Black Eye

In the 1930s, hard-working men kept the country alive, and the little town of Black Eye depended on one lumber mill to keep its community on its feet. Due to the lack of lumber orders, several times the mill came close to being shut down, but it seemed like each time there was no relief in sight, the mail would pick up an order and start sawing again.

When malaria hits Black Eye, Dr. Fred Baker runs out of antibiotics and he is getting run down himself. He phones and old friend in Minneapolis, several hundred miles away, and pleads for help. But pneumonia had plagued the big city, and antibiotics and help were in short supply. Dr. Baker convinces his friend that the townspeople will die if they don t receive help, and the doctor s friend makes arrangement for medicine and a nurse to go to Black Eye if someone comes to pick them up.

Already dead on his feet from a hard day at the mill, Jim Borden agrees to make the trip. Jim s little girl has pneumonia, and he is and wife, Cathy, must take her to the hospital in Minneapolis. They burrow a little Chevy coupe and drive through freezing rain to reach the hospital. On the way, at the bottom of the hill, the car can t get enough traction to make the climb. Tired and exhausted, Jim dozes off for a few minutes and falls into a short, deep sleep. When he opens his eyes, he sees a faded figure of a team of horses in full harness hooked to the front of the coupe. Jim puts the car in low gear and let s out the clutch. The back tires grip; the car climbs the hill, and the faded team vanishes.

A harsh blizzard drops several feet of snow over the small town of Black Eye, and the town gets totally cut off from the outside world. Travel becomes impossible. Power line are down. The town s only gas pump is dry, and the shelves in the one little store are bare. Several families gather under one roof to survive the bitter cold. Families begin to barter for food, and even an armful of firewood is traded for a morsel of food. The town needs the lumber mill to operate and put the men back to work. This story expresses the power of people working together when their needs are the greatest.

-- Tom Marovich