Johnny’s 60th Birthday

As a young boy growing up in Hamilton, Ohio  I was fortunate in many ways.  My grandfather was an engineer at a General Motors stamping plant in town, and somehow in the early 70’s met and became close friends with Johnny Bench when he joined the Cincinnati Reds as a rookie.  Even though I was too young to appreciate the significance at the time, I spent a lot of time around the Big Red Machine players, who won the World Series in both 1975 and 1976.  As I look back, I definitely understand how this team is now revered as one of the best ever in Major League Baseball.

Johnny’s 60th birthday is December 7th this year, and they had a small gathering of friends and family in Cincinnati on October 29th at the best rib joint this side of Texas, the Montgomery Inn Boathouse.  The Montgomery Inn is a Cincinnati tradition, and has served famous athletes, celebrities and U.S. Presidents for many years.  Bob Hope  was particularly fond of the ribs and the great sauce served at the Montgomery Inn, and for many years had them flown to his home in California every New Year’s Eve.

So anyway, we are at the boathouse, about 50 people on a Monday night, eating ribs and telling stories, while celebrating Johnny’s birthday.  One of our graphic designer’s Mike Reuter  had designed a very special wrapper for a 5 pound Hershey’s bar for us to give Johnny that pictured him as a young catcher and also showed him when he was inducted into the Major League Hall of Fame with the phrase."A Hall of Famer at any Age".  It turned out great, and JB loved it.

About an hour into the gathering, Johnny left the room and walked back in saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States" and in walked behind him one in the same, George Bush. Everyone was absolutely shocked.

I will admit that George Bush has gone down many pegs on my board with his political maneuvers over the last several years, but the fact remains, he represents the most powerful office in our country, and his position is one that I have a tremendous amount of respect for as an American.  Johnny has been a steady supporter of Republicans for many years, and I know that the fact that the President was in town for only a short period of time for a fundraiser, and stopped by for just a few minutes to wish him a happy birthday, was a tremendous honor.  The President also took home a few slabs of ribs with him as well, because you can’t go to the Montgomery Inn and not get the ribs.