On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

We’ve all had a few brushes with greatness. One of mine went a little awry.

I did a character named Blanche on the radio back in the 90s. Soon I was dressing up like this colorful bingo loving Kresge’s Basement shopper and doing appearances. We were doing a live broadcast in Downtown Boston and none other than Captain Kangaroo was to be our guest. Instead of trying to find someplace to put on my costume, I arrived at the broadcast location fully dressed (wig, lipstick, housedress and pumps). Hey, a gig is a gig. I was standing around waiting for the rest of the crew to show up and low and behold, there was the recently widowed Captain Kangaroo in the flesh. I introduced myself as one of the show’s members, but I don’t think he got it. I think the lovable Captain thought I was a real little old lady – complete with deep voice and a little stubble. He seemed to be a little smitten with me. I’ll never forget the strange look he gave me when I walked away. Maybe he knew Рmaybe he didn’t Рwho cares, I had just met Captain Kangaroo!

We have all met famous people and it makes for great conversation.

It’s not bragging Рit’s recounting a great experience. My father had a great story about the time he helped Frank Sinatra get a flight on a transport plane during World War II. I could recite that story word for word. I have a friend who swears he drove singer James Taylor to Sullivan Station in the 70s.

Think about it for a minute Рhow many of your friends insist that they know an infamous tough guy and could call him for a favor at any time? Yes, we all love saying we’ve met someone famous.

Here’s a brush with greatness that a lot of Somerville Avenue people can back me up on.

Back around 1977 or so, NBC Football commentators Dick Enberg and Merlin Olson walked into the Embassy Lounge (now Sky Bar) on the Avenue. They were in town to call a Patriots game for TV, so they just decided to drop into a local joint. Olson even grabbed a bucket and filled up the ice cube bin. These two famous broadcasters just popped in, hung out with us and had a few beers.

That’s not just a folk tale, because I was there. Even people who weren’t there that day, were there – if you get my drift. Everyone seems to have a great story about a famous person that they met. We love telling these stories and we may even embellish a little to spice it up. After a lifetime of telling the Frank Sinatra story, my dad had changed it up to where Old Blue Eyes and he had a few beers, played poker and sang love songs until the wee hours.

Sharing our stories about the famous people we’ve met – now “That’s Life.”

You can email Jimmy with comments directly at jimmydel@rcn.com