CHARLIE AND JOE GO TO MEXICO
The ironic twist of fate changed the course of Charlie Newbold's life. He would spend part of that year at the St. Alban's Naval Hospital before being transferred to the Bronx VA Hospital in December.
“I was in the VA a long time. I just didn't know where I was gonna go or what I could do,” recalled Newbold. “I was there in '61, all of '62, '63, and most of '64.”
When asked about when he thought about checking out Quadalajara, Newbold replied, “My friend Joe Cicero is the one who really pushed us to go.” Charlie Newbold was in the same situation as many. “I grew up in the Bronx. My mother lived in a three-story walk-up.” Not exactly wheelchair friendly accommodations. “I'd never have gotten out on my own. We had guys living at the hospital for thirteen, fourteen, and even seventeen years. After a while, you just figured that was the way it was going to be.”
On November 12, 1964, Charlie Newbold and hospital buddy Joe Cicero made their move to Quadalajara. “Because of some labor dispute or something, the plane landed at the Zapopan airfield and we came into the city on Avenida Vallarta. George Ray had sent a worker named Poncho to bring Cicero and me back to his place. One thing that impressed me was the big, wide boulevard with a median and the palm trees and bushes all around. I was very impressed with that. And then I got the culture shock. We're on this big avenue just cruising with no cars around, and then all of a sudden there's a guy on a burro.
“Anyway, when I got to George Ray's Place, it was evening. One of the first people I met was Larry Blinn,” continued Newbold. “Since it was after dinner, Blinn and some of the others guys sent one of the aides out for roast chicken. They had a platter full of chicken and all I could say was, 'This place is heaven, look at the kind of food they serve you."
(Both Charlie and Joe are alive and well today. They beat the odds, so to speak. What would have happened had they stayed in the Bronx VA Hospital and not rolled the dice and journeyed to Quadalajara in 1964??? )
From "QUADALAJARA - The Utopia That Once Was" (page 160)
http://www.quadmexico.com/
“I was in the VA a long time. I just didn't know where I was gonna go or what I could do,” recalled Newbold. “I was there in '61, all of '62, '63, and most of '64.”
When asked about when he thought about checking out Quadalajara, Newbold replied, “My friend Joe Cicero is the one who really pushed us to go.” Charlie Newbold was in the same situation as many. “I grew up in the Bronx. My mother lived in a three-story walk-up.” Not exactly wheelchair friendly accommodations. “I'd never have gotten out on my own. We had guys living at the hospital for thirteen, fourteen, and even seventeen years. After a while, you just figured that was the way it was going to be.”
On November 12, 1964, Charlie Newbold and hospital buddy Joe Cicero made their move to Quadalajara. “Because of some labor dispute or something, the plane landed at the Zapopan airfield and we came into the city on Avenida Vallarta. George Ray had sent a worker named Poncho to bring Cicero and me back to his place. One thing that impressed me was the big, wide boulevard with a median and the palm trees and bushes all around. I was very impressed with that. And then I got the culture shock. We're on this big avenue just cruising with no cars around, and then all of a sudden there's a guy on a burro.
“Anyway, when I got to George Ray's Place, it was evening. One of the first people I met was Larry Blinn,” continued Newbold. “Since it was after dinner, Blinn and some of the others guys sent one of the aides out for roast chicken. They had a platter full of chicken and all I could say was, 'This place is heaven, look at the kind of food they serve you."
(Both Charlie and Joe are alive and well today. They beat the odds, so to speak. What would have happened had they stayed in the Bronx VA Hospital and not rolled the dice and journeyed to Quadalajara in 1964??? )
From "QUADALAJARA - The Utopia That Once Was" (page 160)
http://www.quadmexico.com/
Labels: along with a 'few' friends, celebrates his birthday in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco - February 1968 Joe Cicero (with sombrero and guitar)
posted by Jack at 9:28 PM
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