The Original Dairy Queen

Is that Allison Stewert standing there applying for a job? He was probably this old when he started there. Tks for the picture!

This is Dairy Queen in Charlottetown when it first opened, that 55 Chev is probably new.
When they added Braizer to the menu the place looked the samebut it sure got busier.

We would back the Hearse up to the front doors and the guys in back would spill out and go in for food.

The staff enjoyed watching us back in never knowing how many guys and girls would come out through the doors.


Some of you guys may remember the plastic urinal I bought in Florida. We had it hanging at the back near the doors.

Who will be the first to admit dumping their food in there and eating it?

John Paul Kenny Drops By With Some Photos

John Paul stopped by on Friday with some pictures.


E.T. Concentrators license plate.






The "38" parked behind Mrs. Kenny's Bakery




John Paul "On The Line" Halifax





Here is the "Rule Book" for the Drag Strip










We went to The Drags many times in our car days. Who can forget that feeling on a Sunday evening, , as we drove home, rounding the corner at Bayfield and seeing the line up for the boat.
It would probably be another 5 hours before we got on the boat.

Pex & Knees 1970 Take The Hearse To Oregon, What An Adventure

For Jen & Amy

CHAPTER ONE: HEY,LETS JUST DRIVE THE HEARSE TO OREGON : WHAT COULD GO WRONG?



The Hearse as it it looked when I bought it.





"

A little background before I start.
The Hearse had gone through some changes in the previous summer. The old 6 cyl. had been replaced with a bored 371 Cubic Inch Olds engine. It was bored to 382 CI had Jahns Racing pistons, three two barrelled carbs, a racing cam, a four speed automatic transmission and 271 ratio gears. After saying all that the Hearse would now "go fast".
When knees and I decided to drive out we did a few more things. Billy O'connell did some body work and Gary Macleod painted it, LIME GREEN. This was finished about midnight before we left. Graham Burke was there and he was probably quite young. He asked if he could come with us, Knees said " go and get your dad's credit card"
We got early the next morning packed our stuff, I had alot of tools at this time as I worked at Maritime Motors.
We said goodbye to my parents, I can only wonder what went through my dear Mother's mind as she saw us leaving in a lime green Hearse. Incidently my hair was quite long and dyed "GOLD". Thankfully there are no pictures, only the ones in my mind.
We then went to say goodbye to Knee's mother, Ann. For years after when I'd see Ann she would say " I remember the day you and Donnie left in The Casket".
At this time in Knee's life he was a Motocross enthusiast,so we decided to follow the racers across the USA on their racing circuit.
We hit the highway and caught the boat at Borden, traffic was very heavy and we were hours getting to NB. We drove to Saint John and found a farmers field with an old barn and parked behind it, climbed in the back and went to sleep. Not many people go to sleep in a Hearse and wake up.
The next day we hit the border in Maine and knees said "let me do the talking".
The first of a few mistakes.
Now imagine you are a border guard and see an old 38 hudson Hearse painted lime green with a golden haired kid in a serape and a short haired marine looking passenger.
I should point out that at this time Canada was in the world news, with the FLQ kidnapping Pierre Leporte and the British diplomat James Cross. The country was very tense at this time looking for anything suspicious. I'm reminded of an episode of the old Batman series where Batman and Robin go into a Disco and Batman says "Robin, try to blend in and don't draw attention".
So the border guard takes one look and takes us inside, "what is the purpose of your trip?"
Knees replies "Sir we are visiting relatives in Boston Sir."
BG " you seem to have alot of luggage and alot of tools , are you sure you aren't going down to work?"
K: "No Sir, we are just a couple of Islanders going down to visit our poor relatives".
BG: "Open your wallets and let me count your money"
K: "Yes Sir" (we each had about $500.00) Knees opens his wallet and gives it to the guard to count and the guard spots his Green Card.
BG: So you live on PEI and are just going to visit?
K: "Yes Sir"
BG: Then you won't need this Green Card anymore as you said you live on PEI.
The panic that came over Knees face was clear to all in the room. The Guard took the Green Card and placed it in a safe.
If anyone has ever tried to get a Green Card they know how very difficult it was and is to get. At this time Canadian boys wanting to get a Green Card enlisted in the Army and usually ended up in Vietman. If you survived that, you would come home with a Purple Heart and a "monkey on your back".

So with the border guards smiling and Knees almost in tears they allowed us in with a "have a nice visit" as we left.

We then proceeded to head south, Knees had cousins in Mass. I think it was in Lowell, were we could get showered. We took route #9 "The Airline" which was still a winding two lane road through the woods "If they buried all them truckers lost in them wood, there'd be a Tombstone every mile" as the song goes.We were stopped for the first time by Highway Patrol, and heard what was to become a familiar refrain" Get out of that thing" , put your hands on the roof and spread your legs"

So there Amy and Jenn is how your dad lost his Greencard.

Now that you've seen pictures of the Hearse,your Dad and me, when we were young bucks, I hope you can begin to know more about your Dad and what a great friend and unique guy he was. Jenn has heard first hand how much his friends back here loved him and remember him.







Chapter Two: THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MEN AND HEARSE.




As I mentioned previously, Knees was into Motocross Racing. So we decided to follow the racing circuit.
The first race we went to was somewhere in Mass. We arrived in the morning and parked The Hearse in a field with other campers, kind of a "Woodstock' for Motocross.

TORSTEN HALLMAN

was at this race along with a PE Islander

JOE BOLGER

We stayed two days at the meet and off we went down to Boston. Somwhere along the Interstate, we felt the engine wasn't running smoothly enough so we pulled onto the median and took off the fuel pump. We disassembled it and cleaned it, made a new gasket out of cardboard, and away we went.
The weight of the new engine caused the front end to lower, causing the headlights to reduce their range. The lights were not adjustable so we did the only thing we could think of.
We took off for London Ont. to my sister Shirley's arriving in the early am. Kevin was looking out the front window as we pulled in. He had to go to school but made me promise I would be there when he returned.
We jacked the Hearse up , took off the front leaf springs and hitchedhiked into central London to a spring shop. Quite a sight the two of us on the road carrying springs.
We found a spring shop and the guy worked magic. He hammered the springs which seemed to re- spring them. Knees told him to add an extra leaf to each side.
Wecalled the local radio station and asked the D.J. to announce over the air for Kevin Power from PEI to meet us at The Brass Rail. We did meet up with him, I think he saw us walking down Dundas Street and he drove us back to the Hearse.
Kevin came home from school with a few of his friends to show off these crazy guys and The Lime Green Hearse. We worked all night to put the springs back. Today I'd complain about changing a tire.
When we put the Hearse back together, the lights shone straight up illuminating the heavens and not the road. We were stuck with it.
We left the next morning to cross over in Detroit, along the way we picked up three girls from Quebec, hitch hiking on the 401, they were heading to Vancouver.
We arrived at U.S. customs in the early evening, remember now that the F.L.Q. crisis is in full swing and the borders are tense.
The Customs officer takes one look and hauls us inside, checks all our I.D. ( Knees and I have our passports). He decides one of the girls doesn't have enough I.D. so no entry. We turn around and back across the bridge to Canadian Customs. They give us a hard time but let us back in. We go to the bus station and drop off the girl who doesn't have enough I.D.
Back we go to the border. The same guy is there and he is aliitle annoyed that we came back. In side we go and he tells us the other two can't enter. Back to Canada , same thing , but we get in.
We go back to the bus station, drop off the other two and back to the border, same guard on duty.
He flips, they draw weapons, take us inside contact the F.B.I. by Teletype with all our info, finger print us and keep us locked up untill they get a reply.
When it comes back negative he is even more ticked he calls for police cars they send four and escort us back across the bridge to Canada, as he turns us over to the Canadin officals he says "and don't try to get back in, don't try the tunnel I'm calling all the crossings."
The Canadian officals by this time had changer shifts. "How long have you been in the states? do you have anything to declare?"
Yes we tried the tunnell, and no they would not let us in.
So far, Knees has lost his Greencard, has been denied entry 4 times into the U.S. and is begiing to wonder if he will ever get home.
We went back to the bus stop picked up the girls, and headed back up the 401 to go around the Great Lakes.
I drove for a few hours and then Knees took over, he pulled into the outside lane and away we went around 11 pm we got stopped for speeding 130 MPH not Kilometers, No ticket, the O.P.P. officer was impressed the car could go that fast. SLOW DOWN GUYS!
That night the five of us slept in the Hearse it was cold and rainy and very uncomfortable.
Our French was non existent and their English almost as bad.
That night my E.T. Concentrators jacket fell on the batterys, there were 2 six volt batterys behind the seats. The acid ruined it and it is gone, how sad.
We didn't sleep well that night as you could imagine, Knees and I slept sitting in the front seats.
For all the things I remember about the trip I've forgotten many more, but it is 36 years ago.



CHAPTER THREE: WAS THAT CHARLES OR GEORGE HITCH HIKING ?

We got up the next morning, it was damp and cold. we went to a service station to use the washroom to get cleaned up. Grabbed some breakfast and back on the road.
I'm not sure how long it took but it seemed like eternity. Their French and our English with no common ground.

When we arrived in Sudbury we tried to look up some Islanders who were working there in the mines but to no avail. the girls were out of money and could not help with the gas so they stayed there to get work in a diner. We drove around Sudbury and then back on the road.
Somewhere around Wawa we saw two guys hitch hiking, one on each side of the road. We stopped and a tall skinny guy said he was going to Vancouver. The guy on the opposite side said he was going to Halifax. So we told the guy heading west to get in.
The two guys started to talk to each other and then decided to change places. The tall guy wanted to go to Halifax and the small guy with the beard wanted to go to Vancouver. Make up your minds.
They proceeded to exchange boots and jackets. This was because the guy going East had winter boots and the one going west had sneakers.
So we ended up with the small guy with the beard. For along time I've said he looked like Charles Manson but upon further reflection maybe it was George Lucas. If it was, he listened to lots of stories of E.T.Concentrators and the fun we had. He had to get the idea for American Graffiti from some where.HMMMMMMMMM
My nephew Kevin who grew up in our house and is 10 years younger, tells his daughter Victoria who happens to like the movie, "Uncle Pex and all those guys lived that movie, and I got to watch it in real time"


So now we are three guys in a Hearse heading for the coast.
It began to snow and the driving got treacherous so we pulled off the road into a clearing to sleep.
Knees and I had sleeping bags so we cralled in the back and stretched out " aw the comfort of sleeping in a Hearse in a snow storm in Wawa Ontario with a stranger trying to sleep in the front seat.
During the night our friend had alot of bad dreams and woke up screaming. we told him to cut it out or we would make him sleep outside.

We survived the night and back on the road in the morning. When we would hit high speed the hearse began to shudder, we stopped and Knees got out to check the wheels but all seemed ok.

We drove through Ont and into Manitoba and stopped for gas at a small country station. I filled up knees checked the oil and our friend went in to use the bathroom.
We finished got back on the road and after an hour or so he opens up his jacket and out spills chips, bars, cigarettes. What is going on??? This guy robbed the place. All four wheels lock as I apply the brakes, over to the side, Knees quickly makes up a cardboard sign that reads" B.C." We open the dorr tell him to get out with all his stuff and be on his way.
Just what we needed.
The rest of the day was uneventfull, except for excessive speed on those flat roads.
We talked about trying to get into the US again but thought we should go west some more.
The transmission rear seal began to leak and the shaking got worse, Knees checked again but nothing. Each time we stopped the leak was bigger in Saskatoon we stopped for food and left a mess of red on the parking lot. We could not find a seal so we had to wait.
I'm not sure of the lenght of time it took to get to each destination but we took 10 days to complete the trip.
We arrived in Calgary and checked into a motel, what a treat. We went to the movies, M.A.S.H.was just opening, so we went. After we went to a place called Shakey's Pizza. I still remember how good it was, very thin crust, wooden benches to sit on and very sparse decor.
The next morning we found an AMMCO transmission shop and they had a seal. While the Hearse was up on hoist we checked the wheels, the right rear wheel nuts had been loose since Charlottetown and the rim was about to slide over the nuts.
"I thought you checked them"? "I thought I did".
After arriving in Calgary at night in the dark, and waking up in the bright sun to see the mountains ahead, it made me think of the early settlers arriving and looking at that site. It must have been tempting to stop and go no further.
We toured the Rocky's , Banff, Lake Louise, went into to Golden, The Martin boys lived there many years ago. We looked for them in the phone book but no luck.
I'm not sure where we stopped that night but it was dark early and it was cold.
tomorrow we would head south and look for a small border crossing. Hopefully one that was not on the look out for two guys in a Lime Green Hearse from PEI.


CHAPTER FOUR: RUN FOR THE BORDER

We woke up early as usual , in a service centre parking lot, got cleaned up had some breakfast and looked over the map.
We saw a small border town in Idaho, surely they never heard of us.
After giving The Hearse one final check for anything that could cause trouble we drove up to the crossing.It was just after noon when we arrived, the guard came out and looked at us and said "you better get out boys, this is going to be a while. He suggested we go and get lunch. Two men proceeded to take evertying out of the Hearse, tools clothing, batterys, anything in the back they could find,even dirty laundry.
They used mirrors to look underneath, took off the airfilter, removed the spare tire mounted on the side.
Finally after about three hours they let us in.
We drove about a half an hour and we were pulled over by a State Trooper, "Get out of that thing, put your hands on the roof and spread your legs. By this time we had this routine down pat.
We got stopped a few more time that day. About 10 pm we needed gas and we came upon a rural station where the .owner lived up stairs. We pulled in and as it was closed we sounded the horn. The upper window opened and a rifle was pointed at us. "Hey ,can we get gas"?
"you'll be filling it up, right"?
"Yes"
"How much will that green thing hold"?
"$20.00"
"Show me the cash, ok, now put it in that slot"
"ok"
The light came on and the pump was turned on.
We only took $19.50, just in case.
He held the rifle on us while we gassed up and followed us as we left his lot.
We are not in PEI any more Dorothy.
I don't remember where we slept, probably in a roadside park.
The next morning Knees was excited to finally be getting back to Oregon, we followed the Colorado river. I recall how windy it was along that stretch of road, the Hearse sure was shaking.
We pulled into Portland early evening Knees drove us to where he was staying.
He was boarding with his brother Bob's wife mother nad her man Duke.
She was a very kind woaman who was not upset(visibly) with a Green Hearse parked in her driveway.
Knees was anxious to go out to his favourite hang out to introduce me to his friends.
I don't recall their names.we visited Bob and his family, they too were gracious. They daughter used to play with that dog of theirs constantly.
Lowell Macewen and his brother came down to Portland one weekend, they lived in Vancouver.
A few days I went down to the Chrysler dealership Knees worked in ,he was in parts and rode a unicycle at work. Knees had just bought an Hodaka dirt bike. It was all noise and no action.
I don't remember how long I spent in Oregon, but Knees and I had alot of fun, he showed me alot of places, I should have written this down 30 years ago, but who knew we'd get older.
Knees cooked his own meals and I think we ate Mexican frozen dinners every night.
We ate at a lot of pubs also, one I remember put a fried egg on your burger , one night we went to a place that served a 64oz steak.
If you could eat it and all the fixins the meal was free. On the wall were pictures of the succesfull few, all dead now of heart failure I'm sure.
I don't rmember the dat I left, but without a Greencard, I could not work so i took off for BC.
When i arrived at the border the Canadian Guard said hi, looked at the Hearse, heard the engine rumble and said "Can you lay rubber"?"Of course I can"

That black strip was probably there untill they paved it over.
I stayed with Lowell, his brother and another guy while in Vncouver. It was 1970 and a recession. I applied for a Christmas job at Canada Post, they had 100 openings I was # 10,000.
As you may recall I mentioned Thorsten Hallman in the first chapter, a motocross rider we saw, well his ex wife lived in the apartment below Lowell.
well I had a few odd jobs in Vancouver over December and Jan.
It was now time to change. I placed an ad in the local paper for the Hearse and a guy named Issac showed up with $500.00. He drove away and another chapter of my life closed.
I bought a train ticket to come back to PEI where I went back to school, Holland College, and of course I worked at Maritime Motors in my spare time.
I only saw Knees once since then , he drove his bike to PEI and Kathy flew in to meet his relatives, she still married him.
In 1983 I was in Vancouver staying with Paul Smitz, I called Knees and talked about taking the bus down to Portland. I also tracked down Max Martin. I had not seen him since 1963, he was in Kelowna. I went up to visit Max for a week and had a great time.
I"ve always regretted not going to Oregon but!
Knees and I talked many times over the years usually late night, usually cars.
This ends this series of stories on our trip, I hope you enjoyed it.
I may re tell a few other Hearse stories that are still in my head.
Keep watching.

Pex

BBQ At Pex's With Club Members and Friends June 26, 2006

Here are Jenn And Patrick Arriving
Jenn is Rugged knees & Cathy's daughter, visiting PEI for the first time. She and Patrick got Engaged

















E.T. Concentrators welcome the newest members. Jenn "Dainty Knees" MacInnis and her Fiance Patrick.



There aren't too many guys from our club around. Wayne Carver is in an earlier photo but is missing from this one.





Jenn listening to the guys as we tell her storys about her dad. Each new story better than the last.





Jenn, Pex & Patrick. Thanks to Patrick for taking Jenn up to meet us. We not only got to meet them for the first time but re-connect with each other.





The MACKAY BOYS and The MacInnis Kid together again.



The get together was so much fun, Thanks to all those who attended. Doug Macdonald, Velle Bugden, Les Mackay Pex Mackay, Wayne Carver, Rick Taylor, Donnie Mackay, Allan Burke, Errol Perry. Thankyou To Jacquie for all her work tonight.
She was made an Honourary Member of The E.T. Concentrators.
This afternoon I received an Email from Cathy MacInnis. I read to everyone tonight. She wrote of looking at our BLOG and explained to us how Knees was killed. It was an emotional time as we reflected upon her and her daughters loss.

Jenn and Patrick leave tomorrow. We are so thankfull to have met them.

Amy & Cathy come on up to PEI we would love to see you also.

COMING SOON!
IN 1970 RUGGED KNEES'S FATHER REG DIED.
KNEES CAME HOME TO PEI FOR THE FUNERAL.
I OFFERED TO DRIVE HIM BACK TO OREGON IN THE HEARSE.
WHAT AN ADVENTURE WE HAD.
I'LL SOON BEGIN POSTING THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THAT TRIP.






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