The crowd began filing in early at John Paul's Restaurant and gathering place in Harrison.
They were friends of local favorite son George Holcomb, who was about to appear on the popular game show Jeopardy. They shoved tables together and settled in over fish, chips and French dips. There also was a scattering of icy stress-relieving beverages.
On surrounding walls, three television sets awaited the familiar refrain of Jeopardy's theme. The anticipation was akin to friends convening at a local watering hole before a Hog game.
Well-known to many in Harrison, Holcomb has worked for Social Security, as a local newspaper reporter, and is an accomplished musician.
One friend best described friendly, mild-mannered Holcomb as a complete kind of person whose heart, mind, body and spirit are properly aligned to maximize his prolific creativity and potential.
For those new to the quiz show, which originated in 1964 and has since reinvented itself several times, the object is to form the correct questions to answers that appear on a game board containing wide-ranging choices of categories.
Competing on this show has been an item on Holcomb's bucket list for a long time. Finally being selected and getting to California for the filming were achievements in themselves.
And none of it was inexpensive, considering contestants pay their own way to California and lodging simply for the privilege of competing. Holcomb also was forbidden from discussing the outcome of his program until it aired. He'd taken that pledge seriously, which meant no one around the tables knew what to expect.
We waited for Holcomb to join the crowd before learning he couldn't come because of a family emergency. But that didn't dull the festivities, not one deep-fried onion ring. Someone did reach him on a cell phone to the deafening chant of, "George! George! George!" Not exactly a hog call. But it worked for the moment.
Soon the TVs' speakers were raised and the Jeopardy theme fueled the excitement. Sure enough, there stood white-haired Holcomb smiling broadly between the two-day champion Wes Hazard on his right and the third male competitor to his left.
Host Alex Trebek introduced Holcomb, teasing good-naturedly about his latest hobby of knitting. Holcomb laughed and took it in stride, explaining he enjoyed it but "can never make anything that fits."
Then it was into the game. Each man, buzzer in hand, waited eagerly to answer the first question. The existing champion pulled ahead and remained in the lead through the first segment until Holcomb gained his mental equilibrium and began spewing correct answers like a garden hose while raking in hundreds of dollars.
He particularly excelled in the categories of Nursery Rhymes and First Names in the Dictionary.
"Who was Strom Thurmond?
"Who was Iris?"
"Who was Little Jack Horner?"
"Who was the French Press Secretary?"
"Who was Little Tommy Tucker?"
The tables began cheering. Former radio celebrity Dan Timbrook shouted, "Our man's doing good!" Another said, "Go, George. You can do this!"
But in Double Jeopardy, the next segment where prize money is doubled, the reigning champ began rattling off obscure answers I doubt Einstein and Tesla together could have answered.
It soon became apparent from the enormous disparity in dollars won that Holcomb's last hope would lie in Final Jeopardy. At that point, Holcomb's total was $12,200 and he wagered $9,201 of that, while the champ with $21,400 bet $3,001.
The question asked contestants to name the Broadway musical based on a book whose sequels include Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men. Holcomb wrongly guessed The Lion King while the champ and the other fella correctly answered "What is Wicked?"
I'd always believed Jeopardy contestants kept whatever dollars they had let when the smoke cleared, which means Holcomb would have have had $2,999 for his time and effort. But that is incorrect. The second-place finisher gets $2,000 and third $1,000.
And so the long-anticipated festive hoot to cheer for Holcomb ended as one by one the subdued gathering settled their tabs and headed home. One woman correctly assessed, "Well, he sure did better than we could do."
Another longtime Holcomb friend and fellow musician, with tears welling, told the woman beside him: "Man, George has wanted this Jeopardy thing to happen for a long, long time, and it finally did. He's such a good guy. I wish he could have won but I also know he's so glad he did it."
I believe a lot of people in his hometown feel pride in George Holcomb and the fact he won a major life goal by achieving the dream he probably never thought would become real.
His efforts are an example of why winning in life assumes various forms. And very often the many risk-takers among us willingly place ourselves publicly in Jeopardy to pursue and fulfill our dreams.
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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 07/15/2018