More Thrills at Blueberry Hill

A few blogs ago, I started to describe an evening we spent at Blueberry Hill helping Mr. Chuck Berry celebrate his 85th birthday. If you didn't see it, here's a link to the post. 

Continuing the story, I walked through Blueberry Hill with eyes bigger than a harvest moon. If I had a dollar for every cool piece of memorobilia I saw that night, I could retire right now. 

After about an hour of exploring the place, Mr. Berry and his entourage finally arrived. They stepped into the restaurant and a full sized crowd broke into applause. So many cameras flashed, it felt like a red carpet premiere. My favorite sculptor, Don Wiegand (creator of the hand casts), gave an introductory speech. Note the strange camera angle. In order to get decent pictures, I had to knee-crawl to the front of the crowd. Luckily, the crowd did not object (well, not much anyway).

Next, the owner of Blueberry Hill, Joe Edwards, spoke.

Then came the official unveiling. The display, set up in a glass case, looked fantastic. It seems as though Chuck Berry's hands are floating. How in the world did Don do that???

Pictured from left to right are the men of the hour: Don Wiegand, Chuck Berry, and Joe Edwards

For me, visiting Blueberry Hill was a treat in and of itself. Add to that helping to celebrate the achievements of someone who's had an amazing career in music and all I can say is...

Hail, hail, rock n' roll, and happy 85th birthday, Chuck Berry!

I Found My Thrill

Seems like forever since I've posted.  Being out of town for a few days certainly does shake up my routine! But here I am back in the saddle (or should I say office chair) again with a story about a fun evening.

I've blogged before about my friend, Don Wiegand, sculptor extraordinaire. Don is an awesome person to know.  He's not only talented, but also kind and caring and has many friends.  About a month ago I got to meet one of them.

Don did a special hand cast for rock legend, Chuck Berry, who happens to live in our area. The cast was done for Mr. Berry's 85th birthday. I got to be there for the special presentation at a well known bar and grill called Blueberry Hill. This is an amazing venue where Mr. Berry (and other musicians) regularly perform. 

It was my first visit to Blueberry Hill, which seems more like a memorobilia museum than a restaurant. In my brief time there, I couldn't begin to take in everything there was to see. Here's a few snippets from Blueberry Hill.

A Howdy Doody collection.

"His Master's Voice" high atop a shelf.

Critters of all shapes and sizes watching over us.

Joe Edwards, who owns Blueberry Hill, is almost as fascinating as the place. Throughout the building are hundreds of framed photographs where Joe is posing next to some celebrity or sports star. He's been collecting these photos for decades, and I'll bet you can't name anyone famous that isn't on Joe's wall. Even my idol, Eric Clapton is featured on a photo from many years ago. I asked Joe if he thought Eric would ever come back to St. Louis. Joe says he'll try and convince him, to which I calmly responded, "YOU TALK TO ERIC CLAPTON????"

Pardon my teenage girl scream. Here's a celebrityless picture of Joe...who is actually kind of a celebrity himself.

I'll have more about Blueberry Hill and Chuck Berry's special birthday celebration next time.