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The summer after graduation got my first job out of High School as a wrangler and Singing Cowboy at a place called Beavers Guest Ranch in Winter Park Colorado was introduced to the job by classmate Bob Host as he and his family had been guests there one summer Bod also got a job there, we rode the greyhound to Denver together from Cleveland. After my stint at beavers ended up in Chicago due to a girl, I met at Bevers who lived outside of Chicago ended up living at the co-ed Chicago YMCA Hotel met a couple of guys, Ernie Lukasik stage name Ernie Lane, Tony Bufford, and Chico never knew his surname, who like myself were perusing entertainment careers after working various jobs , Maintenance worker at the YNCA Hotel, Bellman at the Conrad Hilton, and running an inserter machine for American Oil I finally scored a Gig in Old Town Chicago at a coffee house called The Loft while I was there I met and became friends with Jose Feliciano who was playing at a club in Old Town called Mother Blues, also played at a Club called It’s Here as a warm up act for al the well knowns. Believe it or not I actually was under a management contract from the owner of The Loft named Bob Keller ( he also tried to sign Jose Feliciano) he was able to get me some gigs in various coffee houses throughout the US then one time after returning to Chicago called my Mom and found out I had been drafted (kind of b put the skids on my entertainment career) I ended enlisting for 3 years. One adventure I would like to mention during my days in Chicago it was the winter of 1965 and me Tony and Chico had the bright idea to have someone drop of off on Route 66 and hitch-hike to Los Angeles California that proved to be very interesting as Tony was a black from the South side of Chicago and Chico was a black from Puerto Rico we had some interesting adventure which is a story in of itself lets just say Amarillo Texas was a bit scarry luckily we caught a ride that took us to LA. Spent 3 years in the Army as a Hawk Missile Technician. Providence must have been in my favor as I spent my whole three years in the States, Basic FT Benning Georgia, Electronics School at Redstone Arsenal Huntsville Alabama, and duty station Bort Bliss El Paso Texas. I was able to entertain in a couple of clubs in El Paso, and got second place in a talent contest at Ft Bliss. At the end of my tour of duty in 1969 an acquaintance asks me if I wanted to hitch – hike with him to his Aunts in LA and pick up his 57 chevy nomad and I have been in California ever since. Attempted to return to entertainment but found it a bit different than Chicago in California I did have some one niters and did get second place in a benefit talent contest for the City of Hope but after starting a family I kind of gave up on the dream and here I am now a part-time Onsite Resident Manager for Senior Subsidized Housing under the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino. There as so many stories I could tell but that would be a bigger book than I have just written.
