Saturday - 27 Feb/16

Still the same sunny, clear and cool weather today.

To say today would be a "Crash" day was an understatement! "Sometime in the night the Nasty Cold Bug" snuck in and bit us. We both woke early in the morning in distress. Charlotte had a very sore throat and my nose was extremely stuffed and dripping continuously. We went back to sleep and didn't get up until just before noon. We will rest until it is time to go to the "Rascals" concert at 5 p.m.

We are just like McD's. We can serve Egg McMuffins any time of day using our Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker our daughter Kat gave us for Christmas (in November) We were here at OMS by late November. Charlotte has the McD's down perfect!

We rested until after 3 p.m. then departed for the concert. We parked behind "The Sharon" (L. Morse Performing Arts Center).  A family of Mallards were having a great time in the babbling brook that passes beside the theatre.

We decided to go to Kilwins for an ice cream to tide us over until after the concert.

Small World Item:

While in line a gentleman (Tom) ahead of us noticed my Honda hat and asked if I worked for Honda. I said I did not. I told him I was wearing it because I drive a 21 year old Honda. He asked if it was an Accord. When I said "Del Sol" I was surprised to hear that he was part of the original Del Sol design team. Kudos to him.

Since 1985 Kilwins has been making their Original Recipe Ice Cream. Today there are over 40 flavors.  Their ice cream is then frozen into specially designed tubs that protect their superior quality.  Finally the ice cream is super cooled and stored at minus twenty degrees and shipped only on Kilwins’ own trucks, ensuring quality at ten degrees below zero.

Charlotte ordered a scoop of Traverse City Cherry (Natural cherry flavored ice cream with black cherries and cherry brandy sauce swirled throughout
) in a waffle cone. To my waffle cone I added Traverse City Cherry to a scoop of New Orleans Praline Pecan (Vanilla ice cream with pralined pecans in a rich caramel sauce swirled throughout). We sat and devoured our treats at one of their small tables in the store. Scrumptious!

We still had "time to kill" so we walked up to the Spanish Spring Square to sit in the sun and listen to the music played by today's featured group. Each of The Villages Town Squares has live music (5-9 pm) every day of the year. While there Charlotte had to dig for a Ricola lozenge for her sore throat.

We headed to "The Sharon" for the show at 4:30. Doors opened at 4 with the show at 5. Our seats were in the Mezzanine Section.

My last contact with "The Rascals" was working as a "Roadie" at a June 1967 show played in the hockey arena in my home town. Myself and a few friends were always playing "Scrub" baseball or some other sport at the park. We were asked to help with the stage setup for the show. In those days (before unions) teens did a lot of the odd jobs around the park and arena in exchange for "Time". In the winter the "Rink Rats" got free ice time (late at night) when there was no bookings. The other times of the year we often acted as ushers to events like wrestling or concerts. We got to watch for free once the show started.

We didn't get paid for setting up the stage for The Rascals. We did get into the show through a door that "Magically" opened.

I was thrilled with the performance. They were my favourite group at the time and "Groovin' "was #1 on the Hit Parade. I can remember during the concert being totally amazed (despite the old hockey barn's atrocious acoustics) that they sounded "just like the record".

Felix Cavaliere, the "King of Blued-Eyed Soul", has been making great music for over 50 years. A classically trained pianist, Felix is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriter Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and Grammy Hall of Fame. He helped define a generation and a musical style.

Early in 1965, FELIX CAVALIERE formed the "Young Rascals" with Dino Danelli, Eddie Brigati, and Gene Cornish. The name soon change to just "The Rascals". Their mega hit “Good Lovin’”hit #1 which was followed with a string of hits:  “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long”; “How Can I Be Sure”; “A Girl Like You”; “A Beautiful Morning” and “People Got to Be Free” (#1 in 1968). The Rascals are considered the best ‘blue-eyed soul’ group to come out of the 1960s, as well as one of the groups with the most record sales.

The Rascals disbanded in 1972. Felix continued on as a solo artist, songwriter and musical collaborator. Today he calls Nashville home base.

Small World Item #2

The opening act for the show in 1967 was a band that played mostly in the Ottawa, ON area. The Characters formed in 1964 under the name the Imperials which was then changed to the Imperial 5 because of the American band by the same name. Imperial 5 didn't quite "cut it". While trying to find a new name someone said they were "a bunch of characters". That settled it.

Ironically, this event in June 1967 was their last concert.

Meanwhile, back at today's show... it was excellent! The 80 minutes passed by too quickly. All the hits were played. As usual, the audience participated enthusiastically singing along to several songs.  Remember, we are from an era when the words made sense (except for "Louie, Louie") and the songs were heard on our media (Radio/TV) and memorized by all.

Small World Item #3

Perhaps I should ad "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" to that list of "What?". Evidently, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is what "In the Garden of Eden" sounds like after consuming a gallon of cheap red wine. After hearing then-lead singer Doug Ingle (Iron Butterfly) slur the words, the lyricist (Bushy)thought it was catchy and wrote it down that way. Rock's first heavy-metal classic was born (1968).

But, I digress (grin).

The trip back to OMS was a carbon copy of yesterday. We left with 2 minutes of the yesterday's time, took the same route and arrived just before dark.

Charlotte's throat is still sore and I am now in the "Sneezing Fit" phase.

We will be taking it easy for the next day or two.