text by Joyce Linda Sichel, photos by Sandy Evens
On a very “blustery day,” as Winnie the Pooh called it, a patio umbrella on a Bridlington deck went sailing up to the neighbor’s roof and parts were caught in the rain gutter and spout. Sandy and Earl Evens were the wind’s victims, and Sally and Gordon Brummer temporarily acquired a large, torn green umbrella.
The Evens thought “ah-ha, we should call the Medford Leas Cowboy,” Ed Barcus, who lives near at hand in Bridlington. Ed got his rope, tied a lariat, and lassoed the umbrella. But his rope was not quite long enough to disentangle the torn umbrella from the rain gutter, and Medford Leas Maintenance finished the job with a rake.
But you must be thinking, “this isn’t possible; we don’t have a cowboy!” We really do though. Coming up from a start on weekend passes from Fort Dix and then in the rodeos of New Jersey and Pennsylvania rodeo country, Ed learned to rope calves and tie them up on the ground. It was a pretty handy skill, but life got in the way and he gave it up for some years. But then, his interest drew him back to another form of roping, “team roping.” This is a recreational activity practiced at places like Kennett Square in Pennsylvania and Cowtown in New Jersey. It involves two ropers, one at the front of the steer and one at the rear. It was a risky kind of fun, where the most frequent accident was the loss of a human thumb, Ed says. He participated in roping events until he was 72 years old and still does it for fun using a wooden cow dummy.
Now the Evens have replaced their wayward green umbrella with two red ones, which we trust will be heavy enough to stay at home. A photo of the handsome new umbrellas is reproduced here. Sandy says “I still think Ed’s a super cowboy”!