Ken serves as one of three
co-teachers for the men's Sunday School class. Since
1995 he has been involved in the prayer partner ministry
in which men pray over the sanctuary and classrooms
before service and attend to prayer requests.
"Every Sunday morning two men are back in the pastor's
office praying during the service," he explains further.
His own personal ministry during the past year or so has
been to make an effort at greeting everyone who comes
into the church. "I try to get around and greet
everybody," he says, "I don't want a visitor to come in
and be ignored."
He shares his talent in singing as a member of the
church choir and performs solos as well.
"I'm looking forward to singing at the revival service,"
says Ken, referring to the revival that takes place at
Long Heights Baptist Church from November 2 -5.
He also sings Southern Gospel songs at McKenzie
Healthcare Center. "Me and my assistant who feeds the
karaoke machine," he says in reference to Linda's
assistance.
In their spare time the couple enjoys flea markets, yard
sales, and trips to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, but
when the day is done they are simply happy to be at home
together in McKenzie.
"We're homebodies, we just enjoy each other," the two
agree. |
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2003
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2002
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2001
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or
Fax (731) 352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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