No grass growing under Gary’s feet. Ok…so he retired from gigging. But, he is recording, sailing and pursuing his other interests. And, what’s even better, still using his vast arranger knowledge to help those with questions.

I had a question. One of my hometown buddies wanted a Music Finder file other than the one that comes with Yamaha KBs. Gary made his own. I had it and wanted to provide it to my friend. I don’t use the Music Finder myself, so I was rusty on the techie aspects of loading Gary’s file onto a flash drive..

Bottom line: I called. He answered. I asked. He walked me through the process.

He may be in retirement….but he is still willing to share his knowledge of all things Yamaha….even to those of us who knew and forgot.

Thank you Gary.

Donny,

Thanks for sharing yet another story on how Gary D. has been so helpful and inspirational to all of us.

Ron

He is our "Chairman of the Board" and deservingly so !

Mr Wizard!!! '

Plus 1

Gary is the Best .

I WANT HIS BOAT!

R.

Gary, the best !!!

Gary's Great! I am waiting for the recipe for "Kickapoo Joy Juice".... Just sayin'....

https://drinkkickapoo.com/history/

I have to say one of the great things about this forum is connecting with new people and that certainly includes Gary. Meeting him at his home and enjoying his hospitality was a pleasure. I only wish we had booked a room close by so we could hang out more and have some Green Margarita's with him.
He's always been open to questions and generous with his help which comes from years of experience.
Keep sailing, drinking, playing music, laughing, and appreciating pretty women, it will keep you young.

Wow! Just got back from a couple days of sailing down the Chesapeake, had a blast, tides were perfect, the wind was woofing along at 25 to 30 MPH, and the boat handled beautifully. When I finally reached Worton Creek, I eased the boat inside, dropped the anchor, fired up the AC, then poured a smidgen of Kickapoo Joy Juice and watched the sun go down. What a wonderful way to spend the evening.



Randy, the recipe is very easy. Using a relatively large saucepan, add 4 cups of water, then stir in a cup of granulated sugar, bring it to a boil, stir until dissolved.

Then add 1/4 instant coffee, stir until dissolved, and add 4 more cups of sugar, and 1 TBLSP of vanilla extract. Turn the burner to low and simmer for 30 minutes, then cool to room temperature.

Next, add 4 cups of vodka, the cheap stuff works as good as any. Stir, put in bottles, then serve over ice. OH YEAH!

Russ, I believe I have a year or two at most more that I will physically be able to handle the sailboat, then it goes up for sale. It's an ocean going vessel, handles quite easily, and is very capable of taking you to the Bahamas, BVI, PR and Cuba if you wish. It has all the fixings, hot and cold running water, refrigerator/freezer, heat pump/AC, flat screen TV, internet connection, bathroom with a shower, 3G-Radar, GPS/Plotter with all US and island charts preloaded, VHF and Single Sideband radios, AM/FM/USB stereo radio, DC-AC inverter, 2,500 genset, and extra sails. Two years from now, it will go on the market for $20,000. Unfortunately, it's too big to transport to Kentucky by road. The boat is 33 feet long, 13.5 feet wide and weighs 15,500 pounds. From the bottom of the keel to the top of the cabin is about 12 feet.

I still try to record some songs once in a while, and I play the S-950 almost every day that I'm not out sailing. Because of my failing lungs, singing has been a bit of a challenge, and I now sing with nasal oxygen because I no longer have the lung capacity to sing like I did just a year ago. I recorded this a couple weeks ago, wearing nasal oxygen and recorded it directly on the PSR-S-950's USB recorder, then ran it through Audacity to convert it to an MP3. Green Green Grass Of Home (Elvis style)

Thanks for the compliments, guys - I really appreciate your kindness over all these years.

Gary