It seems that a few years back, John Sharp was planning to attend the Round Top Fourth of July Parade. This event is a traditional stop for Texas politicians and Mr. Sharp, being a man of taste and distinction, planned to attend. Now it seems that he was aware that our current Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Bob Bullock intensely disliked parades. Despite that fact, Mr. Sharp pressed Mr. Bullock until he reluctantly agreed to come to Round Top.

As Mr. Sharp tells it, he and Mr. Bullock got in the back of their convertible and Mr. Sharp placed a thick towel down on the body of the car where he was planning to sit. Mr. Bullock asked him why he had done that and Mr. Sharp replied that sometimes the metal on the cars got hot. Those of us who have attended the parade many times know this to be true.

The parade took off and Mr. Sharp and Mr. Bullock began waving to the crowds. After a while, Mr. Sharp looked over and noticed that Mr. Bullock had a forced smile on his face and was repeating the same phrase over and over while he waved. Mr. Sharp leaned closer and heard Mr. Bullock saying softly... “Hi, how are you? My _ _ _ is on fire. Hi! My _ _ _ is on fire.” Mr. Sharp took exception to these statements but Mr. Bullock simply replied “They can’t hear me and besides, my _ _ _ is on fire!”

In those days, it was traditional for the parade to circle the town two times. It was shorter than it is today. Sadly, Mr. Bullock was not aware of this. At the end of the first revolution, he cried with relief and tried to get out of the car. Mr. Sharp had to inform him that the ordeal was only half over.

I do not know if Mr. Sharp was exaggerating. He laughed so hard telling the story that it was hard to tell. Perhaps he was aggrandizing the injury to Mr. Bullock but he insisted that Mr. Bullock had to be taken to a medical professional at the end of the parade. Mr. Sharp also claims that Mr. Bullock has refused to participate in any parades since that day.

As a Town Alderman of Round Top, I must say that I was shamed and dishonored by hearing that my town was responsible for burning the _ _ _ of one of our greatest statesmen. It must have been terribly damaging to his political career to have been forced to avoid the prestigious Round Top Fourth of July parade all these years due to this personal tragedy. I am a lame duck with only a single council meeting left before the end of my political career so I am not sure I have the political clout to get a resolution passed to offer Mr. Bullock fair recompense for his traumatic experience. However, I hope the next council will do the right thing and reclaim our town’s honor.

Therefore, all I can offer are my sincere apologies as a private citizen for having been partially responsible for this assault on Mr. Bullock’s dignity. If nothing else, I offer this pledge: Mr. Lieutenant Governor, if you ever find the grace to forgive us this transgression, please return to our tiny town and join us in our Fourth of July celebration. If you do, I for one, as a proud citizen of Round Top, promise to take much better care of your _ _ _.