Here ... at Last ... Comes Santa Claus
#20 / Flood Time Capsule: 2001
Well, we’ve told this one before, but, hey, what’s the holidays without a few traditional family yarns about Christmases past? This one dates back to 20 years ago this week, when The Flood played a wondrous strange Christmas gig. It all started when the guys decided to caravan over to the venue at Marshall University Student Center to provide the entertainment for the Goodwill Industries’ holiday party. Let’s just let the Charlie of two decades ago tell it. Here's the report he made to his mom in an email the very next morning:
"Joe and Doug both arrived at the house here about 6:30, we decided that I would ride with Joe and that Doug would follow along in his car," Charlie wrote. "Doug pretty much has to drive himself, because the bass takes up most of the rest of the car. Well, Doug is not real familiar with Huntington and, as he'll tell you himself, he can get lost on the way to the grocery store... So, we're toolin' down the road in the dark on our way to Marshall and Joe looks in the rearview mirror and says, 'Uh-oh, I think we lost Doug.' Shoot! I look back and sure enough, there IS an unfamiliar SUV behind us and no Doug in sight. When we get Marshall, Joe's saying, 'I think I better go back and find him.'"
Now, Charlie's thinking, "Uh, I don't know THAT's good idea. Isn't that gonna leave us with TWO missing guys?" but, bless his heart, he’s not thinking that fast enough and, truth be told, Joe could be stubborn about this stuff.
"So, I get out of the car at Marshall," Charlie said in his email, "and start walking toward the front of the student center. Up ahead, I see a car that looks like Doug's -- at least from a distance -- pulling into the circular driveway in front of the student center. I hurry toward it, thinking that if I see that that's Doug, I'll turn and signal Joe to stop.... Of course, it didn't work out that smoothly. No, by the time I get about halfway between the two of them, they BOTH pull out. And of course, Mystery Car did turn out to contain one Doug Chaffin."
It was about then that good ol' reliable Dave Peyton drove up right behind us all, having followed us all the way from the Bowen house and was a witness when Joe pulled away and left Doug stranded at a stop light. Dave, being a smart man, realized what had happen and hung around to guide Doug into the student center.
"So, now we had Doug, but we've lost Joe," Charlie's email continued. Fortunately, Sam was patiently waiting for us inside, harmonicas in hand, and the four of them -- Dave, Doug, Sam and Charlie -- climbed the stairs and set up. And at 7 o'clock, as scheduled, we began our set, sans Joe.
"On the fly, we had to select from different tunes, ones that didn't depend so heavily on the fiddle," Charlie noted. "We let the audience in on our situation, and everyone got a good laugh over it... especially when 15 minutes into the set, Joe comes strolling in in his red and white hat and we all shouted (in mid-song), 'Here comes Santa Claus!!!' We finished up with Joe there -- the crowd loved the whole thing -- and afterwards, we sold a hundred dollars worth of CDs, so they must have enjoyed it.
"I'm amazed at how tight The Flood has become, that we can put on a show with only two-thirds of the band there. 'We're as adaptable as crescent wrench!' Dave commented afterward. And now we have another story for The Flood Files.”