I was on the lookout for celebrities. Perhaps the fact that we were about an hour east of LA proper had a mitigating effect on the number of famous faces in the immediate vicinity. My only celebrity to begin with was my semi-famous brother, stand-up comic, song writer, speech professor, and erstwhile bachelor, John Pate.
Here I am dwarfed by the magnificent palm trees -- still trying to attract celebs.
Well, finally at John's wedding I bagged a celebrity. Here I am with Dick Hardwick and his lovely wife Claudia. Dick regularly opens for Reba McEntire and Johnny Mathis. (See his web site by clicking here.) Dick also wrote the music for John's hit song "One Day When You Swing That Skillet, My Face Ain't Gonna Be There", and in a move questioned by some, he and John sang it at the wedding reception.
Finally, here is the whole reason for me being in Southern California -- a shot of the lovely couple, John and Sarah. (Couldn't quite convince them to hold the "Rick and Bubba Hollywood" sign in this shot.) John is a happy man as you can see here, and Sarah is a delightful lady. I know they'll be very happy in their marriage. (Sarah was "thrilled" that I had announced their wedding on the show before our trip out to California.)
Even though I didn't get the "Rick and Bubba Hollywood" sign in the hands of any top celebrities on the wedding trip, John was nice enough to send me this photo of his and Sarah's visit to the Tonight Show where John introduced his wife-to-be to Jay Leno. Jay could not make it to the wedding, but he called and left a phone message of good wishes for John and Sarah. (Now what I want to see is the photo of Don Juan and Casio with Jay at the gas station.)
Page created May 22, 2002 and modified July 4, 2002 by Jim Pate. "Stay in it!"
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