James Wilkes is Recovering at Home

[David Danner]

I think we all should step into the center room of the Tavern and raise our glasses in support of Jim who is courageously recovering at home after major surgery. Maybe even General In-Chief Meyer, will send us back some of the best liquor he purloined from the Tavern stock when he headed east, for the festive occasion. We salute you Jim and admire one who will muster from his recovery room.

[Joe Meyer]

Well, it's a real sacrifice for me to return any of those bottles, as I have grown so accustomed to having them on display behind my desk! But I suppose that one could look hard for another such occasion to cart them over here and open them up! Here you are, boys!

TO JIM WILKES!

I see a lot of new faces around this tavern, and some old familiar ones, too! Kind of reminds me of the time I reviewed the prisoners we took in '62 down around Nashville. Now that was what you'd call a real sullen group of Rebs...they didn't take to be told that they'd been surrendered...and they was as unruly and cuss'ed a bunch you ever saw. One old rawboned, lanky one was grumbling about how the Yankees would never have caught him, if he'd been given a fair one-on-one fight! Well, that didn't sit too good with me and I determined right then to have the guards open up the stockade so's I could go on in and read him from the Union bible!

Yup! The gate opened up, I took off my sidearms and walked right in there amongst those heathen and right on up to that load-mouthed grumbler, fixin to set him straight about things. Well, he just reared up and popped me square in the head, knocking me clean back out that gate! Right then and there I figured that this war was going to take a bit longer to fight than what I originally thought! And I was right! Things have been boiling in this club since 1998...and they haven't showed no sign of letting up yet!

And Jimmy Wilkes, God bless him, isn't lettin them Rebs off the hook so easy neither! Imagine that, mustering from his recovery room! Surgeons ain't but just let him return on light duty to his tent and he's "standin to the line" right along with everyone else! Here's to ya, Jim!