Glory Days

Roger, Me and David
Although there was plenty to eat and drink I didn't...



























I’m leaving the office early today to attend the Assist.Inc Christmas/holiday open house. One of the few open houses along the great Wasatch Front I will usually make time for when I can. The past couple of years I have not made the holiday gala due to illness, prior work commitments. The Assist.Inc function is so highly rated due to the fact that Roger the director serves booze and real protein: sometimes salmon, great cheeses crackers and vegetables.
Assist, Inc is local long time private-non-profit design group. Essentially
Assist, Inc is a training facility for neophyte architecture students. Roger is the director of this classy private-non-profit has been for 10 or fifteen years. Roger is a real architect and is quite active in the community in the area of low income housing needs and other community needs. I have known Rog since he took over the operation after David McCarthy. I have been affiliated with Assist Inc. ever since I got to this town way back in 1984 when I was housing coordinator for the Independent Living Center. Basically Assist inc is part of the “good guy network” in theState. They gave done a lot of good for disability and low-income interests .
One of the perennials of the organization is David, their resident “long hair”, actually David is a biker, a real biker not a yup wanna be. When I first met David he smoked Chesterfields and dressed in basic Levi Strauss. Dave wore his hair down to middle of his back and usually had the hair bundled into a pony tail. In fact I sat on Assist’s Citizen Board. A group of old farts and my self, who actually made decisions of how the organization would spend it’s money. Actually Roger and David bassiclly took in the work orders and did the work, wheather it was storm windows, a new water heater of furnace. However we conviened the Citizen Board every Tuesday morning and David would bring us financial request or jobs to be done. We usually approved every item. Since the board was made up pretty much of neighborhood ancients. We literally had the old ladies with jet black(dyed) hair, white hair or the famous blue hair. There were one or two older gentleman but they seemed somewhat invisible the old ladies definitely thought thy ran the show. I guess the point I guess I have been laboring to make is: all these ancients loved David regard less of his long hair and define liberal bent. David has been with Assist, Inc for over twenty years now. He has always looked “scary” until you get to know him but you will not find anyone with a bigger heart. It’s only been in the last 10 years that David has been able to afford his Harley. But like me the man is aging fast, he married last decade, gave up his Chesterfields and is riding his bike less and less.
Today is the Assist, Inc holiday soirée, drink 7-up with some of these colorful old guys and talk about the Glory Days!!