Staff writer
Included in the past week’s Peabody Gazette-Bulletin were several events in the 50 Years Ago portion of the newspaper’s “Days of Yore” column. One noted “Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Craig and son Ted of Topeka and Mrs. Barbara Hodges, Nancy, Ricky, and Dorry of Lincoln spent the Christmas holidays with their mother, Mrs. Dorothy Craig, and their sister, Susan. They returned to their homes Sunday.”
After the newspaper went online Wednesday afternoon, an email was received at the Gazette office from “Ricky,” now Rick Hodges of Topeka, regarding that 1966 mention of his family’s Christmas gathering at his grandmother’s Peabody home.
“My grandmother, Dorothy, would be upset if the misprint went through a second time unchallenged,” Hodges wrote. “Her son’s name is David, not Daniel. Happily maintaining my family’s crotchetiness factor — Rick Hodges”
Hodges elaborated on the note when he was in Peabody Saturday morning to meet with contractors about some work on his grandmother’s house, which he purchased several years ago.
“It was mostly in jest, kind of like a nudge from Dorothy. When I saw it she was immediately in my head,” he said. “I don’t know if she let it slide when it was originally printed in 1966, but I am inclined to think she did not.”
It turned out after checking the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin archives, that she did not let it pass, for there was no error to correct. The newspaper correctly reported in 1966 that it was David, not Daniel, who spent the holidays with his mother.
“Dorothy was something of a shaker and mover in Peabody in those years. She also was a stickler for doing things the right way and achieving the correct end-results,” he said. “She paid good attention to details. Eventually as we youngsters grew up we discovered, I think with some dismay, that we inherited those traits, although I think we are more casual now and look at things differently. However, I can appreciate what she was trying to teach us. After all, I sent the email, right?”
Hodges then called his uncle, David Craig, in Leawood and asked if Craig had noticed the mistake. Craig, also a subscriber to the PGB, said he had read it.
“Do you think you’ll recover?” Hodges asked.
Craig laughed and said he was not offended, that he looked forward to reading the column every week.