Making people smile is a small significant act

Posted on 08 August 2009 by Carol Schillios

JP Patches is a childhood celebrity for me. I remember being transfixed in front of the television entertained by his joyful antics. He was magical.

The bell on the roof basket rang this morning with an urgency that said I must respond. As I poked my head over the edge to sneak a peak at the contributor, whose face should appear but JP PATCHES himself! Oh the rush of memories.

I am 8 years old again. Standing on the set of his morning show. Beside me is the SeaFair Junior Royalty King. It was the Seattle World’s Fair and I served as junior SeaFair Royalty Queen. (Don’t be impressed please; I was queen because my name was randomly drawn out of a hat at the Seattle Chamber of Commerce who sponsored Junior Royalty at the time.)

It is I who was in the presence of royalty: JP Patches. I recall JP asking me if I and the Junior King were married. I remember squishing up my face in horror. I much preferred the SeaFair Pirate.

Today, JP brought smiles to everyone around him. JP connected with fans of all ages as he dropped his own contribution in the basket.

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Categorized | Featured, What's On Carol's Mind Today

2 Comments For This Post

Joni R Says:
August 9th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Carol, only a true Seattleite knew who JP Patches was back in the day!
I grew up watching him and Gertrude on our black and white television!
JP lived at the garbage dump! Oh how I long for those simple days, and the tv shows that were so innocent and full of imagination back then for us kids! I wouldn’t trade growing up in that era for anything, would you?
Joni
linda Says:
August 9th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I too remember JP Patches,I was a Brownie and our troop went on the show.How excited we all were,he asked each of us our name and where we lived.As an adult we moved to edmonds and I was told that one of my neighbors was the one and only JP Patches,he lived just around the corner from our home..I dont think this younger generation apreciates good old JP Patch like us older folks do..

Up on the roof?

Hi, I'm Carol. I'm living in a tent on the roof until 1 million people each donate $1 to the Fabric of Life Foundation and share how they are making a difference in their world.