Memory Lane can be depressing when reality meets memory | Eastern North Carolina Now

   One of the tricks of the mind is that we remember things like a snapshot. After a few years our image of the past is cast in indelible concrete like an old picture in the shoe box up in the attic or a statue in the town square. This is so obvious it should not deserve an article, but recently Atlanta celebrated a 40th anniversary of an event that brought it all back home to me again.

    Sometimes Movies can be like old music from our youth. They can mark the era of our bygone youth. Smokey and the Bandit was one such movie for many Atlanta residents who happened to be around in 1976-1977 when the movie was filmed in Jonesboro, Georgia and areas around Atlanta. The movie was iconic and made more famous by the inclusion of one of Georgia's own acting and singing the title song. Jerry Reed was the Snowman in the movie and he was a Georgia boy.

    The folklore around the movie grew over the years with each retelling of the story. Many people went to see the movie being filmed and many locals were extras in the movie crowd scenes. Facebook muses often mention where it was filmed and people post then and now pictures of the locations. It was also a great chance to see one of the last hoorahs of the Old Lakewood Fairgrounds and the Lakewood racetrack. The sequel of the movie featured the implosion of the wooden roller coaster named the Greyhound.

    Well, here it is 2017 and this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Movie's Release. One of the only stars of the movie still alive came back for the celebration. Burt Reynolds, now 81 years old, was on hand for a meet and greet question and answer session.

    Like all old memories, the images we have in our mind exist frozen at the time we made that memory. But time waits for no man and as we are confronted with the reality of what it has done to we soon realize that it is not the movie we remember cherish the most, but our youth at the time of its occurrence. If you are fortunate, you may have a chance to go back to your 50th High School reunion, but it won't take long to realize that your mind has never really adjusted to the passage of time until you see that everyone is so old they don't recognize you. In your mind's eye you look and feel the same as you did then but they all have aged beyond what you expected. Please excuse the quality of the picture, it is not a publicity photo but a picture from a fan in the crowd. Click here for a short video of Burt waving to the crowd last weekend.

    The same is true of the Smokey and the Bandit 40th Anniversary party that was held on a rainy week end June 23-25. 2017. Burt shows the obvious signs of his 81 years and a life in the fast lane. He walks with a cane now and has endured his share of hardships and financial problem along the way. Most of us will never know how someone who was at one time the highest paid actor in Hollywood could go through bankruptcy and have his home foreclosed, but as any accountant will tell you. It is all a matter of income minus expenses. When the expenses surpass the income it doesn't really matter how many zero's are to the left of the decimal point, you are broke. Billy Preston probably said it best in his song "Nothing from Nothing leaves Nothing." Even a movie star can out last his money and has to resort to charging to meet him.

   VIP tickets are $150, which includes VIP seating, a commemorative T-shirt, two drink tickets, and a meet-and-greet and photo opportunity with the stunt team. For those who want to meet Burt Reynolds, Super VIP tickets are $500, which includes all VIP ticket amenities.   (Gwinnett Daily Post)

    The only thing that remains the same, perhaps is the car. It was a 1976 Pontiac Trans-Am upgraded to look like a 1977, to coincide with the release of the film. The car became an instant hit and sales soared for the look alike version sold by Pontiac. Of course it is much easier to restore an old car than it is to restore ones youth, regardless of the skill of the Plastic Surgeon. My older Brother Jim, bought one of the "Bandit" Trans-Am and to his dismay, sold it before it became a collector. Both he and often say, If I had only kept fill in the blank.
   

    This was Reynolds' fourth Bandit-style Trans Am going under the hammer in recent years. The phenomenon kicked off in 2014 when an original "Smokey and the Bandit" promo car sold for $450,000. It was followed a year later by the sale of a "tribute" car owned by Reynolds for only a year for $170,000. And finally in 2016 the actor brought out another movie promo car that ended up fetching $550,000. This was Reynolds' fourth Bandit-style Trans Am going under the hammer in recent years. The phenomenon kicked off in 2014 when an original "Smokey and the Bandit" promo car sold for $450,000. It was followed a year later by the sale of a "tribute" car owned by Reynolds for only a year for $170,000. And finally in 2016 the actor brought out another movie promo car that ended up fetching $550,000. Motor Authority

    But age has a way of creeping on even the most iconic of brands.

    The last Pontiac, a 2010 model year G6, was built at the Orion Township Assembly Line in January, 2010.

    Pontiac became the second brand General Motors had eliminated in six years. Oldsmobile met the same fate in 2004 after being more slowly phased out over four years. Pontiac also became the ninth North American automobile brand since 1987 to be phased out, after Merkur, Mercury, Passport, Asüna, Geo, Plymouth, American Motors (AMC) (renamed Eagle in 1988, and phased out in 1999), and Oldsmobile. (Pontiac History)

   


    I did not make it to the anniversary party but felt it worthy of an article for Grandpa's Diary. Burt was 41 in 1977 and I was 32. When you are in that era 9 years don't seem like that much. But now at 72 and Burt at 81, there seems to be a great chasm that has developed since 1977. Then I looked in the mirror and saw the truth. I don't think that I could get in or out of a 1977 Bandit Trans Am, but it is good to know that I am at least alive and well. Jerry Reed (Cletus) , Jackie Gleason (Sheriff Buford T. Justice), Hal Needham, and Pat McCormick (Big Enos) are gone now but Burt Reynolds (Bandit), Sally Field (Carrie-Frog),Susie Ewing (Hot Pants), Paul Williams (Little Enos) and I are still around.

    Thanks to YouTube we can still visit those wonder years again.

   

    And just for the Record, Burt Reynolds is not the Father of Forrest Gump!



    Reference Sites:



    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_and_the_Bandit
    http://www.news-daily.com/multimedia/burt-reynolds-visits-the-smokey-and-the-bandit-festival-at/collection_f80a65fa-5928-11e7-92bc-973bc56d66a8.html
    http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1108334_burt-reynolds-latest-bandit-trans-am-sells-for-275k
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac

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( December 15th, 2018 @ 2:10 am )
 
Bobby Tony, I just saw where Burt Reynolds died on September 6, 2018. I guess I was busy that week.

Sadly, your post is most prophetic.



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