To the Editor:

This has been on my back burner for quite some time, but last March at the Harmon Field Heritage Days, my Civil War group had the pleasure of meeting 800 of the future leaders of Polk County.

We had a blast, the kids were great. Ive given similar school day events many times, and Im proud to say that the Polk County children are the best mannered, most intelligent young people Ive had the honor to teach. So the story of this photo is:

I was in between classes, when Lisa Krolak, one of my troopers, came by trailing a group of kids, disappeared into the tent, and I could hear her rummaging around.&bsp; I asked what she needed, and her answer was, Peanuts for Mr. Rocky the squirrel.

I laughed and asked the kids if they had a squirrel, thinking it was a clever ploy by enterprising kids and a trooper to have snack time. Sure, want to see him, came the reply, and to my bemusement, the tallest young lady (lets not use the word ringleader), fished a squirrel from under the jacket of another young lady. Which explained the hooded parka a bit, which I had overlooked.

They put him in my hands, and I remembered many years back to the day when I rescued a similar sized one from a dog, I still have the scars to remember my good deed by.

So I handed him back pretty quickly, they smiled, took the roasted peanuts, back under the parka Mr. Rocky went, and they tripped out of my day as quickly as they entered, leaving me with the memories of their smiles.

I dont know who the kids are, but our corner of the world is certainly blessed because they are here.

David P. Smith