Danny “Coon dog” Robertson was one of the largest farmers in Saline County. He owned more than 1,000 acres of prime farm land near Malta Bend and the Marshall area. One year he won the conservation “Farmer of the Year” award. He also owned Marshall Inn Motel and Plowboy Club Restaurant in Marshall. He never had a pilot’s license, nor had he flown, but he went down to Mexico and bought a used Super Cub airplane. He flew it home using a road map, landing on the highways and filling up with gas at gas stations along the way. He eventually became an expert licensed pilot and owned several airplanes.
One day, “Coon dog” called me up and said he had an opportunity for a free trip to Atlantic City as a VIP to the grand opening of the Playboy Club Casino, later owned by Bally. He asked if I wanted to go with him together with Ed Forgey, a political friend of ours. We left early one morning by charter jet to Atlantic City. Since it was a one day trip and I was to be back early that night, I decided to not tell my wife, Laura, about the trip until I returned.
The casino employees were not well trained, could not keep track of our bets, so we left the casino, walked the boardwalk, took a tour of Atlantic City, went back to the casino, and caught our charter bus back to the airport. We waited and waited. The plane had mechanical problems and didn’t show up until 3 a.m. I kept putting off calling home, not wanting to wake Laura.
When I finally got back to Kansas City and headed down I-70 the sun was in my eyes. I still thought with a little luck, Laura would still be asleep. Wrong. When I walked in, she said, “Where have you been all night?” I replied, “You’ll never believe this.” I proceeded to tell what had happened and where I had been. All she believed after I got through telling the story were those first four words.
Jack can be reached at PO Box 40, Oak Grove, MO 64075 or jackremembers@aol.com
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