Just ‘Killin’ Time

Forty-seven years ago many from my generation voiced the idiom just “killin” time, on a regular basis. It was in the month of May 1970 that I recall a particular afternoon when those words were precisely representative of my actions.

I recently wrote about the Kent State Riots that had occurred just a few weeks before in April. College campuses were in state of disarray all over the country. Violent protests were common, and many schools had already closed for safety. PSU, in Pittsburg, never had any of these severe demonstrations but they did make some calendar changes to expedite the end of the school year.

That spring had seen warmer than usual May weather in the Four-States area. I joined a group of friends in an all day excursion off campus. For some reason unknown to me even now that particular day’s events have remained fresh and vivid in my mind.

Someone in our group came up with the idea for our first destination stop, which was to go see Big Brutus! Big Brutus was this gigantic coal shovel that was used to dig the strip pit mines in and around West Mineral, Kan.

We were able to see this machine (it is listed as one of the eight wonders of Kansas), from quite a distance. According to the official website Brutus stood an amazing 160 feet tall. It dug a huge trench down to the coal level (65 feet deep) and it operated 24 hours a day.

We were transfixed watching the unbelievable dirt loads that Brutus dug with each scoop (enough to fill three railroad cars in a single scoop). I was surprised when I saw that this engineering marvel was actually powered by a single electric cable, (from our vantage point it looked to be about the size of a 6-inch round flexible pipe).

Big Brutus is no longer in operation but you can still see it. They converted it into a museum and I assure you taking the time for a visit is definitely worthwhile.

Our next stop was to go the famous Whitmore Pits west of Pittsburg. The Four-States area has witnessed many strip pit mining operations, some of which are still operating. The Whitmore Pits were old sites. Someone had leveled out a swimming area, complete with a beach. There was also a tire swing that hung off a tree limb, from which we loved to take flying leaps.

I have to make a confession that boomers from my time will remember, I suspect. At that time, Kansas had a drinking age of 18 allowed the purchase and consumption of 3.2 beer. Our coed group that warm May day definitely brought along refreshments, that included beer.

This was a Friday so we stayed at the pits until just about dark. Next we drove just a couple of miles down the road to a legendary Pittsburg nightclub, known simply as the “Roadhouse!”

Friday nights in Pittsburg during that time, was when I had first heard the term — TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday). Several other nightclubs in town had bands but the “in” place to go was definitely the Roadhouse.

This particular night the entertainment was provided by a band called “Man Alive.” I had no idea at the time, that some of these band members would become very famous. All we knew was that they sounded great. The Roadhouse was a wonderful building in which to hear them perform and also enjoy dancing.

The Roadhouse structure was actually a huge barn that had been remodeled into a nightclub. There was seating along each side the entire length of the building, plus a large seating area behind the dance floor. I think that the place could easily have held 300-400 people.

The band had a member that played the organ and piano. His name was Mark Marcano. Years later I ran into him and he told me he had gone on to be a member of the famous soul music band Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels. Mark was a great showman and musician.

The truly sad part of this story involved the lead guitar player. His name was Stevie Gaines. When you watched him play it was mesmerizing. His fingers seemed to be a blur at times.

A few years later Stevie and his sister Cassie (they were both from Miami, Okla.), were invited to join the legendary rock band Lynard Skynhrd.

My connection to these musicians did not end there. In 1977, Willie Nelson brought his annual 4th of July Picnic, to Tulsa, Okla. Most of the acts were country like Willie and Waylon Jennings but he also invited Lynard Skynhrd.

They put on a great show and little did I or any of the other concert goers of that day realize that tragedy was just around the corner. It was just three months later when Stevie, Cassie, and the famous lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were among six band members who were killed in a plane crash.

That day in May remains fresh in my memory. It was a time when I was not just young in age, but also in my outlook on life. We had no smart phones, and we communicated with our friends face to face.

“Killin time” was just what kids my age did for fun. I doubt that we spent more than a few dollars each that day but oh did we have fun. Big Brutus, the strip pits, and the Roadhouse were more than enough to entertain us.

Age and health won’t allow me to enjoy some of those youthful pursuits now but the memories are still there. That’s the good thing about old recollections, they take you back to those proverbial good old days. How about it, want to gaze back with me and do some old fashioned “killin time?”