You're lucky to have met him. I never have, but bought a bunch of his hitchhiker guitar CDs :-)

>I got to casually meet Nokie last year, while he was playing with his buddy Thom Bresh (the son of Merle Travis). Nokie getting on up there in years, having a little probelm walking. But, what a fun time to see him play and get a standing ovation. I think Nokie was a pretty good friend of Chet.
>
>>He's playing Chet Atkins style now.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ10kgRqlBU
>>
>>>Yes, I know about him through his playing with “The Ventures”.
>>>
>>>I almost got to visit Canada in April of 1965. I was participating in the Air Force Talent Contest, which I had just won at the Division level at McChord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washington. The winners were flying in a C47 to Hamilton AFB, for the finals. We took off for Hamilton, when our pilot decided to fly to Vancouver, BC. He wanted to get extra time and miles for his monthly requirement for flight pay.
>>>
>>>So we turned around and headed North. We were all in uniform, and landed in Vancouver, at a civilian airport. The customs officials boarded our plane with Mounties. They told us, “Do not leave this plane! To do so will be considered an act of War, as you do not have orders to be in Canada”!
>>>
>>>That got our attention. Next, the customs officials politely asked, “Does anyone have a pack of cigarettes? Please hold them up so we can see them”! About half the guys smoked and complied with the officials. Each pack was examined. If the stamp on the top of the package was not broken, you had to pay a $15 fine! So each guy with a cigarette pack had to pay $15, as none of the stamps were broken.
>>>
>>>There I was, in a C 47, about to “invade Canada”, but never got to touch ground. We were happy to leave, and the plane had a serious problem we found out, as it could not fly over the California Coastal Mountains. The pilot flew to Hamilton anyway (had to get his flight pay!) We had to fly just East of the ocean, and the pilot found a spot near Hamilton he could cut through the mountain range to land.
>>>
>>>When we were over Eureka, California, we saw hiway 101 was destroyed by the storm of December 1964. There was a gouge about 50 feet deep and 1 ½ miles long where the hiway was located. It took a long time to reopen that hiway.
>>>
>>>Some of the guys were wearing flight jackets, and when we landed, the Air Police wanted to arrest them because of that. Hamilton had strange rules! I got to spend two weeks at home in San Francisco, and only had to go to Hamilton for the contest and to fly back to McChord. I had a total of three weeks off because of the talent contest, before I had to return to the Radar Site at Condon, Oregon, where “there is a girl behind every tree”! The problem was, there were no trees”! :)
>>>
>>>Tom
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>And you were in the air force - Me too. Are you a fan of Nokie Edwards?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>>73 WA6FCO, known as California's Finest Operator, but when I was in Florida, they called me, Florida’s Crummiest Operator. :)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>When I was in the Air Force in Florida, I worked at the MARS station. Kilo 4 Florida's Death Hole, Orlando, Florida, K4FDH. The guys in Orlando did not like that but I did! :)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>By the way my dad was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and his mother and grandfather were born in Kansas. That goes back to about 1870. I was stationed at Richards Gebaur Air Force Base, Grandview, Missouri, or Missourah, if you are from that area. Until I got there I thought that Kansas City, Kansas was larger than Kansas City, Missouri. :)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I have to remember to tell you a story about Salina, Kansas. It happened in 1967 but still makes me laugh.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Tom
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I was 'begatted' in KC Kansas, but my family moved to Massachusetts before I was born. I didn't head back out this way until 1994.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I got into radio and electronics in the mid '70s, but I didn't get licensed until 2002 (long strange story). Now I'm a VE and I teach amateur radio classes and Radio merit badge classes (for scouts) and generally stay busy doing something radio related when I'm not trying to make a living.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>My 13yr old son (a scout) is KD0QOS.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>My wife absolutely despises our radio activities (especially the 2 towers outside) so that makes it all worth it :)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>If you are still active on the air, maybe we could schedule a contact and see what happens...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>My dad was W6ZCZ. Zebra Charlie Zebra.
>>>>>
>>>>>I was an Eagle Scout and enjoyed the Scouting Program. I even got to meet and talk to Kirk Douglas, thanks to the Scouts.
>>>>>
>>>>>The only rig I have now is my 2 meter one. My HF rig is long gone. I got my licence April 1958, when I was 15. With the WA Prefix, some guys think that I am a "new comer". :)
>>>>>
>>>>>After the Air Force (1967) I went to work in the electronics industry, working on the LEM/APOLLO and fighter aircraft radar, as an electronics technician. Through my interest in electronics I went to engineering college, and next went to college to become a history teacher. I worked full time and went to school full time. That is a good way to go crazy. We did not have children at that time.
>>>>>
>>>>>I ended up in electronics, but still got degrees in history and political science as well as engineering. The teaching profession in 1975 did not look stable, and looks much worse today, so I stayed in electronics. In 1990 I went into Programming, as my son and daughter were in grammar school, and I wanted to pay the bills after manufacturing left Silicon Valley. As soon as I got my first programming job I asked a friend, what career should I plan for next?
>>>>>
>>>>>The country has changed a lot since 1980. The way this nation looks I am suggesting we all go into agriculture. If you have a PHD you will be qualified to pick crops. Anyone with less education does not work, and must attend college. We want to make the colleges rich, the moneylenders rich, and have useful work for our graduates. If you cannot be a moneylender, or crop picker, then you must become a politician. :)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Tom

OZ10kgRqlBU