Joyce and Vic Olsen
After Graduation, I left Hicksville to attend Indiana University School of Music. Life was pretty awesome there in Bloomington and I studied hard and continued playing on and off campus in what quickly became a very popular rock-n-roll band. At the time, I probably had way too much fun and made too much money for a young college student, but somehow, I made it through and graduated.
In January of 1970, I graduated college, got married (1st time), and joined the Indiana National Guard and a traveling Las Vegas Show Band. The Guard meetings put an end to my road carrier in about 8 weeks. Life then consisted of digging swimming pool holes until active duty was finished.
After that, I settled in Indianapolis, and for a year was a juvenile probation officer. It turned out that the head bailiff was a little round mound of sound named Jimmy Coe, one of Indianapolis's finest bandleaders and sax men. Soon I was playing with him in a strip joint and lots of other places. The nice thing about the strip joint was that we could play jazz with a beat and nobody cared (what we were playing). It was also a bowling ally. (Indianapolis was pretty primitive in those days.)
After a year, I ended up in Advertising selling radio ads for what was one of the first "underground" FM album oriented radio stations in America. We did ground breaking stuff. For the next 18 to 20 years, that's what I did, as well as playing lots of music. Twenty-two years ago, I re married, (this time the right one) and know just how wonderful that can be.
We eventually formed our own advertising agency and ended up specializing in the marketing of private military schools and some small colleges around the country. But then, along came the Internet and nobody needed radio and TV anymore.Currently, we live (Joyce and I and our macaw Molly) in Miami. We own a small soda blasting company (like sand blasting but using baking soda instead) and we remove bottom anti-fouling paint from yachts and strip paint and bondo off of classic cars undergoing restoration.\
Oh, I'm also a Coast Guard Licensed Captain and we charter our boat to tourists for deep sea fishing trips.Last summer, we had a chance to return to Long Island and attend a family reunion out in Amagansett. Returning home really pulled at my heartstrings. It was such a wonderful time. It was extra special because after leaving Hicksville in '65, I never really returned.
Miami is great, but the urge to move is creeping up on us and hopefully in the next year (and for the last time) we will probably move up to North Carolina on the coast somewhere. Our grand kids live there and as we gracefully age, it is ever more important to be close to those who love us and care about us (though I will miss the fantastic fishing and weather).
Our Macaw Molly is about 20 years old, going on 90.
Many thanks
Vic Olsen '65
