BEN NEECE'S FUTURE DAD SHOWS A CREATIVE STREAK IN 1953

(Ed.'s Note: Years before the man pictured above (Ben Neece Sr.) met his second wife and our friend - Ben Neece, a current city commissioner and former municipal judge - was born, his dad  showed a creative way to break the bonds of his first marriage. We don't know who the first spouse was, but we're sure she wasn't expecting this type of reaction from her ex.

Putting a decidedly different twist on the slogans painted on cars when couple married then (Just Married, etc.,) Neece Sr. (Peace be with him), instead turned it into a celebration and a notice to prospective female suitors that he was free and available.

If you read closely (Click on graphic to enlarge), you can make out sayings like (Mi pollita flew the coupe [sic],  La Pollita que mas quiero," "Mama stayed away too long, Now Daddy's gone," and  on the hood, "Just Divorced."

Now we are beginning to understand where Ben got his sense of humor. Hopefully, he'll see the humor in this one. We thank one of our seven readers for dusting off his archives and sending in this archived photo.)