2014 Year End Holiday Letter

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family. 2014 has been an incredibly fun and adventurous year for us. During 2014, we took some more trips to some neat places, and attended various autograph/nostalgia conventions.

In February we celebrated Helen`s Birthday in the “Big Apple” for a weekend where we toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art, enjoyed lunch at Katz`s Deli, visited the very moving 911 Memorial, and enjoyed the hit Broadway musical, ‘Jersey Boys`. In March we attended the ‘Monkees Convention’ and met for the very first time, Monkee legend Mike Nesmith, and returning to the convention were Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz. Later in March, we attended the ‘Monstermaina Convention` where we met some of the members of the classic TV series ‘Dark Shadows`, Victoria Price (the daughter of horror movie legend Vincent Price), and Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund).

April brought us to the ‘Amazicon Convention` where we saw some neat TV show cars like the ‘Batmobile` and the ‘Black Beauty` and we also met actor Richard Hatch from ‘Battlestar Galactica`. The first ‘Chiller Theater Convention` of the year was also in April where we met many celebrities including, Cloris Leachman, Abe Vigoda, and Priscilla Presley among others. We also toured the fascinating Pompeii exhibit at the Franklin Institute. In May, Helen & I participated in the first of 3 5K walks in 2014, the first one was the Philly-Camden Graffiti Run which was by the Camden aquarium. We attended our very first ‘Monster Bash` Convention in June, which is held just outside of Pittsburgh, where Helen & I met Joel Hodgson, the creator of ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000`. Also in June, Helen and I began hosting a show on the internet radio station ‘Radio Once More`. We are on every other Wednesday with our show “At Home with Holmsey” on “Woo-Hoo Wednesday” from 9PM to 12AM. We hope you tune in and catch Helen & I on Woo-Hoo Wednesday on http://www.RadioOnceMore.com.

Helen & I celebrated our 11th Wedding Anniversary in July. We had a very relaxing celebration at the Cove Haven resort in the Poconos. Also in July, we participated in our 2nd 5K of the year, the ‘Philly Color Run` where we had a colorfully good time! For the first time, Helen & I attended the NJ Balloon Festival in Readington, NJ. Although we decided not to ride in a hot-air balloon, we enjoyed seeing all the different balloons in the air and we enjoyed 2 concerts, America and Joan Jett. In August we toured another State Capitol, Nashville, Tennessee. While there, we visited friends, family (in Kentucky), and attended a wedding (in Missouri). Helen and I also saw the completion of our kitchen renovation and we were thrilled to see our kitchen flash-forward from the 1950`s to the 2010`s. Also in August, we attended two separate conventions during the same weekend!!!! We again attended the ‘Monstermaina Convention` where we for the first time got to meet Adam West & Burt Ward together!!!! The other convention was the very first ‘Brady Bunch Convention` where we again met the Brady Boys along with Cindy.

Helen and I celebrated a huge milestone in September…Helen is now 10 years cancer free!!! Woo-Hoo!!! We celebrated in our usual manner by again participating in the annual City of Hope 5K ‘Walk For Hope` (along with her team ‘Helen`s Hikers`) over the Ben Franklin Bridge, which was our 3rd 5K of the year. 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 George Lazenby and Connie Stevens. October brought the 50th birthday for Johnny Boy. Helen surprised me with a rare autographed photo of Alfred Hitchcock and we enjoyed dinner with friends at ‘Harold’s New York Deli Restaurant` and a wonderful brunch with family at ‘Prospectors`. We attended our 2nd ‘Chiller Theater Convention` in October where we met some more celebrities including Hulk Hogan, Joyce Randolph, and the Fonz, Henry Winkler.

Helen and I took a trip to the Midwest in November. We toured four states (Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas) and while there we saw 4 state capitals, 3 state museums, 3 Presidential Library/Museums, visited family in Chillicothe/Trenton, Missouri, and friends in Nebraska and Kansas. We also visited the famous Omaha Zoo and ate some great Kansas City BBQ. We even visited a museum dedicated to the ‘Wizard of Oz` in Wamego, Kansas. We truly enjoyed an absolutely wonderful tour of a beautiful part of our country. In December we toured Hershey, PA and learned about the wonderful Milton Hershey School (while munching on some chocolate) and we also enjoyed Hershey`s Chocolate World. Also in December, we met up with family in Manhattan and enjoyed the long running Broadway show, “The Lion King”.

As always, many photos of these outings are posted on our Flickr page which is linked to our home page at http://www.JohnnyHolmes.net. We are hoping next year to go back to New England and visit Vermont and New Hampshire in 2015.

Again, we wish you all a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year in 2015. Please keep in touch and our very best to all of you!!!!!

 

‘Joanna Wilson on Radio Once More’

Earlier this month I had the tremendous pleasure to again chat with author and Christmas TV specials expert, the delightful Joanna Wilson on our ‘Woo-Hoo Wednesday’ Radio Show ‘At Home with Holmsey’ on the internet radio station, “Radio Once More”.  We discussed many classic TV Christmas episodes from some great series including ‘Happy Days’, That Girl, and Family Affair among others and we also covered some of our favorite Christmas TV specials like ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, and ‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town’.  All of these titles and so much more are all covered in Joanna’s book, ‘Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials and Made-For-TV Movies‘.  This book is hands down the best book out about Christmas TV Shows & Specials.  This tremendous volume is close to 800 pages and covers virtually everything Christmas that’s been on Television.  You can purchase this wonderful book and read many of Joanna’s blog entries at www.ChristmasTVHistory.com.

Below I have posted our discussion that we aired on December 3rd on ‘Radio Once More’.  Thanks again to Joanna Wilson for taking the time to chat with us!!!!  Enjoy!!!!!!

 

“Home For the Holidays” (2014)

Happy Holidays to one and all!!! I’m hoping you are all having a wonderful Holiday Season and I’m sure that you are all busy shopping, decorating, and preparing for that magical day on December 25th. Well, Helen and I are honored and proud to again host an installment of “An Evening of Old Time Radio” at the Daily Grind Coffee Shop at 48 High Street in beautiful, downtown Mount Holly. If any of you wonderful folks happen to be in the vicinity of Mount Holly, New Jersey this Friday, December 12th (6:30PM to 9:30PM), we cordially invite you to stop by and enjoy a tasty beverage and share in the Holiday Season with us as we present, “Home for the Holidays”. We will be presenting three classic Christmas Shows from the “Golden Age of Radio” to get us all in the Holiday Spirit!!!! Stay for 1, 2, or all 3 shows!!!! As a special bonus, we are also planning to broadcast the presentation live on Radio Once More the following Wednesday, December 17th at 9PM. This gives you two chances to catch our “Home for the Holidays” presentation live, once at the Daily Grind Coffee Shop, and once on “Radio Once More”. Arrive early if you plan on attending, it is a cozy coffee shop with limited seating, so, take a breather from all your shopping and preparation and stop by the Daily Grind and take in some of these audio gems from those “Golden Days of Yesteryear”. Helen and I sincerely wish you all a joyous Holiday Season and we hope to see you at the Daily Grind Coffee Shop on December 12th and as Tiny Tim said at the end of “A Christmas Carol”, God Bless Us, Everyone!!!