Hughie Thomasson passed away in Florida Sunday night (Sept. 9) of an apparent heart attack. After going out to dinner with his wife Mary, Hughie went home, got comfortable in his favorite chair, watched football and passed away during a nap. Hughie was 55 years old. Known for his kindness, prefectly played guitar, wonderful vocal ability, and perfessional song writing, Hughie is missed by fans, friends, and family. He originally played guitar/vocals with the Outlaws. After the Outlaws disbanded, he joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in the mid 90s. We were happy for Hughie when he decided to live out his dream of reforming the Outlaws (2005). Although, we did not know Hughie on a personal level, we will miss him like a brother. He was a rearity in the music business. "Rock the Heavens" ** PICTURES TAKE ABOUT 30 seconds TO LOAD (depending on your connection) ** ** If pop-ups are blocked, "Ctrl Click" on a small photo to view larger photo **

Day before concert, October 28, 2004...  Believe it or not, our day started with water gushing out of a bathroom wall.  After checking the house inside and out, we figured out that our hot water heater had busted. This after having spent several days and nights at the hospital that week. (Ellis' dad was in the hospital.) We turned off the water heater value, soaked up as much of the water as possible, pulled up the carpet, and put a fan in the room.  We had reservations at the same hotel as Lynyrd Skynyrd.  They were supposed to arrive starting in the late afternoon. Our plan was to arrive about that same time or earlier.  So much for our plan.  I was NOT going to let these problems stop us from seeing the concert. We're finally on the road at around 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.  and I'm extremely excited about the trip.  We're about 20 miles down the highway and I see police lights behind me.  Yes, I was pulled over for speeding.  I was going 78 in a 60-mph zone.  He let me go with no speeding or warning ticket.  He said, "If I had been going 80, he would have given me a ticket."  LOL We arrived at the hotel around 1:15 a.m.  We checked out the bar.  To our surprise, Hughie Thomasson, Carol Chase, and several crewmembers we're partying in the bar.  We really didn't know what to expect but what the hell.  We just jumped right in the middle of the group.  Everyone treated us just like we belonged.  I was wearing a St.  Augustine Florida shirt.  Hughie told me, "I wrote Green Grass and High Tides (Outlaws) in St.  Augustine." Hughie looked so young in person.  He is truly sweet.  Check out the picture of Hughie and my husband (Ellis) kissing me on the cheek.  After the bar closed, we were all walking to our rooms and Dale Rossington passed by.  She pointed at me and said, "You guys are party animals." My heart almost came out of my chest. 

Day of concert - before concert, October 29, 2004...  We didn't get much sleep and we're up at the crack of dawn.  We ate breakfast at Denny's where the waitress (Linda) said, "Several members of the band had already been in for breakfast." We wanted to check out The Tivoli where The After Party with Wes Jeans would be taking place.  We also wanted to check out the venue. The crew was setting up at Heritage Hall so we went back to the Hotel where we talked to the bus drivers.  Very nice, down to earth, people.  It was time (3:00 p.m.) to go back to the venue to pick up our tickets.  While in line, we met Steve and Tammie Mercer.  We ran into Tammie earlier at the bus.  We all wanted to go have a drink at the hotel.  We passed by Ricky Medlock's room and his door was open.  He was so nice and took time to take a picture with us.  Since the bar was closed, we decided to have that drink at Two Frog's Grill.  After drinks and good company, Ellis and I wanted to hang out at the hotel for a little longer before heading to the concert. That's where we ran into Billy Powell.  Billy was looking for the ice machine but was still nice enough to take a picture.  It's finally time for the concert. 

Day of concert - concert time...  Everyone was so nice.  And, I mean everyone! This entire trip has been like a wonderful dream.  We hung out with Steve and Tammie Mercer, Chad and Deana Hughes, Kristal (the bartender), and Steve Carter.  We met all of these people while on our trip.  We even ran into Jim Peterik who ended up being a big time singer, songwriter, and producer.  A small town crowd at a small venue with a down to earth band equals a spectacular time.  A once in a lifetime concert.  Johnny VanZant and Hughie Thomasson noticed us in the crowd, pointed, and smiled at us during the concert.  We found several picks (Gary, Hughie, Ean, and Billy).  Not knowing that many good things are still to come, I'm thinking that death must be at my door because no one person should have this much happiness in his or her life. 

Day of concert - after concert...  We ran into Ricky Medlock's "brother" outside the venue.  Then the gang got together at the After Party. After hanging out for a while, we all went back to the hotel to party. We saw Johnny VanZant and Rickey Medlock hanging outside the buses.  Of course, we parked as quickly as possible.  We had pictures taken with Johnny, Rickey, Ean, Dale, Gary, and Hughie.  After the buses left, we headed to Kitty's Bar where we ran into Deep Purple's ex-drummer.  We also hooked up with this cool guy Alex and Kitty (the owner).  After the bar closed, we all went to good ole Denny's for breakfast.  Our waitress, Pauline, put up with us and was very nice.  It's time to end the evening when I realize that I'm missing two digital camera cards with all the individual band pictures.  We had no idea where to start looking.  We had been reviewing the pictures at The Tivoli but we had the camera and memory disks with us everywhere we went.  So, I called Kitty's bar, looked in the vehicle, and checked on the ground.  Ellis found one in his pocket but one was still missing.  We went back to The Tivoli at 4:00 a.m.  Doors were locked.  I'm absolutely sick at this point.  All the pictures I took for people were on that disk.  Also, the pictures of Hughie, Rickey, and Billy were on that disk.  There's nothing else we can do, so it's off to bed till morning. We set the alarm for 7:30 a.m.  to call The Tivoli. 

Day after concert, October 30, 2004...  7:30 a.m.  and NO sleep.  We call The Tivoli, no answer.  We called every hour and NO ANSWER.  We knew the OU vs.  OSU game was being broadcast at 11:00 a.m.  at The Tivoli.  So we headed that way.  We told the owner (Lance Windel) sabout the disk but no one had reported it found.  The bartender, Micele Garrison said, "The place was cleaned up last night and everything was in the trash dumpsters." She said, "It was a really big mess." We went out to check out the trash dumpsters. We found 3 or 4 dumpsters over filled with trash.  There was no way to check that out.  We couldn't even fit that much trash in the back of my truck and take it home to check out later.  We were doomed.  So we headed for Heritage Hall.  The doors were open but no one was around so we went in to take a look.  My husband said he saw someone pick up a black pick under my chair the night of the concert.  All I could think was it may have been my camera disk.  The venue manager showed up and we explained our problem.  He said, he would have the clean up crew keep an eye out.  At this point, I was starting to lose hope.  We figured the only possible way to get our pictures was to offer a reward.  So we offered the guy $100.00 bucks and went back to The Tivoli.  We talked to the owner again, but this time, we offered up the reward.  Micele said, "Her boyfriend had swept the floor and put the floor trash in with the girl's bathroom trash." In fact, she remembered, "That bag of trash was in a beer box which was on top of the trash pile in the Dumpster." She knew exactly what that box looked like and where it was located.  We put on some plastic gloves and headed for the dumpsters. We went through that bag of trash and NO camera disk.  So she called her boyfriend.  Come to find out, her boyfriend had picked up the disk and took it home.  Micele arranged for her boyfriend to bring in the disk.  She received a nice $100 dollar bill and we received our disk of pictures.  We are sooooooo happy.  We headed home with no more problems.  We replaced the old water heater and the new one is working great.  We look forward to our next Lynyrd Skynyrd adventure.  Thanks to all involved for a great weekend.  And a special thank you goes out to Kay and everyone at the hotel for being so good to us.