Famemonosity Continued...

Well, I've thought of more famous people that I've either met or saw in person...

• The guy who plays the very evil, never dying, Stefano Dimiro on "Days of Our Lives" at the Ocilla Sweet Potato Festival;


• The Bee Gees on their last world tour. I was 27 years old and married and went with a couple of girlfriends. I cannot believe it, but I screamed and cried just like a teenage groupie. It was just so fantastic seeing them in person;


• Diamond Rio at Wild Adventures in Valdosta;


• Chicago in Jacksonville;


• Simon and Garfunkle in Atlanta. I took Corey for his birthday present and it was one of the most fantastic concerts I've ever been to;


• Elton John in Albany. I took Corey for his 18th birthday present and had made arrangements with Sir Elton's manager for him to sing "Happy Birthday" to Corey as a surprise. However, he called a few days before the concert and said it wouldn't be possible because then it might become a problem having to honor other requests. Sorry Corey, but I tried.


• I dated one of the members of the rock group "The Young Rascals" back in the early 70's. Even looking at this picture, I can't recall which guy it was.


• When I was young and we were living in Virginia, I remember meeting, and spending time at their homes, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter and Gordon Cooper's homes;
  
• Saw Jimmy Carter when he was running for President.


• I have met many, many general authorities also including President Harold B. Lee and President Gordon B. Hinckley; and
  
• I also met and had lunch with Presidential candidate John McCain. I was living in Jacksonville at the time working for a Ford dealership. The Vietnam War was coming to an end and the prisoners of war had been released. Ford was giving each POW a new car to drive upon their return. John McCain was one of the returned POW's and my boss took me to lunch with John McCain to make the arrangments for his car.

You Saw Who!?! a/k/a my brush with famemonosity

Okay, Nancy threw out the challenge for us on one of her latest blogs to 'fess up on famous people we've met in one way or another. So, I will attempt to delve into the deep recesses of my brain and see who I can recall. I will also name bands/singers I've seen in concert.

Henry Winkler - actor (The Fonz on Happy Days). Joe and I saw him while we were waiting for our plane in LAX, California in August of 2007. We were eating lunch at the California Pizza and he came walking towards and then past me. I saw him coming, told Joe, but decided not to accost the poor man and just said hello. But, as soon as he passed, I was on the phone calling everyone I could think to call.

Lou Rawls - singer ("You'll Never Find A Love Like Mine") I was at a child care conference in north Georgia in 2006. I had been taking things out to my car and a very nice man wearing a cap and holding a small dog held the door open for me. I thanked him and in his unmistakable voice he said I was welcome. He had such a distinctive voice and I knew immediately who he was. I got on the elevator with him, but never acknowledged that I knew who he was.

I met Tina Cole and Don Grady at church girl's conference in Provo, Utah when I was 17 years old in 1970. I had been selected as "Youth of the Year" for the entire Florida Mission and selected to attend this conference for girls all over the United States.

They used to be on the television show "My Three Sons" with Fred McMurray.

This is a picture of me with Joe Frank Harris in 1990 who was the governor of Georgia at this time. He came to Tifton to deliver some speech at the Chamber of Commerce and my office was right next door, so I got to meet him.

Jimmy and I saw Barry Manilow in concert in Atlanta one weekend in the middle 70's. It was in a very small venue so it was very intimate in that he interacted with the audience often.

My biggest claim to meeting fame was in 1971 when we lived in New Jersey. My best friend, Ericka (Ricki) MacPherson was the girlfriend of Jay Osmond. When The Osmonds were coming to Philadelphia for a concert, she and I went and met the entire family and spent time in their hotel room. In fact, we'd even gone a couple of days prior to pick up a birthday gift Ricki had gotten for Marie. We went to the concert and then came back to The Osmonds room afterwards.

The Naked Cowboy

I was watching CNN News today and all of the sudden my ears perked up and I recognized an old "friend" being talked about on TV. Apparently he'd won a suit again Mars, Inc. who makes M&M's. It was The Naked Cowboy. He was upset that M&M's had been using a likeness of him in their ads and he didn't like it.

In November of 2002, I went to New York City to do a childcare provider training. While exploring Times Square, I saw people running towards something and there was a big commotion. Though I tried to pretend to not be curious, I slowly raced to where the group of people came to a dead stop. Then I saw him - The Naked Cowboy. Here was a guy standing in the middle of Times Square in his whitie tighties with snowflakes falling down around him. There he was wearing his cowboy hat and boots and playing the guitar in his underwear. And the police were driving around watching him, but not arresting him. He would pose for pictures and people would drop money into his boots which meant you had to bend down to donate money. Talk about up close and personal! Only in New York!!

Dear Diary (excepts from my old diaries)

January 26, 1966

Dear Diary, I wore hoses for the first time. In the end I had a run in one.

(Boy have times changed. Pantyhose was one of the greatest inventions since sliced bread. No more having to wear a garter belt and attach the nylons while bent over in some grotesque shape, sweating cause we had no air conditioning. Now even pantyhose hardly get worn anymore).

March 4, 1969

Dear Diary, So many things happened today. Most important is that I got my driver's license. The test was really easy but boy was I scared.

March 9, 1969

Dear Diary, Elder Sterling W. Sill was at conference today to dedicate the chapel in Pensacola. He is really a good speaker. The poor man though, he was feeling sick today and had a case of nausea. He had to excuse himself when talking in the first session and in second session, he didn't even come back he was so sick. The thing about it is that he was going to Birmingham, Alabama to a conference later this afternoon. I got his autograph, shook his hand and talked to him.