By Staff
RIPE OLD MELON John C. Goodman cuts open a 6-month-old watermelon that he had kept in a plastic tub in a back room of his home. Goodman originally bought the watermelon in August. Photo by Paula Merritt / The Meridian Star
By Steve Gillespie/staff writer
Feb. 23, 2002
John C. Goodman of Meridian loves watermelons.
He prefers them sprinkled with salt. Jubilee watermelons are his favorite variety just like the one he bought six months ago and then forgot about until recently.
Goodman, 75, bought some watermelons in August from R.L. McLemore at the local farmers market. He enjoys sharing them with his three grandsons.
But one melon was left intact one day, so Goodman placed it in a plastic tub and moved it out of the way into the back bedroom of his house.
He found it sometime after Christmas.
As a joke, Goodman took the melon back to McLemore and asked for a cash refund. The joke worked; Goodman and McLemore shared a big laugh.
Expecting the melon to fall apart or implode at any time, Goodman checked it periodically. And to his surprise, it stayed solid right up to the day he brought it to The Meridian Star.
Then, curiosity got the best of him. Goodman cut the melon open with a butcher knife in the newspaper's break room this week.
The aroma of watermelon filled the air. There was some discoloration and it wasn't as juicy as it should have been.
His advice for picking the best melons when they are in season is to thump them.
Goodman is owner of Gulf States Metal Buildings in Meridian. His grandsons and watermelon-eating partners are Dustin McWilliams, 10; Ross McWilliams, 15; and Chris McWilliams, 18.