CAC Benevolent Fund

BWC 2004

NOTE ... This week, Dylan Everage will undergo his 54th operation in his short 8-year life ... Please remember him in your prayers. Get well soon my little friend--Percival

When I last left you, I had gone to Lynchburg, Virginia to celebrate my granddaughter's first birthday. The trip was long, a little over 625 miles, and sometimes made me wonder why I was so far away from my daughter, Teri, her hubby Steve and Keelie.

Following a wonderful two days with them, I hit the road at roughly 9:30 in the morning and headed west on Virginia 460 towards Interstate 81, some 40 miles away. I had some of my favorite CD's in the car and was listening to the great songs that meant a lot to me growing up. Some of my favorite music is Gospel, and I am gathering more into my collection each week.

I exited off 460 onto I-81 and headed south towards Shawsville, just 32 miles to the south. The miles just clicked away as the music was gently soaking every inch of the inside of my car. I thought of all the fun I was going to have today at Boogies Wrestling Camp.

After leaving the expressway, I headed east again to Alleghany Springs Road and began the beautiful drive on a quaint country road towards Angel and Jimmy Valiant's home and Wrestling Camp. As I turned into the drive and headed up the edge of the mountain top to the parking area, I passed the Boogie Station Wagon, the Valiant Brothers Stretch Limo, The Boogie Buggy and the Boogie Hog that are all on display in the front of the complex.

Two students that had come up from North Carolina met me, and we chatted a few minutes before the door at Boogie's home opened, and out came Boogie and Angel. Boogie had just returned from a three-day trip to Mississippi and had been up for nearly 24 hours.

I gave them part of the gifts that I had brought down from Ohio for them to enjoy and carried the rest to the ring area for later. As always, it was great to see both of them again. It had been since last summer since I was in Boogie's camp, and we had a lot to talk about today.

One by one, the students came into the arena area, and some fans came by to watch the action as the students trained. The action began by warming up, taking huge arm drags and body slams followed by drop kicks and other flying antics.

For nearly two hours of solid action, these young people were non-stop in learning. They made me sore by just watching some of the bumps they were taking. The instructors were some of the students from the class of 2003, and all remembered my visit from last summer. You are only a stranger ONCE at BWC.

At the break time, Boogie took the floor to talk to everyone about the events that were coming up shortly with the promotions that the students would be involved in. He also spoke about the addition of a television program that would be produced in the BWC arena. He then took the attention of all the students by introducing me to the class of 2004.

He spoke of our nearly 40-year friendship and the early years when we first met while he and I were in the Great Lakes area for Big Time Wrestling. He then told the class of 2004 that I would be graduating with them in September and that I would be getting my "Doctorate of Devastation" from BWC, along with Luis Martinez.

I spoke to the class for a few minutes and reminded them of the importance of their training and that, unlike my beginnings, which were on a mat in a health club with a grizzled veteran, they had a nice ring and a beautiful building and instructors to teach them. As most of us were taught the three R's, I told them ... Boogie and I were taught by a different letter. The letter was "L," and it stood for Listen, Look and Learn.

I ended the short speech by wishing them all the best of success and good wishes. It was then that I called Boogie and Angel into the ring to make a special presentation. I began by showing my certificate from the Cauliflower Alley Club to the students and encouraging them to become associated with it. Being a life member, Boogie applauded my efforts and gave a similar talk about how much it meant to him and that, just two years ago, he was inducted into the CAC Hall of Fame. Then, he let everybody know that I would be inducted there as well in less than a month. I was given a standing ovation, and it really made me feel great.

Next, I gave Boogie, for his museum, one of the two pairs of ring trunks I had in my personal collection that belonged to Bobo Brazil. This small act of kindness touched Boogie very hard, as he was good friends with Bobo, too, for a lot of years.

I called Angel to Boogie's side and then talked about another letter, which was my ultimate gift to them that afternoon. It was the letter "V," which, I told, was the 22nd letter of the alphabet. It could stand for Vallen, the name that Boogie wrestled as in his early days, or it could stand for Victory, or it could stand for Valiant, or, in a Roman numeral, it could stand for the number 5 of the decades that Boogie has thrilled audiences all over the world.

I asked that they accept the gift today and think of our friendship often as they look at it in a special place in the White House where they live. It was then that I uncovered the oval shaped glass sun catcher that my uncle Basil had made for them at his estate in Florida. He is retired from a full time career of making beautiful items of pristine glass just like his namesake Louis C. Tiffany almost 100 years ago.

Big smiles were on both of their faces as they looked at the confetti glass, holding it up to the lights in the arena high above the ring. We exchanged hugs and handshakes, and the entire building applauded all of us. What a beautiful day and wonderful memories we made together.

As I took my seat on the ringside bleachers, every one of the students came by to thank me for my kindness. I was then treated to over an hour and a half of ring action as the students grabbed and tossed and flew all over the building, showing me just what they had learned in the few short months they have been training.

At 4 p.m., the session ended, and everybody said their goodbyes and they were gone. So ended another session at BWC. I went to the white house with Boogie, and he gave me the grand tour of his home. I was very impressed with all the pictures and homemade items that were in it. Boogie and Angel have a wonderful talent of decorating and using every available space to its fullest and filling it with beauty.

THANK YOU BOOGIE AND ANGEL for a beautiful day. I will see you in Las Vegas in little over two weeks.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers