Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

John Tinkey passed way at the age of 76.

He was one of the first people I had contact with when I moved to southern Indiana 32 years ago.

John was what we refer to as a “P1” in the radio business.

He tuned in to the station I’ve worked at and would call me.

Frequently.

Many times it would be regarding the weather or his latest health malady.

John was our main source every year for the Bartholomew County Fair books.

He would tell me that when he got them, he’d get them to Sam Simmermaker to bring into the station.

I’d sometimes hear from him months before the fair was starting.

And, whenever he’d get those fair books to Sam, we had to make an on-air acknowledgement of their reciept.

John was a fixture aroud town.

Everyone seems to know him or of him.

John had a solid connection with organizations like the FFA, Rural Youth and Granges and I remember him working at the Pork Producer’s Booth at the county fair.

John would often bring our radio station crew a big plate of fried pork chops with the understanding that we’d say something about him and the Pork Producers on-air.

That’s when I learned about his “magic hanky” which I’ll be happy to tell you about the next time we meet on the street.

John liked to talk and he always had an opinion.

I always thought of him like the big old dog that used to wander into the old general store back “in the old days”.

The folks would be centered around the pickle barrel, discussing the news of the day and rumors circulating.

But unlike that old dog, John wasn’t sleeping.

He was listening and taking in all that talk.

When John called me, I employed a “90%” filter to what I heard from him.

That meant most of what he told me was idle gossip but every so often, about 10% of the time, he’d have a legitimate “news nugget” that would relay to the news department and it would turn into a good local story.

John was laid to rest in a suit which he looked out-of-place in since he was a jeans or bib overalls sort of guy.

But John was not unique.

I’m convinced every community has at least one “John Tinkey” in it.

That person that was not a power-broker or a “big wig” but was known by virtually everyone.

In my hometown of Mansfield, Ohio, there was Paul Young.

If memory serves me right, Paul lived on Arthur Avenue near downtown Mansfield.

He was a huge fan of Notre Dame and had an Irish jacket that he always seemed to be wearing, along with a Notre Dame ball cap.

Paul would amble into the radio station, puffing on his pipe which had one of those “toilet lids” on it.

Not sure what brand tobacco Paul puffed on but I remember it had a pleasant aroma.

But Paul always had a tobacco pipe aroma.

Paul would often call me at the radio station and start rambling on about some former Notre Dame football great or an old baseball star.

At some point in time, I had to press on with my radio chores, and I would tell him, “Say goodbye PauL”

He would respond with “Goodbye Paul” and we’d hang up.

Like John Tinkey’s “magic hanky” story, I’d be happy to tell you about Paul’s “cat-hair fudge” the next time we see each other.

But Paul was just one of those individuals you cross paths with that is burned into your memory.

I’ve been blessed in my line of work to meet and talk with “true celebrities” but few have left indelible marks on me like John and Paul did.

I often wonder why I crossed paths those two people.

John and Paul were quite different folks and yet quite similar in the roles they filled in their communities.

If i remember correctly, we referred to Paul as “the Mayor of Arthur Avenue” in Mansfield Ohio.

In Bartholomew County, Indiana there’s County Road 400N is often referred to as “Tinkey Road”.

There’s a one lane steel-truss bridge, crossing the Flatrock River, officially listed as the New Hope Bridge

But folks here know it as “Tinkey Bridge”.

Quite a legacy for Paul and John who touched my life.