I was reading the other thread about Dean Martin and started wondering about those lucky enough to have met people like him and Frank Sinatra.

Who have you met that is famous?

Here's a few I've met.

Faron Young...I had the pleasure of dancing with him.
Tom Grant
Charlie Pride
The Hager Twins...neither one was a good dancer!
Jimmy Dean
Kenny Norton
Joe Conley (Ike Godsey from the Waltons)
The Grateful Dead...played with my daughter while we waited for a flight out of Louisiana.

I ran into Clint Eastwood, literally, in a shopping isle in Hailey Idaho. I never managed to speak, couldn't get my jaw off the floor.

Holy moley, he's tall...'course everyone is tall when your only 5'7''.

Jean Pierre Rampal
Conrad Burns
Garrison Keillor
NBA player Thurl Bailey


Nearly mets:

Saw Eddie Van Halen at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans playing with his son many years ago. Didn't have the guts to approach him.

Tom Brokaw was my uncle's best friend in high school. Haven't met him although he called the house once.

My mom dated major league pitcher Don Larsen when he was on a farm team in South Dakota.

I meet all sorts of personalities in my head every day.

I guess I should add the political personalities to the list.

Barack Obama...he was so kind when we spoke.
Governor Schweitzer
Jon Tester

Man oh Man, I'm weak here.

Once flew on the same plane as the guy who played Cerrano on Major League, such a notable celebrity that I don't even know his name.

I was a Professional Entertainer in Reno and Las vegas for a whole lotta years before I moved to Miles City. I had the good fortune to meet a lot of Personalities during that time. It isn't often that you get to meet the one person that you would really love to meet though. But I did. I got to talk with Paul Simon for about a half an hour backstage before his concert with Bob Dylan at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Waaay Cool.

One of my buddies once shook hands with Lurch from the 1960s TV series "The Addams Family".

When I was a kid, we used to eat at a supper club that was owned by the actor who played the Mayor of Munchkinville in the Wizard of Oz.

former Governer Roscoe (sorry if it's spelled wrong); I was in 7th grade, I think--my little sister won a bumper sticker contest and got a savings bond and a trip to Helena to meet both the governer and lt. governer.

Aaron Tippin (and he's actually really short!!!); he was really nice and every sentence had the word ma'am or sir in it!

"Rico" (WWE)--he was actually shorter than I expected, too--and kinda scrawny--he wasn't much taller than me, and about my size, and I'm 5'6!

Batista (WWE)--he is HUGE!

and Brooks and Dunn (they weren't very nice when I met them) and Lionel Cartwright

and my mom and dad have met all sorts of famous people in Sturgis; Goldberg, Paul Hogan from Crododile Dundee--twice and both times my mom was more fascinated by his iguana than with him--didn't don on her who he was until after she was done touching the lizard (he said ok when she asked him if she could)! and of course many other people, Kid Rock included last year.

[This message has been edited by TK (4/8/2009)]

I've met Lee Greenwood....He was kind of not very nice!!! Go figure. I Also, met Ronnie Milsap and George Strait.

I ran into Jay Buhner at the Sea-Tac airport once. Actually he ran into me spilling my latte. He got me another one. Nice guy.

Other than that George Strait numerous times, Oak Ridge Boys years ago, the Harlem Globetrotters (again years ago), Bill Russell, Dale Ellis Dwayne Casey and various members of the Sonics, Joe B. Hall & perennial NBA trivia question Sam Bowie, Bob Hope in Palm Springs, Lawrence Welk, Alan Jackson.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (4/8/2009)]

How lucky to have met Bob Hope! One of my favorites. I would have loved to have met Red Skelton and Danny Kaye too.

Sadly Kacey it was around 1995 or so when he wasn't in the best of health. He looked pretty frail but he still had a humorous glow about him.

Queensryche
The Flower Kings
The Commitments
Fishbone
Young Dubliners
Little River Band
Chris Duarte
Chris Robinson
Lee Rocker
WC Clark
Rick Derringer
Ansyley Dunbar
Eric Burdon
Larry Coryell
Blue Oyster Cult
John Walton
Robert Earl Keen
Donna Fargo
Chuck Ruff
Meatloaf
Dennis Quaid
Liv Tyler
Rob Quist
Kip Attaway
LA Guns
Seven Dust
Incubus
Night Ranger
CJ Chenier
String Cheese Incident
Leo Kottke
Arlo Guthrie
John Tomac
Ned Overend
Tinker Warez
Dave Weins
Mike Kloser
Sarah Ballentine
Joe Murray
Robert Montgomery
Carl Hastings

My cousin is married to Sal (Chavo) Guerrero. We all had dinner in San Clemente last summer. A very nice guy and extremely handsome. Back in the early 80's I dated Duke Snider's son and we house-sat for Duke and Bev when they went to Florida for spring training. He was the on-the-road announcer for the Expos at the time. It was so cool seeing (and dusting) all of his awards and trophies. Duke had the bluest eyes I've ever seen.

Steve S.: W.C. Clark!? I'm a big W.C. Clark guy, have seen him perform several times. Good guy.

julieinmc: If you ever see Chavo G. again, ask him "Donde esta Pepe?" I think he would laugh...or be embarrassed...one of the two.

[This message has been edited by Bob L. (4/8/2009)]

When my kids were very small we were at the mall in Missoula. We sat for a while in the play area and my kids played with some other kids there. At one point I said hello to the mom of the other toddlers.

We loaded the kids in the van and headed out.

I said to my wife, "You know, that woman looked very familiar. I know I've seen her somewhere before."

"Derf," she said, "that was Andie McDowell."

Several years ago Max Baucus came to church on a Palm Sunday. A really nice guy. Really easy to talk to. It was a very dramatic service--lots of special music. Members of the congregation took turns reading the whole Passion Narrative. We interspersed the readings with hymns. I didn't preach. Great service. Good turnout.

On Tuesday I received a letter under U.S. Senate letterhead. It was signed by Max Baucus. It began, "Reverend Bergman, that was the best sermon I ever heard . . . "

I think it may have been a form letter.

No wonder I don't meet many famous people. I would not recognize them. I only knew 6 names on Steve's list.

About 26 years ago I rode on a plane with Blood, Sweat, and Tears. I was pregnant and they carried my bags. I rode on a flight with Billy Ray Cyrus except he was in first class and I wasn't. My grandpa was IN Lawrence Welk's early band before he was famous. A friend of mine dated Randy Travis.

Valerie Bertinelli's SIL works in our school district (she is a SPED teacher and so am I).

Jackson Browne and Daryl Hannah - was in a liftline at Telluride in front of them - they're both were very nice, she looks very plain but still pretty without makeup, no star attitude from either one.

Elton John - 1973 or 74 in Fort Collins the night before a Rolling Stones concert at Ram Stadium. We watched JAWS, which had just been released, in the same movie theater. He didn't share his popcorn.

Dr. Ruth - literally bumped into her (she is SO short) and her 8 grandchildren getting into a limo outside of a hotel in DC.

Ralph Nader - I had to drive him around Austin for a day. UGH! What an egotistical egomaniacal egocentric egoist. Get the picture?

Keith Carradine - he was alone in the Four Seasons bar - it was SRO so my friend and I invited him to sit at our table. Very nice guy, kind of spacey, and very grizzled - but definitely interesting.

Matthew McConaughey - we used to shop at the same grocery store in Austin. Let me tell you, ladies - he is a SLOB in real life. Every time I saw him I wanted to yell: Go home and take a shower! And no, I wasn't present when he got arrested for disturbing the peace by playing the bongos at 4 a.m. in his backyard - naked.

Denzel Washington, Billy Bob Thornton, Meg Ryan, and various others -just quick hellos or headnods when they were shooting movies on locations that I managed in Austin. Everyone of them smiled and/or said "hi" back except Tommy Lee Jones - but I'd already heard that he's a real horse's butt, so it didn't matter.

Lance Armstrong - his first wife, Kristin, and I were friends in Austin before she met him. She's wonderfully sweet, very smart, and incredibly beautiful. I actually encouraged her to break up with a guy who was treating her crappy (he worked for Trample Crow Company - whaddaya expect???) by telling her she deserved the best man in the world. Next thing I knew, she was engaged to Lance Armstrong, who at the time had "ONLY" won two Tours de France. I met him a couple of times at different functions, but apparently I failed to make a good impression because I didn't get invited to the wedding and fell off of Kristin's X-mas card list when they moved to Italy.

Last but certainly not least, my favorites: Ann Richards and Molly Ivins. Ann was ALWAYS bigger-than-life and kind as could be - if she met you once, she remembered both you AND your kin. And Molly just plain couldn't help being provocative, thoughtful and funny as hell all the time -- even when she was battling cancer at the end.

>>I said to my wife, "You know, that woman looked very familiar. I know I've seen her somewhere before."
>>Derf," she said, "that was Andie McDowell."


: -) Now that is interesting.

She sat down next to me one morning at Butterfly Herbs. We drank coffee and shot the breeze for about a half hour or so. I had no clue she was "somebody." The next morning when I went in for coffee, people were impressed that I knew Andie McDowell - I didn't even know who she was until they explained it to me.

Well, now that I think about it a bit more, there was one other incident. I and some others were in one of the Senate office buildings in DC. While waiting for our next appointment, we were just hanging out by one of the entrances. I saw a burly looking guy in a black suit come around the corner with one of those earpiece things that secret service guys wear. My next thought was, hmmm something bad is going down. My second thought was that the woman that followed the first black suit and walked directly ahead of another suit looked awfully familiar. My third thought was that the woman was Hillary Clinton. By the time this all dawned on me she was on an elevator and gone. This all occurred in about 6 seconds.

The way the whole thing was set up, I could have literally stuck my foot out and tripped Hillary. I have often wondered what would happen to a poor schmuck like me if he did something like that. May have been the last anyone ever saw of me.

The other thing that still gets me is how quick she and two secret service men made it from the door to the elevator. No wasted motion at all.

The other thing that occurred to me, is how would you like to live that life? Never making a move without an escort or preplanning it.

This reply is kind of like a novel that has several plots that all come together at the end (at least that is my hope.)

I used to fly a lot for business and would fly many times out of Reginia, depending on my destination, as it is not much farther from here than Billings and my cousin and his family lived there. My cousin, Gordie, is an RCMP (Mountie) and he would usually take me to the airport on his way to work. Gordie was in white collar crime so he usually went to work in a suit but this day there was something special going on so he is in the red dress uniform with the tall boots and big hat. Even the native would turn and look at him as we went thru the airport.

Now for the next plot. At that time there was a large country-western concert north of Reginia as a fund raiser for a group home. They started one evening and went non-stop for (I think) thirty-six hours. When Gordie and I went to the airport that morning all of the first night's entertainers were in the airport awaiting flights out and I don't remember who all was there (didn't even recognize them at that time) but I certainly recognized Johnny and June Carter Cash, Charlie Daniels, and Eddie Rabbit. Reginia wasn't that large of airport at the time so once thru security we were all pretty much thrown together in the waiting room.

This is where I try to pull it all together. Gordie had said he would go with me to security and then he would leave for the office. When we to the metal detector I turned to shake his hand but instead he grabbed me by the lapels, shoved me against the wall, and then started to lecture he in a very loud voice about my behavior in Reginia and that he didn't ever want to see me again in town. He used some decently graphic terms and then whirled and left. I turned to go thru a very suspicious security (they were very thorough) and then into a waiting room that was very wary of me. Instead of meeting famous people they were all running away from me.

I would say that they seemed very nice to the other people in the waiting room, visiting and signing autographs. June Carter Cash seemed to be the friendliest of all and in fact she and her husband did say hello to me. Perhaps Johnny had had the same experience in his life.

When I got back to Reginia I asked Gordie what the idea was and he said a friend had done it to him one. He was getting on the bus to go somewhere and his friend (also a Mountie in their normal street uniform) had delivered him to the bus. Just as Gordie went to get on the bus his friend did about the same to him (only more violent and graphic) and then left. When Gordie later complained to him he said, "You had a seat all to yourself, didn't you?" Gordie did later admit that he thought after he left me that maybe he shouldn't have done it right in front of airline security.

Back in the day (1970's) I was a country DJ at a Seattle radio station. At that time the station brought the country "superstars" to the Seattle Opera House on the average of once a month. I had the run of the backstage, dressing rooms, and the artists' busses and met them at motels and barrooms. So during those times I interviewed: Bill Anderson, Waylon Jennings, Dottie West, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, "Festus" (of "Gunsmoke"), Granpa Jones, Tom T. Hall, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Porter Waggoner, Faron Young, Dave Dudley, Susan Raye, Charley Pride, Slim Whitman, Johnny Duncan, Rusty Draper, Buck Owens, Ben Colder (AKA Sheb Wooley), The Duke of Paducah, Merle Haggard, Don Bowman, Jim Ed Brown, Donna Fargo, Roy Rogers, Tommy Overstreet, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Freddy Hart, Jeannie C. Riley, Roy Clark, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, and The Statler Brothers.

Spent an afternoon at the Seattle Opera House with Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, and Billy Eckstein. Gave a 22"X30" poster I drew of the "Laugh-In" cast to Rowan and Martin at Sea-Tac Airport. Talked with Woody Herman. And interviewed "Lonesome" George Gobel, also Donald O'connor (from the MGM movie years).

Boy, I'll bet whoever STARTED this thread is having second-thoughts! Ha! Ha! Really, Folks, it doesn't matter who you meet.....just who you are...and we're ALL somebody!!!

GEEZE! How could I have forgotten MARTY ROBBINS, one of my most favorite interviews, lots of fun. And Sonny James.

I forgot to mention that I did the interviews as "The Old Timer" or "Grampa" (SO original)! As that character, I would generally mess-up their names ("Polly Parsons" for Dolly Parton, etc.) thusly getting the folks in a more relaxed and jovial mood. And I got so much more out of the interviews that way. What was interesting was that generally the men usually responded to me as "the old-timer" and the ladies called me "granpa." My fascination was approaching them as a young man and having them almost immediately shift into the realm of speaking with an OLD-man. Onward!

Gene,
You forgot your most recent (LILA)...Ha Ha

I have had drinks with Noah Beery in Ca. ( Shell Beach)

Jonathan Winters (performed as our D.I.) for Bootcamp Graduation (San Diego, Ca.)

Chuck Norris ( Annandale, Va.) Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do Institute.

Willie Nelson At the concert here in town.

Saw John Wayne at the Range Riders Museum. mid 1970's. Here in town.

I saw Baxter Black in the Denver Airport once .

I shook hands with Max Baucus and I think Conrad Burns when I went to Washington DC on a 4-H trip in high school. Then-president George H. W. Bush also waved in my general direction through the window of his limo on the same trip.

Not a very impressive list. I lived in California for 10 years and never met one celebrity.

I know the flack's going to come on heavy with this one but I met with and got a book autographed by........Sean Hannity.

*waiting for jibes to commence*

When I was stationed in Washington DC in 1970, I was one of 112 military personel invited to the White House. Got to meet Pres. Nixon, Mrs. Nixon, Mamie Eisenhouer and Tricia Nixon. Along with that we had Thanksgiving Dinner and attended a show. Really nice experience. Got to meet Ferlin Husky at the Airport in Minot. Charlie Pride in L.A. airport. Martin Luther King III on a plane. Flash Cadilac from the American Graffiti movie. Sawyer Brown backstage at a concert.

Gene,
I knew you had a history with celebrities. Thank you for sharing some of your past. As for everyone else, it's really interesting to hear about how those of us from small town Miles City have been around the country and met so many famous people.

Many, many, many. After leaving North Dakota when I was about 4 or 5 we moved to Carmel, California where I grew up. Mom was a music teacher and into the Jazz scene, grandma worked at Cypress Point Club. We knew several celebs and met and entertained many more. I think I could write a short book about some of them.

Most memorable:

1. We were good friends with Kim Novak when I was little. Mom, Kim and another friend were drinking wine and I was playing on Kim's private beach, I got drenched and cold, they got tippy. We all crashed at Kim's place on the seashore, me naked on her polar bear rug in front of the fireplace after drinking hot chocolate.

2. At Cypress Point Club grandma was the resident housekeeper. The Club has a resident chef, caretaker/concierge, and housekeeper. I stayed with grandma many weekend and got to meet the guests. The other workers took me under their wing and treated me like a member. One weekend the Crosby's were staying and Bing asked me to join him in the kitchen for breakfast. We sat at the employee table in the back of the kitchen and shared fresh squeezed orange juice, toasted sourdough bread with butter and orange marmalade, and a few slices of bacon. We sang a short tune to me afterwards and I was a happy little kid.

3. My best friends dad was buddies with several Oakland Raiders in the early '70's and they would show up and party at his place. Before things got too wild us kids would wrestle with them and they would pick us up and spin us over their head, etc. As they got more lively we would be sent back to our apartment to watch TV. I recall going back over one morning to see a door broken down, a window broken, holes in the wall, and piles of beer cans and bottles all over along with hung over along with a few guys and their companions. GO RAIDERS!

Vince Flynn (NY Times Best Seller and political suspense writer and consultant for the TV show 24 and Twin Cities resident) owns a cabin next to one we house sat for friends one summer on Deer Lake near St Croix Falls, Wisconsin. Vince and his family and friends would party every night until 2 to 3 a.m. and be up again by 6 a.m. every night we spent at the cabin. He was nice enough but very superficial. He saw me weekends throughout the summer (the cabins were 10 feet apart and we were outside a lot of course), then he was clueless at to who I was when he saw me 2 months later at his book signing. I would have thought I'd at least look slightly familiar to him. Kirby Pucket (a famous MN Twin baseball player) lived on the same lake, just across from our friend's cabin (this was in 2005, the summer before he passed away). We saw him on his dock getting out of his boat one day as we paddled by in our canoe. The Deer Lake folks never had anything bad to say about him and his lake house was relatively modest.

In 2005 we were flying to LA on our way to our honeymoon in Tahiti. I was the second person on the plane and had to wait while a short guy in first class was trying to shove a very overpacked red suitcase into the overhead bin right above MY coach seat (right behind first class). The flight attendant tried to help him but he politely declined and finally got it wedged in there. As we walked past, my husband said "do you know who that is?!" I replied that it was some stupid person not smart enough to check his bag and who took up my overhead space. It turns out it was Henry Winkler (the Fonz). We watched as people boarded the plane and realized who he was when they walked by him. It was pretty funny to see people's reactions. One lady whispered loudly "he looks so old". The guy was nearly 60 in '05 and I thought he looked great for his age (and she looked old herself!). When we landed, I saw another lady pull out the red bag Henry had stowed for her. He pulled out a slim hanging bag from over his seat, so it turns out he had been helping someone else by shoving the bag in the overhead for her. I'm not sure why he had been in the Twin Cities but he was traveling alone. When we landed, we coincidentally followed him past luggage claim and watch him head to the parking garage, with no limos or entourage in site. People didn't really bug him once the plane was loaded and he seemed like a nice and unassuming guy.

Reba
Willie Nelson (got to drive his golf cart in AZ)
Brook & Dunn
Alan Jackson
Kurt Cobain
Courtney Love
Axel Rose
Anthony Keites
Flea
Chris Cornell
Stone Gossart
Eddie Vetter
Duran Duran
Metal Church (actually toured with them and sold merch)
3 Inches of Blood
Geoff Tate
Hank Williams III
Dave Mustane (was friends with his wife Pan in AZ)
Metallica (worked private party for them and GNR in AZ)
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourn
Huey Lewis
Pepper Keenan (from Corrosion of Conformity and Down)He knows my kids names by heart
Static X
Ted Nugent
Paul Stanley
Bret Michaels
Rick Springfield
Jared Leto
Annie Leibovitz (a book signing at UW she is the only person that I had to meet before I died) She even personalized my book because I stayed and was the last person in line.

Alot were from when I was working the private parties at concerts in AZ at all the venues.

Then when I met and toured with Metal Church meeting the bands that they toured with and then still being friends with them and going to shows that they are invited to.

May 15th I am meeting Taylor Swift!!

A couple years ago, we were at the drag races in Denver. We got to meet John Force, Ashley Force, Robert Hight, Ron Capps, Del Worsham, Angelle Sampey, and my favorite, Jack Beckman!
On our last day there, we were having breakfast, and in walks John Medlen, Austin Coil, Bernie Federly, and Jimmy Prock, crew chiefs for John Force racing! We were so excited to see them, we bought their breakfast! Really nice guys!

I shook hands with the mayor of Miles City, Montana, one time and it wasn't even election season.

I noticed that you didn't mention that you once sat with Steve Balmer, David. Is this because you don't wish to admit that you sat next to this guy:





[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (4/9/2009)]

There was a guy ( I think his name was Robert Hamilton)that came to an all school assembly who was doing a pony express ride across the United States as part of the Bi-centennial celebration in 1976. At the time I thought it would be cool to get his autograph. I figured he would end up being rather famous. He ended up in the Prairie County jail on charges of public drunkenness.

I would like to meet some of the personalities that post here at MC.com. I'd like to see if I can make Kasey smile, play guitar with Tucker, give Bob L and Brian R a "nooggie", see if derf is made of foam rubber and have a beer with Hal, Rick and Gunnar (maybe not all at the same time. ).

Life is really short and we need to make the most of the "everyday friends" we have in life. While it is cool to meet the "famous" in our society, some of the "richest" people live right next door.

Harry Carson (HOF LB NY Giants)
Tiki Barber
Contrad Burns
Pat Williams
and been around or near a lot others.

Richard,
What are we going to do that will make me smile?

As a side note to this conversation, one thing about living in Montana, or any low population state, is that at one time or another you will have the opportunity to gain personal access to your elected officials should you choose to use it. I am no one special, but I have either spent time with or met Racicot, Judy Martz, Baucus, Rehberg, Burns, and Tester.

In terms of senators or governors, how many people from New York or California can say the same thing?

OK - I'll play along

Joe Frazier
Marvin Hagler
Harry Caray
Buddy Guy - bought him a beer at his bar in Chicago

That's it.

Ricardo, if I ever see you in MC, I'll send you a beer...

Stan Getz
Lynn Redgrave

In 1983 or 1984 I ran in to Jimmy Buffet in a bar up paradise canyon at immigrant, he was drinking and so was I. I said to him "I really love your music, I'm a big fan" he responded with a "who gives a sh*t" and left the bar.

Next time I see a famous person I think I'll just ignore it.

When I saw this thread, I decided to list some famous people I've met just for myself and not post it. After putting the list together, I figured I would go ahead and post. Like was mentioned earlier, it is interesting to see folks from a small town in Montana go on and meet famous (and infamous) people during their lifetimes.

Tommy Lasorda in a restaurant in Greer, SC
Mark Raciot was next door neighbor of my cousin in Helena - met him at her daughter's wedding
Judy Martz
Dennis (?) Rehberg
Phil Gramm
Alan Keyes
Marilyn Quayle
Mark Sanford, Governor of SC
William Beasley - former Governor of SC
David Wilkins - former US Ambassador to Canada
Carl B. Stokes - On an elevator with him - he was the former Mayor of Cleveland OH and the first black mayor of a major American city
James A. Rhodes - former Governor of OH
On a plane with Temptations last fall - Denver to DFW
Steve Thomas - This Old House, PBS
Dave Ramsey - Total Money Makeover
Grandpa Jones
Dave Brubeck
John Derek
Gene Autry
Eric Braeden of The Young & Restless - was a student at the University of Montana in 1959

And, last, but not least, Jim Brady - yes he is really who he says he is!

My daughter who is a flight attendant has met lots of famous people. In fact was in a commercial for American Airlines which was shown in the UK. Famous person in that commercial with her was James Gandolfini aka Tony Soprano. She had a lot of fun filming the commercial and thought he was very personable.

Another famous person she met personally was Michael Bloomberg when she was requested to attend a meet and greet in NYC with American Airlines. Also on another flight were Terry Bradshaw and Joe Namath. They autographed napkins for her dad.

"In 1983 or 1984 I ran in to Jimmy Buffet in a bar up paradise canyon at immigrant, he was drinking and so was I. I said to him "I really love your music, I'm a big fan" he responded with a "who gives a sh*t" and left the bar."

And now you have a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.

"A couple years ago, we were at the drag races in Denver. We got to meet John Force, Ashley Force, Robert Hight, Ron Capps, Del Worsham, Angelle Sampey, and my favorite, Jack Beckman!
On our last day there, we were having breakfast, and in walks John Medlen, Austin Coil, Bernie Federly, and Jimmy Prock, crew chiefs for John Force racing! We were so excited to see them, we bought their breakfast! Really nice guys!"
Hey Keri-did you tell the JFR guys that "Fast Jack" Beckman from the Shumaker racing stable was your favorite driver? At least you didn't name Whit Bazemore as your fav-Austin mighta swallowed his toothpick.
In 1978 at the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona,Ca.,I met Warren Johnson,multiple time NHRA Pro Stock champion.After lashing the valves,he was timing the motor.He asked me if I would watch the tach and tell him when it was at 4,000 RPM.After he adjusted the timing,he snapped the throttles wide open for a split second.The telltale on the tach showed 9700 RPM.No way to describe it.After he shut the motor down we talked for 10-15 minutes.The "Professor" is one cool cat.If you're not a gearhead,it wouldn't be a big thing,but to me........

I don't recognize a single name in your list, Ken. Something to do with cars?

[This message has been edited by Wendy Wilson (4/11/2009)]

President Obama
Hillary Clinton
Ted Kennedy
Joe Leiberman
Conrad, Max, Tester, Denny
James Carville
Ron Paul
Herschel Walker
Boog Powell
Michael Keaton
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
3 of the original Tuskegee Airman
Dennis Erickson
Michael Buffer (in MC)
Dave Mcnally

Chuck Schott,
Red Lodge group is trying to get Jimmy Buffett for a concert next summer for a fund raiser. I bet you're going to go!

Yes,Wendy-cars as in National Hot Rod Association[NHRA]drag racing.[See Keri's post above]NHRA doesn't have near the fanbase as NASCAR but quite a few folks have heard of John Force.Besides driving his nitro-burning funnycar to 14 world titles,John,his wife and three drag racing daughters had a reality series called "Driving Force" on TV a few years ago.His oldest daughter Ashley also drives one of his funnycars-an 8000 horsepower monster that goes from a standing start to 320 mph in 1000 feet in less than 4 seconds.Ashley was also voted "Sport's hottest female",beating out Danica Patrick and that blonde knockout model/tennis player[can't remember her name].

Gov Tom Judge - MT many, many years ago
Alfonso Rebeiro (Silver Spoons) night club in HI. There was another guy with him that played on Magnum PI, I have pictures with both, but don't remember his name. . . and no, it wasn't Tom Selleck.
Warren Moon brought a friend to the ER in Seattle where I was working - before he went to Houston. Very nice
Sam Elliott - sat a couple rows in front of him on a small plane from Columbus GA to Atlanta. Sexiest voice in the world.
Toby Keith & his Band - escorted them for a day on a USO tour in Macedonia. All very nice. TK has HUGE biceps!
Ray Floyd and ChiChi Rodriguez - followed them around during Senior Open tournament in San Antonio
Julie Inkster - saw her in Atlanta when she was meeting her daughters at the airport
Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison - rode on same plane twice in one week - very friendly
Brad Keselowski - attended a re-enlistment ceremony for my brother at a Busch race in Memphis. Sharp dresser, but thin. Guess you have to be to fit behind the wheel in some of those race cars.

[This message has been edited by Barb Holcomb (5/1/2009)]

Most of the 2000 Green Bay Packers (while covering a GB-Indy game at Lambeau for the Winona Daily News)

NFL Hall of Fame kicker (and MSU graduate) Jan Stenerud

Hey Ken- No way did I mention that "Fast Jack" was my favorite! Didn't want them to choke on breakfast!