Here we have a picof The PHANTOM BAND taken by SPIKE, AKA JUICE, AKA SWISH . From L-R we have BIG DADDY, BIG BOI, JOE "BUZZY HOLLY", and HANKIE PANKY. This was taken early in the evening. Some of the early arrivals watching the PHANTOM BAND warm up with their first set.From L-R are DRUMSTIR, R. B., and BILLY BOB kidding around with KAREN at the bar. Here is KAREN in fact collecting money for a Miller Lite. Hmmmm, that is the kind of beer that R. B. drinks!To the right is one of our fave groupies, LUCY ESOLA, taking in the sounds. Lucy graduated from high school with DOUGIE, and she is related to the TONY ESOLAS that most of the Geezers know from working at Goodyear.No, these are NOT members of the Portage Lakes Mafia, but close to it. They are all musicians who were there for the jam and B-Day celebrations. From L-R are CHUCK LYONS (Keyboardist), JACK BISHOP (Guitarist), and DONNIE GUINTER (Saxophonist). Chuck, and Jack were celebrating B-Days in September. In the red OSU jersey is BIG DADDY smoozing with the crowd during a break in the action. In the background are GUINTER to the left, and in the Blue jersey from Oklahoma is lead guitarist HANK INMAN.Here is a panoramic shot taken by SWISH of the band with GUINTER on sax, and JACK hiding behind him. Here is another shot of the same scene except you can see both of HANK'S gandkids in the picture. Earlier, in the first set they came up and played the Tambourene, and Cowbell. "More Cowbell, DOUGIE said!Here are R. B., and BILLY BOB at the bar with an unidentified young lady. A shot of the PHANTOM BAND with JACK and DONNIE in high gear! Another shot of the band with Donnie belting out a tune, and HANK, and JACK doin' some pickin'.Done with the lyrics DONNIE is read to blow his VUVUZELLA...Oops...wrong horn!IT'S WHAT? Duh, a Birthday cake with MY name on it? Where are all of the other names? What is going on here? Doh!And without further ado.........here is THE CAKE! One word.....AMAZING! Thanks to all! And last, but not least here is a colorful HAPPY BIRTHDAY helium filled balloon brought to the party, and given to ME by JED, and LINDA DERHAMMER. Thanks a lot guys. Sorry there was no Little Black Egg. I guess the band laid an EGG!
Phantom Band 2nd Annual           Dusty's Landing Jam
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This page was last updated: October 4, 2010
On September 16, 2009 a few of The Geezers, Joe Buz, Dougie, Big Daddy, and Hanky Panky jammed at Dusty's Landing out on Portage Lakes, In Akron, OH. The Geezers have made Dusty's a regular stop on one Wednesday a month, and we kept telling Karen, the bartender, that some of us used to play music in bands. She told us to come out and jam sometime, and we said that we would some day. Well after about a year or so we finally did it on that fateful Wednesday evening in September of 2009.
Surprisingly Karen kept asking us back every other month or so to play as Karen's Band. We then changed the name to the Phantom Band for sentimental reasons, as there used to be a Phantom Band many years ago with our dear departed friend, Dan Powell.
Little did I know that Karen found out about my birthday in September, and most of the Geezers already knew. Big Daddy, the band's drummer, Entertainment Director R. B.along with Karen planned (connived) a Surprise Party for me on September 15, five days after my actual birthday (9/10). The cover was a reunion jam commemorating the first time that we played there, and to celebrate the other birthdays in September of which there were many including mine. Seven Geezers or friends celebrate B-Days in September.
Well, I hate to say it, but their plan worked to perfection! I had absolutely no idea what was going on up to the point where Karen brought up the cake with ONLY MY NAME on it. 
One of the Geezers, Swish, was nice ice enough to take pictures for the evening. Below are the pictures that he took in a Photo Gallery.
We did announce the names of all the other birthday people in September, and we were fortunate enough to have Jack Bishop and Donnie Guinter sit in for a few numbers.
Go to the BLOG to see the article about what happened and who was there.