In my recent story about the plane crash of 1970 I noted that most people remember exactly where they were when landmark occasions occured. As for this date in 1977, it's as clear as glass.

I worked second shift at the Hobart Brothers factory in Troy, Ohio that made Hobart welders and ground power systems. I was a machinist and ran a turret lathe on the 4 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. shift at the main plant.

It was also the week of the Miami County Fair in Troy, and I had volunteered my time working in a concession stand for a CB club that I belonged to at the time.

I had rode my motorcycle to the fairgrounds to work my shift, prior to going to my regular job, and was told that Elvis had died.

As a son of the Mid-South Elvis was a big part of my childhood, although I remembered him most from his later work. But to hear that he was gone was huge, to a 20 year old (as I was at the time) it was like being told that your youth is now over and it's time to start growing old.

I've always had a great appreciation for the talents of Elvis, and hate that he became a ghost of his former self in his latter years. But, I'll always remember the young Elvis--surfing, skydiving, driving race cars and chasing pretty girls. My kind of role model.