Dateline: Lake St. Clair, Michigan, USA
Imagine this, for 20-25 years most of the people I met while doing my job as an investigative reporter wanted to:
A: Beat the hell out of me.
B: Sue me.
C: Subpoena me.
D: Run away from me
E: Beat the hell out of me.
True story, on my desk was a log book, I used it to log phone calls…death threat phone calls, I went through 2 of those books.
I met a source one time in a certain Manhattan alley by a dumpster because they had a Polaroid photo that would break a story open, sat on the hood of a rental car in the middle of the Everglades at night waiting for a car to pull up and hand out evidence from the window, was advised one time by the Feds that if I was going to go to a specific town to do a mob story that it would be “safer” if I flew into a different city far away and drive to the meeting because, “certain folks may be waiting for you at baggage claim.”
Scroll up to A, B, C, D, E…
Now to be honest I was paid a lot to do it, I was surrounded by folks committed to doing it and who were the best at this gig, and the crown in my eyes for putting up with A, B, C, D & E was winning The New York Festival World Medal for Investigative Journalism.
I tell you this for one reason…I’m a flat out kid in a candy story at every B.A.S.S. registration…just ask the B.A.S.S. workers around me how much I love “Reg” because I get to do one thing I cherish…
…shake the hand, hands, of all those who come through the registration line, ask each and every person their name, where they are from, and what they do, we laugh, sometimes we hug, I get to meet all walks of life, all races, all creeds, one handshake at a time.
I’m meeting 100 or so Americans 12 to 15 Wednesdays a year.
And counting Wednesday, so far this year I’ve had the privilege of shaking 900 hands.
All very cool people, none so far coming even close to A, B, C. D. E’ing me, but yesterday, I have to tell you, Wednesday was extraordinary.
Normally this gig blurb thing focuses on 1 person but yesterday 3 people in line blew my mind when I asked the question: “So what do you do…”
“I tested corvettes at the GM Proving Grounds.”
Meet Karen Howe, BTW this is the exact moment she got the txt that she would be Randy Howell’s Marshal…
“For 20 years I got to drive all the prototype cars, the ones all wrapped in paper or camouflage so you can’t take photos of them and figure what kind of new car design it was, and I mainly did the Corvettes.”
I’m a car guy, a muscle car guy, a corvette car guy.
“I used to love to take them on the straightaway when other drivers didn’t want to, I would sit at the line wait for the signal then just floor it, rip through those gears, just jamming them and flying, loved it, loved the air flowing through my hair, loved the pressure being forced into the seat as the car took off, you know what, the best thing was you could drive those bas*ards a whole lot harder than you would rive your own car which was a blast.”
After two decades of that Karen was moved over to be a test driver for, “…the big rigs, drove the 18-wheelers around, loved that, in my heart I’m a truck gal.”
It was a decade for her behind the big wheels and then after 30 years with General Motors, “I retired, called it quits, wanted to spend more time fishing.”
“I build guitars for rock stars”
Meet Ken Meyer…
Ken is a retired Michigan firefighter…and an amazing guitar builder…check this out…
That’s Rob Zombie on stage, see the guitar he is playing, here it is up close…
“It took me 3 years to build that, it’s all hand carved wood, my father taught me how to do that, it’s actually 3-dimensional and oh, BTW, the eyes, they’re red lasers so when he is playing it lasers come out of the eyes.
“I’ve made other guitars, made one for Arnold Palmer that had a painting of him and his father on the back, he loved it when I gave it to him, also Paul for the rock band, KISS plays my guitar.”
Now while all that is pretty cool, this was the one quote I wrote down and circled:
“Why do I do it, don’t do it for the money or the fame, I just love going to a concert and watching an auditorium or stadium full of people, 30-40,000 fans listening to the music coming out of an instrument I made with my own two hands, it gives me the chills.”
I’m pretty sure whoever the dude was that tuned Beethoven’s piano…felt the same way.
“I’ve ref’d three NCAA Final Four Basketball Tournaments.”
Meet Terry Wymar:
Here’s Terry in an action photo:
Now dig this, watch this clip, https://youtu.be/EMHoGRp1QrE?t=1m59s it’s of last year’s NCAA Championship game and the game winning shot with only a few seconds left…look close, that ref under the basket where the shot went, yep…that’s Terry.
“I ref in the Big 10, the ACC, the SEC and the Big 12, been doing it now for 29 years, work about 85 games a year, will be heading soon to Hawaii for the Maui Tournament.”
When not ref’ing Terry owns his own business in North Baltimore, OH, today, and I LOVE this…this is who Terry will be Ref’ing:
Yep…and Terry thought a buzzer-beater shot was exciting…just you wait dude…
So in 29 year’s on the NCAA court, “it’s amazing how much stronger, how much faster, how athletic these guys are now, taking nothing from the players back then but these guys fly, it’s just wow.”
To the 900-plus people whose hands I’ve shaken this year, to the couple thousand of folks who throughout the years I’ve have the honor and privilege to meet I want to say, simply, Thank You.
Down the road when I come off the road for good I may remember a few games, may remember a few of those A, B, C. D. E’s, may remember a few athletes but I will never forget the hour and a half at “reg” where I’m allowed to stand in line and greet you.
To be honest many feel like this country is pretty messed up right now and I don’t blame them for feeling that way, I would be one of them too, except I actually feel good about our nation because I’m meeting it one handshake at a time.
I invite you, if you have the chance, come stand in line with me, come shake the hands with me, come hear the stories.
God bless America.
And God Bless All Of You Cool Folks In Line.
Thank You,
db