In this conversation, Ray Beck shares insights about his farm, Columbia’s annexation, and the inspiration behind his book ‘Fingerprints and Footprints’. Ray, in his 90s at the time, narrates the growth of his farm and its connection to Columbia’s expansion. He reveals how a simple moment of seeing his thumbprint on a gate sparked the idea for the book title. The discussion touches on various topics like public safety, joint communications, and fire services, hinting at more to come in future volumes.

The name of the book is Fingerprints and Footprints, Ray Beck's Columbia. I was with Ray on his farm. He was driving his Polaris across the farm, showing me all of this stuff and telling me. In his 90s. He was 89 and a half at this time. Not 90. And he's telling me about the way that the farm grew and how it annexed. His one farm basically added on five or six other farms. So it's very similar to, cause he led Columbia's annexation. There was a 1968 annexation that tripled the size of Columbia. And he was the author of that. But as he's closing a gate to get back into the Polaris, cause he wouldn't let me get out and open and close the gates. He's closing a gate. And this was a spring day, I think late April of four years ago now. And I see this glimmer of ray of sunshine hit the gate and there's this fingerprint, thumbprint. And it was his, where he had just put his hands. And I immediately thought that's the title of this book. Wow. Because when you turn on a light, when you flush your toilet, when you drive down Keene street to a medical appointment, and I could name a thousand other examples. Each of those things has raised fingerprints on them. And there is a large public safety fingerprint and joint communications and even fire. And there's a handful of other topics that we just didn't include in, I'm going to say in volume one. Fingerprints and footprints. I really, I really, you are a wordsmith, aren't ...

The name of the book is Fingerprints and Footprints, Ray Beck's Columbia. I was with Ray on his farm. He was driving his Polaris across the farm, showing me all of this stuff and telling me. In his 90s. He was 89 and a half at this time. Not 90. And he's telling me about the way that the farm grew and how it annexed. His one farm basically added on five or six other farms. So it's very similar to, cause he led Columbia's annexation. There was a 1968 annexation that tripled the size of Columbia. And he was the author of that. But as he's closing a gate to get back into the Polaris, cause he wouldn't let me get out and open and close the gates. He's closing a gate. And this was a spring day, I think late April of four years ago now. And I see this glimmer of ray of sunshine hit the gate and there's this fingerprint, thumbprint. And it was his, where he had just put his hands. And I immediately thought that's the title of this book. Wow. Because when you turn on a light, when you flush your toilet, when you drive down Keene street to a medical appointment, and I could name a thousand other examples. Each of those things has raised fingerprints on them. And there is a large public safety fingerprint and joint communications and even fire. And there's a handful of other topics that we just didn't include in, I'm going to say in volume one. Fingerprints and footprints. I really, I really, you are a wordsmith, aren't you?