FAST MINICYCLE RACERS FROM THE '70s

HORNETDRIVER
Edited Date/Time 1/15/2021 9:13am
First, howdy to the forum.

I think I recognize a few very old friends from my youth racing NMA in the early - mid '70s. What I haven't seen is an update list on where some of the midwest hotshoes are. Can anyone fill in some blanks?

Randy Tysor - Fastest kid I ever saw on an XR-75. From Riverton, IA. Put Ward, Myerscough, Brown, Holley to the mat at the '76 NMA national in Springfield, MO...and that's no disrespect to any of those fellows. Would have won all his classes at the '75 AMA national in Pittsburgh, KS if it weren't for some incredibly bad luck.

Richard Hardesty - I last saw rich at the 1977 short track AMA national in Wichita, KS. Fast and very smooth.

Dave Weeks - Ran into him at the Unadilla National in...'80? Could have been '81, though.

Tracy Lubbering - From Kirksville, MO. Quick as snot back in the day. Brother was Mike as I recall.

Cheers to the forum of "old guys".

HORNETDRIVER
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klein8
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klein8 12/17/2008 4:33pm
12/17/2008 4:33pm
wasn't there a kid by the name scott noble that raced with randy tysor, might have been from the omaha area.
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Slow ~ Pro
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Slow ~ Pro 12/18/2008 6:46am
12/18/2008 6:46am
klein8 wrote:
wasn't there a kid by the name scott noble that raced with randy tysor, might have been from the omaha area.
Hmmm...Had a Scott Noble, on my 24 hour GP race team, in October.
mr50racer
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mr50racer 12/18/2008 8:23am
12/18/2008 8:23am
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
First, howdy to the forum. I think I recognize a few very old friends from my youth racing NMA in the early - mid '70s. What...
First, howdy to the forum.

I think I recognize a few very old friends from my youth racing NMA in the early - mid '70s. What I haven't seen is an update list on where some of the midwest hotshoes are. Can anyone fill in some blanks?

Randy Tysor - Fastest kid I ever saw on an XR-75. From Riverton, IA. Put Ward, Myerscough, Brown, Holley to the mat at the '76 NMA national in Springfield, MO...and that's no disrespect to any of those fellows. Would have won all his classes at the '75 AMA national in Pittsburgh, KS if it weren't for some incredibly bad luck.

Richard Hardesty - I last saw rich at the 1977 short track AMA national in Wichita, KS. Fast and very smooth.

Dave Weeks - Ran into him at the Unadilla National in...'80? Could have been '81, though.

Tracy Lubbering - From Kirksville, MO. Quick as snot back in the day. Brother was Mike as I recall.

Cheers to the forum of "old guys".

HORNETDRIVER
randy tysor was very fast.
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klein8
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klein8 12/18/2008 12:12pm
12/18/2008 12:12pm
tysor, hardesty and weeks used to ride the des moines , ia indoor short track inthe 70's anyone no what hardesty is at these days?
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HORNETDRIVER 12/18/2008 12:38pm
12/18/2008 12:38pm
Yes, Scott Noble was another as well. I seem to remember him hitting several trees at different tracks while qualifying for the Nationals in '76. Is that the same Scott Noble you were racing with?

So, anyone know what happend to Tysor?

More quick kids from the midwest:

Jeff Schumacher from KC.

Jay Connyers (sp?) from NE or IA.

At the time I was running the 83cc 9-11 Stock Expert and 105 Open classes and never beat Tysor in the 105 class. Hell, I don't think anyone did for 2 or 3 years back then. (I'm going with the fact that I was 11 and he was 13 at the time, hardee har har) Our families used to keep in touch until his sister Ronda was killed in a car crash around 1980 or so.

I'd love to find Randy, buy him a beer and ask him how the F he was so quick back then!

HORNETDRIVER
slowvet
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slowvet 12/18/2008 12:39pm
12/18/2008 12:39pm Edited Date/Time 12/18/2008 12:41pm
Weeks was from Omaha, I have no idea whatever happened to him. Mike Boston, Tysor was a fast kid. Anybody ever heard of Jason Draycott?
klein8
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klein8 12/18/2008 4:09pm
12/18/2008 4:09pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
Yes, Scott Noble was another as well. I seem to remember him hitting several trees at different tracks while qualifying for the Nationals in '76. Is...
Yes, Scott Noble was another as well. I seem to remember him hitting several trees at different tracks while qualifying for the Nationals in '76. Is that the same Scott Noble you were racing with?

So, anyone know what happend to Tysor?

More quick kids from the midwest:

Jeff Schumacher from KC.

Jay Connyers (sp?) from NE or IA.

At the time I was running the 83cc 9-11 Stock Expert and 105 Open classes and never beat Tysor in the 105 class. Hell, I don't think anyone did for 2 or 3 years back then. (I'm going with the fact that I was 11 and he was 13 at the time, hardee har har) Our families used to keep in touch until his sister Ronda was killed in a car crash around 1980 or so.

I'd love to find Randy, buy him a beer and ask him how the F he was so quick back then!

HORNETDRIVER
that sounds like scott wheeling down every straight, ridin balls to the wall! do any of these names ring a bell ,bobby and ritchie halstead, johnny spaw and mitch moyer all fast guys from iowa.
HORNETDRIVER 12/19/2008 10:02am
12/19/2008 10:02am
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't Johnny have a little brother, Ray, as well?

Halstead rings a bell and Moyer does as well, but I can't say I remember them as well as the others.

My dad owned a track in Savannah, MO back in '72-76. Tysor would come down there and kick our asses and I remember him bringing more of his Iowa buds as well although they were nowhere as fast.

How about Danny Hutchins? He was riding 125s back then, so he would have been 16ish around '75. I think he was from Red Oak, IA.

HORNETDRIVER
HORNETDRIVER 12/24/2008 8:30am
12/24/2008 8:30am

I reaced with Billy Liles for years and saw that he was still kicking ass in the +40 class a few years back. I remember him yelling at his mom at the Wichita ST AMA National back in '77. There was a race stoppage for a hurt rider so they stopped all of us on the track. His mom was yelling something through the fence from the grandstands (I couldn't hear what because I still had my helmet on) and he yelled back for her to "shut up". I was laughing my ass off!

We met Paul Emerson at the '78 Ponca City National. He was (still is?) a great guy and super fast!

One of my favorite pictures is from that same national. I got the holeshot in the 83cc stock expert 12-15 class final and "Bullet" Ben Theriot is behind me at the first jump (yes, he passed me soon after, I'm sure...I ended up 9th).

Derek Wedding was a bit older than I and we hung out with him in early 1976 at a Lake Whitney, TX MX (my first race on my YZ-80C)...although I seem to remember him from Pittsburgh, KS AMA National in '75 as I remember. Another super guy.

Isn't it funny that most of the folks we hung out with as kids at races were pretty good people?

How about some Rocky Mtn racers?

Snellen Johnson (Utah)

Bo Ruby (Colorado)

Cheers,

HORNETDRIVER
andymoto
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andymoto 12/24/2008 7:51pm
12/24/2008 7:51pm
Donnie Cantaloupi hauled butt up NorCal way in the '70s..
rmgsxr
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rmgsxr 12/27/2008 10:22am
12/27/2008 10:22am
Schumacher went on to get a bunch of national #s. What was interesting about him was that his sister used to smoke all the guys on minis. Still talk to Jeff all the time.

There was a reunion for Freddy Vans(track in Pittsburg Ks) a few months ago. About 200 people showed up to tell stories.
HORNETDRIVER 12/30/2008 7:52am
12/30/2008 7:52am
rmgsxr wrote:
Schumacher went on to get a bunch of national #s. What was interesting about him was that his sister used to smoke all the guys on...
Schumacher went on to get a bunch of national #s. What was interesting about him was that his sister used to smoke all the guys on minis. Still talk to Jeff all the time.

There was a reunion for Freddy Vans(track in Pittsburg Ks) a few months ago. About 200 people showed up to tell stories.

I wish I had known...I would have showed up!

The Creech (?) family were always good to us. I recall getting into a roman candle fight with Doug and about 6 other racers back in '75.

I don't know how I still have all my fingers and both eyes!

HORNETDRIVER
georgiamxer45 5/14/2009 10:13pm
5/14/2009 10:13pm
Let's not forget about Art Rollins, also from GA. He and Liles had some knockdown dragouts!!! He also gave Paul Emerson a fit at the 78 Ponca City,,,,,and gave Scott Burnworth all he could handle at Rio Bravo the following year. He's still winning,,,,doing the Post Vintage MX stuff,,,,and still flying!!! Kool
xnationalwrench 5/15/2009 5:34am
5/15/2009 5:34am
Does anyone know what happened to Mike Farrer? He was from the KC area and raced some Nationals in the late 70's
CR500Rider
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CR500Rider 5/15/2009 8:39am
5/15/2009 8:39am
"Bullet" Ben was the man on 80's around my neck of the woods when I started in 77'. He had some seriously trick Hondas. I never saw Billy Liles ride minis but I got to watch him alot around 78-81 riding the NMA stuff. Todd Brey (sic?) too. Local guys that were fast were Tim Hughes and Glen Burns. I never saw John Moore ride minis but I hear he spanked pretty much every one when he was on them.
Old GA Racer
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Old GA Racer 5/15/2009 10:04am
5/15/2009 10:04am
georgiamxer45 wrote:
Let's not forget about Art Rollins, also from GA. He and Liles had some knockdown dragouts!!! He also gave Paul Emerson a fit at the 78...
Let's not forget about Art Rollins, also from GA. He and Liles had some knockdown dragouts!!! He also gave Paul Emerson a fit at the 78 Ponca City,,,,,and gave Scott Burnworth all he could handle at Rio Bravo the following year. He's still winning,,,,doing the Post Vintage MX stuff,,,,and still flying!!! Kool
Do you remember a Scott Tanner? He raced back in the 70's and 80's and ran a few national races. Was unbeatable locally but I don't know how he fared against better comp. Last i heard of him he was racing Legends cars or something like that.
mr50racer
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mr50racer 5/15/2009 10:22am
5/15/2009 10:22am
Well the fastest guy I raced in the 70's in my class 50cc was Dusty Jenkins.. He was out of Arkansas.........We battled at all the NMA qualifers and at Rio Bravo in 1977 and then at Ponca from 78-80...
humyam
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humyam 5/15/2009 12:22pm
5/15/2009 12:22pm
Shaun Kelley from Houston needs mention here. He was my teammate at Humble Yamaha. I lost touch with him for 30 or so years but we started communicationg again a couple of years ago. He came to Rio last October and cheered me on in an over 50 race I won. It was cool seeing him waving me on. He should have won the first GNC 125 Expert final in the Dome ('77), not me. I think I psyched him out in staging by telling him how smooth the track was looking (it was rough as hell in spots!).

Glen U.

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newmann
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newmann 5/15/2009 1:40pm
5/15/2009 1:40pm
slowvet wrote:
Weeks was from Omaha, I have no idea whatever happened to him. Mike Boston, Tysor was a fast kid. Anybody ever heard of Jason Draycott?
I just bought a bike from Jason over in the Houston area. He has a 13 yr. old who is getting pretty serious about the moto thing.
CR500Rider
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CR500Rider 5/16/2009 7:45am
5/16/2009 7:45am
mr50racer wrote:
Well the fastest guy I raced in the 70's in my class 50cc was Dusty Jenkins.. He was out of Arkansas.........We battled at all the NMA...
Well the fastest guy I raced in the 70's in my class 50cc was Dusty Jenkins.. He was out of Arkansas.........We battled at all the NMA qualifers and at Rio Bravo in 1977 and then at Ponca from 78-80...
You probably raced against David Flowers from Vicksburg, MS too. Dixie region right? If so, we've been at the same tracks those years.
WakendaMO
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WakendaMO 7/12/2010 10:55pm
7/12/2010 10:55pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
First, howdy to the forum. I think I recognize a few very old friends from my youth racing NMA in the early - mid '70s. What...
First, howdy to the forum.

I think I recognize a few very old friends from my youth racing NMA in the early - mid '70s. What I haven't seen is an update list on where some of the midwest hotshoes are. Can anyone fill in some blanks?

Randy Tysor - Fastest kid I ever saw on an XR-75. From Riverton, IA. Put Ward, Myerscough, Brown, Holley to the mat at the '76 NMA national in Springfield, MO...and that's no disrespect to any of those fellows. Would have won all his classes at the '75 AMA national in Pittsburgh, KS if it weren't for some incredibly bad luck.

Richard Hardesty - I last saw rich at the 1977 short track AMA national in Wichita, KS. Fast and very smooth.

Dave Weeks - Ran into him at the Unadilla National in...'80? Could have been '81, though.

Tracy Lubbering - From Kirksville, MO. Quick as snot back in the day. Brother was Mike as I recall.

Cheers to the forum of "old guys".

HORNETDRIVER
I remember Lubbering very well.... Raced against him for several years at the tracks in Missouri...... Thats why I have dozens of 2nd place trophies..... Think I only beat him a couple of times......
1
Tommie_Hockenberry 8/30/2010 6:55pm
8/30/2010 6:55pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't...
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't Johnny have a little brother, Ray, as well?

Halstead rings a bell and Moyer does as well, but I can't say I remember them as well as the others.

My dad owned a track in Savannah, MO back in '72-76. Tysor would come down there and kick our asses and I remember him bringing more of his Iowa buds as well although they were nowhere as fast.

How about Danny Hutchins? He was riding 125s back then, so he would have been 16ish around '75. I think he was from Red Oak, IA.

HORNETDRIVER
I was one of Randy Tysors frieds that came to your dads track. I Remember the day at midwest speedway when your dad invited myself and Tysor to his track. Dont know where Tysor is lost track of him about 1989. Danny Hutchens was killed in a car crash in Red Oak iowa about 1989
Tommie_Hockenberry 8/30/2010 6:55pm
8/30/2010 6:55pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't...
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't Johnny have a little brother, Ray, as well?

Halstead rings a bell and Moyer does as well, but I can't say I remember them as well as the others.

My dad owned a track in Savannah, MO back in '72-76. Tysor would come down there and kick our asses and I remember him bringing more of his Iowa buds as well although they were nowhere as fast.

How about Danny Hutchins? He was riding 125s back then, so he would have been 16ish around '75. I think he was from Red Oak, IA.

HORNETDRIVER
I was one of Randy Tysors frieds that came to your dads track. I Remember the day at midwest speedway when your dad invited myself and Tysor to his track. Dont know where Tysor is lost track of him about 1989. Danny Hutchens was killed in a car crash in Red Oak iowa about 1989
Tommie_Hockenberry 8/30/2010 6:55pm
8/30/2010 6:55pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't...
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't Johnny have a little brother, Ray, as well?

Halstead rings a bell and Moyer does as well, but I can't say I remember them as well as the others.

My dad owned a track in Savannah, MO back in '72-76. Tysor would come down there and kick our asses and I remember him bringing more of his Iowa buds as well although they were nowhere as fast.

How about Danny Hutchins? He was riding 125s back then, so he would have been 16ish around '75. I think he was from Red Oak, IA.

HORNETDRIVER
I was one of Randy Tysors frieds that came to your dads track. I Remember the day at midwest speedway when your dad invited myself and Tysor to his track. Dont know where Tysor is lost track of him about 1989. Danny Hutchens was killed in a car crash in Red Oak iowa about 1989
Tommie_Hockenberry 8/30/2010 6:55pm
8/30/2010 6:55pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't...
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't Johnny have a little brother, Ray, as well?

Halstead rings a bell and Moyer does as well, but I can't say I remember them as well as the others.

My dad owned a track in Savannah, MO back in '72-76. Tysor would come down there and kick our asses and I remember him bringing more of his Iowa buds as well although they were nowhere as fast.

How about Danny Hutchins? He was riding 125s back then, so he would have been 16ish around '75. I think he was from Red Oak, IA.

HORNETDRIVER
I was one of Randy Tysors frieds that came to your dads track. I Remember the day at midwest speedway when your dad invited myself and Tysor to his track. Dont know where Tysor is lost track of him about 1989. Danny Hutchens was killed in a car crash in Red Oak iowa about 1989
Tommie_Hockenberry 8/30/2010 6:56pm
8/30/2010 6:56pm Edited Date/Time 8/30/2010 8:36pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't...
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't Johnny have a little brother, Ray, as well?

Halstead rings a bell and Moyer does as well, but I can't say I remember them as well as the others.

My dad owned a track in Savannah, MO back in '72-76. Tysor would come down there and kick our asses and I remember him bringing more of his Iowa buds as well although they were nowhere as fast.

How about Danny Hutchins? He was riding 125s back then, so he would have been 16ish around '75. I think he was from Red Oak, IA.

HORNETDRIVER
I was one of Randy Tysors frieds that came to your dads track. I Remember the day at midwest speedway when your dad invited myself and Tysor to his track. Dont know where Tysor is lost track of him about 1989. Danny Hutchens was killed in a car crash in Red Oak iowa about 1979
HORNETDRIVER 8/30/2010 7:21pm
8/30/2010 7:21pm
HORNETDRIVER wrote:
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't...
Johnny Spaw...yep. As a matter of fact I remember camping at the Cedar Rapids Regional Qualifyer with Johnny, Mark Courtney and Mark's little brother Billy. Didn't Johnny have a little brother, Ray, as well?

Halstead rings a bell and Moyer does as well, but I can't say I remember them as well as the others.

My dad owned a track in Savannah, MO back in '72-76. Tysor would come down there and kick our asses and I remember him bringing more of his Iowa buds as well although they were nowhere as fast.

How about Danny Hutchins? He was riding 125s back then, so he would have been 16ish around '75. I think he was from Red Oak, IA.

HORNETDRIVER
Tommie_Hockenberry wrote:
I was one of Randy Tysors frieds that came to your dads track. I Remember the day at midwest speedway when your dad invited myself and...
I was one of Randy Tysors frieds that came to your dads track. I Remember the day at midwest speedway when your dad invited myself and Tysor to his track. Dont know where Tysor is lost track of him about 1989. Danny Hutchens was killed in a car crash in Red Oak iowa about 1989
Tom,

I remember you as well and I even remember you and I racing pretty close at Midwest. Was it you who had the TM-75?

I had heard a rumor some years back that Danny was killed in an auto accident...can't remember who told me. Too bad...what a nice guy.

We timed Tysor one Sunday while he was racing with a broken wrist. He came down to our track and was turning times 2 sec faster than the 125 expert guys (Norm Nolden and Rusty Chaddock at the time). Man, those XRs of his would hum.

I was always curious what happened to the "Iowa and Nebraska gang".

Glad someone is still around to bear witness to the talent of the day...

Cheers,
Blake
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Blake 9/1/2010 11:26am
9/1/2010 11:26am
BIlly Abel as well.
WildNfast
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WildNfast 2/18/2011 2:11pm
2/18/2011 2:11pm
A couple of you were talking about bullet ben. I saw him several times in the 70's and the early 80's I guess. I can't remeber the year he got hurt, but I was at Rio Bravo at actually saw him hit the tree he was hauling A@@. I was between 11 to 14 when that happened. I just remember thinking I wish I could go that fast someday and I trained under Bob Hannah, Steve Wise, and Gary Baily to name a few. I think that is saying something to me that it seemed like the fastest person I ever saw close up was Bullet Ben Theriot. Does anyone know where he is Now? I am a USAF retired firefighter working on my second retirement as a civilian firefighter. 13 years to go!!! can't come fast enough.
Mini Elsinore
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Mini Elsinore 2/18/2011 3:07pm
2/18/2011 3:07pm
WildNfast wrote:
A couple of you were talking about bullet ben. I saw him several times in the 70's and the early 80's I guess. I can't remeber...
A couple of you were talking about bullet ben. I saw him several times in the 70's and the early 80's I guess. I can't remeber the year he got hurt, but I was at Rio Bravo at actually saw him hit the tree he was hauling A@@. I was between 11 to 14 when that happened. I just remember thinking I wish I could go that fast someday and I trained under Bob Hannah, Steve Wise, and Gary Baily to name a few. I think that is saying something to me that it seemed like the fastest person I ever saw close up was Bullet Ben Theriot. Does anyone know where he is Now? I am a USAF retired firefighter working on my second retirement as a civilian firefighter. 13 years to go!!! can't come fast enough.
He is a family man living in Louisiana. I have heard rumor that he has a barn full of his old race bikes---including his old minis. His old Wells Cargo trailer (with all of his championships painted on the side) was sitting in a junk yard in Jackson, Mississippi in the mid-80"s. Perhaps one of the Louisiana guys on the board can give you more specific information.

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