Beach Music Memories

When Kacie was about ten years old, she met the king of rock and roll (not Elvis) on the beach at Ocean City, Md. It was a really big deal for me but she just took it in stride.

A little background. My favorite entertainer of all time is Frankie Valli. I don't even have a close second. I've been to over seventy of his concerts and have collected everything that he has even published. He and the Four Seasons have had more charted hits (50) then any other American rock group. He's a real superstar and is finally getting the recognition that he deserves with the Jersey Boys phenomena.

Here's the story. Each year when Kacie was growing up, we went to the fall festival held in Ocean City in September. A large tent was set up on the beach near the inlet and several groups would perform but usually there were only 1 or 2 big names. I'm guessing that it was 1993 and Frankie Valli was scheduled to perform on a Saturday evening. The show was a sellout and the crowd (not just me) was blown away by his performance. After the show, a big crowd formed on the parking lot where Valli's car was waiting. There was little chance that we would get to meet him in a crowd that size so Kacie and I hung out on the beach behind the tent for a glimpse of him. As he was leaving the tent and about to walk into the crowd, I yelled out "hi Frankie" and for some strange reason he looked over at us, smiled and came to us. I had my camera with me and got a great shot of Frankie and Kacie together on the beach. The picture is in our bedroom and above it we have the hat that Kacie was wearing that night. Over the years, I had met Frankie many times and have numerous pictures of he and I together but my dream was to get a picture of my daughter with him and it came true that night.