RONNIE SWARNER: REMEMBERING "SMOKY MOUNTAIN RAIN" >>>

Back when I was swimming what seemed to be 12 hours a day on the Lakes High School swim team, I would drag my partying butt out of bed at 4 a.m. for a bit of breakfast and tube before the pre-school team workout.  It never failed, while slurping up a bowl of Quisp, that My Three Sons would be interrupted with some K-tel crap that included Ronnie Milsap's "Smoky Mountain Rain" song. I Dream of Jeannie, Mayberry R.F.D., whatever, that freakin' commercial would pop on anchored by that Milsap ditty.

Sure enough, flip turn after flip turn, that song would replay over and over in my head during practice. Thankfully Mike Stauffer, father to Aaron Stauffer of Seaweed, was the coach. He would let us crank AC/DC from a boombox poolside.

Dumb story short, Ronnie Milsap will perform at the Puyallup Fair Sept. 15 for $15, $20, $25 and $35.  Tickets go on sale Saturday, July 12 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.

No freakin' way am I going. Don't need that pain again.