Bourbon Street will be rockin’ Monday for Paul’s 100th

One of the joys of my life has been having weekly lunches with a group of guys. The group was formed before I joined them and that was over 25 years ago.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

We have eaten together at least twice a week and sometimes more.

From the time I started eating with them only Paul Jones, Coy Evans, Charles Houck and Bill Crook are still with us.

Those who have passed away include Rev. Bob Lockhart, Johnny Reeves, Eddie Poynter, Ken Cobb, Dr. Don Barton, and R.L.Brown. We miss these guys greatly.

I don’t show up as often as I once did. Let’s say age has slowed me down a bit.

But the one fellow that this group centered around and has not let age slow him down is Paul Jones who will celebrate his 100th birthday Monday, Oct. 31st.

Paul is a delight to be around. We have written several articles in this newspaper about him. The most recent one was about the recognition given to him at the Honor Flight Bluegrass showing of a B-25 WWII bomber at the London-Corbin airport. Paul was a Navy pilot during WWII.

As he has been doing for over 50 years, Paul will celebrate his 100th birthday at the busy corner of Bourbon and Toulouse Streets in New Orleans.

I have known a few centenarians. Most noteable, my mother who lived to be 101 and a half years of age. And some of you may remember me writing about Gershon Schulman, a man my wife and I met on a trip and became friends with. He lived to be 107 years of age. Gershon passed away in 2017.

One thing Gershon and Paul have had in common is both have been very active. Gershon started each morning by swimming laps around an olympic size pool. Paul hits the treadmill first thing each morning and he stays active all day. The walking pace of both has always been hard for me to keep up with.

Paul has lived an exciting life. In addition to flying jets while in the service, he flew his own plane until age grounded him. He played baseball with Ted Williams when he was in the Navy. He was the owner and operator of Hall-Watson Furniture which opened in 1922 and closed just a few years ago. He has been active in civic affairs.

Let’s join in the celebration and wish Paul a Happy 100th Birthday Monday!