The second day out on our cross-country trek, we were approaching Miles City, Montana.  It was getting dark and we were getting hungry.  We heard an announcement on the car radio: the Miles City Country Club was holding its first annual dinner that night.  Father Beaver said, "That's where we are singing tonight."

He changed into his Roman collar, drove to the country club and went in alone to arrange the booking.  His pitch was that he knew of a young trio that was going to New York to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, and they just happened to be waiting in his car.  (Father Beaver is to be forgiven for his "sin": we made the Sullivan Show four years later.)  He soon came out.  We had a deal... not for money, but for a steak dinner.

We sang for about a half hour.  They liked us.  Someone started a collection and we ended up with about 60 silver dollars.  Another man made a phone call and arranged for us to sing at a Miles City nightclub where we picked up another 30 or 40 dollars.  Our feeling was: "If we can do this in Miles City, what can we do in New York City!"

New York, despite Father Beaver's tireless efforts, was not as impressed as Miles City.  We were given polite auditions by Julius Monk and the Blue Angel.  In three or four days, we were almost broke and there were still no signs of a job.  Father Beaver was mighty worried; he was responsible for four kids, including our guitarist, who knew nothing about this big-city world.  He arranged for us to live at the army base in the B.O.Q. for 50 cents a day.

Through a friend of a friend of a friend, Father Beaver contacted Bertha Case, a literary agent who also handled Nina Simone.  She heard us and offered to manage us.  We signed with a record company.  We brought in a musical director, Milt Okun.  We joined the necessary unions.  Within a couple of weeks, the Trio took on a professional form.  We were living on money borrowed from Miss Case, but something solid was started.

We were still planning to go back to Gonzaga in the fall.  But when it came time for Father Beaver to return, we were getting ready to record.  We had an audition for the Arthur Godfrey Radio Show.  We were having too much fun.  Father Beaver drove back to Spokane alone.

There was another audition at the Blue Angel.  This time we had our own material and were hired for a two week job that stretched into eight.  We sang on the Godfrey show for five weeks.  By Thanksgiving, we had appeared on our first major television program, The Pat Boone Show.  The culmination of that first year was a Carnegie Hall concert with Belafonte, Odetta and Miriam Makeba.  We had come a long way from Miles City.