Sugarhill Families

Sugarhill Families

J. Gordon Monson

Published by J. Gordon Monson, 2018.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

SUGARHILL FAMILIES

First edition. April 30, 2018.

Copyright © 2018 J. Gordon Monson.

ISBN: 978-0989745208

Written by J. Gordon Monson.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Sugarhill Families

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Sugarhill Families by J. Gordon Monson

Book # 1

Table of Content:

Prologue

Chapter 1 The Sugarhill Conners

Chapter 2 Sugarhill Additions

Chapter 3 Sugarhill Kid’s Club Camp

Chapter 4 A Mountain to Climb

Chapter 5 Sugarhill Feud

Chapter 6 Sugarhill Wedding Bells

Chapter 7 Sports Fever

Chapter 8 Our Loss His Gain

Chapter 9 Recovery and United

Chapter 10 Two Down and Three to Go

Chapter 11 Work Matters

Chapter 12 Growing Pains

Epilogue

Prologue

All the way through his senior year, two practice games and then eight regular season games Will sat on the bench waiting to go in, ready to play and show his stuff. But, Conners never missed a game. It had been the same way for their junior year. All these things weighed heavy on Will’s mind. So much so, that he thought of quitting the team about half way through his senior year season. But, every time he was about to leave, he thought maybe Conners just might get injured, and then if he quit he wouldn’t be available to go in and sub for Conners. So Will stuck it out. In the last regular season game Sugarhill was so far ahead that Coach pulled all the main players and to put in subs. Will thought this was his chance to show Coach the errors of his ways, but Connors was not pulled so Will sat out that full game as well. During the playoffs Will could only hope that he might get a chance to play, but it was not to be. In all three play off games Conners was their superstar. He ran for two touchdowns and had any number of tackles on the defensive side of the game. Still no injuries came and Will ended up sitting out all thirteen games during the year. By then he was ready to cause some serious injury to Conners himself. However, his mother got news of his plans and talked him out of that.

It was after the football season was over that Will’s cousin’s friend, Bethany Maxwell, kind of took him under her wing. She made his life a little more tolerable. She let him know she thought he was important enough as a person that he didn’t need to show who he was, or to prove his worth on the football field or anywhere else. She let most of the hot air out of his anger balloon. When graduation came a few months later Will and Bethany had become a serious item. He still would have preferred to be with Sally Ann, but that Conners character had beat him out of any chance to be with her, so he settled for who he felt was second best. Of course he was smart enough to not tell Bethany that.

It was just one week after high school graduation that Sugarhill Logging and Lumber Company began hiring. Both Samuel Conners and Will Smithton applied and were both hired. Samuel was trained on the production line and Will was trained to run a forklift. The rest of the story we pick up some twenty six years later.

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 1

The Sugarhill Conners

Sugarhill, MO. is a small, quiet town on the back road leading to nowhere. It has one traffic light on Main Street, one grocery store, one department store, one bar and one gas station, plus two churches. Its population consists of thirty families all connected in one way or another to the Sugarhill Logging and Lumber Company. There were a few stray families that make up the rest of the population as support in the community.

The Conners is one family with direct connections to Sugarhill Logging and Lumber Company. Samuel Conners has worked for the company for twenty five years going back to the week after he graduated from Sugarhill High. But his roots go back to the day his mom and dad brought him home from the Sugarhill Memorial Hospital when he was only three days old.

Samuel married his high school sweetheart, Sally Ann, three months and one week after they both graduated from High school, which was also three months after he started working at the lumber company. He was a strapping former high school football running back and linebacker then, now a forties something country gentleman. He still has the same body weight he had in his senior high days. His hair has changed from dark brown wavy thick hair to slightly thinning with graying around the edges and he is now sporting a salt and pepper mustache. He jokingly blames the grey hair on their four kids. He tries to convince them that his grey hair has nothing to do with his age.

Sally Ann, a homemaker for all of their married life, had been queen of their high school senior prom while Samuel was the king. Samuel had also been nominated to the title of, The Young Man Most Likely to Succeed. Sally Ann always says she married Samuel for his good looks and promising future, but he always kids her it was so she could get to spend his pay checks. The truth is they are very good together, and they probably always will be. She compliments him with her strengths and he does the same for her. She loves his tender masculine spirit, and the way he always makes her feel like she is the only one he ever wants to spend time with. He loves how she has always taken such good care of him and their four children. Even now when the two older ones are adults, she still has the greatest relationship with them. She’s the one each of them come to when they need to talk or seek advice. She either has an answer for them, or she is able to at least be a good ear to listen to what they have to say.

Seth, the oldest, moved out two years ago but still comes home every Sunday evening for supper. He is obviously one of the Conners with his slightly smaller build than his dad, but with the same burnished good looks and his mother’s deep blue eyes and honey blonde hair. He was their chief scholar all through school, always carrying honor roll status. After he finished college he took a loan officer position at the Sugarhill Bank and Trust. His aspirations are to one day be president of the bank. His mother keeps asking him, When are you going to bring home the future Mrs. Seth Conners for one of our weekly Sunday suppers?

He just smiles and says, All in due time Mother, and possibly not long after I get to meet her.

Susanne, theConner’s second child, is just two years younger than Seth. She still lives at home still. She is a strikingly younger delicate version of her mother with her golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The same look Samuel remembers from his days gone by. He continues to be amazed at how much Susanne looks like Sally Ann did back on the day they were married.

Susanne works as a teller for the same bank as her brother. She is also taking some online computer college courses in hopes of one day getting her business degree. She has a secret suitor, Doyle Smithton, a beau her folks know about, but he hasn’t yet told his folks. Especially his dad, Will Smithton, Who has had a running feud with Samuel Conners going back to their high school days. Will had wanted to date Sally Ann back then, but Samuel was always her first choice. Will had been Samuel’s backup as defensive linebacker and offensive running back on their high school football team. He had sat on the bench for every game during both their junior and senior years while Samuel played in every game. Then right out of high school Will had also taken a job at Sugarhill Logging and Lumber Company, and over time he has been passed over for each promotion that Samuel has received. These, what he called oversights, had just added to Will’s bad feelings towards Susanne’s dad.

Doyle knows that one day he’s going to have to share his feelings for Susanne Conners with both his mom and dad. His delays in doing this has caused many disagreements between Doyle and Susanne. Probably the real reason she has rejected any thoughts of marriage, and possibly why he has not ventured into that subject either. They meet secretly once or twice a week, but always remain at the same stalemate. Susanne doesn’t plan on being an old maid, so she has given Doyle until Thanksgiving, just two months away, to come through. She told him on no uncertain terms, If you don’t tell your parents about us by then, we are through.

Troy, the Conners’ third child, is their families star athlete verses scholar. He struggles to maintain the minimum required 2.50 grade point average he needs in order to participate in any of the school’s sports programs. Troy is bigger than his dad, and he too plays on the Sugarhill high school football team. He also plays on both the baseball and soccer teams. He has been the team’s first string football quarterback for the last two years. His coach sees plenty of potential for him to go on to college under one of those college sports scholarship programs. College scouts are already following Troy’s sports activities. So far no scholarship offers have come, but coach feels it is just a matter of time. Although Coach hasn’t shared this with Troy, he has talked with Samuel about it more than once.

Child number four is little Jannette. She is the apple of her daddy’s eye. She is their six year old going on twenty family ambassador and hostess all wrapped up in one little delightful package. She is first in line to welcome all visitors with the grace and honor deserving of a dignitary. She learned to read and write by the time she was three, and she has already told her mom and dad of her plans to be either a heart doctor or a research scientist by the time she reaches eighteen. That is, unless she changes her mind and decides to join the Nation’s astronaut program. Daddy told her she can certainly do whatever she sets her mind to do.

She had a serious look on her face when she answered, I know Daddy; I just have to wait until I grow up first.

Samuel continues to live up to the title he received back in high school, Man Most Likely to Succeed. His last promotion to day shift manager at the plant happened a couple years ago. This position fits him like a glove as he has the respect of every man out there with one exception, of course, that was Will Smithton. The crew looks up to Sanuel because he is a man of integrity and a hard worker who would never ask anyone to do something that he wouldn’t be willing to do himself. In Samuel’s last position, line manager, his crew was always first in production and in any safety awards. With his current position he continued to spread that success along ranks of the entire day shift. A goal he plans to continue as long as he has the cooperation of the people under him.

Will Smithton is now working directly for Samuel. Always before, Will worked under some other supervisor. Samuel had a serious talk with Mr. Farley, the plant manager, the day he was promoted about the ongoing ill feelings Will had for him, but Mr. Farley took it lightly and did not feel this would be a problem, Will is a good worker and shouldn’t let the past differences jeopardize his job with the company.

Samuel nodded, and offered, I believe you are right, but I just wanted you to be aware of this and know my concerns.

This arrangement worked for quite some time. Samuel and Will had to talk on occasion, but it was all business. Samuel became confident that this relationship between the two of them was going to continue to work until the day of the accident. Will had forgotten to lower the lift before backing out of the bay roll up door. The lift struck the roll up door and did considerable damage. Enough so that the door could not be lowered and secured after the evening shift. It was necessary to bring in an extra armed security guard to stand watch at this opening until the new roll-up door could be installed. The plant had one night guard on duty during closing hours, but now they needed to add a temporary second guard.

Samuel had asked the second shift manager to be on hand when his talk with Will took place. Will appeared to be ready to lose his cool during that meeting. His answers were short and almost sarcastic. It was obvious that he did not want to be taken to task for the accident, and especially by Samuel Conners. When the meeting was over Samuel made his written report and went home. He needed the congenial presence of Sally Ann to help control his temper and to help him get back on track. Will had tested his patience almost beyond what he could stand. And he needed to go back the next morning to supervise Will in a fair and balanced manner. Sally Ann encouraged Samuel to take this matter to the Lord in prayer. He reached for her hands and they stopped to pray.

It was for the plant manager, Mr. Farley’s, to decide what actions would be taking regarding Will Smithton and the accident. Samuel, however, would still have to be right in the middle of whatever was done, so the matter was not closed and probably would not be for several more days. Then there was Susanne’s relationship with Will’s son, Doyle Smithton, to be considered. That was also out of Samuel’s hands, but it still could come back to have adverse effects on Susanne.

Three full days later a decision was finally made. Mr. Farley chose not to do anything about the accident or