Avila: Randy and the riding mower: A tragic tale
My old friend Randy Davis had a close call this past week when his riding mower went up in flames. Here’s how it happened.
Many Rome residents may know Randy Davis as the elder statesman of local broadcasting. He’s the owner and on-air personality for WLAQ Radio, a media mogul extraordinaire.
I know him as one half of our Tuesday morning duo when he invites me on his radio program and allows me to make fun of him to the delight of what I lovingly refer to as “tens of listeners.”
Randy’s beloved in this community. He’s a wonderful man and looks sort of like Phil Donahue.
Well anyway, last Wednesday Randy had planned to cut the grass in the field next to the radio station — off Mt. Alto Road. He was going to use a 10-year-old riding mower to do it, but someone had stolen the battery out of it, and had stolen the gas can as well. So Randy had to replace the battery and buy a new gas can.
On that day, however, his loving wife Sandy told him she would prefer if he didn’t cut the grass because no one would be out there with him in case something happened.
So Randy waited until the next day to cut the grass. He said he was busy cutting when all of a sudden he smelled something burning. His initial thought was that someone was breaking the law by burning leaves. We’re under a burn ban, after all.
Bounce to Randy (that’s how my friend from Pine Log, Georgia would say unbeknownst to Randy) that burning smell was coming from his 10-year-old riding mower. He had no clue, and kept driving it until all of a sudden he said his shoes started getting really hot. He stopped the mower only to realize that the thing was on fire.
Immediately he jumped off (at Randy’s age, jumping off anything is a feat in itself) and started howling for Sandy to call 911.
It’s a good thing Randy got off the mower when he did because in just a few moments the entire mower was engulfed in flames with smoke billowing from it. The fire department soon showed up and put out the blaze, but the flames destroyed the mower and scorched the grass around it.
As you can imagine, he was pretty shaken and Sandy was adamant that hence forth he would not be cutting the grass again.
When I learned of the harrowing incident my first thoughts were, of course, for the condition of the riding mower. Unfortunately it was completely destroyed. I next inquired after the health and safety of the firefighters who had extinguished the blaze and I thank them for their quick actions. As for Randy himself, this isn’t his first time in dangerous situations. In his long life he has stared itself death in the face when he fought alongside General Lee in the War Between the States. A riding mower on fire is child’s play when you’ve survived an ambush by Union soldiers up on a cold, windy ridge in the middle of winter.
But in all seriousness, I’m very thankful that Randy came away unscathed from what could have been a very bad situation. Randy Davis is a pillar of this community and he is a very dear friend to me.
And besides, who would I make fun of on Tuesday mornings for all the world to hear?
Congratulations to Randy on his retirement from cutting grass.