Ralph Harkins and family at the End of the Pavement
By Janice Boling
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Ralph and Duke were regulars at the End of the Pavement.
We saw Ralph most weekends, Duke pretty often, and Bill every now and then. These three brothers helped make the End of the Pavement unique.
Ralph and Tony
Ralph wore a rebel hat on his head and kept an Old Milwaukee in his hand -- he liked the tall ones warm!
Unlike most of the players at the End of the Pavement, Ralph threw his horseshoe like a Frisbee.
Most of us threw the regular way -- trying to flip the shoe just once before sliding it on to the stob. Experienced horseshoe players could tell if they had thrown a ringer the second it left their hand. It was a feeling you got watching the shoe fly through the air.
Ralph threw with a different style than anyone else. It is a wonder that he ever got close to the stob but somehow Ralph managed to throw ringers. I always thought he would have done better to throw the normal way but that just wasn't Ralph's style. He was different and made the most of it.
Ralph would pull out a hundred dollar bill and dare anyone to bet with him on the next pitch. He always found a taker -- usually Hambone or Frank. The rest of us rarely had an extra hundred and if we did, we didn't want to lose it on horseshoes.
George, Martin, Jill, Rick, and Ralph in a row
This was the only time I saw Ralph without facial hair. He must have lost a bet and had to shave it off.
Duke was winking at the camera.
He was always up to something. Duke was a Harkins through and thorough.
Deb and Billy
Deb and Billy were together for a while back in the 1980s. Billy was Ralph's youngest brother. We partied with Billy a lot during the Bill Bowers Cove days but not as much at the End of the Pavement.
Sib drove his tractor.
I included Sib because his boys were a big part of the End of the Pavement. Ralph, Duke, and Billy were all familiar faces.
Trisha and I used to visit Ralph at his mom and dad's house. Sib and Aliwayne always welcomed us to their home.
It wasn't a big place, just a plain old country house with hound dogs in the yard and maybe a few chickens pecking around for worms.
Sometimes Duke and Timmy or Billy would be there. Ronnie D or one of his brothers might come over from next door.
We sat around the wood heater and talked about all kinds of things. Ralph and Duke never ran out of stories.
Sib home from the field
Sib was plowing a field or doing some bush-hogging. They had a big garden behind the house. Ronnie and I would help pick squash, okra, and tomatoes for supper. There was nothing better than fried squash, fried okra, and home-grown tomatoes on a summer evening.