When we are young and innocent our thoughts are pure. We are full of honesty and simply have not formed an opinion regarding what might be right or what might be wrong. When a young child is questioned and fears there might be adverse consequences for an action the child will naturally respond in a manner that will allow them to not receive punishment.

As we age, we realize the difference between what is right and what is wrong and we develop a deeper understanding of words such as honesty and truth.

So it was that about a century ago back in the year 1929 a group of gentlemen would gather in the Burlington, Wisconsin, Police Station and entertain themselves by trying to tell the most extreme and entertaining lie. It was completed in good manner with nothing sought but entertaining moments together. A Burlington newspaper reporter heard about the annual event at the police station and published a story about the old timers and considered it to be quite an interesting story. As months passed additional newspapers around the country published the original story time and again. With much interest people from around the country sent inquiries to Burlington requesting additional information or perhaps even a contest for the best embellished story. So, it was the Liars Club was born in 1929.

The club still exits today and people continue to spin their embellished and fabricated accounts relating to a variety of topics. There was a gentleman from New Hampshire that was a career sailor. He once spun a story relating to the target practice being performed by the U.S. Navy off the coast of New Hampshire. People inquired about the accuracy of the rounds fired at targets being towed behind ships. He told anyone that would listen that he had to paint each round of ammunition with a color, a color that coincided with each ship firing at the targets in tow. When the rounds pierced the target, they would leave a colored imprint and consequently provide documentation for each round fired. His story was certainly fabricated, entertaining and a darn lie. But people were very amused and the sailor submitted his story to the Liars Club in hope of winning the annual contest for the best lie told.

It was common discussion back in the Concord of 1929. People took great pride in the fact that they could produce the biggest lie. Such pride in this dishonesty provided hours of entertainment for our local ancestors. There was not a fisherman in Concord that could not stretch the truth or the size of the fish they caught down in the Merrimack River. As the local taverns were frequented by local gentlemen the nightly topic over a mug of hard cider was most certainly a lie.

As the years passed and modern technology arrived there were other opportunities to entertain one another. The fish perhaps were smaller; we didn’t walk uphill to school during a snowstorm any longer and exaggeration was a little less.

With my Irish heritage I have been subjected to a lifetime of ancestor fueled blarney, finding it to be most enjoyable. It takes years to evolve and develop into a good storyteller or journalist. It is to this very day the Liars Club functions and our friends and neighbors submit some very good lies. Lies that are not intended to harm anyone but simply entertain with a good dose of embellishment. For better or worse a lie is a lie, but if you do have a good one please consider submitting it to the Liar Club.