Kansas City 2005

Recently, I went on another of my trips to renew old friendships. I enjoy these types of encounters because it does my old heart good to see the looks on the faces of people that I just drop in on from time to time.

As I boarded the 707 Delta jet in Toledo, I glanced off to the south, where a lot of storm clouds were on the horizon. I knew that the trip would not be too smooth to Atlanta. Air turbulence would be the big factor on this, the first leg of my trip to Kansas City.

As we crept to a cruising altitude of 31,000 feet, we had some shaking and disturbance, but not like I had imagined. The pilot must have had a good flight plan when she started off. Atlanta seemed just a few blinks of my eyes away.

As we were on our final approach, some storms over the mountains of Tennessee seemed to just grab the wings of our aircraft and shake it like a rag doll. The experienced pilot countered by adjusting for the impact of the rain and the density of the clouds.

I had a two-hour layover in Atlanta and had to change terminals, as the westbound flights were in the “A” concourse. I found a short snack in one of the many cafes and proceeded to my gate, where I could relax and catch up on some of my computer work that I have been doing for a project for nearly a year now.

Suddenly, when I had not been paying attention, they began to call the seating arrangement for my last leg of the journey to Kansas City. I began to mentally review the many times I had flown from the Atlanta airport to destinations all over the globe. My train of thought was broken by the screams of a small baby in the rows across from me on the 747 jet. She was not having a good time with going on the flight.

The three-hour flight went fairly smoothly as I continued to work diligently on my project. The captain came on the speakers and stated that he was going to change the flight path and come in to Kansas City from the north instead of the south because of storms.

Before you knew it, we were down on the runway and safely at the gate. I grabbed all my items and exited, to be met by Jennifer Geigel and her husband. Jennifer is a daughter of the late Black Angus. They greeted me like I knew them all their lives. Jennifer was amazed at some of the things I had brought to her from my personal collections.

We spoke at the airport for seemingly two hours and talked with reverence about her dad, my best friend. She told me of linking up with Rob Garner, her cousin. Rob had written to me and informed me of the passing of Angus. Jennifer is expecting her third child very soon.

I called and let Rod Phillips know that I was, in fact, in town, and that I would be at his home shortly. I said my farewells and was picked up by a limo and carried to the car rental agency, where they awaited me.

Leaving the airport, I had to go onto 29 North to get to 435 South towards Kansas. I exited at Leavenworth Road and proceeded east to Rod's home. I had no more than unpacked when Rod said, “Want to go to BB's Bar-B-Q? They have a great blues band playing there tonight.”

Quickly, I changed shirts, and we were off on more expressways than I could shake a stick at. I passed a few old sights from the distance, but a lot of new buildings were evident in the 30 years since I was there. Rod talked of the many nights that he was involved in guarding our backs at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. We commented about the huge officer that watched my back while I was at ringside. He wore a size 66 sport coat and rode a three-wheeled Harley Davison year round while on patrol.

Before you knew it, we were at BB's, and the fun was just beginning. Big Thursdays at BB's was a regular appearance of John Paul's Flying Circus, featuring Bill Dye. They played their hearts out to a packed audience. Rod and I had a booth to the side of the band, and the speakers blared out some of the best blues that I had heard in a long time. I had Rod go to the lead singer and request one of my favorite numbers called "Green Onions".

The crowd came undone with the number and applauded their approval. I had a distinct pleasure of meeting Lindsay and Jo Shannon, the owners, during a break of sets by the band. What wonderful hosts that bring the very best blues entertainers to their place Wednesday through Sunday. www.bbslawnsidebbq.com is the address of their website that will fill you in on the many great things that make BB's a super place to visit while in Kansas City.

As I glanced at my watch, it was nearing 12 midnight, and I had been up since 5 a.m. that morning. Rod and I went back to his home, where he began to show videos of some of the many cars that he has been a part of in restoring over the years since retiring from the police department. I knew that he had to be up at 5 that morning to go to work, and it was already past 1 a.m., so I bid him goodnight and retired to my room, where I quickly fell fast asleep.

To be continued …..

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers
2004 CAC Honoree