posted
This weekend I made the five hour treck to Indianapolis to take a class from and meet Ray Chapman. I was pretty darn excited. Drove to Columbus the night before. Got on the road at 5:00 am the next morn. Pretty much burstin at the chance to meet some of the guys that are quickly becoming my hero's. Get there at 8:45, sign in and go to my first class at 9:00 with the Northcoast Signworks guys who are doin some amazin stuff with their Computer router and Artcam. Forgot to turn my phone off and round about 10:15 it rings right in the middle of class. It's my wife. Dagnabbit, I told her I was gonna be in classes all day so I threw her into voicemail figurin she just wanted to leave me a message anyway. 10:30 my first break. Go outside remembering the call and noticed no voicemail. Just then the digital message comes across..." Congratulations, Your going to be a FATHER. Call Me Love Beth" Well folks my jaw dropped wide open then I think the corners of my mouth tried to touch my earlobes. I called back right away and we discussed what I figure was the normal stuff upon getting this kinda news, punctuated with a lot of giggling and excitement. So now the dilemma. Here I am 5 hours away. Paid for 2 classes I'd been looking forward to for several months now and I wanna go celebrate with my wife. However, she knows how important this has been to me considering I haven't shut up about it for 3 months and assures me she'll be there when I get home. Class # 2 with Raymond Chapmand Advanced Design Techniques. I go in sit down and hope I can focus long enough to get something out of the class. Before class starts, low and behold , who walks in but the one and only Gary Anderson. Me being kinda a sign newbie and all Im starting to feel like one of the teenage fan club presidents and wanna rush the stage to maybe get a couple of autographs from the sign gods up front and who knows maybe even a lock of hair that I can make a brush out of so that I just might have some of the same magic. Tragically sad, I know, but what would yo do? Well I behaved myself and made it through the class listening to every word as if it were directions to a secret treasure. Class ended and here's my chance. I can take a few minutes and meet Ray and Gary and... possibly scoop some of the talent out of the air that seems to float around them. But,alas, my thoughts go immediately back to my wife and the five hour trip I'm gonna have to make to get to her. So I bolt. Well I sure hope I get another chance someday. The class was great . It was interesting to be in class with somebody I'm not in the same class with yet. But I'm Never Giving UP.
Bill
-------------------- Bill Jarvis Rookie432@AOL.com
"A customer is someone who deals with you. A GOOD customer is someone who refuses to deal with anyone else." Posts: 81 | From: Cambridge, Ohio, USA | Registered: Oct 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hey there Rookie, i have a similar story that happened to me at my first Letterhead Meet in 1988 in Texas. Raymond Chapman was there and Alton Gilespie, Rick Glauson,and Jeff Cahill. I was a newbie, wanted to meet these guys, all giddie and the first day went good. That night I called my wife from my Hotel room and she told me she was pregnant! I was very excited and found it very hard to focus the next day at the meet. Jeff Cahill dragged me out of my corner and showed me how to do Gold Leaf, He was a great! I was hooked! Then I got a ride to the airport to go home to my wife and we had a very happy homecoming! Hopefully you and others will come back again and agin to meets to share and get into a great network of crazy people known as Letterheads! Congrats Rookie!!
-------------------- Mike Meyer Sign Painter 189 1st Ave n P.O. Box 3 Mazeppa, Mn 55956
We are not selling, we are staying here in Mazeppa....we cannot re-create what we have here....not in another lifetime! SO Here we are!!!!!!!
posted
Bill, you and I had the same feeling about Gary. He drove up from Bloomington to sit in on my class. In addition to that surprise, in walked David Butler and Jay Allen. Trying to get words out of my mouth was really a chore... any words, whether they were intelligent or not. Trying to teach a class on design with the cream of the crop sitting on the back row was the ultimate challenge.
Congratulations on the great news. Come back again next year while we are in Indy and you can show me photos of the new addition.
The three managed to heckle me for most of the two hours, but I loved every minute of it. To know that these great folks took the time to come listen to me, knowing that they already knew more than I ever would, was truly inspiring.
To those in the class, I apologize for the awkwardness of the presentation, but you will have to understand the pressure that I was under.
To add to the magic of the weekend, I got to travel down to Bloomington to spend a few days with Gary in his shop and then over to Nashville to view all the masterpieces in his gallery of work there. There is no way to describe what his work means to me. He is one of a kind.
And thank you for the very nice words, Bill.
[ April 30, 2003, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: Raymond Chapman ]
-------------------- Chapman Sign Studio Temple, Texas chapmanstudio@sbcglobal.net Posts: 6306 | From: Temple, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
But I'm Never Giving UP.
Printer-friendly view of this topic