I wonder what is in that luggage

 

Ringo rocks Boston

 

Relaxing before the show

 Boston

August 18, 1966

Bad photo but still John!

 

Boston Press Conference

 

September 12, 1964 -Boston, Massachusetts

"So You're the One!"

 So You're the One! 

By Patti Murawski

The Harrison Alliance

Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan 1976-1977

 

It was one of those rare times in my life filled with positive energies and everything seemed to be going right.  Even the weather, mild for mid-November, seemed to be indicative that something was indeed cooking in the cosmos.

I found myself full of energy and unusually happy for no reason at all.  It all seemed strange; stranger still, I kept having visions of the Dark Horse LP cover during my weekly hatha yoga class, when I was trying to direct my consciousness to relaxing my muscles.

Upon returning from yoga class, I found a note that my good friend Zig had called; he wanted me to call back immediately as the matter was urgent.  Jann and I agreed that something very important must have come up if Zip left a message like that, but little did we know….

When Zig answered the phone, he told me to grab a pencil and paper to copy down a phone number; it was a Boston number.  I was puzzled; “What, why, what is going on?”

“George is in Boston!” I was thunderstruck.  “Blue saw him, he’s doing a press party there, right now.”  Jennie, looking at the expression of disbelief frozen into my face, tugged at my sleeve insistently whispering “what, what is it?!?!”  “Blue saw George in Boston” I managed to gasp; Jenn’s eyes opened wide in disbelief.

“Call the number, ask for Blue.  It’s a phone outside the party.”  Zip said, “at the Copley Plaza.”  Quickly I hung up and we tried repeatedly to call the number until we finally reached our friend, Blue.  She was so filled with excitement that she could hardly tell us what was going on.  What we found was that George was on a promo tour and tonight’s stop was Boston.  Blue was at a phone right outside the room where the party was being held.  George was due to come out soon, so she had to go.

Several short phone calls later, past midnight now, we learned that George was leaving for Washington in the morning.  Tempy figured that he would leave around the time she had seen him leave Chicago, between 9 and 11 am.  Jennie was talking to Blue and Tempy when she suddenly stopped and asked me, “Do you want to go to Boston tonight?”  I asked her if she was kidding; she knew how I felt, one of my best friends had just seen George, and George himself was only a 2 ½ to 3-hour drive away.  She was willing to call in sick to work.

We were on the road at 1:30am and believe me, the Massachusetts turnpike is really spooky at night  There’s not lights on the pike, and we saw maybe ten cars and trucks the whole 100 miles to Boston.  We played the radio loud and opened the windows to let the cold night air in so that we’d stay awake.  We kept assuring ourselves we would see him and prayed that we would.

We were bound for Tempy’s apartment, so we had to get off the expressway at Copley Square.  I looked up at all of the Plaza’s six floors and supposed George was up there asleep; it was maddening to know there was only a few feet of stone and a few hours between us.  By the time we found a parking space on Beacon Street and dragged ourselves upstairs to Tempy’s apartment, it was nearly 4 AM.  After warming up with cups of tea and getting the details about the party and some other trivial conversation.  We decided to try to sleep for a few hours.  We got up at 7:30 to get ready and were soon on our trek to the Plaza.  We stopped at a donut shop for breakfast but hurried, fearing George would leave for the airport sooner than expected.

Tempy, Blue, Jenn, and I invaded the lobby and took strategic seats so that we had both sets of elevators covered.  Like the Plaza in NYC, the Copley Plaza has three exits on different sides of the building; however, the Lord’s grace was on us because at two of the exits renovative work was in progress.  There was only one exit George could use.  We smiled and sat patiently while the bell captain sneered at us from behind his desk and the housemen came through to check how many of us had infiltrated.  There were us four plus an acquaintance of Tempy’s, Tina.

A Warners honcho walked in and went upstairs.  I couldn’t miss the promo sticks on his briefcase of just about every artist on W/E/A.  Then, two Warners people came downstairs to the front desk.  One of them was the one that had just gone upstairs.  Jenn and I decided to take a walk past them and outside scan the street for limos.  Nothing.

Shortly after, Josephine, a middle-aged woman on the tour who coordinated the schedules, came down to the desk and then went to speak to the bell captain.  A garment bag and some cloth luggage soon arrived at the bell captain’s desk.  Tempy recognized it as some of the entourage’s luggage.  Jennie and I volunteered to check for limos again.  We walked past Jo into the tiny foyer and out the door; sitting there, lined p from the corner t the hotel door where four Fleetwoods with matching drivers and a plainclothes cop.  We stayed outside for a few minutes, then went in to alert the others with a quiet “it’s time to go outside.”  We got up and walked out to the street.  Tempy took one look at the limos and said, “this is it” but, she added, we would have to wait until the luggage was packed into the cars.

It was mild and sunny out; everyone began to light readings and adjust their cameras.  We tried to think of some way to get George’s attention to stop him for a few minutes.  Since I was the only one without a camera, I was elected to “run interference” so to speak.  The night before I’d grabbed two copies of the picture that ran in Billboard of George and Mo Ostin, thinking that if he was in the mood, maybe he’d sign for someone, and then I could get in on it too; but, I didn’t want to be the one to ask, since he’d been noted for an aversion in that respect.  However, it seemed that for me to ask would be the only way to stall him somewhat, so I mustered up all my courage and agreed.  I told the others I didn’t want to ask, but Tempy and Blue assured me he was in a great state of mind and that he had signed for countless people last night at the party, so one more person asking wouldn’t hurt.

As it happened, I was also wearing a Friar Park Studios t-shirt exactly like the ones I sent him last fall.  Since it was warm, I could wear my coat open, creating the perfect opportunity for him to notice; everyone kept saying the shirt would get his attention and perhaps stall him, but I kept saying, “What if he doesn’t notice?”

I began to get a case of nerves as the parade of luggage started out the door.  Assorted suitcases, cardboard boxes, and garment bags were quickly packed into the cars; the last item in line was George’s acoustic guitar packed in a blue travel case.  It was carefully taken into the back seat of one of the lead cars.

This is the picture of the November 13, 1976 ad from Billboard Magazine that she had Mo and George sign

Warners people began to filter out and find places in the car.  Mo Ostin came out the door and remembering that George had gotten a kick out of someone who had Mo sign the Billboard ad too, the night before, I slowly started over to him.  Tempy whispered, “Get Mo’s.”  I called to him as he passed me.  “Would you mind signing?”  I asked.  He chuckled at the picture as he took the pen from me.  “Let’s see if I can do this.” He began as he signed one.  He started to hand the pen back to me, then realized there was another to he signed.  He signed both of them on the note bad on the desk in the picture.  “Thank You,” I said as he gave me back the pen; “Thank you,” he said enthusiastically as he took a step towards the car, smiling.  He had put me totally at ease.

Some of my nervousness had melted away with the encounter with Mo, but I still felt a bit apprehensive about George.  More Warners people walked out, along with James Montgomery, the Blues artist.  Jo came out next; she silently walked past us.  As she was getting into the car the plainclothes cop asked her if it was alright to take photos and I heard Jo tell the cop, “It should be about five minutes.”

My eyes were glued to the door; no sooner had she said that when some Warners people came though the foyer door; through the glass I could see right behind them a fellow with a mass of long dark wavy hair wearing a grey and brown plaid cap, his head down as he started through the foyer door.  I was momentarily stunned.

‘Here he comes” I said quietly, now feeling totally at ease.  He came through the foyer door.  “There he is” Blue said excitedly.  He hesitated at the outer door.  George stood behind the glass for a split second, panning the five of us and the car; as he started out, his head came peeking around the glass first.  Everyone greeted him with a “hi” or “hello George” and cheery smiles; he smiled and said “ello” as he hesitated.  He started walking slowly down and across the sidewalk to the car.  I slowly approached him; as I took my first step /I noticed he had a yellow travel bag in one hand and a lit cigarette and his bicentennial sunglasses in the other.  I thought, “Oh, he won’t want to sign, he’s got his hands full.”

My first question was, “George do you got a minute?”  He looked at me and said, “Sure!”  “Would you mind signing?” I said gesturing with the ads and the already uncapped pen.

He stopped and put the bag down; a Warners person scooped it up.  I don’t know where the cigarette and sunglasses disappeared to.  I held the ads from underneath with one hand, and stepped closer to him; his left hand went under the ad to support it too.  He reached over to take the pen from me, grabbed a few of my fingers, and managing to place a blue ink streak across one of my fingers.  As he took the pen from me he noticed Mo had signed the ad.  He pointed to Mo’s signature; “Oh, you had Mo sign!” he said gleefully with a smile on his face, then added with much enthusiasm, respect, and affection, “Mo, he’s so GREAT!”  “Yeah!” I said agreeing as I watched him signing the ad across the belly in the picture.  I was searching my mind for something else to say and was about to say something about WB when Jenn spoke up.  She had realized George wasn’t noticing the FPS t-shirt.  “George…” she began.  He looked up at her; she gestured toward me and said, “Patti’s the one who sent you the shirts.”  He leaned over to see my shirt, then looked down at the ad for a moment.  He began to pick his head up and turn towards me.  I thought, “Oh no.  I can’t look….” Knowing he was going to look me in the eye, but I just had to!  His head came up and he looked me straight in my eyes with his intense dark eyes and said sweetly, “Oh, so you’re the one who sent them!”  “Yeah,” I said quietly.  He glanced down as he finished signing the first ad and looked up at me again, “Did you get the note I sent?” (referring to the postcard he sent me last year).  “Yeah!  Thanks!” I said, but at the same time he also said “thanks.”  He sort of leaned over to look at the shirt again and exclaimed, “I don’t know why nobody else noticed it.”

I asked him to sign the second ad for Jennie; he said, “Sure.”  I could hear all the cameras snapping away.  I noticed his hair was longer than the ad picture which had been photographed just weeks before.  He needed a shave.  Jenn and I both noticed that his hair and eyes are a beautiful matching deep brown.  He was wearing a green jacket styled after an army field jacket; on the left shoulder was a patch for the World Wildlife Fund with a Panda picture on it.  Under the jacket, he was wearing a sweater similar to the one he wore in the Billboard ad (not the same one though, it was of different colors) and a t-shirt.  He was wearing washed-out light blue jeans and his belt bore the familiar Dark Horse belt buckle.

 

As he was signing for Jenn he gestured with the pen and glanced up at me asking, “Where did you get these?” meaning the pictures from the ad.  “From Billboard” I answered.  “Oh, you bought Billboard!”  he said rather cutely as if to really say, “You don’t usually buy Billboard, but I know why you bought Billboard because Mo and I are in it!”  Tina asked him to sign an “All Things Must Pass” music book as he said the thing about Billboard.  He had a huge smile on his face as he finished signing for us.

He took a step to the side and raised his hand as if to wave “Well, I’ll see ya,” he said as he started for the car.  Everyone said goodbye and thanks; as he walked away from me, I said, “Enjoy your trip, George!” He glanced over his shoulder and called “Thanks!”

He walked to the car; it was funny how he climbed in.  He bent forward at the waist, his head going into the car fist; his legs and bum followed as he literally climbed into the car and sat down in the middle of the back seat.

Tempy, Blue, and Tina started to walk toward the square up the block.  “Well, what do you want to do now?”  I noticed the cars weren’t moving because the light was red and the cars were parked from the corner to the door.  I took a few steps up the walk where I could see George in the car, and strained to look through the glare on the window.  “Let’s wave,” I said, waving, gesturing to the others that the car wasn’t moving.  George leaned over and waved back.  The car moved a bit, then stopped.  George was watching, Jenn and I watched him; he began to talk to the person on his right.  You could tell he was talking about us as he would glance back and forth from the person to the window; he was smiling at us, then pointed to us, and turned to talk.  Jim Montgomery moved up in his seat and looked out the window; George leaned over further so that he could see us too.  I leaned over towards Jenn and said, “They’re talking about us…”  Then I started realizing why and laughed, “They’re talking about the shirt!”  I Was wearing a double-breasted coat and the flap on the front had closed over the Friar Park Studios shirt.  Deadpan, I reach over and pull the right side of my coat all the way open.  George began to laugh and pointed excitedly to me, shaking his finger to emphasize the fact that Jim should look now to see the FPS shirt.  Jim appeared in the window again to see what George was so excited about.  Jenn and I were standing n the sidewalk smiling; he was so cute, like a little kid!  He was getting a kick out of us getting a kick out of his reaction.  It felt good to make him laugh.

The car made move to pull away; George waved goodbye.  We waved back.  The car stopped for a second; the light turned green and as the car pulled away, he was smiling and waving goodbye to us once again; we waved goodbye for the last time.  The car pulled into traffic and down to the red light in the next block; the last thing I remembered as the light turned green was seeing his brown and grey cap bobbing the back window as he settled into the seat for the drive to the airport.

 

 

John apparently not in Beantown

 September 17, 1976 -  Boston, MA 

Something in late 1976 at the Dakota 

Why my confusion on this photo:   I found this photo in a 1976 issue of Beatles Unlimited.  Included with two John photos (one posted here) was a story about fans meeting John in 1976 in Boston.  I started typing up the story and then thought, "this sounds really, really familiar.  I wonder if I already have it on the site."  Sure enough -- I did.   The story originally appeared in With a Little Help From My Friends without any photos included.    So I just jumped to the assumption that this photo was from Boston.  Why else would it be in the middle of a story about John in Boston, right?  Well -- I should have looked closer for sure because you all are right --- John is outside of the Dakota.   Ooops!  

Here is the story from Boston if you are interested. 

http://www.meetthebeatlesforreal.com/2014/05/i-am-boston-walrus.html

George in Boston

 

November 16, 1976 - Boston

Last year I posted a fan story about Marilyn Blake meeting George Harrison   (click on the words George Harison to go to that story).   Here are the photographs of George that Marilyn took 45 years ago today.  

Hello Goodbye to Boston

 August 18, 1966 

Anyone have this photo larger?

 

Meeting George and giving a kiss!

November 16, 1976 - Copley Hotel in Boston

 

Reader meet George and gets to kiss him!

From Goldmine Magazine

Written by Marylin Blake

 George Harrison was the first Beatle I had ever seen in person, and it was a wonderful encounter, George was in town to promote his new album, 33 & 1/3, and my friend and I tried, unsuccessfully, to crash the press conference.     Undaunted by our failure, we decided to wait it out in the lobby, with about 20 others, in hopes of at least catching a glimpse of George as he came out.  We were finally rewarded for our many hours of waiting as the press conference ended and there he was!  He looked absolutely magnificent, wearing a white with a red carnation stuck in his dark blue shirt.

 Everyone started moving over to him, but all I could do was stand and stare – it was such a revelation to see that George Harrison, a Beatle, was indeed a real person!  I finally got my body in gear and made my way over to him.  He was taking his time, laughing a lot as he chatted and signed autographs for everyone.  Suddenly his security people started moving in on us and motioned for George to leave with them.  I was panicking.  To get this close and not have a chance to talk to him before he got whisked away!   But then George wake away his security guys!  He told them that it was a small group and that he was going to stay until he signed something for all of us.

I was so impressed that at that late hour, after a full day and a long press conference, George anted to stay and meet his fans who had so patiently waited for him.   Finally, I drew up enough courage to speak to him – nothing earthshaking, it was all I could do to remain standing and make my lips form coherent words.  I remember telling him how much pleasure his Beatles music had given me and how moved I was by the depth of his solo work.  I thanked him for being there.  I flipped over the cardboard back of my little spiral notebook for him to sign, which he did.

Then – I don’t know what came over me – I shyly asked him if he would mind if I kissed him on the cheek.   I saw his mouth turn up into the most amazing grin as he looked down at me, looked right into me for what seemed an eternity and nodded his head as he said that it would be OK!  I held onto his outstretched arm for balance as I stood on my tiptoes and gently placed my lips on his cheek.   It was only a moment, but that moment has now grown into 25 years.  That was how I not only got to kiss a Beatle, but more important, that was how I was able to let a wonderfully sweet man named George know how much he meant to me.

Keeping the Beatles occupied

 

If  I remember this story correctly, sometimes was happening during The Beatles layover in Boston at the start of the 1966 tour.   They were supposed to re-fuel in Boston and then go to Chicago from there.   For some reason, there was a delay and so the powers that be decided to give The Beatles a tour of the airport.  Oh wow.   They sure look thrilled about that.    Of course, Paul is over there making friends with the the employees.  

American Arrival '66

Beatles in Boston

Beantown fans go wild for the Fab 4

September 12,1964

Arriving in the U.S.A.

Trailing behind in Boston

She Loves you (yeah yeah yeah) -- a book review

After reading the entire Tune In Expanded Edition by Mark Lewisohn, I needed to read something lighter and I found the perfect book. 

I typically do not read fiction, but I made an exception for this book because it sounded like a book I would really like.

She Loves You (Yeah Yeah Yeah) by Ann Hood is about a girl named Trudy who was in the 8th grade in 1966.  She loves the Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, and she is the president of a Beatles Fan Club at her school. 

The story tells of the friendship issues Trudy has with her best friend, the problems she has with her parents, and her dreams of meeting Paul McCartney.    Trudy gets tickets to see the Beatles in Boston during the 1966 tour, and it is quite an adventure for her to get to the show! 

The ending of the book was cheesy, but it really was the best way to end the book and I understand why the author decided to end the way she did. 

I liked this book because it was historically accurate for the most part.  Ann Hood did her research in that the reaction to Revolver was spot on, as well as the way the fans behaved.   But it wasn't just the setting of 1966 that I felt was correct. The feelings of a middle school-age girl were also spot on.  It doesn't matter if it was 1966 or 2018; pre-teen girls are going to have friend issues, boy issues, and parent issues. 

When I look on Amazon, I see that this book was recommended for grades 5-6, which sort of surprised me.  As a reading teacher, I would recommend this book for ages 13 and up.  I would guess the book is written at a 6th-grade level.   If you know a young person who likes the Beatles, especially a female -- this would be the perfect book.  However -- I don't like to label books into one category.   Books are meant to be read by everyone.   So, if you have a younger child who loves the Beatles, this would make a fun bedtime read.  Also -- this is a great book for first-generation fans to read as well.   It takes you back to 1966 and a time when you had to wear dresses to school and listened to your transistor radio under the covers at night. 

She Loves You (Yeah Yeah Yeah) is a really fun book.   I just wish it didn't end -- because I found myself wondering what was going to happen next when the book was over.

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon where you can purchase this book..   I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/3UZqLHR

Welcome to America again

Fans recall the wild night in Boston with the Fab 4

When I saw the Racetrack location on The Beatles schedule in 16 magazine, I asked a friend, who not only had his driving license but had his own car.  My uncle had a beach resort near the Racetrack.
We asked his parents if we could drive from Connecticut to Massachusetts for a weekend at this resort and see The Beatles.  His mother said okay!
The next step was to ask my relatives to try to get tickets.  After bugging him for a week, my uncle called them.  A few days later I heard that they had gotten tickets!  Soon, two tickets to see The Beatles arrived in the mail.  I couldn’t believe my luck!  Two ticket, second row yet!
When we got to the concert and sat in our second row seats, I looked around in totally anticipation … girls, girls and more girls.  It must have been 9 to 1.
The set up was odd, I thought.  We were sitting in bleacher-type seats with a fence in front of us, then the racetrack, and on the other side, maybe 50-75 feet away, was a wooden makeshift stage.  We were really close.
DJs came and introduced groups such as The Remains and The Ronettes.  While they were priming the crowd for The Beatles, I’ll never forget looking to the left of the stage and seeing light reflecting off something shiny and moving.  It was one of those real moments in life.  I noticed some figures, then John, then George, Paul and Ringo.  And even though the noise grew to some incredible level, as they came into my full focus, bouncing up the stairs and onto the stage, I heard nothing—I froze.  There they were.  Holy shit, it’s The Beatles, holy shit!
When I came back to some sort of consciousness, the crowd was wild and I picked up my 8mm movie camera and tried to film as the crowd shoved and screamed.
How cool they looked in to suits.  I tried to memorize what I was feeling forever!  And, I did.  I think I even wrote down the song list.  Then, in such a short time, it was over.  A limo pulled up to the stage, they got in quickly, and the car pulled out on the track and drove right by us.  And, for a fleeting second or two, there was John’s face, looking out the window and waving.  Again, holy shit!  Girls were crying; it was such a weird feeling as they drove away.
I had the film developed, but never having used the camera before; I didn’t know there was a filter over the lens.  I still have these films; they’re not very good, but I can see something in them no one else can!
--Mike 

I was there with four friends and had front row tickets. The girls were screaming so loud and it  was hard to hear the music. A few girls hyperventilated and passed out behind us. A couple of people jumped the fence between the track and the seats and got to the stage but not quite to them. At 14 years old it was quite something. I had no idea why it was so crazy but I loved the Beatles and knew all their songs and words back then.  – Ken

I was there too. It was hard to hear them, but I think the sound system was not appropriate, inasmuch as I don’t believe a concert was ever played there. Plus, all the screaming did not help at all. I was 15 and could not believe I was even in the same arena as the Beatles. I lived 2 streets up from the race track. I didn’t have a ticket but knew how and where to jump the fence. So, I can say, I saw them when. – Mary Jane

 I remember 6 things distinctly:
1. It was very hot and very humid, made worse by the crowd surging all around us, mostly surging towards different limos on the infield that folks thought the Beatles were in.
2. I remember Barry and the Remains, Bobby Hebb, and Cyrcle did “Red Rubber Ball” very well.
3. I remember decoy limos, not 4 limos, until the Beatles all jumped out if the same car. 4. The sound was very poor due to clipping of overdriven amps, small speakers, and lack of on-stage monitors. Technology simply had not caught up to the new paradigm of large venues and increased attendance. 5. Girls were hyperventilating and passing out, and the crowds were passing the girls to the rails where the cops would lay them down on the track, giving them some fresh air. Some enterprising young ladies feigned illness, hit the track, and headed for the stage.6. The most poignant moment: during the Beatles performance, a fan made it to the stage and was trying to just touch one of the four, I believe it was Paul. I was on the rail at that time because one of our girls was laying on the track from the heat, so I was pretty close to the stage. I remember how petrified they all looked. Great memory, my first concert   - Dana

 The way I remember it, all the opening acts came out of limos from the front. When it was time for the Beatles to play, four limos pulled up in front of the stage and the crowd went crazy and some fans touched the limos. The Beatles were not really in the limos. The cars were decoys. While everyone was focused on the cars and the melee, the Beatles were all of a sudden on the stage. I always suspected the helicopter that had landed on the field behind the stage. The girls were crazy loud but I heard all the songs. Great show!  - Ted

 I was in the lower section and right behind me were the grandstands," he said. "They were pretty good seats because the grandstands were a bit further away. So I felt fortunate to be that close, but we were probably still a couple hundred feet.  I think they played for like 25 minutes and that's seems to be in line with other people's remembrance of the show," he said. "And I was like, 'That's it?' So I was a little disappointed because I would've liked to have seen them for an hour. But the bigger disappointment is just not being able to hear them. I would've loved to have heard at least half of it and not away from where they were playing."    --Ron

In August 1966, I was living in Springfield, MA.  My birthday  wasn’t until November, but I remember my mother buying me a ticket to see the Beatles in Boston.  She came home with a special she had seen advertised which included round-trip tickets to Boston on Peter Pan bus lines and a ticket to the Beatles show all for $12.75!  I had been a Beatle fan from the first time of exposure, and this was the best thing that could have happened to me.   All of my friends who were going to meet at the bus station.   To our surprise, there were four buses in the group.  Some were decorated with “Beatles or bust” banners on the sides.  Inside, the bus was pure energy.  Everyone was signing songs and passing Beatles magazines.  Finally, we got to Suffolk Downs in Boston at 7:30pm.  People were all over the place selling souvenirs, buttons, banners, newspapers, Beatles cookies and Lennonaid.  After buying one of everything and getting inside, I bought my program and found my seat.  It was too far back, so I decided to get closer.  Impossible!  The show started at 8pm, but it was past that now and every time a limo pulled into the race track near where the stage was, the screams became unbearable.   The first act was Bobby Hebb singing “Sunny.”  Next were the Cyrkle, then the Ronettes, one of my favorites at the time.  When they finished, the tension grew.  And when The Beatles were announced, the place went crazy.   I couldn’t see too well, but I was standing right next to one of the P.A. speakers and even could hear them talking to themselves onstage.   I remember Paul telling George that a girl in the audience looked like him.  They were making all kinds of wisecracks but unfortunately, I can’t remember them.  Their portion of the show as over all too quickly. They did all the songs that are on the Tokyo video.  George Harrison became my favorite, as I got the closest to the group while he was singing “If I needed someone.”  I remember saying to everyone that he was “so cool.”   We all then headed back to our buses – girls crying and guys talking about forming groups. -- Harold