Rollman

I made a new friend, Gary from Pennsylvania.  He is a Ford parts guy.  This is his 1979 F150, with a souped-up 460 and 36,000 original miles.  It was a show-winning quality pickup, and I'm glad he parked next to me. 

These photos were taken as we were pulling into the event on Saturday around 11 am local time.  It had been raining for much of the previous afternoon, night, and earlier that morning.  It was a muddy first day.

I made a new friend, Gary from Pennsylvania.  He is a Ford parts guy.  This is his 1979 F150, with a souped-up 460 and 36,000 original miles.  It was a show-winning quality pickup, and I'm glad he parked next to me. 

These photos were taken as we were pulling into the event on Saturday around 11 am local time.  It had been raining for much of the previous afternoon, night, and earlier that morning.  It was a muddy first day.

Wheels--Tom Wopat!!
The song was originally done by the country group Restless Heart, who took it to No. 1 in 1987. 
 

Tom was probably rude because he was going through cocaine withdrawals at the time. Luke Duke would beat the crap out of a scoundrel like Tom Wopat if they ever met. I love the show, the characters, and the cast, but Tom's behavior is inappropriate. 

I was talking to another fan at the show, and he counted between 90-95 other Chargers there, and there were a handful that weren't painted as the General Lee.  The inside of Cooter's Garage was very cool to see, they definitely put a lot of time and effort into it.  I am glad that Ben Jones has really put his heart into keeping the show alive. 

It was a really good time, I had a lot of fun.  It took hours just to get one individual autograph, so I passed on that.  Most of the cast members were charging $20 for a signature, and usually around $30 or so for a car part.  John Schneider was charging $150 to sign car parts if you brought them to him, I was kind of put off by that.  He was really nice when I met him in person several years ago, though.  Sonny Shroyer and Rick Hurst were walking around the car exhibit charging $100 to sign your vehicle.  Tom Wopat was driven in to sign one fan's General Lee painted Toyota 4runner, I have no idea what he charged the owner.  Tom is known to be on the unfriendly side.  I tried talking to several staff members there to see if I could get a picture of Ben Jones sitting in my wrecker, but I was unsuccessful. He was a busy man.
 I watched them as they got on stage together at the end of the day, but you all would probably do better to look it up on YouTube.  The car jump is on there as well.  This was supposedly the final Dukesfest style event.  It may very well have been, but with the amount of money made there, it would be hard for me to believe that someone won't pick up the torch at some point.
 

I agree with you completely Hobie. If you read his interviews, he always seems to look down on his time as a Duke.  Wopat even hosted a country tv show on TNN back in the 80's or early 90's. He would have never had the country credibility to do that if it hadn't been for the Dukes.  He hasn't done many Dukes related events until recently, he must need the money to support his habit.  I've also talked with quite a few fans, including several at Cooter's Last Stand, who said that he was rude while signing autographs. I didn't hear a single negative word about any of the other cast members. 

I wonder if the cocaine was in a rabbit stuffed animal?

Season 2, episode 14, "The Runaway"     I just happened to watch that episode last week, so it and Uncle Jesse's "Just a farmer" speech are fresh on my mind.  Being a farmer myself, I especially enjoyed his speech.
Here is an interview that Tom gave a few years back, that I ran across the other day:  https://www.backstage.com/interview/playing-catch-with-tom-wopat/       He wasn't as condescending in that interview as I've seen him previously, but you can get a taste of his feelings under the "A Smart Role" heading.

I agree with you completely Hobie. If you read his interviews, he always seems to look down on his time as a Duke.  Wopat even hosted a country tv show on TNN back in the 80's or early 90's. He would have never had the country credibility to do that if it hadn't been for the Dukes.  He hasn't done many Dukes related events until recently, he must need the money to support his habit.  I've also talked with quite a few fans, including several at Cooter's Last Stand, who said that he was rude while signing autographs. I didn't hear a single negative word about any of the other cast members. 

Thank You!!
 

I agree Hobie, I can't watch that episode due to the grating voice alone.  I will give the worst episode award to "Strange Visitor to Hazzard". Along with the Coy and Vance episodes, I just pretend it never happened.   In a strange way, I thought that Tom's performance in "Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Duke" was hilarious.  

This lady right here... though her Modern Family co-star Ariel Winter gives her a run  for the money in Daisy Dukes shorts.
 

I wouldn't trade my wife in a million years for that lady...but I would trade my car in a millisecond for that one. 

Interesting article, Meadowmufn. Elvira must be a real catch, as she was pushing for the maximum jail sentence against John. Also interesting to see that they were in talks for another movie on the Hallmark Channel before Tom had his issues. 
Bottom line, he should have definitely gotten a prenup, and been more careful with his money over his lifetime. I’d still feel for the guy though, even if I wasn’t a Dukes fan. 

I used to post quite a bit on CGLFC and stepped away from the Dukes/Charger scene when my Charger had an unfortunate accident.  I recently decided to get the old boy up and running again and dust off my Dukes collection for my son's 01st birthday, and was sad to find many of the old Dukes websites gone.   Happy to find this one intact, and the photo thread is absolutely EPIC.   

Interesting article, Meadowmufn. Elvira must be a real catch, as she was pushing for the maximum jail sentence against John. Also interesting to see that they were in talks for another movie on the Hallmark Channel before Tom had his issues. 
Bottom line, he should have definitely gotten a prenup, and been more careful with his money over his lifetime. I’d still feel for the guy though, even if I wasn’t a Dukes fan.