Kenneth Deaville Jr.

Interview with Kenneth Deaville

Champaign County History Museum Oral History Collection

Date: April 1st, 2023

Location: Memorial Stadium’s 77 Club

1 audio cassette tape

Length of Recording: 0:17:15

Transcribed by Philo Wang

[00:00:02 - Start of Interview: Random Questions]

Rosette Pascoe: Do you want to just talk about something random with me for a little bit just to make sure the sounds are all good?

Kenneth Deaville: Yeah, that's fine.

Rosette Pascoe: Okay, to get started, tell me about your favorite person in the world, just to make sure that the levels are good and then we'll transition into some real questions.

Kenneth Deaville: You've got to speak up. These things don't work for a gig.

Rosette Pascoe: (laughing) Okay, sorry. So, would you mind starting out, just to get you all warmed up, would you mind, oh, wait, you have to sleep first, right? Would you mind just stating your name, where you're from, and then can you spell out your name for me?

Kenneth Deaville: My name is Kenneth Deaville and I live here in Urbana, Illinois. I've been here 75 years. 

Rosette Pascoe: Can you spell your name? 

Kenneth Deaville: Huh? 

Rosette Pascoe: Can you spell out your name? 

Kenneth Deaville: Oh, it's K-E-N-N-E-T-H-D-E-A-V-I-L-L-E.

Rosette Pascoe: Okay. And then today is April 1st, 2023.

Kenneth Deaville: No April Fool jokes. (All laughing)

Rosette Pascoe: I can't make any promises.

[00:01:09 - Role in Farm Aid]

Rosette Pascoe: Okay, so what was your role in Farm Aid?

Kenneth Deaville: Huh?

Rosette Pascoe: What was your role in Farm Aid? Were you a student at the time? Were you just attending the concert?

Kenneth Deaville: No, I was in charge of the stage security.

Rosette Pascoe: Ah, okay, so you were in charge of security. What brought you to that position?

Kenneth Deaville: Well, I placed my crew around the stage in certain areas, and I kept track of everybody, and I made sure that everybody followed the rules that we were given.

Rosette Pascoe: Did you enjoy your position at the time?

Kenneth Deaville: Pardon?

Rosette Pascoe: Did you enjoy your position?

Kenneth Deaville: Yeah, I had a lot of fun, except it was cold, wet, and damp.

Rosette Pascoe: I heard it was raining that day at Farm Aid.

Kenneth Deaville: Oh, it was nasty. 

Rosette Pascoe: Yeah.

[00:01:50 - Experience in Farm Aid]

Rosette Pascoe: Okay. Can you describe your experience working at Farm Aid?

Kenneth Deaville: I enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun. My wife was with me. She worked with me in security. And Governor Thompson came in and he went up and he stood up on the third step of the stage on the left hand side of the stage. And my wife went over and told him he had to bend down because we were not allowed to have anybody standing up to block the people behind him. And he said, do you know who I am? And she says, yes sir, I know who you are. But he says, do you know who those people behind you are? He says what? I said they're voters. He stooped down.

Rosette Pascoe:  Yeah? Can I do it? Okay. Um, besides that moment were there any other, like unique experiences that happened backstage? Any altercations with any of them? 

Kenneth Deaville: No, we had…we had nobody, no problems at all. We had a few people trying to sneak in. We had a…there was a tunnel underneath the stage for us to go back to the bathrooms and get our drinks and stuff and then they brought our food out to us during the different days. And my wife was sitting up on the second lip of the stage and Sammy Hagart came out and Sammy started playing. They leaped down on our platform beside us and he ran across the stage. Well my wife was sitting on the far corner of the stage and he jumped over her on the corner there and started playing and then he jumped back over her and started playing and she thought that was the greatest thing in the world. She talked about that for many, many years, about how Sammie jumped over her legs. 

Rosette Pascoe:  (laughing)As she should.

Kenneth Deaville: And I remember a little later then, she got up there to sing, but I guess the speakers were overpowering and she couldn't sing. She tried, tried twice, but she just couldn't get it. I don't know what happened to her. But I guess the speakers were too close to her or something and overpowering her, so she didn't get to sing.

[00:03:52 - Willie Nelson’s Hat]

Angela Lusk (Kenneth Deaville’s daughter): Tell them about catching the hat.

Kenneth Deaville: Huh?

Angela Lusk: Tell them about catching the hat. The hat.

Kenneth Deaville: Oh, well, Willie Nelson first came out on this stage. He made his little talk about how we're here to support the farmers and everything. And then he said, let's get the show on the road. And he grabbed his hat and he slung it out in the crowd. Well, somebody swiped at it, but they didn't quite get it on. He knocked it back toward me and it landed in my lap and I stuck it in my shirt. And I kept it all these years. And then to the history of U of I.

Angela Lusk: No, the Champaign County History Museum. 

Rosette Pascoe: Just so you know, our professor loves to bring up that hat. I think it is the main character of our History Harvest.

Kenneth Deaville: I donated that in my wife's name because I lost my wife four years ago. The family thought it would be nice to have that mentioned for her.

Rosette Pascoe: Well, that is very kind of you. I'm sorry for your loss.

Angela Lusk: And then tell them about Willie Nelson coming back and signing it.

Kenneth Deaville: Oh, and then a couple years... You know, that day it had been raining, it was drizzling, it was nasty. But I went back underneath the stage and I had Willie sign the ball cap. And he signed it with a blue felt tip pen. Well, the rain and the dampness and everything, by the time I got home, I couldn't read his name. So a few years later, when I came into town, and I took the hat out to Texas Roadhouse, because I knew he was a part of it, and I asked my manager if he could ask him to re-sign my hat for me. And he said he'll ask him. So I left. A couple of days later he called me up and he said, I talked to Mr. Nelson. He would like you and your wife to come down and have dinner with him.

Rosette Pascoe: That's so cool.

Kenneth Deaville: There were quite a bit of people in that room. So we all went in there. And Willie signed my hat for me. And had dinner. And he told a lot of jokes. He was a lot of fun. He liked to talk about his smoking, but (all laughing) he says, I'm happy.

Rosette Pascoe: Well, forgive him for that. (Deaville laughing)

[00:06:57 - Other questions: Entertainers and Farm Crisis]

Rosette Pascoe: OK. I suppose besides your wife getting her legs jumped over, do you have a memory that stands out in particular, other than things that you've mentioned?

Kenneth Deaville: No. I enjoyed all the entertainers. I got to meet quite a few of them when I had to go backstage to check on something. There were like five or six dressing rooms on the back of the stage, and each one of them would be in a different section of it. I only got to see a few of them when they were coming and going, because their buses pulled up behind the stadium scoreboard, and the stars came down with their security up on the stage and put in the rooms. Then when it was their turn to entertain, they'd come out and dance and sing and whatever they did. I really enjoyed it. If the weather hadn't been so bad, it would have been great. But it was still great. I mean, to the day I die, I'll never forget it.

Rosette Pascoe (to other interviews): Any more questions? 

Another Interviewer: Why do you think people have kind of forgotten about the farm crisis or the farm aid concert?

Kenneth Deaville: Well, people don't realize what the farmers go through to bring us our food. I grew up on a small farm in Mansfield as a little kid, and it's a lot of work. And you have to be dedicated. You have to like it. You know, I know a lot of people grow up on farms that do not like it. But the farmers, the real farmers, they love it. And they have to pay for their fertilizer, they have to take care of their crops, they have to buy diesel to pay for, you know, to run their tractors and their machinery and stuff like that. And they have to keep up. People just think that you sit around and let it grow. It's not so sitting around on a farm. I know I used to get up at five o'clock in the morning, bring the milk cows in, help milk the cows, and we'd have to go out and feed the chickens, and stop the hogs every once in a while. It's a 24 hour job a day. And I really, I enjoyed it, but then we moved into town and I got a little spoiled like anybody else. The new modern convenience and stuff like that. But we didn't have a bathroom until I was about six or seven. And we didn't have running water. We had a pump in the kitchen. I mean, it was just a small farm outside Mansfield. And it was a haze farmer and uh mom and i, dad lived with him and then after the family started growing then we did dad bought a house here in town and i grew up here in town the only time i've been away was the four years i was in the service and then when i come out of the service i come back i come, i never left.

Rosette Pascoe: Have you ever been up to Wheaton, Illinois, to the First Division Museum? 

Kenneth Deaville: Ugh?

Rosette Pascoe: Have you ever been to the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois? 

Kenneth Deaville: No. 

Rosette Pascoe: Oh, it's something you might enjoy.

Kenneth Deaville: No. It's kind of hard for me anymore to go anywhere. I had a bad accident years ago and messed up my leg, so…

Rosette Pascoe: I'm sorry.

Kenneth Deaville: But I just, I mean, the kids want me to get out and do more, but, you know, I think I've done everything in the world that I could do. I mean, I'm a different believer in God and I feel that He has something for me to do yet. That's why He hasn't taken me. So there's something in this life that I have to do before I've done my job. And that's why I'm still here.

Rosette Pascoe: That's beautiful.

Kenneth Deaville: Yeah, so that's just the way I was raised.

Rosette Pascoe: Thank you so much for your time, sir. Thank you for coming down here. We know it's not easy, but thank you for sharing your memories with us also. We really appreciate it. (To Angela Lusk, daughter of Kenneth Deaville)Thank you as well.

[00:10:15 - The daughter’s Memory]

Angela Lusk: No problem. I was like, I don't even remember how old I was. What year was it again? 1980? 

Rosette Pascoe: Do you want to come closer to get your voice on this?

Angela Lusk: Yeah. Was it like 1984 or 5?

Rosette Pascoe: 85.

Angela Lusk: Yeah, so I was 10. And when they were working security, because it was like two or three days where they had to be in and out of the stadium and stuff, doing stuff. And my name's Angela Lusk, L-U-S-K. I'm the youngest daughter of Ken and Joanne Deaville. But they stuck me with Grandma and Grandpa that day. (Angela laughing)

Interview: I bet you are mad about that. 

Angela Lusk: (laughing) Yeah, because all the excitement was around the concert, but you couldn't go to a restaurant in town or anywhere in town. My grandpa, we were going to go out to dinner and there were such lines because people you know leaving the concert and going to eat and coming back. I think they let them come back and out and in, just on their little ticket stub or whatever. I don't think that they had to necessarily stay the entire time. 

Rosette Pascoe:Not like today. 

Angela Lusk: And then we went to Kmart to shop and people were begging for ponchos (laughing) because it was raining. I mean, you probably could have sold a poncho back in 1985 for at least $20 because if you didn't have any, people were just desperate for them. But that's what I remember from that weekend. They were so tired and worn out, you know, they like, had to have a day of do nothing. So…

[00:11:43 - People selling Panchos]

Kenneth Deaville: But…I was going to say, on the rink, we caught a gentleman outside the stadium with four boxes with a gross of ponchos in each pack. He'd been to Kmart and bought all the ponchos he could get, 89 cents at the time. He was selling for $5 a pop. And he had three empty boxes. He was on his last box. And he said, there's no more in the town. He said, I've been everywhere. There's nowhere else to get them. So he finally sold out of the ring. So he made a pretty good killing on the farm aid. I told him, I said, well, I hope you donate some of that to us. And he just smiled. He took off. Yeah, I remember that…

Rosette Pascoe: People will be people… 

Angela Lusk: Yeah.

Kenneth Deaville: There's always somebody trying to make a buck somewhere. (laughing)

Rosette Pascoe: Yeah, unfortunately, though.

Angela Lusk: Your signature right there so that they…

Rosette Pascoe: I was supposed to introduce myself?

Another Interview: Yeah, like interviewing where you're at. So like, my name is blah blah, and I'm at blah blah. I'm recording here today.

Rosette Pascoe: My name is Rosette Pascoe. I am at Memorial Stadium in Club 77, interviewing. Thank you. 

Kenneth Deaville: You know, all the years I worked at the Assembly Hall and the stadium here, I've never been up in this section. 

Rosette Pascoe: Yeah. Isn't it nice?

Angela Lusk: Yeah. Well, 

Kenneth Deaville: I worked down on the ground. I was in charge of the gates down below, not letting anybody on the field. Now I work security over there at the assembly hall. But I've never been up in the suites. I heard about them. I've seen them, felt them, but I've never been here. So that's why when we were coming down, I was gawking at the view. (all laughing)

Angela Lusk: That's pretty cool. Alright, is that all?

Rosette Pascoe: Yes, thank you so much.

Angela Lusk: Sorry, it was a more animated day. (laughing)

Rosette Pascoe: Oh no, that was perfect.

[00:13:51 - Deaville talks about his life]

Kenneth Deaville: I just remember certain things that I really enjoyed, my wife enjoyed. I mean, it was things that we did together. You know, my wife and we won the NUNUWIC game at the shopping center.

Angela Lusk: Marketplace Mall, yeah.

Kenneth Deaville: They had the 20th anniversary and they had Bob Eubanks come down and he asked us all, there were four couples, he asked us questions and my wife and I won it. We won $500, our marketplace bucks. We went into Sears and Roebuck, we spent all of the 20 bucks on the kids. And I got me a cheeseburger and french fries and milkshake at McDonald's. (all laughing) And the next day, the front page of the newspaper was a picture of my wife holding up a sign. Yes. And the question was rather embarrassing. But the winning question was, do you have a nude photo of your wife?

Rosette Pascoe: Did you?

Kenneth Deaville: Yeah.

Angela Lusk: Apparently, yes.

Kenneth Deaville: And she held up a big sign saying, yes. All my friends called me up that night,  said, hey, when you come bowling Sunday, bring the picture. I said, uh-uh. (All laughing)

Rosette Pascoe: Like you said, always in for a buck. Everyone's out to make some money.

Kenneth Deaville: We got a picture of her giving Bobby a basic kiss and everything. It was really nice.

Rosette Pascoe: I'm very glad that you guys won. (Angela laughing)

Kenneth Deaville: I've got a pretty full life. I've got four kids and seven grandkids. All my grandkids are college educated. One's a captain in the Marines. She is a captain. My oldest granddaughter is a captain in the Marines. Her brother's a doctor. I've got one in real estate. I've got two in the Coast Guard. She works for the court here in town. My other daughter is the vice president of a bank. And my oldest boy, he's a, does architectural sheet metal. He works for the U of I here sometimes. And then my youngest boy is a crane operator at a different thing, a swarming company, where I used to work at. My grandfather worked there, my dad worked there, and I worked there. So, like I say, most of them have moved away, but I'm still here. (Angela Lusk laughing) This is where my family's at. Sorry, this is where I'll be. This is nice to see you folks. 

Rosette Pascoe: You too.

Kenneth Deaville: I'm going to turn this around.

Angela Lusk: Okay. Thank you. 

Rosette Pascoe: Thank you.

Angela Lusk: Do we have to go to another station or are you guys just... I'll go ask.

Rosette Pascoe: Did you bring anything to donate?

Angela Lusk: He already donated the hat. Willie Nelson's hat.

Rosette Pascoe: Perfect. Then that should be everything. You can indulge in some snacks.

Another Interviewer: Yeah, you can drink some coffee. Anything.

Angela Lusk: Okay.

Another Interviewer: I was going to ask what it would be.

Angela Lusk: All right, well, we'll go with that.

Another Interviewer: I'm going to stop the recording.

Another Interviewer: Oh, did you have the wave written down, by the way?

Rosette Pascoe: Sorry?

Another Interviewer: Did you have the wave written down?

Rosette Pascoe: I did, yeah. It's a two. Well, it says 0, 0, 0, 1, wave.

Another Interviewer: Dot wave. You should have put it, yeah, at the beginning.

Rosette Pascoe: Yeah.

Another Interviewer: OK. You got it?

Rosette Pascoe: Yeah, I think so. I'm nervous that it's not right, but.

Another Interviewer: Everything is alright.

Rosette Pascoe: Three zeros. Yeah, two zeros. Yeah, OK, yeah, that should be fine. Yeah, OK, yeah, that should be fine.

Another Interviewer: OK, I’ll stop recording.

(Tape Ends)

This collection contains recorded oral histories conducted by staff and volunteers of the Champaign County History Museum. The opinions expressed in these recordings are those of the interviewee.