Happy Holidays to all our friends and family. 2017 has been another incredibly fun-filled year for us. During 2017, we took some more trips to some neat places, and attended various autograph/nostalgia conventions along with a couple of other treats.
We started off the year in January with a return trip to Las Vegas. This our 2nd visit to Vegas, the previous time was in 2003 when we got married. While in Vegas, we met baseball legend Pete Rose at the MGM. Pete and I discussed the 1980 Phillies, and Helen and I got autographs and photos taken with Pete. We also attended the amazing Beatles Love show at the Mirage. Helen and I enjoyed our first visit to Old Downtown Vegas, and we were thrilled to finally take-in the famous Freemont Street Experience. We were in awe of the amazing view atop the Las Vegas High Roller Observation Wheel (550 feet High). And speaking of heights, we took a bus tour to the Grand Canyon. This time we visited the Western Rim and walked the amazing Grand Canyon Skywalk which is under the jurisdiction of the Hualapai Indian tribe which has some breathtaking views!!!! Back in Vegas, we also toured the Mob Museum and the famous Neon Graveyard. A big treat for us was seeing legendary impressionists, Rich Little. He had a great one-man show and made himself available for photos and autographs after the performance…..an awesome treat!!!!! We ended our Vegas trip by attending the SPERDVAC Old Time Radio Convention where we got to see many of our ‘Old Time Radio’ friends and celebrities Paul Peterson, Tony Dow, Tommy Cook, and Beverly Washburn were there as well.
Las Vegas!!!!!
Helen and I with Pete Rose
Helen about to see the Cirque du Soleil show ‘Love’
Helen posing with Vegas Vic
Holmsey with Vegas Vic
Helen and Johnny on the High Roller ferris wheel
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
Helen & Johnny on the ‘Grand Canyon Skywalk’
Helen & Johnny on the ‘Grand Canyon Skywalk
Johnny with legendary impressionist Rich Little
Helen at the SPERDVAC Convention
Johnny at the SPERDVAC Convention
During the month of February, we celebrated Helen’s Birthday in Philly. We attended a very funny performance of ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor‘ starring and directed by Frank Ferrante at the Walnut Street Theater. We took a Double-Decker Bus tour and visited the Barnes Foundation, Rodin Museum, Betsy Ross House, and the Eastern State Penitentiary. We also toured the City Hall Building (including the City Hall Tower Oberservation Deck), and we enjoyed the fantastic view of Philadelphia from the One Liberty Observation Deck at One Liberty Place. Additionally we checked out the Comcast Center and the famous Reading Terminal Market……..boy I love the doughnuts there!!!! We ended Helen’s Birthday weekend by attending attending a special presentation of ‘An Evening with Groucho’ again at the Walnut Street Theater and again featuring the talented Frank Ferrante.
Helen attending ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’
Helen and Johnny in Philly!!!!
Johnny Boy is Thinking!!!!
Helen at the ‘Betsy Ross House’
Al Capone’s cell at the ‘Eastern State Penitentiary’
William Penn atop City Hall in Philly
City Hall as seen from the ‘One Liberty Observation Deck’
Helen and Johnny at the ‘One Liberty Observation Deck’
Helen at the famous ‘Reading Terminal Market’
Helen and Johnny about to see Frank Ferrante in ‘An Evening with Groucho’
In March we again attended the ‘Monstermania Convention` where Helen and I met Wilford Brimley, Ralph Macchio, and John Cusack. It was also in March we began Basket Weaving classes at the Pinelands Folk Music & Basketry Center, in the Mill Race Village section of Mount Holly. Together we weaved bread baskets, melon baskets, vegetable baskets. I use my bread basket to hold my hard drives!!!!
Helen and Johnny with John Cusack
Baskets!!!!
Helen working on her basket
Johnny Boy working on his basket
Helen is almost done her basket
Johnny Boy is concentrating
You thought I was joking about my basket holding my hard drives!!!
April featured our first ‘Chiller Theater Convention` of 2017 where met many friends, and got some great photos and autographs from various celebrities including Tom Berenger, Max Gail, Chris Sarandon, Pat Priest, George Hamilton, and Paul Michael Glaser. Tom Berenger and I reminisced about his film “Eddie and the Cruisers” which was partially filmed in Mount Holly while I was at high school at Rancocas Valley Regional High School.
Helen and Johnny with Tom Berenger
In the month June, Helen and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary of our ‘Woo-Hoo Wednesday’ – ‘At Home with Holmsey’ 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.
Woo-Hoo Wednesday!!!!!
Helen and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in July up in Binghamton, New York, where we attended a tribute to my favorite television series, “The Twilight Zone” entitled “The Twilight Zone Comes Home”. While there we got to meet many fellow ‘Twilight Zone’ fans and attended an interesting seminar at the “Bundy Museum of History”. The main tribute was held at the Broome Theater in Binghamton and featured many authors, Twilight Zone aficionados, and Rod Serling’s 2 daughters were there and spoke to the audience. Helen and I had an enjoyable time and hopefully they’ll do it again!!!!
The Twilight Zone Comes Home in Binghamton, New York
Helen and Johnny….in the Zone!!!!!
In August Helen and I celebrated Helen being 13 years Cancer Free. A wonderful milestone and a major…..Woo-Hoo!!!!!
The month of September we attended the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley, MD (MANC) and had a great time seeing old friends and meeting celebrities including Patrick Duffy, Eric Estrada, Cindy Williams, and Olivia d’Abo.
Helen and Johnny at the ‘Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention’
In the month of October, our ‘Fright Night’ Presentation at the ‘Daily Grind’ coffee shop marked our 5th Anniversary of “An Evening of Old Time Radio” and was our 31st Old Time Radio presentation at the ‘Daily Grind’. It’s hard to believe we’ve been presenting ‘Old Time Radio’ in Mount Holly for 5 years!!! Also in October, we attended our 2nd ‘Chiller Theater’ Convention of the year where we met Willie Aames, 3 memebers of the original Bad News Bears team, Tony Danza, and a mini Leave it to Beaver reunion with Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow.
Our 5th Anniversary of ‘An Evening of Old Time Radio’
Helen and Johnny with Wally and Beaver
Helen and I took a Starr Bus Tour Trip’ in November and got an early start getting into the holiday spirit with a wonderful visit to the National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA and then we viewed all the spectacular lights and sights at the Koziar’s Christmas Village in Bernville, PA.
National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA
National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA
Koziar’s Christmas Village in Bernville, PA.
Helen and Johnny visiting Santa at Koziar’s Christmas Village in Bernville, PA.
Helen with Rudolph at Koziar’s Christmas Village in Bernville, PA.
Santa Moon!!!!
Please feel free to continue to stop by the ‘Holmsey Blog‘ (where we recently reached 8,500 visits). On our blog, I’ll post an occasional article and photos about events/trips, promote our ‘Daily Grind‘ events, and I post past interviews we’ve done on our ‘Woo-Hoo Wednesday’ Radio Shows. And also, many photos of our outings are posted (or will be posted) on our Flickr page which is linked to our home page at www.JohnnyHolmes.net. It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the end of another year. Looking ahead, Helen and I are planning a visit to Minnesota in 2018.
Keep in touch and our very best to all of you!!!!!
Happy Holidays!!!
Helen & Johnny Holmes
Posted by JHolmsey 
The Holmsey Blog 