Gary and Kermece exchanging vows
October 18th, the celebrated milestone having arrived, Gary Willson and Kermece (Kaye) Rice having calendared this date when announcing their engagement on September 10th. Gary having been introduced to his bride eight months prior to the day on February 18th during a birthday party at the Horseshoe club where the band, The Untouchables, performed. The wedding ceremony to take place in the judges chambers at the Oklahoma County Court House at 11:oo a.m.. The couple and the wedding entourage was well represented, Kaye’s mother and grandmother, Helen Street and Sarah Jones in attendance, along with band members Glenn Froman, his wife June and daughter Kim, Jerry Willis serving as Best Man and Close friends Deana Bray and Billy. Never having attended or been party to a wedding, Gary remained confident but unsure of the addendum and proceedings, hoping the eminent ceremony would remain indelibly inscribed, not fleeting like so many celebrated memories. In the Judges Chambers the rush of reality setting in, a tidal wave of meaningful consciousness, sensing the presence of mind and surroundings, but for a brief moment, a pause. Gary beholding the captivation of his bride standing beside him, Kaye emanating an inner essence of serenity, fulfilling the warm glow of completeness. Once again the quickening, the judge’s oratory “Do you take” and “I now pronounce you husband and wife” the visual happening whisking to conclusion, it was over, the ceremony becoming a precept of history. The congratulations, the pats on the back, the hugs, traversing from the courthouse a whirling vision of recollection, already the past and yet a future to be realized.
You may kiss The Bride
Mission accomplished
Glenn, June and daughter Kim
Mr & Mrs Willson
The Newly Weds at Kips
The nuptial cascade all journeying to N.W. 32nd and May Ave., the established eatery edifice for the wedding entourage. On entering the stewards of service acknowledging the event, providing recognition and extending congratulatory applause from all the representatives of Kips Big Boy Hamburgers. The exclamatory endowed event coming to closure, Gary and the band having recently booked the band for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at a relatively new place mark with the unseemly name of The Bongo Congo Club. The new premise was an addition to an old establishment The Lakeview Club, operated by a Jacques Lacotte, a renegade Cajun from the bayou better known as the Crazy Frenchman, his advertising colloquialism “chicken today, feather tomorrow”.
The couple settling-in with Deana and her daughter, awaiting an opportunity to present itself enabling that first big step in a marriage, a home of their own.
A friends departure Gary’s 1957 DeSoto
A new family member – a 1963 Mercury Comet
Gary perceived this day would finally come, he had provost a commitment to Kaye and it was time for closure, the day of reckoning having arrived. To Gary the DeSoto wasn’t transportation, it was affirmation of accomplishment, a publication of success, a symbol of stature. With Kaye seated at his side, the intrepid DeSoto traversed north on May Ave. towards an assimilating Ford Mercury dealership and a farewell to the DeSoto. What lessened the trauma of relinquishing the automotive icon was detecting a slight malady emitting from engine and a visit to Ron Brotherton’s garage. Ron diagnosing a center main bearing was the culprit and after micro-metering finding the crankshaft was slightly out-of-round, the cost of repair for turning the crankshaft and replace the bearing would be costly. He suggested replacing the bottom half of the main which would temporally alleviate the sound of the problem and trade the car. The musicians propensity for a transaction was somewhat debilitating, but he had commissioned a prospective with Pacific Finance and was prepared to negotiate. A final despondent adieu to the credulous DeSoto, finding the couple sporting a new 1963 Mercury Comet, a fitting adjustment for the petite lady whose promise was honored and the new automotive accommodation readied for her daily journey to work. But what really vexed Gary was continually seeing the DeSoto on the road in and about Oklahoma City.
Boss Speaker Systems column speakers
Glenn and Gary ascertained the public address systems in most Oklahoma City Night Clubs were inadequate to compliment the vocal aspirations of the musicians. Most of the in-house P.A. Systems and their speakers were generated and placed by the Juke Box Vender. The engaging bands using a variety of systems, ranging from a single guitar amplifier to a PA powered Altec-Lansing voice of the theater speakers that would rattle the glasses. Glenn having discover that a new system had been developed but had yet to be recognized in the City, the column speakers. It operated on the principle of distance, a column of six eight inch speaker would provide an expanding assembly of sound coverage as the distance increased, simply stated, the further away, the more speaker you heard. The two promoters acknowledged an account with McGee Audio Wholesale in Kansas City envisioning Boss Speaker Systems, designing and assembling column PA speakers systems for retail sale, attempting to embark orders with numerous Oklahoma City Clubs and performing ensembles. The first group, other that the Untouchables to activate a Boss Speaker System proved to be the celebrated Night Beats, their nightly appearances displaying a live demonstration for future prospects. The business struggled to prevailed on a local scale, but couldn’t compete with the national trend and improvements but the two entrepreneurs having expanded their horizons, already having thoughts of venturing into a larger sphere of the musical domain, one of recording sessions and distribution on their own record label.
April 11, 2015 at 6:52 pm |
Loved it.