GARY HOLMES will probably tell you that his name appears too often at nywf64.com. I would tell Gary that it appears for good reason! He has contributed many articles, pictures and even a personal essay for nywf64.com. He was one of the first visitors to contact me after nywf64.com went live back in April 2000 telling me then that he'd had a deep interest in the Fair since his many visits as a lad back in '64 and '65.

If any reader was fortunate to attend the "Saturday in the Park 2001" gathering of Fair enthusiasts at Flushing Meadows Park in June you would have met Gary. And one of the things that you will long remember of the event is Gary serving Belgian Waffles out of the back of his car in a pouring rain because he wanted to recreate a special part of the Fair for those assembled, despite the lousy weather. He and his cousin got up at the crack of dawn to mix and bake Belgian Waffles for some 60 people. That's the Gary I know: Thoughtful, creative and always with something interesting up his sleeve.

Now "Saturday in the Park" isn't the first time Gary has lost sleep because of the Fair. He once told me that one of the local New York television stations would end every evening's 11 o'clock news broadcast with pictures of the day's events at the Fair. Little Gary would force himself to stay awake and sneak down the hall so that he could watch that broadcast every night. He had to be careful not to get caught as this was way past his bedtime and he knew his parents wouldn't be pleased. And that's not the only little deception he played on the family. There was a rule at his house: "No TV during dinner Gary," which was always at 6PM. So it wasn't beneath him to set the clocks ahead a few minutes if he knew a really juicy World's Fair news tidbit was coming up on the 6:25 Fair Update on Chanel 4 so the family would be finished eating before the broadcast! Gary told me "Oh, I was nuts for the Fair! I couldn't get enough of it." Little did I know!

This past summer, I was invited to spend a couple of days with him at his family's lake home in Upstate New York (actually, I think I probably invited myself). It was a great time and Gary is a wonderful host. He showed me some of his collection, of which he has a wealth of information on the Fair in articles and pictures clipped from newspapers and magazines at the time. Regulars to the website who have read through the Legacies section probably know already that Gary possesses several remarkable pieces of memorabilia from the Fair in his collection. The most fabulous piece is one of the Ben Franklin characters that appeared in the Electric Company's Tower of Light show.

Gary's "Uncle Ben" from the Tower of Light

Gary told me that as the Fair drew to a close, he wrote to his favorite pavilions asking for a piece of "his" Fair to keep. "I should probably have just asked for anything they could give me, but I asked for specific things. I had written nearly 20 letters and had gotten nearly 20 rejections. The closest I got was a letter from Scott Paper. I had asked for the little fawn figure that appeared at the start of their 'Enchanted Forest' scene. The letter I got told me that they had, just the day before, sold the setting to someone and the bill of sale stated that the scene was to be sold in its entirety - otherwise they would have been happy to accommodate my request. I was very disappointed to come so close. But not long after that I got my letter from the Tower of Light."

That letter, of course, told Gary that the Electric Power and Light exhibit was going to give him "Uncle Ben" and that he could pick him up at a warehouse location in Queens. After he stopped jumping and and down and screaming incoherently, his parents finally got the news as well! After the prize was retrieved it was discovered that the electrical control box they included that was supposed to control the electrical workings of Ben actually controlled "Sam the Eagle" -- a different character in the show. Undaunted, Gary set about rewiring the control box and eventually won First Place in his school's Science Fair with Ben as his project!

While paging though Gary's collection I came across that letter, carefully preserved. I also came across the following article that was written for Liberty News in Upstate New York. It is mainly about Gary and how he rescued Ben -- a good story in itself. But it begins with a bit more information about Gary and his love of the Fair that, I'm sure, will bring a smile to your face (as it did to mine!)

Most families who visited the World's Fair found it delightful and chock full of all those marvelous things that make memories. But, to one small boy in the Liberty District, the Fair was awe-inspiring to his serious mind and persistent nature. Garry Holmes, of Liberty, N.Y., usually interested in math, science and social studies and none of the devilish things that most 12-year-olds think of, was so caught up with the great exhibits that the numerous visits made to the Fair with his parents, Lyman and Doris Holmes and his brother, Lyman Jr., were never enough to satisfy the unquenching quest for adventure which stirred within Garry. The Fair became his every thought. He started a scrap book collecting any and everything he could get his hands on concerning it. When his family announced that they had made their last trip to Flushing Meadow, Garry kept right on talking about going again. Following breakfast one morning, Garry gathered up his adventurous spirit, his bicycle and his $15 savings account and set out on his own for the Fair, 80 miles from home. Less than half way there the bike had a flat and, as luck would have it, this was the town of Wurtsboro, the place where Garry's father works as County National Bank branch manager. Knowing all too well that he would be severely reprimanded and having failed in his attempt at adventure, a sad and tired boy tucked his pride away and decided that, for the time being, surrender was the best resort. A few weeks later, resources regrouped, he slipped out on the family again, this time taking a bus, a course which he was sure would lead him right up to the front gate of his dreamland. Finding out, after a frantic search, that their son was on his way to New York, the Holmes' decided to let him get it out of his system and, safe in the assurance that he would be returning on the evening bus, took no action to stop him this time. Alas, our adventurer got absorbed in the fireworks at the end of the day and missed the bus. "The Fair police were a great help," says Mrs. Holmes who, after learning that her son was safe in their hands, made arrangements for him to stay with relatives in the city for the night. When the Fair closed and all seemingly returned to normal, Garry still had more surprises in store for his family. Convinced that he must own a souvenir of something once a part of the Fair, he began writing letters to Fair officials and exhibitors asking for treasures which he had seen. Twenty letters in all went out from Liberty, one of which was directed to Mr. Robert Moses, World's Fair head, who told Garry whom to contact in some of the cases of inquiry. Results at first were disheartening. Most of the replies stated that the exhibits had already be sold or committed in some way. Then, one triumphant day in November [1965], Mr. John G. Schumm, Asst. Manager of Show Operations for the Electric Power and Light Exhibit, put an end to all the dreaming by granting the wish. "We reserved one of the Uncle Ben figures from the Tower of Light exhibit for you as per your request," was the answer Garry had been hoping for. With great anticipation, Uncle Ben was transported home but soon became a puzzle for the control box which accompanied him was the wrong one. Mrs. Holmes, a former N.Y.S. Electric & Gas employee, says that when Garry sets his mind on something, he never quits until it is accomplished and when he is learning he gets so many facts that it soon gets to be collegiate. And so it was with this mystery control box, Garry became an electronics enthusiast, determined to get his Uncle Ben in working order. The project began, with Garry keeping a visitors book and dragging in everyone who would listen or who could help him figure out some of the complexities. Warren G. Herrick, district manager, was one of those visitors, working for hours on his hands an knees with Garry until, finally, Uncle Ben's head began to move, his lights went on and a major victory had come to pass. Liberty Central School's 13th annual Science Fair was the perfect setting to stage an encore for Uncle Ben and Garry set to work organizing an exhibit around him. The exhibit featured electronics and the volumes of research that Garry had gathered, explaining just how and why this animated character worked. Naturally, the judges were amazed and awarded the project First Place, a crowning touch to the adventure which had its beginning at the World's Fair through the adventurous mind of a boy. Gary Holmes introduces his "Uncle Ben" to visitors at Liberty High School Science Fair. [Photo courtesy Liberty News] Following the success of the Science Fair, Uncle Ben was put on exhibit again in the lobby of the Liberty Office, visited daily by his producer. On one of his visits, someone asked Garry what he was going to be when he finished his formal education, "A doctor," he replied, "but second to that, a World's Fair planner." A determined lad like this may well make it a fact!

Well, well, well. I had heard the story about the boy who lived at the World's Fair for nearly a month by plucking coins out of the fountains for spending money. But here was a story that lay hidden since the days of the Fair and was begging to be told: "To the Fair or Bust by Bike or by Bus"

I had an opportunity to talk with Gary's mother on my visit and I asked her about that little bus trip incident: "Well, I thought he was sleeping in awfully late that morning," said Mrs. Holmes. "I went in to shake him to wake him up and discovered that he'd arranged the pillows under his bedcovers to make it look like he was still asleep there just like you see in the prison movies. I was frantic. I ran next door to his friend, Johnny's house, and asked him if he knew where Gary was. He thought for a long time and finally said 'Well Mrs. Holmes, I'd tell you ... but it would make you real nervous.' And then he told me he was on a bus on his way to the Fair!"

"After that, Lyman and I thought 'Well, we'd better let him go,' if he'd go to those lengths to get to the Fair. So after that, every time we heard of someone who was going to the Fair, we'd ask them if they wanted to take Gary as their guide since he knew practically everything there was to know about the Fair. For a long time after that though, I took him everywhere I went -- even to the Garden Club functions -- because I wasn't about to let him out of my sight!"

Gary said "My parents were and are excellent people who always did what they could to encourage my interests ... [but] they told me we weren't going to the Fair anymore and this was the only way I could go and get them to realize that I was serious about wanting to go." "And, Hey! It worked! I probably got to go to the Fair another eight or nine times in '65 because of it!" he says with a chuckle. His mother smiles with that look that only time and distance from the event can bring a mother.

But wait! The story doesn't end there. "I missed my bus back, literally, by a minute," Gary told me. "My mother made arrangements with my Uncle, who had been out on an anniversary celebration with his wife, to pick me up and I had to wait at the World's Fair police precinct for him to get home. On the way back to his house, after picking me up, he bumped the back of another car. A police car! After a hasty explanation and the display of a piece of paper from the World's Fair police releasing me to him, the police officer said something to the effect that my Uncle had already had enough annoyance for the night and let him go. The next morning, when he put me on the bus from the Port Authority back to Liberty, he handed me a bus schedule and very coyly suggested I use the time to learn how to read a bus schedule."

Nearly 40 years later Gary's still enjoying the Fair as a collector and enthusiast. His interests have lead him on other life paths away from World's Fair planning. He didn't become a doctor either. An attorney now, by trade, he still enjoys the puzzles that legal research offers and he is a world traveler with an enthusiasm to explore and discover and learn. Obviously that hasn't changed since the days of the Fair either.

Now would you like to hear the story about how Gary got to go to Expo '70 in Japan? I think we'll save that for the next "Saturday in the Park." I think it'd be great with slides and audio! Right Gary?