Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 5, 1990 TAG: 9007050085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELLIE SCHAFFZIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
These McCartney fans were headed to Washington, D.C., to spend the day in the nation's capital and the night with Paul in RFK Stadium. They paid almost $80 each for the ride and the ticket, a package offered by Holland Travel in Roanoke.
Although the buses held about 40 fans each, Holland Travel sold 280 packages. Holland employees said the tickets were so popular that customers were willing to pay for the entire package even though they'd be driving themselves.
But why chose this rather unconventional Independence Day activity?
"It's a dream come true to me," Robin Kidd said. She and her daughter Tabatha, 10, had been reviewing old Beatles tunes in preparation for the show. Tabatha said she doesn't really know any songs yet, but she's looking forward to attending her first rock concert.
Glenn Thompson saw the Beatles in RFK back in 1966, and said all he remembers is that "there were a lot of screaming young ladies around me." A rather sedate Sue Thompson by his side said she was too tired to know if she'll be screaming when she sees McCartney.
Laura Saul, though, was not too tired to profess her unfaltering loyalty to the former Beatle. She said she collects Beatles albums and memorabilia.
"I've got to see him before I die," she said.
One Holland employee said she never thought McCartney would tour again. She was 9 when her older sister first told her about the Beatles.
"I thought: What? Bugs?" she said.
Not all the ticket holders dished out cash for the trip. Joe Kavanaugh won two tickets in a contest sponsored by Q99 (WSLQ-FM) radio. The station played a string of seven McCartney song fragments, and the first listener to identify all seven correctly got the coveted seats.
Kavanaugh's fiancee, Debbie Dalton, was the one who identified the songs. But afraid she would not get through, she had Kavanaugh make the actual call.
"He's the lucky one. . . . I'm the brains," she said.
The couple also won "Welcome to America Paul McCartney" T-shirts in white for Kavanaugh and pink for Dalton.
Wearing her own pink T-shirt, Lori Barber hugged the pillow she brought with her for the long ride ahead. She said she and her brother would spend the afternoon before the concert in the Smithsonian.
George Butterworth had Georgetown in mind as his pre-concert destination. He said a few drinks were on the afternoon agenda.
"We have a designated bus driver, so we can party all we want on the Fourth of July," he said.
At the wheel of bus number two was Harold Ferguson, who said he wouldn't attend the concert, but would sightsee in D.C. He said he wasn't a big McCartney fan.
"I'm not a rock 'n' roller. I'm a country bluegrass guy. . . . Wouldn't know [McCartney] if he walked up here," he said.
Barbara Hunt waved from the bus window to her 14-month-old son Christopher. He was staying behind with Hunt's mother, Minnie Young.
Young said she bought her daughter the ticket for her 31st birthday.
"She wanted to go when she was 16 years old, and I wouldn't let her," she said, adding she was glad she could make it up to her daughter 15 years later.
Bob Pollitt and Paul Hignett waved a British flag cap. They said they would spend the afternoon watching England play West Germany in the World Cup Soccer semifinals.
In a genuine British accent, Pollitt said he first saw the Fab Four in Liverpool in 1961, before they were called the Beatles, and long before he became a fan.
"We were chasing women. We didn't give a damn about them," he said.
His opinion of the group has changed since then.
"They're tremendous, of course they are," he said.
One fan darted out of the crowd to give his opinion of the whole trip.
"It's a midlife crisis thing. Look at this crowd. It's like the last days of Elvis. . . . If this isn't a midlife crisis on wheels, what is?" he said.
The man declined to give his name or age as he quickly joined the others and boarded the bus to Washington.
by CNB