Gary Edward talks about his early work experience:

"After I saved enough money, to buy my mother a new washer and dryer, then I saved $350.00 to buy my first car, a black 1949 Studebaker with white wall tires, chrome rims and dual glass-pack mufflers. I kept the roads hot in this car all the way through high school! It was pretty cool, cruising the local Colonel Drive-in on main street in Corbin and Finley's restaurant in London, Kentucky.I remember, there was a skating rink behind Finley's where I performed and sang with"The Shades" many times!

"When I was 14 yrs old I had a two-newspaper routes for the Corbin Times Tribune!  St. Camillus Academy gave me permission to leave school each afternoon at 2:00, so I could go to the Tribune newspaper office and pick up my newspapers.  The school allowed me to substitute working at the paper class credit.  After a year with the paper, I was promoted to head carrier with about 10 or 11 carriers working for me.  I worked in the press room where the papers were coming off of the printing press and I sorted the papers and divided  the papers for each of my carriers!  When I  finished sorting the papers, I delivered my own routes! During the summer months, I continued working for the Tribune and also mowed about 30 lawns every week".

Gary went on to say: "After graduation from high school, I bought a 1954 Ford, with custom made white upholstery and blue piping around the seats. The hood and trunk were shaved, custom horizontal chrome grille, whitewall tires, spinner hubcaps WOW, Loved that car!"  

He also said: "The summer before college, just out of high school, and for three summers during college, I worked as a "bellman" at Cumberland Falls State Park.  The state park paid me about a thousand dollars each summer, the money was  used to pay for my college".  "That was a lot of money in those days."  

In the evenings, if good weather, Cumberland Falls had a recorded music and light show overlooking the Falls. One of Gary's assignments was to take up tickets for that show two or three times a week.  Taking up the show tickets provided him the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and improve his social skills. It also helped him overcome the shyness he lived within early life! The Falls State Park had a non-denominational Church service on Sunday mornings and he sang for those services.