A VISIT WITH BOOGIE WOOGIE HANDSOME JIMMY VALIANT
- 06/10/2007 (12:18:24 pm)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
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It seems like weekend after weekend for the last past few months there have been an abundance of wrestlers appearing at autograph sessions all around the country. Thanks to Georgie and her great www.wrestlingfigs.com all of us wrestling aficionados are able to keep current on signings that are held in our neck of the woods. I check her site on a daily basis to see what's going on in the wrestling world. Thank you Georgie for the great job you do keeping us so well informed. So in checking www.wrestlingfigs.com. I noticed that an autograph session was going to take place at a Toyota dealership in Sinking Springs P.A. At the session would be a host of old school legends such as The Patriot, Jimmy Snuka, Nickoli Volkoff, King Kong Bundy, Tony Atlas and one of my all time favorites the Boogie Woogie Man himself Handsome Jimmy Valiant. Well being that Boogie was appearing that sealed the deal for me and yesterday and we headed up to Sinking Springs P.A. which was a good three hour drive for us from NY. After getting lost three times (Map Quest was a bit wrong in directions as they do not include construction and road closures in the directions) we finally found Performance Toyota in Sinking Springs PA. When we got there we were directed to park a little up the street at a furniture store and that a shuttle bus would bring us back to the dealership. We parked, gathered up our wrestling goodies and sure enough the shuttle was right there ready to go. As we arrived back at Toyota there were a series of wrestling matches going on with some local indy guys. I would say probably 150 fans were in attendance watching these matches. I asked where the autograph session was going to be held (which was to begin at 4 pm) and I was directed into the dealership. As we walked in to check it out Jimmy Valiant was at the first table as you walked in and along side him was Virgil. The rest of the wrestlers weren't there yet as the session was due to start at four. Jimmy greeted us with a warm smile and handshake and asked how we have been. The last time we saw Jimmy was at his wrestling camp last year on July 4th weekend which was a complete thrill. At his camp we were treated like royalty and even got a special tour courtesy of Boogie himself. Anyone who has never been to Boogies Camp should absolutely check it out, as you will have a great time. Tons of JV memorabilia along with wrestling memorabilia in general adorn BWC. A treasure trove of stuff! Back at the dealership signing, I had some items I wanted to get autographed and Jimmy took care of that and also posed with me for a photo opt. We chatted for a while about how his camp was doing and also about his Jakks figure which has become very rare as it is a case figure. Yes, I got his figure signed. We also chatted about a proposed Valiant Jakks two pack due out in the future and how growing up I was such a fan of the Valiant Brothers going to monthly shows at the White Plains County Center back in 1974. After chatting for a while with Boogie we headed out to watch some of the matches and waited for the 4 pm session to begin. As the matches ended the four pm, autograph session began and we headed inside to wait on line. We said hello to JV again and went over to Jimmy Snuka who was sitting next to JV. We were greeted by Carol, Jimmy's wife and by Jimmy who signed the 2 items I had. We chatted with Jimmy and Carol for a bit then moved on. After Jimmy was the Patriot who we said hello to but got nothing autographed. After Patriot came Nickoli Volkoff another great legend who I have so many child hood memories of. I had my WWF replica wrestling belt with me which Nickoli autographed last weekend at Wrestling Reunion but the signature smudged. I asked Nickoli to autograph it again which he did and I also asked if he would sign Bepo Mongol which he did too. Nickoli didn't want to take any money from us for the signatures so I purchased a photo and paid him that way. Tony Atlas who arrived a little late due to car trouble came in on the tail end of the session looked great and signed 2 WWE HOF books I had. We chatted with Tony for a bit and then headed out the door. King Kong Bundy and Brutus Beefcake were no shows but that was ok as I got to see four of my childhood heroes yet once again. The whole session drew a few hundred people and it looked like everyone had a great time visiting with the Wrestling Legends of yesteryear.
Ray and Taylor Dutczak of Yonkers NY
P.S. I hope to see some of you guys here:
August 5th - A 65th birthday bash for Handsome Jimmy Valiant will be given by New York promoter Howard Rogofsky, with special guest Jimmy and Johnny Valiant's New York booking agent Evan Ginzburg from 12 - 4 p.m. @ 2916 Alleghany Springs Road Shawsville, VA @ Boogie's Wrestling Camp Hall of Fame Museum in Shawsville, VA. There will be free pizza and cake for everyone. Come celebrate this great day with Boogie and Angel Valliant at BWC.
Thank you Ray for your wonderful and informative reports as usual. I am thrilled that our autograph signings page has brought you so much joy meeting your wrestling legends and heroes.
Georgie [email protected]
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