America 1982-Chapter 230 - 79: Preparing for the Charity Dinner_2
Ian and the others all nodded in agreement; Mr. Gardner was certainly the shadow over the Stanford Chapter of SSD. While boasting a school alumnus who had made it onto the school’s board of trustees was worth bragging about, feeling the strict demands that came with it wasn’t pleasant. Whenever the University held a public welfare event or charity activity, if SSD didn’t appear sufficiently involved, Mr. Gardner would pop up at the Fraternity house like a villain from nowhere, to have a chat with everyone.
"That’s right, when the newbies step onto our turf, expecting to see something fun, then Mr. Gardner, with a stern face, tells them he expects every SSD member to take a day out of every week to help illiterate homeless people in the area with literacy classes... I guarantee no rookie thinks that’s cool," Derek added.
"What about Mr. Donald David Gard? The roster shows he updated his address the year before last, moving back to Los Altos, California, from Hawaii. Yes, he lives in the small town right next to Silicon Valley," Jason, who sneaked back in, waved the roster and provided another name.
Upon hearing Jason’s suggestion, everyone flipped to the profile of Donald David Gard: Donald David Gard, born Donald David Gard, a 1957 Stanford University Economics graduate, a member of the Stanford Chapter of SSD, was one of the three founders of the famous American folk band The Kingston Trio, and their guitarist.
Tommy, as a transmigrator, had never heard their albums, but he knew the band was very famous. Its inception led to the revival of American folk music. Their first album, released in ’58, sold three million copies, shocking all the record companies and directly changing the course of American music.
Even at the time, there was a rule in the entire American nightclub industry: if you wanted to make money, your singers had to learn the songs of this band.
"Cool!" Everyone else got excited, except for Tommy.
Nothing could be more attractive to the newbies than the opportunity to meet and converse with their idols up close.
Tommy heaved a depressed sigh; it seemed he would have to find another opportunity to meet Mr. Gardner. He had no choice; after all, Mr. Gardner didn’t seem as famous as Mr. Gard, even though Mr. Gardner’s influence was immeasurably greater.
Oh, and after the first academic year ended, Tommy moved out of the university dorms, but he didn’t move into the Fraternity house. Instead, he rented a small villa near Stanford with six bedrooms.
Occasionally, Jason, Holly, Mark, and Susan would come over to discuss things; if it got too late, they could stay in a guest bedroom.
Unburdened by work schedules, Tommy was completely relaxed, enthusiastically helping his Fraternity brothers set up the venue, design party plans, and life seemed to be back on track. Then, the new semester arrived.
On recruitment night, the presence of esteemed SSD alumnus and folk revivalist Donald David Gard made SSD the biggest surprise of Stanford University that evening. Even members of other fraternities and sororities couldn’t resist coming over to meet their idol up close. The next day, The Stanford Daily specifically reported that the SSD Stanford Chapter’s recruitment night had the highest visitor attendance in four years.
From the moment the silver-haired Mr. Gard picked up his guitar, sat on the high stool, and sang the signature Kingston Trio songs "Tom Dooley" and "500 Miles" with his aged voice, Tommy thought that Mr. Gard was indeed a better choice than Mr. Gardner, whom he had suggested.
He hadn’t even known that "500 Miles," a song that was still being sung up to 2022 in his previous life, had been recorded by Gard back in 1962. The monotonous yet heart-thumping guitar melody seemed to weave together Tommy’s past life and his present one perfectly through this song. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The only thing that pissed off Tommy was when Mr. Gard started singing "Tom Dooley," the entire bunch of SSD pranksters, led by Jason, sang along, replacing "Tom Dooley" with "Tommy Hawk," justifying it by claiming that if they had gone with Mr. Gardner as Tommy had suggested, they wouldn’t have had such a dazzling recruitment night. So the lyrics went like this: "Hang down your head, Tommy Hawk, you’re bound to die; Hang down your head, Tommy Hawk, you deserve to be castrated as punishment; Tommy Hawk, you ought to be hanged on the white oak tree, Tommy Hawk..."
The veteran folk singer Mr. Gard even curiously asked why they were singing that way while taking a photo with Tommy. Ted obligingly told Mr. Gard that everyone present wanted to invite Mr. Gard, except for the silly Tommy, who suggested inviting the former trustee instead. It was a good thing that the SSD brothers held firm, which is why Mr. Gard appeared that night.
After listening, Mr. Gard plucked a guitar string and sang jokingly, "Hang down your head, Tommy Hawk, I’m gonna cut off your dick, Tommy Hawk..."
However, for SSD, Tommy wasn’t always on the hook for a debt owed. Before the new members’ initiation night, Ian and Ted approached Tommy, the party manager, to discuss budgeting for the liquor and other activity funds. Chomping on a cigar, Tommy authoritatively shot back:
