Old-Fashioned Tent Revival

When I was a kid growing up in Harford County, Maryland, behind our house were woods that went back to the next road almost a mile away.  So we had plenty of space to roam.  I loved climbing trees.  Once you get up to the first branches, it is relatively easy to climb to the very top.  I used to look for the highest hill around and the highest tree on that hill to climb.  I would get to the top, pull out my trusty pocket knife, and carve my name in the top of that tree.  In 1965, Evangelist Oliver B. Greene came to our county with his tent revival.  It went for five weeks that summer with 2,000 people on those rough-sawn benches every night.  Wonderful memories!  On the last evening, all of the ladies brought picnic baskets and, after the service was over, the men took down the tent.  After the benches were removed, the side poles taken down, and the stakes loosened, the canvas was ready to come down around the three main poles.  But someone had forgotten to unhook the safety chains that held the tent collars at the top of the poles.  The men were scrambling to find a ladder tall enough to reach the top.  While everyone was busy, I climbed right up the center pole, unhooked the chain, and shinnied back down.  It only took 30 seconds.  By then, two other boys had done the same thing on the other two poles.  The tent came down without another hitch, and I had my 30 seconds of fame.  That was 53 years ago.  Hey, look up Oliver B. Greene on YouTube and listen to one his radio messages.  Great Old-Time-Preaching.