The Holmsey Blog

When I was a youngster, I loved spending what seemed like hours, looking through the family encyclopedia set.  It even started before I could read.  I enjoyed looking at all the photos, charts, and graphs.  I remember stumbling upon a page with a real nice photo of a man, with a banner above the photo featuring the man’s name.  I recall asking my Mom, “Who’s this man?”  Mom replied that he used to be the President of the United States.  With this new knowledge, I kept scanning through all the volumes of our encyclopedia set and I kept finding more Presidents.  “Here’s another one!”, “And another!” I would bring them to my Mom’s attention with each and every President I found.  This discovery leads to one of my earliest passions as a youngster, learning about the U.S. Presidents.  With Mom’s help and our trusty family encyclopedia set, I eventually learned all the U.S. Presidents in order by the time I was in 1^st – 2^nd grade. 

I also recall my Dad showing me a chart in the encyclopedia about all the ranks in the U.S. Army.  I also remember reading about Ben Franklin and all that he accomplished in his lifetime.  As I grew older I use to look at the encyclopedias at school  and at the public library.  These volumes were so much nicer than what we had at home.  So many more glossy photos and more spectacular text than what we had at home, although I still loved what we had at home.

In today’s world with the internet, Google, and Wikipedia at our fingertips, most folks don’t use the “old fashion” book version of the encyclopedia anymore.  I was shocked to find out that most of the encyclopedias that were around for years are no longer being printed.  Collier’s and Funk & Wagnalls ended printing their encyclopedias in 1997.  Arguably one of the best encyclopedia sets was the Encyclopedia Britannica which published its final print edition in 2010.  They now provide a subscription online encyclopedia service.  From my research, the only available print version of a traditional encyclopedia set is World Book Encyclopedia.  As it turns out, the World Book Encyclopedia was the set I recall enjoying at school and the public libraries with all the great glossy photos.  Well, I did something in 2021 that I’m sure very few individuals have done in many years.  Can you guess?????

 

That’s right…….I purchased a brand new World Book Encyclopedia set.  Specifically I bought the 2019 World Book Encyclopedia set.  In 2021, the 2019 was discounted to be less than 50% of the retail price.  A pretty good discount, so I made the purchase.  When it arrived it was so cool looking through all the volumes and all the glossy photos I remember so well.  I had to thin out some of my older books, to fit the entire set on my bookshelf, but it was a thrill having my own set of encyclopedias for the first time in my life. 

 

That’s not where this little nostalgic trip down memory lane ends.  After enjoying my new World Book set, I got to thinking of our humble family encyclopedia set we had when I was growing up.  I didn’t even remember the total name outside of “Bobley”.  It was these books that I learned all of the U.S. Presidents as I mentioned previously.   So, I turned to Google and eBay and ventured around the internet and to my surprise, I found the exact set that I grew up with.  This was the Illustrated World Encyclopedia put out by Bobley Publishing.  We had the 1965 version.  (LBJ was President…but we had no Vice-President).  I found it on eBay and as I said, it was the exact set and in great condition.  So one thing led to another, and at this point, Johnny Boy now has 2 encyclopedia sets in our modest home.    

No…believe it or not…I’m not quite done yet.  I continued to enjoy the nostalgia of the looking through encyclopedias, including the same set I use to read as a youngster.  I was remembering another set that was in my older brothers room.  I’m assuming once they added stereos to their room, the books were evicted.  I recall very colorful and photographic covers.  I was really young with these memories, definitely not even reading age yet.  My strongest memory of this set was one volume had photos of various insects/bugs on the cover.  Back to the internet I went.  After some more goggling and surfing on the internet, I found which set that was also.  This set that my brothers had in their room was The Golden Book Encyclopedia, 1959 edition.  As it turns out, Helen remembers this encyclopedia set as well.  Helen’s sister said that their Father bought it a volume at a time at the grocery store.  Again, I was fortunate enough to find a very nice set on eBay and very affordable.  This set is only 16 volumes.  For a 1959 set, the condition is phenomenal.  By the way, the volume I remember, was Volume #8 with Jefferson on the cover along with the Taj Mahal, and many insects and bugs!!!!

And that’s my encyclopedic trip down memory lane, that turned this house from having no encyclopedia sets…….to 3!!!!!!  I had to do some more rearranging to get all 3 sets on my bookshelves.  Life is an ever-going cleaning, re-arranging process.  Bringing back these 3 encyclopedia sets back into my life definitely brings a smile to my face.  Sure, I still use Google, Wikipedia and other online sources, but sometimes it’s nice to pull a volume off the shelf and read what they have to say as well.  Who thought the “Old School” way would still be fun!!!!!    

I hope everyone is having a pleasant 2021 so far.  Here is our annual holiday message for all of our friends and family. 

2020 has been indeed a trying year for all of us.  A year that we will never forget.  A year of learning to adapt to our new situation handed to us, and to be creative and embrace the simple things and the comforts of home.  It’s also been a year to pray for friends and loved ones that have suffered from the corona virus, and unfortunately, some we had to say good-bye to.  Helen & I continue to seek alternative ways to have fun together while doing our best to stay safe and stay home as much as possible. 

The year started off normal enough and in early February, Helen & I attended our first and only convention of the year, Zolocon Sci-Fi & Fantasy Con in Warminster, PA at the historical Centrifuge facility now billed as, “The Fuge”.  We really enjoyed this con with the absolutely amazing amount of nostalgic merchandise and items available at all the various vendor tables.  We definitely plan to attend this con again in the future. 

We celebrated Helen’s birthday at the end of February with an extended weekend in New York City.  We had a wonderful weekend in the “Big Apple”.  We visited a neat antique toy store in a unique mall that had many specialty shops including a shop that specialized in selling Old Time Radios.  We did lots of walking around the city, and for the first time we walked around the “Strawberry Fields” section of Central Park that pays tribute to Beatle legend, John Lennon.  We also toured for the first time, the “American Museum of Natural History” with its amazing collection of rocks, minerals, fossils, and…Dinosaurs!!!  Helen & I attended 2 great Broadway shows,  “The Play that Goes Wrong” and “To Kill a Mockingbird”.  And of course we enjoyed some great meals at various eateries including “Juniors”, “John’s Pizza”, and “Sardi’s”.  

The month of March is when everything came to a screeching halt.  Within what seemed like a blink of an eye, we all of a sudden (in no time at all) were in a worldwide pandemic.  Helen & I quickly learned that we were in the ‘high risk’ category.  Helen is 16 years cancer free and a 21 year type 2 diabetic and I am a 27 year type 1 diabetic.  So we made the decision to cancel all of our travel plans and prepared to stay home as much as possible.  All of our usual conventions, Monster-Mania, Chiller, MANC, SerlingFest, etc. were all cancelled in 2020.  Fortunately, Helen was able to work remotely from home.  We missed seeing our friends, family, going to the coffee shop, restaurants, and all the normal activities in our life.  However, we realize that this is not forever and it will pass in time.  From here, Helen & I began to cook up some creative ideas and activities for us to enjoy at home. 

One of my favorites activities is Friday Game Night.  After Helen signs off from work Friday afternoon, our game night begins.  We adjourn to the basement to start the fun.  We begin by enjoying a fun dinner, such as Pepperoni Pizza, Sloppy Joes, Hoagies, Hot Dogs, Ribs, and other fun foods like that.  While eating our fun meal we play a classic board game such as Aggravation, Yahtzee, Battleship, Trouble, Movie & TV Trivia, and others.  We also enjoy some fun music, 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, etc. while playing our games.  After our game and meal, we move over to the TV for a game or 2 of bowling on the Nintendo Wii.  We’ve also played some tennis as well.  For those of you that have seen Helen’s posts on Facebook, know that she routinely beats the pants off of me, although I do occasionally win a game of Yahtzee.  However, I truly do enjoy our game night and the fact that we are now finally getting to enjoy our basement game room.  I hope we can continue this long after the pandemic is over.

We received very sad news in April that B-Mom’s younger brother Albert, from Cherry Hill, passed away as a result of Covid.  The passing of Uncle Al was an awakening that this virus is indeed no hoax and that it can strike at any time.  This was again reinforced when we learned that Helen’s cousin Lynn, from Tennessee, passed away in May.  Lynn was such a sweet young lady and she also passed from Covid and she was only in her 40’s. 

In adding to the creativity around the house, Helen and I participated in an online paint party where we painted sunflowers.  We’ve done many of these paint events at various venues, but this was the first virtual painting event we participated in.  Helen continued with painting this year as she completed 3 wonderful paint by numbers paintings.  Every day when she signed off from work, she would go downstairs to our make-shift painting studio and put about 40 minutes a day into her painting before dinner.  This was beyond my capability and it was around when I was taking my usual mid-afternoon nap. 

Our beloved coffee shop “Breaking Grounds Coffee and Cafe” unfortunately was a victim of Covid and shut it’s doors for good late this year.  Helen and I did only one presentation of “An Evening of Old Time Radio” in February, and then we placed the presentations on hiatus.  However, some good news, the coffee shop business was purchased and re-opened, and is now “Colonial Cafe”.  More good news….”Colonial Cafe” has already asked Helen & I if we’d like to continue our “An Evening of Old Time Radio” presentations at the newly established coffee shop.  So, Helen & I are looking forward to hopefully sometime in the future when conditions permit us to resume and share some great “Old Time Radio” at “Colonial Cafe”. 

Since all vacations were canceled this year, we spruced up the house a bit in 2020.  We finally had our 30 year old dilapidated shed removed and hauled away.  We also had our driveway resurfaced, and we had 2 giant trees removed from the back yard.

Thankfully, Helen and I were able to continue our internet radio show on the internet radio station “Radio Once More”.  In June we celebrated our 6th year of “Woo-Hoo Wednesday” on “Radio Once More”.  We’ve also continued our additional non-Wednesday shows known as “Woo-Hoo Extra” and we’ve also periodically combined forces with our friends at “Yesterday USA” for occasional simulcasts.  As a matter of fact we kept ourselves extra busy on the internet radio this year.  During 2020, Helen & I presented (24) 3 hour “Woo-Hoo-Wednesday” shows, and (28) “Woo-Hoo Extra” shows including (1) 6 hour overnighter,  (1) 3 hour simulcast, (1) 4 hour simulcast, (1) 6 hour simulcast, and (4) 9 hour simulcasts.  If you haven’t had the chance to listen to us yet, we invite you to tune in on Wednesday evenings, 9PM (eastern time) for some nostalgic fun at www.RadioOnceMore.com.     

2020 is also the year that Helen and I decided to begin re-watching the entire television series, “Dark Shadows”.  Our DLP TV finally died on us, so we now entered the world of flat screen television in our living room with a new Vizio LED TV.  I digitized the entire DVD set of “Dark Shadows” and it now sits on a hard drive in our living room. We began our quest of watching all 1,225 episodes on August 1st.  Every night for dinner, we set up the TV trays in the living room and watch a handful of episodes.  My rough calculations compute that we should complete the series in April 2021.  We decided that when we finish, we’ll continue to watch a classic TV series with dinner.  We’ve considered “The Night Stalker”, “The Naked City”, and “Peter Gunn”.  Any suggestions?  Actually, I’m also watching the entire series of  “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”.  Back around April, I decided to get back on my treadmill.  Every other day, I treadmill just under a half-hour and watch an episode of a classic TV series.  I jumped around a bit until I decided to stick with “Dobie”.  Each treadmill session I cover a little more than a mile.  I’m now on episode 90 of “Dobie Gillis”, which means I’ve done over 90 miles since I started hanging out with Dobie & Maynard.  Now I realize to all you runners out there that to you, 90 miles isn’t very much, but I look at it that at least that’s 90 more miles I’ve done rather than sitting on the couch. 

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the end of another year.  A very different year than we’ve all experienced in decades!!!!  Helen and I have not made any definite traveling plans for 2021.  We are awaiting the availability for when we can be safely vaccinated.   We are hoping and praying that sometime in 2021 will bring back some normalcy back to all of our lives.  Let’s all hope for the best!!! 

Be well folks!!!!  We’ll chat soon!!!!!

‘Radio Once More’ recently welcomed back author and Christmas TV historian, Joanna Wilson.  Joanna was on our ‘Woo-Hoo Wednesday’ radio show where we had another delightful and fun conversation.  We again aired our Christmas TV conversation “LIVE” allowing the listeners to comment during our discussion. 

Joanna discussed about the updated version of one of my favorite books, “Tis the Season TV:  The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials and Made-For-TV Movies”.  This updated version will be bigger and better than ever and is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2021. When released, it will be available on Amazon and all the regular channels for books. 

Personalized requests can be made directly to the publisher, 1701 Press and can be purchased through their web site, or you can contact Joanna at her web site and arrange purchasing an autographed copy from her directly.  Joanna’s web site is:

www.ChristmasTVHistory.com.  

Joanna and I listened to various audio clips from various Christmas Comfort Classics from Classic television series, including “The Honeymooners”, “The Waltons” (the TV pilot movie), and “The Twilight Zone”. 

We moved on to discussing Classic Christmas Films that we all fell in love during our childhood where we grew up watching on TV in the comfort of our home.  We again discussed our disappointment that the classic 1973 made-for-TV version of “Miracle on 34th Street” has not been released on DVD/BluRay.  (We will continue to do so every year until it is released on DVD/Blu Ray) Joanna and I then dove into three “Christmas Comfort Classic” films, the original 1947 version of “Miracle on 34th Street”, the heartwarming “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946), and the Alastair Sim favorite “A Christmas Carol” (1951).

Here is the You Tube link to the 1973 version of “Miracle on 34th Street”.

We then moved our discussion to a couple of Television Christmas Specials beginning with the 1970 Rankin/Bass classic “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”.  This year “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” celebrated it’s 50 year anniversary. Our final audio clip came from the memorable Peanuts Christmas classic, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” from (1965). 

Below is our entire show from December 9th that our discussion with Joanna Wilson aired on ‘Radio Once More’.  Thanks again to Joanna Wilson for taking the time to chat with us!!!!  Please visit Joanna’s web site at www.ChristmasTVHistory.com.  Enjoy and Woo-Hoo!!!!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Helen and I kicked off December with an extra special “Woo-Hoo Extra” on “Radio Once More”.  We welcomed back to “Radio Once More” author and official historian/biographer of Rankin/Bass productions, Rick Goldschmidt.  We had another great Rankin/Bass themed conversation with Rick.  Rick shared some interesting information about the recent auction where a Santa Claus and Rudolph set of original puppets were auctioned off. 

 

Rick also discussed that in addition to his www.MiserBros.com web site, he also has a Miser Bros store on Etsy. 

We then discussed the importance of the music to many of the classic Rankin/Bass Christmas productions from the 1960’s – 1970’s.  During this discussion, we played complete songs from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1964), “Frosty the Snowman” (1969), “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (1970), and “The Year Without a Santa Claus” (1974). 

 

 

 

Here is the entire conversation with Rick Goldschmidt on “Radio Once More”.

Again, a big thanks to Rick Goldschmidt for again appearing on ‘Radio Once More’.  You can visit Rick’s web site at MiserBros.com.  Thanks for stopping by the ‘Holmsey Blog’ and…….Merry Christmas….Woo-Hoo!!!!!!!!

In September, Helen and I had another “Twilight Zone” / Rod Serling themed “Live Show” on the internet radio station, “Radio Once More”.  This time we had the honor to have as a special guest, Mike Pipher.  Mike is a historian/archivist of Rod Serling and is associated with the Rod Serling Archive & Exhibit at the Bundy Museum located in Rod Serling’s home town of  Binghamton, New York.  Mike shared many memories of Rod Serling with us including the time Mike got to meet him many years ago.  Mike also shared some wonderful memories of many of the famous personalities he became friends with over the years, including Lloyd Bridges and Earl Holliman.  Mike was kind enough to share a rare audio clip recorded by Earl Holliman back in 1987 where he discusses being in the very first “Twilight Zone” episode, “Where is Everybody?” which originally aired on CBS October 2nd 1959.  Below is a series of autographed photos Helen & I personally received from Earl Holliman in 2011.  I asked for one, and he was kind enough to send me four!!!!     

In addition to taking the time to speak with us and sharing some of his great stories, Mike also provided a rare recording of a radio show from the a series from WLW Cincinnati, “It Happens to You”.  The episode is “The Human Comedy'” (also known as “You Be the Bad Guy”).  This episode is dated October 2nd 1953 and was Written & Produced by Rod Serling. 

In 2019, Mike invited Helen & myself to the Rod Serling Archive & Exhibit at the Bundy Museum to present a mini version of our coffee shop presentation, “An Evening of Old Time Radio”.  In addition to playing some Rod Serling clips and “The Human Comedy” mentioned above during Mike’s “Rod Serling in Radio” “In the Zone” presentation, Helen and I played an episode from “The Hall of Fantasy” and a great Sci-Fi episode from the series “X Minus One”.  We were invited back to the Bundy Museum this year, however the ongoing pandemic forced those plans to be cancelled.  We are hopeful that vaccinations will be available in 2021 so that Helen & I can return to the Bundy and share some more classic “Old Time Radio” at the Bundy.  A big Thanks to Mike Pipher for taking the time to share some of his wonderful stories with us on “Radio Once More” and for inviting Helen & I to play some “Old Time Radio” at the Bundy. 

Below are a few photos from the Rod Serling Archive & Exhibit at the Bundy Museum.

Below are a few photos of when Helen & I had the honor to present “An Evening of Old Time Radio” at the Rod Serling Archive & Exhibit at the Bundy Museum.

Returning to “Radio Once More” during our “Twilight Zone” / Rod Serling themed “Live Show” was Shelley McKay Young, the administrator of the largest “Twilight Zone” Facebook page.  Shelley chatted about the “Twilight Zone” with us and we even fielded a few phone calls from some of the “Twilight Zone” fans that were listening.  Shelley was kind enough to donate a few giveaways to the listeners including a “Twilight Zone” magazine, a “Twilight Zone” comic book, and a Hallmark “Twilight Zone” ornament.  It was a wonderful visit with Shelley loaded with fun, laughs, and some great “Twilight Zone” conversation.  Thanks Shelley!!!!

Again big thanks to our special guests, Mike Pipher and Shelley McKay Young for another fun filled “Twilight Zone” & Rod Serling themed Woo-Hoo Wednesday.  We are hopeful that we’ll all be able to get together in 2021 at the Bundy and attend another “Serlingfest” as well.

Here is the entire “Twilight Zone” themed “Woo-Hoo Wednesday” that aired LIVE on the internet radio station, “Radio Once More” on September 16th 2020.

Recently, I had the honor and pleasure to chat with our dear friend Rev Donna Christine Park on our “Woo-Hoo Extra” radio show on the internet radio station, “Radio Once More”.

Donna Christine and I chatted about her wonderful organization “Walk a Mile in My Shoes on the Path to Peace”.  Over the years Donna Christine has sponsored many shoe drives and flip-flop drives in many states to collect gently used shoes and new flip-flops for those in need of footwear.

During our “shoe” related conversation, we also listened to the Carl Perkins classic hit, “Blue Suede Shoes”.  We also enjoyed some classic “Old Time Radio” as we listened to an episode of “Family Theater”.  We enjoyed the episode entitled “In Each Other’s Shoes” that originally aired on 10-26-1949.

We ended our discussion by listening to the very meaningful (1970) song, “Walk a Mile In My Shoes” by Joe South and The Believers.  If you wish to contact Rev Donna Christine Park, you reach her at the “Walk a MILE in MY SHOES~~~on the Path to Peace!!!” Facebook page.  A big thanks to Rev Donna Christine Park for taking the time to share with us all about the wonderful organization “Walk a Mile in My Shoes on the Path to Peace” during our “Woo-Hoo Extra” on “Radio Once More”.

Below is our entire conversation with Rev Donna Christine Park.

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family.  2019 has been another incredibly fun-filled year for us.  During 2019, we took some more trips to some neat places, and attended various autograph/nostalgia conventions along with a couple of other treats.

In January we spent New Years in Cape May, New Jersey at the historical “Congress Hall” celebrating my retirement after 30 years with the NJ Division of Taxation.

We celebrated Helen’s birthday in February with an extended weekend in Philadelphia.  We saw two Shows with the talented Frank Ferrante, “A Comedy of Tenors” and “An Evening with Groucho“.  While in Philly, we also visited the Reading Terminal Market and toured the Mütter Museum.  Also in February, with my retirement, I added an additional radio show to “Radio Once More” entitled “Woo-Hoo Extra“.  Unlike “Woo-Hoo Wednesday” which airs Wednesday evenings, “Woo-Hoo Extra” is a quick (usually only an hour long) show that can air any time, mornings, evenings, overnight, etc. on the internet radio station “Radio Once More“.

In March, we again attended the “Monstermania Convention” where Helen and I met various celebrities including Dolph Lundgren and Dylan McDermott among others.  Also in March, as part of our “Woo-Hoo Extra” on “Radio Once More“, we partnered up for the first time with the internet radio station “Yesterday USA“, and had a simulcast with Walden Hughes.  Walden and I were broadcasting on both “Radio Once More” and “Yesterday USA” at the same time.  This was a joy!!!  Together we had a blast chatting, sharing stories, playing music and “Old Time Radio” shows, and taking phone calls from the listeners.  We are now doing this on a regular basis every month or so, and sometimes some of the other gang joins in including Helen, and from Yesterday USA, Patricia, John & Larry Gassman, and Big John Matthews as well.  Sometimes we stay on all night until 6AM……you never what can happen on Live Radio!!!!!

April featured our first “Chiller Theatre Convention” of 2019 where met many friends and got some great photos and autographs from various celebrities including Anson Williams, Don Most, Donna Pescow, William Katt & John Davidson.

In May, Helen and I were invited to The Rod Serling Archive at The Bundy Museum in Binghamton, New York where we gave a mini presentation of “An Evening of Old Time Radio” in connection with a Rod Serling radio presentation.  Big thanks to Rod Serling archivist Mike Pipher from the Bundy Museum for the kind invitation.  Also in May, Helen and I also accepted an invitation to give an “Old Time Radio” presentation at the “Burlington County Lyceum of History and Natural Sciences“.  Helen and I presented an overview of “Old Time Radio” programs entitled “Remembering the Golden Age of Radio”  This went quite well and the many attendees seemed to enjoy the presentation.  Thanks to the staff of the “Burlington County Lyceum” for this wonderful opportunity.

June brought us the bittersweet task of finalizing the sale of our late Mother’s home.  It was very surreal to say “good-bye” to the house that I grew up in, and spent 27 years living in.  However, in retrospect, it was amazing that almost 55 years ago, a young family of 5 including a newborn baby boy, moved into this house to begin a new chapter in their lives in Mount Holly. That baby boy was yours truly, Johnny Boy.  And in June a young family of 5 including a newborn baby boy, moved into this same house and is starting their new lives together in 2019. I wish them many happy years of Laughing, Living, and Loving!!!! I’m sure that Mom & Dad are looking down with pride as they witness the circle of life continuing. I hope this family has as much fun and joy as I had growing up there, and later on spending time with Mom, Dad, and the entire family. I wish them all well in their new chapter of life!!!!!  Also in June, Helen and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary of our “Woo-Hoo Wednesday” radio show on the internet radio station “Radio Once More“.  If you haven’t had the chance to listen to us yet, we invite you to tune in on Wednesday evenings, 9PM (eastern time) for some nostalgic fun at www.RadioOnceMore.com.

Helen and I celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary in July with a get-a-way extended weekend to Ocean City, NJ.  We had a relaxing celebration and enjoyed walking the boardwalk, and taking in the beautiful sights and sounds of the Jersey Shore, while reflecting upon our joys and blessings of our 16 years of marriage.

In August Helen and I celebrated Helen being 15 years Cancer Free.  A wonderful milestone and a major…..Woo-Hoo!!!!!  We also attended our 2^nd “Monstermania Convention” of the year where we met Ron Perlman, Beverly D’Angelo, and author Clive Barker.  Also in August Helen and I gave our first “Old Time Radio” presentation at a senior center.  We had the opportunity to present the “Best of Benny” at the “Brookdale Senior Living” center in Richboro, PA.  We had a great time and enjoyed a rewarding experience at the senior center.

In September Helen and I had a brainstorm to broadcast a 24 hour marathon “Woo-Hoo Extra” on “Radio Once More” for Labor Day.  We were successful with our marathon and we named this marathon our…….“Radio Once More 24 Hour Labor Day Woo-Hoo Palooza”.

Also in September, we attended the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley, MD and had a great time seeing old friends and meeting celebrities including Loni Anderson, Tatum O’Neal and Tom Berenger.

October brought us back to Binghamton, New York, where we attended SerlingFest2019.  We got to again hang out with many of our “Twilight Zone” fans and attended an interesting seminar at the “Bundy Museum of History“.  The event also included many authors/speakers discussing various aspects of Rod Serling’s career at three different venues, (including Rod’s High School), and we also enjoyed screenings of original “Twilight Zone” episodes and the “Night Gallery” pilot film.  We had loads of fun and we look forward to heading back in 2020 for another celebration of the work of Rod Serling.  Also in October, our “Fright Night” Presentation at “Breaking Grounds Coffee and Cafe” marked our 7th Anniversary and 43rd presentation of “An Evening of Old Time Radio“.  More fun in October had us attending our 2nd “Chiller Theatre” Convention of the year where we met Hayley and Juliet Mills, and enjoyed a mini “Barney Miller” reunion, and also met Richard Anderson of “MacGyver” fame.

November brought us to Hollywood, California.  We had a blast taking the Sony, Warner, Paramount, and Universal studio tours.  We also took a few bus tours, and enjoyed seeing many of the sites of the Hollywood-Los Angeles area, and seeing many of the stars on Hollywood Boulevard and toured the famous “Grauman’s Chinese Theatre” and “Dolby Theatre”.  This was certainly a trip of a lifetime.  After leaving Hollywood, we headed to Costa Mesa, California where we attended the SPERDVAC Old Time Radio convention.  We reconnected with old friends and met many new friends while enjoying numerous presentations and recreations.  While attending one of the dinner banquets, Helen and I were presented with an Achievement Award from SPERDVAC for our coffee shop presentations and for our work on the internet radio station “Radio Once More“.  We were absolutely shocked about this reward.  We had no idea about this presentation and  are extremely honored, humbled and thankful for this award and for everyone’s kind words and allowing us to share the nostalgia from the “Golden Age of Radio“.

Helen and I spent Thanksgiving weekend away on a Starr Tour to Virginia Beach/Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.  We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving buffet at “The Founders Inn” along with a relaxing cruise on “The Spirit of Norfolk”.  We also enjoyed an entire day touring and enjoying “Colonial Williamsburg”, ending a truly enjoyable getaway Thanksgiving weekend.

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the end of another year.  Helen and I are planning a trip to the Carolinas in 2020.  Feel free to visit the ‘Holmsey Blog’ at https://JHolmsey.wordpress.com/ (where we are now approaching 11,100 visitors) and our home page www.JohnnyHolmes.net.

Again, we wish you all a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year in 2020.  Please keep in touch and our very best to all of you!!!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

   Helen & Johnny Holmes

‘Radio Once More’ recently welcomed back author and Christmas TV specials historian, Joanna Wilson.  Joanna was on our ‘Woo-Hoo Wednesday’ radio show where we had another delightful and fun conversation.  This time Joanna was on “LIVE” with us, which enabled us to open our listener line for phone calls.

Our discussion began with Joanna announcing that in 2020, she will be releasing an updated version of one of my favorite books, “Tis the Season TV:  The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials and Made-For-TV Movies”.  Joanna said that this updated version should be approximately double the size of the number of entries in this amazing book.  When released, it will be available on Amazon and all the regular channels for books.  Personalized requests can be made directly to the publisher, 1701 Press and can be purchased through their web site, or you can contact Joanna at her web site and arrange purchasing an autographed copy from her directly.  Joanna’s web site is:

www.ChristmasTVHistory.com.

Joanna and I then listened to various audio clips from many Christmas episodes from classic television series, including “The Joey Bishop Show” (1962),  “All in the Family” (1971), “The Wonder Years” (1988), “Bewitched” (1965), “The Brady Bunch” (1969), and “The Twilight Zone” (1960).

We then turned our discussion to Classic Christmas Films that we all fell in love with growing up and watching on TV in the comfort of our home.  As usual, we discussed our mutual disappointment that the classic 1973, made-for-TV version of “Miracle on 34th Street” has not been released on DVD/BluRay.  We also discussed the classic Christmas film, “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946).

1973 Made-For-TV version of “Miracle on 34th Street” on YouTube:

We then discussed a few classic Television Christmas Specials beginning with the 1969 Rankin/Bass classic “Frosty the Snowman”.  This year “Frosty” celebrated 50 years running on CBS.  Our final audio clip came from the memorable Peanuts Christmas classic, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” from (1965).

Below I have posted our discussion that we aired on December 4th on ‘Radio Once More’.  Thanks again to Joanna Wilson for taking the time to chat with us!!!!  Please visit Joanna’s web site at www.ChristmasTVHistory.com.  Enjoy and Woo-Hoo!!!!!!

In October, Helen and I attended “SerlingFest 2019” in Binghamton, New York, the hometown of Rod Serling.  This event celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the premiere of the television series “The Twilight Zone” and the 50th Anniversary of “Night Gallery”.  This was a 3 day event (Friday, October 4th – Sunday October 6th) and a bonus Thursday evening presentation by Mike Pipher at the Rod Serling Archive at the Bundy Museum.

SerlingFest 2019 was held at 3 different venues in Binghamton, Atomic Tom’s, The Forum, and The Helen Foley Theatre at the Binghamton High School.  Some of the highlights included various presentation and panels by Twilight Zone/Rod Serling experts, authors, historians, podcast hosts, etc.  I particularly enjoyed the dramatic reading of the unearthed Rod Serling script, “The Happy Place”.  A big thanks to Serling historian Amy Boyle Johnston for obtaining this script and to Kate Murray for directing this riveting dramatic reading.

Saturday we were treated to Arlen Schumer‘s multi-media “Twilight Zone” presentation along with a touching “Remembering Rod” panel discussion which included Rod Serling’s daughters, Jodi and Anne.  After viewing a mini “Twilight Zone” marathon featuring the three Billy Mumy episodes, Rod Serling author/historian Nick Parisi interviewed Bill Mumy live at the Forum Theatre via skype.  After dinner with our “Zone” friends, we enjoyed a “Night Gallery at 50” discussion with Night Gallery experts Scott Skelton and Paul Gallagher followed by a screening of the “Night Gallery” pilot from 1969.

 

Sunday at The Helen Foley Theatre at the Binghamton High School, we enjoyed an interesting presentation about the “Twilight Zone” in comic books along with a fascinating “Music in the Twilight Zone” presentation.  SerlingFest ended with the best of “The Twilight Zone Awards” as chosen by fans in an online poll and hosted by Nick Parisi.

These were just a few of all the events during this fun “SerlingFest 2019” weekend.  And it was a blast (as always) spending time, having meals, chatting and laughing with all of our dear “Twilight Zone” friends.  So many wonderful folks from different walks of life assembled at this fun event and we all have the bond of the love of the creations of the talented Rod Serling.

A couple of weeks before “SerlingFest 2019” Helen and I hosted a special “Woo-Hoo Wednesday” on “Radio Once More” about “The Twilight Zone”.  We had a very informative interview with Nick Parisi about Rod Serling and we discussed Nick’s book, “Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination”.  Nick and I also discussed the plans on “SerlingFest 2019”.  We also had Live guest Shelley McKay Young.  Shelley is the administrator of Facebook’s largest “Twilight Zone” group which is currently over 41,000 members.  Helen and I chatted with Shelley and fielded phone calls from fellow “Twilight Zone” fans.  Additionally we played a couple of “Old Time Radio” shows during this “Twilight Zone” tribute.  This was truly a wonderful experience and we hope to perhaps have another “Twilight Zone” themed show next year and Helen and I look forward to another “SerlingFest” in 2020.

Here is the “Twilight Zone” themed “Woo-Hoo Wednesday” that aired LIVE on the internet radio station, “Radio Once More” on 09/18/2019.

 

Helen and I want to thank everyone that made our “Radio Once More 24 Hour Labor Day Woo-Hoo Palooza” a tremendous success.  We were very touched by all the nice Facebook posts, messages, emails, and phone calls that we received before, during, and after the “Woo-Hoo Palooza”.

Also a big thanks to all of our guests that added to the weekend fun of our Labor Day radio marathon.  Joining us on Labor Day was our friend Rob Crawford…..aka OTR Rob, who discussed his love of “Old Time Radio” and his Old Time Radio Podcast.  We then chatted with long time member of “Radio Once More“, Gary Lowe.  Gary and I discussed classic comedians and comedy teams including, Laurel & Hardy, The Little Rascals, The Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, and Martin and Lewis.  We also played quite a few audio clips featuring these comedy teams to go with the interesting discussion.  Our last guest on Labor Day was the “Co-Host Emeritus” of “Radio Once More“, Ken Stockinger.  Ken has many interests including a passion for sports, especially Major League Baseball.  We chatted about Baseball, Football, and also about sports memorabilia collections including Ken’s personal sports memorabilia collection.

Sunday evening we had a delightful fun-filled “mini-simulcast” with our friend Walden Hughes from YesterdayUSA, and also joining us from “The Glowing Dial” was “Big John” Matthews.  We had a few phone calls and later on joining us was Walden’s Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday co-host, the delightful, Patricia.  We had loads of fun and lots of delightful conversation and numerous laughs!!!!  Thanks again to our dear friends from YesterdayUSA for being part of our “Woo-Hoo Palooza”.

Our first guest Sunday evening was the “Big Boss” of “Radio Once More“, Neal Ellis.  Neal and I had a wonderful discussion about the history of “Radio Once More” and about Neal’s long career in radio.  Neal explained some of the many and various duties he had over the years and how radio has changed, including the many technological improvements over the years.  We are very thankful for the wonderful time Neal shared with us and of course for giving us the chance to be part of the internet radio station “Radio Once More” and making my childhood dreams come true of being involved in the world of radio.

During this Labor Day “Woo-Hoo Palooza”, Helen and I played some music, 2 “Holmsey Stories”, 3 “Larry King Stories”, 8 “Holmsey Comedy Sketches”, and 21 episodes of “Old Time Radio“.

This was truly an amazing experience that I will never forget.  Thanks so much for all of your support and we’ll be chatting with you soon on “Radio Once More“.

#Below is the entire “Radio Once More (2019) 24 Hour Labor Day Woo-Hoo Palooza” broken down in six parts.

Woo-Hoo Extra-2019-09-01 ‘Woo-Hoo Palooza’ (Part 1)                                                                                                                                                          Woo-Hoo Extra-2019-09-02 ‘Woo-Hoo Palooza’ (Part 2)                                                                                                                                                            Woo-Hoo Extra-2019-09-02 ‘Woo-Hoo Palooza’ (Part 3)                                                                                                                                                          Woo-Hoo Extra-2019-09-02 ‘Woo-Hoo Palooza’ (Part 4)                                                                                                                                                           Woo-Hoo Extra-2019-09-02 ‘Woo-Hoo Palooza’ (Part 5)                                                                                                                                                          Woo-Hoo Extra-2019-09-02 ‘Woo-Hoo Palooza’ (Part 6)