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Sheriff Fay F. Brown’s Badge: Albright Airfield

July 8, 2020 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

https://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Sheriff-Fay-F.-Browns-Badge-Episode-33.mp3

· Sheriff Fay F. Brown’s Badge:

Albright Airfield·

It’s Saturday, September 17, 1927, in Hutchinson, Kansas. Sheriff Fay Brown and his wife, Cora, prepare to transport a back seat of new friends to Albright Airfield, 2 ½ miles southeast of town.

*

Sheriff Fay Brown sat behind the wheel of his new automobile, a 1927 Studebaker Standard Six Dictator. He glanced at the mounted clock, adjusted the rear-view mirror, and had the urge to honk the electric horn. But he didn’t. Then he recalled the automobile salesman referring to the vehicle’s door-lock as “thief-proof,” and chuckled.

Cora led the way, down the front steps of the sheriff’s residence at the jail. House guests Mary Albrecht, and her youngest daughter, Pearl, 15, followed her. Dressed up as Charles Lindbergh, Jr., Pearl, in her short hair and aviator outfit, looked stunning.

When everyone had their seat, Fay said, “If you’re all ready, we’ll pick up Delbert and be off for the airfield.”

As Fay turned onto Delbert’s block, the Albrecht’s grew silent. This wasn’t just Delbert’s block. Mary Adella and Pearl scanned the neighborhood, looking for their family Ford, studied their house, and half-expected Harvey—husband and father—like old times, to walk out the front door. They missed him, and loved him, but unfortunately, they feared him.

“Good morning, Delbert,” greeted Cora, as the boy, 14, entered the automobile, and sat down next to Pearl.

“Good morning,” Delbert responded.

“You ready to get your hands dirty?” Fay asked Delbert.

“I thought I was just getting a tour,” responded Delbert. “Do you think they’ll let me tune an engine?”

“No, probably not,” replied Fay.

Fay turned south to G Street, headed southwest of the city to the Albright Airfield for Pearl’s photo shoot to promote the Hutchinson landing field and flying lessons.

As they drove past the reformatory with its 24-foot high limestone walls and taller guard towers, Fay considered how many people he knew inside the armed fortress—both the adult employees and the young criminals ages 16 to 25.

“Those walls were built with inmate labor,” Fay volunteered. “Stonecutting was the institution’s first vocational program.”

Near the reformatory barn, on the south side of Avenue G, Cora and Mary observed horses outside, and recalled their younger days growing up on farms, Mary in Saline County; Cora, in Reno County.

Pearl and Delbert eyed one another, smiling like Cheshire cats from the novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, excited about their upcoming event. “This is so much better than going to the State Fair,” they had said repeatedly over the past few days, although they would attend the annual gathering on Monday, a free day for students.

At Careyville, Fay remarked, “some of these houses were rebuilt after the tornado of May 7th, thanks to Mr. Carey.”

“As Cora glanced north of Avenue G and east of William Street, she said, “the Carey Lake Golf Course has its beautiful grounds manicured with every blade of grass in it’s proper place.”

“My father says . . .” began Pearl, then stopped abruptly and put a hand to her mouth, as she looked at her mother, apologetically.

“It’s okay Pearl,” assured Mary Adella, who still had facial bruising from being battered by her husband a week earlier. “Go ahead, what did Harvey say?”

“My father said that Mr. Carey is deserving of a lot of credit for helping Hutchinson grow and prosper,” continued Pearl, “but, the abandoned courthouse next to the jail wouldn’t have sunk and been condemned if the Carey Salt Mine had been more careful and hadn’t undermined salt from beneath the county property.” 

“That’s right,” agreed Mary, “people can do both good and bad things; when the bad is unintentional, we should be cautious about judging them.”  

“Looks like a funeral going on,” said Fay, as the Studebaker whizzed by Fairlawn Burial Park before slowing for the entrance to the airfield. A permanent sign stated: “Albright Flying Field.” A smaller, temporary sign, advertised: “Sky Rides, $1.”

*

“Hello, Sheriff Brown, welcome to our airfield,” said Ruth Albright, 19, as she stood beside an airplane hangar and gas pump. “Mom will be back any minute.”

“Thanks, Ruth,” said Fay. “Let me introduce you. This here is Ruth Albright, soon to be married, and to be the first bride in Hutchinson to take an airplane honeymoon trip.

“Ruth, this is my wife, Cora; Mary Albrecht and her daughter Pearl; and Delbert Wright.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Ruth.

“It’s going to be hot, but the weather looks good; there’s barely a cloud in the sky,” said Fay.

“Mother will talk to you about the sky ride when she gets here,” said Ruth to Fay.

Then Ruth turned to the young Lindbergh look-alike and remarked, “She’s anxious to meet you again, Pearl.”

“I don’t know that I’ve ever met her,” replied Pearl, a bit confused. “I’ve never been here before.”

“Oh, she remembers you,” added Ruth, with a chuckle. “You could say that you made an impression on her.” Looking towards the entrance road, Ruth announced, “Here they come.”

Fay glanced northward and recognized the approaching right-hand steering vehicle, a Pierce-Arrow, model 48 Coupe, and its driver.

Once parked, the driver, wearing a golfing outfit with a flat cap, exited and said, “Hello, Brother Fay, hope you haven’t been waiting long. It wasn’t Eva’s fault she’s late. I delayed her.”

“Oh, it’s okay, we just arrived,” said Fay.

“Again, congratulations on becoming Reno Lodge’s newest Mason. You’re already making a difference in the world.”

“I appreciate the fellowship,” said Fay.

“So may it be,” replied Fay’s fraternity friend.

“Remember us?” asked Eva Albright, directing her question to Pearl.

Pearl looked confused.

“The night of the Frolic . . . we were walking by the Rorabaugh-Wiley building,” said Eva, “when you accosted us.”

“Oh my god!” said Pearl, “I’m sorry I was so rude. I guess I reacted the same way I respond to my mother when she tells me not to smoke. I tell her, ‘smoking is my business.’”

“You look charming dressed up as a non-smoking Lindbergh,” said Eva. “Did you know that he hates being called ‘Lucky Lindy’ or the ‘Flyin’ Fool’? Lindbergh says he’s experienced and meticulous, not lucky.”

“Pearl, clearly, you’ve already met our hosts,” said Fay, “but let me formally introduce you to Mr. Emerson Carey of Willowbrook, and his sister, Mrs. Eva Carey Albright. She lives here with her husband, and their two daughters. You’ve met Ruth. Eva has a real love of assisting fliers who use the airfield. She’s the live-in manager here, and the person who put Hutchinson on the map as a welcoming community for pilots.”

“Why, thank you, Fay,” said Eva. “But the airfield wouldn’t be here if Emerson hadn’t also felt the importance of turning part of his pasture into a service for the community.”

“You’ve met Cora, my wife,” continued Fay. “Our friends, Mary Adella Albrecht, Pearl’s mother; and Delbert Wright, are here to observe. Mary, Pearl, and her sister, Jewel, are staying at the sheriff’s residence as our guests.”

“Delbert,” said Mr. Carey, “If you’re any relation to the Wright Brothers, you’ll quickly gain favor with my sister.”

*

The grassy airfield’s top airplane mechanic avoided introductions. He invited Delbert over to him with a head nod and said, “Stay with me and we’ll talk while I double-check the New Swallow. It was manufactured in Wichita at Laird Airplane Company. Its Curtis OX-5 engine was designed by Glenn Curtis. He was a pioneer aviator and brilliant engineer. Curtis started off manufacturing motorbikes and set world speed records. This 90 HP engine was used on aircraft trainers in the World War, including the JN-4 or ‘Jenny’. It’s a dependable workhorse, still popular today thanks to war surplus.” 

Jack Lowderman, 36, former war pilot, recently hired by the Hutchinson Airways Corporation, was welcoming scheduled customers for sky rides to be flown over Hutchinson in the New Swallow biplane.

Pearl was about to join the group preparing to fly with Lowderman, when Mr. Willis Kysor, 31, of Niles, Michigan, said, “Hold on, you’ll be my passenger in this Alexander Eaglerock.”

The photographer for the flight, an old friend of Mr. Carey’s, had worked as a camera man for the Hutchinson News and as the official State Fair photographer. As soon as he was introduced as “Mr. Bailey,” he adjusted his Graflex Century camera and said to Pearl, “You look great in that outfit. Let’s get started with some shots of you beside the plane.”

After war veteran Kysor inspected the Eaglerock biplane, the serious-looking pilot told Pearl and Mr. Bailey he had some passenger instructions for them. When they stepped closer to listen, he said, “no wing-walking or parachute jumping today,” then waited for his audience to recognize he was joking.

Shortly, as they prepared to climb into the plane, Ruth ran up to Willis, her fiancé, hugged him, and said, “Be careful! Ten more days and we’ll be together forever.”

*

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

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Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Alexander Eaglerock, Carey Salt, Charles Lindbergh Jr., Cora May Phares Brown, Curtis OX-5 engine, Delbert Wright, Emerson Carey, Eva Carey Albright, Fay Brown, Glenn Curtis, Harvey Albrecht, Hutchinson Kansas, Jack Lowderman, Jewel Albrecht, Jim Potter, Kansas Authors Club, Kansas State Fair, Laird Airplane Company, Mary Adella Albrecht, Mary Adella Phillips Albrecht, New Swallow, Pearl Albrecht, Reno County, Reno County Sheriff, Rorabaugh-Wiley, Ruth Albright, Sheriff Fay Brown, Sheriff Fay Brown's Badge, Willis Kysor

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What People Are Saying

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman
Anthropologist
Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

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