Names

Many of you may be wondering how we decided on http://www.buckydewitt.blogspot.com/ as the name for our blog. It all comes from my being raised in Pennsylvania by some of the funniest people in the world. Read on...this gets better....

Bucky DeWitt grew up in Benton, PA. Benn-in as I pronounce it, is about 25 miles from where I grew up in Mifflinville. My father grew up in Lightstreet. About 15 miles down Fishing Creek from Benton. Lightstreet sat right outside Bloomsburg which is where everyone in the area went for groceries or to do their shopping.

Benton is like that "Last Chance" town. Last chance for everything as you head northwest out of civilization. I bet it is still like this today.... So, if you wanted anything big, like a T.V. back in the 50's, you drove to Bloomsburg. Where I am trying to go with this is that if you were from Benton, eventually you would cross paths with people on down the creek. Bucky crossed paths with my second cousin, Shirley. Shirley and Bucky had a child and were married for a few years. As with anything, things didn't work out and they divorced. Bucky moved back to Benton and Shirley re-married Jon Turner.

Now keep this in mind, Bucky is close to my fathers age. Around the 64 year old mark right now. Anyhow, put yourself back in the '80's in the Bloomsburg area. We would go rollerskating at Dixie's Starlight Gardens and Chris would "Crazyleg" to the stylish beats of ELO, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Donna Summers all while Bernie the skateguard kept watchful eye on us. Rumor had it that they were building a new skating rink in town....Skatetown. When it opened, it was the shizz! State of the art turntables and reel to reel that pumped through a rad soundsystem. Everyone ditched Dixie's and went to Skatetown.

Skatetown was awesome but us crazy kids were kept under control by two bad characters who wore the referee shirt...and meant business! The notorious Bucky DeWitt and his sidekick Olin "Spiderlegs" Shotwell. Bucky was the man! If a fight broke out near the snack bar, Bucky was right there to bust up the squabble and apply a liberal amount of smack-down. When the fight was over, Bucky would skate back to his position in the middle of the floor and skate slow so the 17-18 year olds could get an eye-full of his suave skating skills. Bucky took his job seriously. He would circle the center of the rink like a shark...waiting for the chance to do good and keep the patrons of Skatetown safe. If it was a slow couples skate, Bucky would bless one of his female fan club with a skate together, or he would go hang out near the DJ booth and hold the lucky gal close and "rap" with Fred the DJ.

Soon, I found better things to do than hang at Skatetown. I had my drivers license and soon was cruising Bloomsburg. My memories of Bucky faded as I found out about Stroh's 30 packs, speed metal, and easy girls from Berwick.

I joined the Navy when I was 18. I pretty much was gone for 10 years. After I got out, I moved back home and started driving truck. One morning, I was up at Kevin Ryman's waiting on a load for California when Uncle Warren (Putter) Ryman came in. Putter complained about everything and never did anything. This day was no different....

"That F**** Bucky F*** DeWitt needs to go back to the F**** reservation" said Putter. "What? Bucky DeWitt?" I said. "Yeah, F**** Bucky DeWitt" said Putter. "That Summmbich is down there at the Unicorn Restaurant talking trash". I didn't quite understand what Putter was talking about. I soon found out....

Bucky decided to Re-invent himself over a period of time. He went from being a skateguard to a mason. Someone must have told Bucky he looked like a Native American. He grew his hair long , put it in a ponytail and since he was out in the sun all the time, he was tan. That reddish tan like a construction worker would be. Bucky soon became the local indian outlaw. His "fleet" of masonry trucks had indian pictographs painted all over them.

Bucky would go to the local restaurants and talk coffee shop politics all morning long and when the discussion would become too much for him, he would throw his hands up and proclaim he was moving back to the reservation. I didn't know that they put a reservation in in
"Benn-in"

"Chief Bucky-wears-rollerskates-many-skatetown-squaws" has become legendary in my relationship with M.J. . Thanks, Bucky for the laughs throughout the years! Your are the best Lamanite wanna-be I know!