The first A-Team

Hasbro stopped marketing their successful selling 'fighting soldier' as the Vietnam War seemed to become 'unpopular'.  A lot of stores were slowing down marketing war related toys.  Hasbro started de-emphasizing the military aspect of G.I. Joe and started emphasizing 'action' by selling G.I. Joe as members of the Adventure Team.  Joes were dressed and equipped with gear for high adventures in mountains, deserts, jungles and the oceans.  Joes no longer fought Japs or Nazis, but rather lions tigers and bears - OH MY!

These Joes didn't look like the old Joes either.  They came with 'life-like hair, kung-foo grip.  Some had super human abilities such as Eagle Eye and Bullet Head to play off the then popular action Six Million Dollar Man action figure made by Kenner..

I remember being disappointed with the new Adventure Team Joes at that point.  I especially didn't get into super human guys.  The Mike Powers, the one that was competing with the bionic man Steve Austin.  It looked like a Ken doll and I didn't want a bionic dude fighting Nazis.  Sorry Mike.

Adventure Team Fuzz Heads

I never wanted any of the Adventure Team mission gear.  I did acquire some of the life-like hair, kung-fu grip Joes.  They didn't go hunt white tigers or wrestle alligators, they were drafted into my army. I removed their AT dog-tags and AT sticker on their shirts and issued them M-1 carbines and ordered them to fight Nazis.  The military gear was now in short supplies at the stores.  I could still get guys, but I had to make due with military ordnance.  I didn't have enough rifles and machine guns to go around.  There were plenty of times when one Joe died in a firefight, the weapon was on to one of the fuzzy faced new guys that needed a gun.  The Adventure Team Joes did come with a sidearm, a shoulder holster with a revolver.  Those were pretty cool, but I had plenty of boots on the ground, but JC Penney and Sears were on an anti-war kick, and weren't selling the supplies I needed for the war effort.

One cool thing about the kung-fu grip Joes, I could take an X-acto blade and separate the trigger finger of the hand so the new Joes could grip a firearm better.  I wished all my Joes had that kung-fu grip.

The Adventure Team guys were okay, but I gave my old Joes seniority and preference over the fuzzy headed ones.  I wasn't pleased that the military aspect was being phased out. I wasn't happy that Hasbro had changed their soldier into an adventure guy.  I was just a kid.  I wasn't a hippie mad at Uncle Sam for Vietnam.  I wanted wanted my G.I. Joes to stay G.I.'s!  Was that such a terrible thing to want?

fighting man from head to toe

An old Joe stands guard upon my studio shelf.

In 1964 our family was visiting relatives in Columbia, SC for Christmas.  I'd never heard of a G.I. Joe before that day.  I never asked Santa for one.  Boy was I a happy kid to find a little fighting marine under the tree that year with all that gear. I was ecstatic.  There wasn't a Christmas or a birthday throughout the rest of my childhood that I wasn't asking for another Joe, another accessory, or vehicle.  I had the biggest army in the neighborhood.

I spent countless hours with these guys lost in my vivid imagination, acting out all kinds of adventurous and dangerous scenarios.  Most of my friends had Joes too.  Every now and then we'd combine forces for massive battles.  My G.I. Joes were my most prized possessions as a kid, my all time favorite toy.

G.I. Joe is turning 50 this month.  Happy Birthday soldier!

when worlds collide

Dixon Hayes writes a terrific blog called TV When I was Born. He shares his blog with us at the Boomerville,USA facebook group.  This week he wrote about The Beatles.

I'm a little older than Dixon, but I was also a too young to remember much.  I don't remember the Ed Sullivan show or ever seeing The Beatles appear on television during the first waves of the British Invasion.  I do have a memory, the first time I ever heard a Beatles' song.  The first time I heard it,in 1964, wasn't from The Beatles, but rather from the lips of my older brother and sister Brooky and Jennie. The song was I Want To Hold Your Hand and I heard it while sitting in the living-room of my aunt Jennie Llew's house in Columbia, South Carolina.

All my aunts and uncles were in the house. Most of them had been trained in classical/traditional music by their mother who was a voice and music teacher. Brook and Jennie weren't performing the song for them, but were just excited children moving about the room singing the song as they played. I remember the reaction from the grown-ups present which was a look of "What kind of song is that?"  It had a catchy tune and lyrics a six year old could sing so I started singing it too.  The second Beatles song I learned was She Loves You.  At six I became a rock and roll fan.  Rock and Roll had been around before I was born, but it was The Beatles that moved me. 
 
Growing up I soon realized that the music our generation loved to listen to and sing wasn't what they thought was music.  I didn't know that back when I first heard Brooky and Jennie started singing that song. Looking back, to me it's ironic that the first time I heard that song was in a room packed with dad's classical music loving siblings.  Throughout my life, whenever they heard me sing a song I wrote, they'd often say I had such a pretty voice to be wasting on such music. I knew they had to have said this to my other singing siblings.  Don't get me wrong, they weren't trying to be hateful or discouraging, but rather were trying to encourage us to sing the right kind of music.

It just wasn't going to be.  This is the music of my generation.  Dad never said much about the music I sang.  Rock albums, guitars and amps eventually came into his household.  I don't think dad cared for the type of music his children played.  I'm sure he had to silently tolerate much of it, but maybe he related.  After all, his Pop wasn't a fan of the Swing/Dance music that he drug into the house.

It wouldn't be long until the Jesus Movement influenced Westbrook's children.  Our love for Jesus and the music of our generation came together like chocolate and peanut butter.  We played our songs youth groups, street corners, coffee houses and eventually before congregations.

a moveable feast

 

Christian Brothers Association group photo (late 70's).
There's a bunch of people who are absent and wish were represented here
(David A, David B, and David C to name a few).

Our old coffeehouse ministry had various locations as well as various names.  What started out as a prayer meeting of high school and college kids ended up a small coffee house starting as FREE House which was located at 212 South 5th Street downtown Gadsden.

Around the time of Emory Bogg's death, we had moved to a small house on 253 College Street across from the Gadsden Public Library.  The little house is no longer there.  The place was simply too cramped from which to have room to fellowship, let alone sell books and records.  I was a junior in high school at the time and a member of Central United Methodist church on 11th Street.  Many of FREE house members were also members of Central too.  I started inviting friends to the Youth House at 1123 Christopher Street which was owned by Central UMC, located right behind the church.  I have a lot of good memories of our meetings of having FREE house.

There was a point where the ministry started growing.  It was about that time that Christian Brothers Association was formed.  We moved our activities to a larger location at 235 South 6th Street.  The back 2/3rds of the building was used by a daycare.   The entire front of the building was perfect for our book and record store and coffeehouse meetings.  Many people still referred to our meetings at FREE house, but most were calling it Christian Brother's Coffeehouse.  Christian Brother's Association had a lot going on by that time.  Our primary function was the coffeehouse fellowship.  There was a big demand for Jesus Music and we were the place to plug into the music with Christian Brothers' Books & Records.  By 1977 we had our first 'No Jive Jesus Is Alive Falls Festival' at Noccalula Falls Park & Campgrounds.  We amassed a rather large sound system for the festival and ended up going on the road with it with Christian Brother's Rent-A-Sound.  CBA rented out systems for both small and large events.  Even though we grew into doing many things, the coffeehouse, that little fellowship remained the core ministry.

In the early 1980's Christian Brothers Association moved to it's final location at 421 Broad Street where Gadsden Vineyard Church resides today.  The building had a nice old skylight and we appreciated the spiritual implication and named the coffeehouse SKYLIGHT. Christian Brothers continued ministry until 1998.  Upon dissolving the non-profit organization, we gave the building to the church that had been renting from us for their Sunday services - giving the church a permanent home.  You can still find see a small number of old Christian Brother Association members (and their descendents) amid that congregation today.

People came and went down through the years.  We moved multiple times and went by various names.  We had a twenty five years run and it was a great experience.  Though the coffeehouse is gone, the friendships I made there down through the years are forever.  No matter where we are now, we share a common past and good memories. We will always love each other, remember each other as Christian brothers and sisters.

God bless each of you in your ministry today.

two wheeled memories

I was ten years old and really wanted my own bike.  I didn't just want any bike.  I wanted one of those new cool looking bikes with high handlebars and a banana seat.  I didn't get a new bike for my birthday.  Dad bought an old bike from a buy and sell show that would come on every Saturday on a local radio station.  It was a worn and rusty bike some guy had under the eave of his house with some other worn and rusty old bikes.  Dad seemed to be very pleased with the bargain, but I was beginning to think I was getting the short end of the deal.  The rusty old bargain was loaded into the back of our Ford Fairlane station wagon and brought home.

Dad got Brook to help me sand the rust off that Saturday afternoon.  Afterward, a coat of silver paint was sprayed onto it.  It was starting to look alright.  Dad picked up some nice fat-knobby tires and a new chain from the Otasco at the Agricola Shopping Center.  Otasco didn't carry those new fangled high handlebars or banana seats.  No one carried them in town.

Dad asked around and found out he could order the items through J.C. Penney on Broad Street.  The order pick-up department was at the back of the store and there was parking lot and entrance in the back which made it quicker to access.  I had to wait about two weeks for my high handlebar and banana seat.  To me, it felt like an eternity.

I remember the day they came and opening the boxes.  Wow!  I started getting excited about the old bargain bike.  I had to wait till the following weekend until Dad and Brook could put on all the new parts.  When I say dad - I mean that dad oversaw Brook.  He was good at giving instructions from the sideline.

My bike never looked brand new, but that didn't matter to me.  My bike was unique and it was MY bike. It wasn't a pretty bike, but it was durable and custom made for me.  I rode that bike all over the mountain.  I rode it on roads and off, up and down steep hills, shortcuts through people's yards, through bumpy trails in woods.  I road my bike throughout the rest of my childhood, through every season of each passing year.  I rode it until it could carry me no long.  It served me well.