Dear Editor,

I remember watching a movie about the life of Huey Long. Before he represented Louisiana at the federal level he ran for county road commissioner. At one point, in his campaign, he stood on the back of a pickup, destroyed his prepared speech, looked at the gathering of farmers and started out by saying, “You are a hick, I’m a hick and we are a bunch of hicks together so let’s get the job done.” That is where I got the word “hick.” But now it has become, to me, an acronym which means – H-honesty, I-Integrity, C-Courteousnerss and K-knowledge.

With this, I challenge all of us to be HICKs in this coming year. If you are already a HICK, let’s improve. If you aren’t one, then let’s begin as a New Year’s Resolution. This might seem somewhat ‘corny;’ but, like the song goes, not all corn comes from Kansas. And so, as this year of 2013 starts, let’s all be a little ‘corny’ and be known as HICKs. Aw, smile. Hey the Old Coffee Drinker rides again.

Randy Middleton

Tonasket