HILLMAN WEDDING DAY: AUGUST 29, 1966

Row 2: A kiss under a flurry of confetti ~ With Mom Louise and Dad Jerry Hillman ~ With Nannie: Grandma Katie Campbell ~ Mom in foreground ~ With Sister Bonnie and her friend Lloyd ~ With Bonnie and Lloyd

Row 3: Sue-On checking the ceremonial garter as Campbell cousins look on: Alex, Betty Lou (Liz), and Margie with Aunt Shirley Campbell ~ With Rivers bandmates: Jake Kroeger, John Skinner and Barry Forman (seated) ~ Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hillman ~ Wedding Banquet at Buddy Lee's on Brandon's Rosser Ave. ~ Cover of the book that Tells the Rest of the 50-Year Story.

At 1 pm we rushed to the teletype room to read the news reports as they came in over the wire. The news was not good -- half an hour later the White House Press Secretary announced that the President was dead. I spent the rest of the day in the College dorm TV room watching the emotional television reports. 

Not wanting to transport Kennedy's coffin down in the cargo area the Secret Service agents sawed at cabin entrance so that the casket could be angled through the door to the cabin area. We took photos of the repaired cut as we entered and walked through the aircraft. Among the other photos we took is the area in which Johnson was sworn in as the new president, as well as the cockpit, conference areas, galley, communication centre, and the seat where widowed Jackie had sat across from her late husband's casket during the flight back to Washington, DC. An incredible and very important page from 20th Century history.

MEETING WITH THE VENTURES 50 YEARS LATER
50th Anniversary Show at McPhillips Station Casino
Winnipeg ~ January 17, 2011

APACHE  |  TAMMY

* Those were the days before we did many vocals and we often played guitar instrumentals for the whole gig. . . which led me on a constant search for guitar records:  Ventures, Shadows, Fireballs, Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, Wes Dakus, Champs, Lonnie Mack, Link Wray, Spotnicks, and many one-hit wonders such as Jorgen Ingmann, String-A-Longs, Surfaris, Chantays, Rebels, Tornadoes, Pyramids, et al. I went so far as to import all the Shadows records from England and the band worked out synchronized steps to accompany the tunes.

* It was great to have the chance to meet again with the two surviving members of the original Ventures that influenced so many guitarists through so many decades.

A favourite haunt was the P.A. Kennedy Music store, which featured a large display room of radios, music equipment and a great stock of current hit records. In fact, 25 years earlier CKX radio studios had been located upstairs in the building. The most intriguing part of the store for me, however, was the area containing listening booths where music enthusiasts could listen to records before buying them. My first listening experiences all came at 78 revolutions per minute, since 78s were all our old phonograph could play. 

Finally, we picked up images of a ghost in a snowstorm, but the audio came in loud and clear. We settled back to watch this world-shattering event unfold. Seeing US astronaut Neil Armstrong finally utter the words: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind" as he stepped onto this alien world was incredibly exciting. Considering the hazards of space travel and the state of technology and computers in the '60s, this was a major achievement.

We put on a well-received show that night, but the wonder of the scientific achievement of safely rocketing through space from the earth to the moon, to make a successful landing on the lunar surface, really eclipsed whatever success we had on stage.