Heather: 0:00

Evel Knievel inspired millions of us with his courage and perseverance. We're building a museum so you can relive those memories and be reinvigorated with that spirit of bravery.

Evel Knievel: 0:12

My name is Evel Knievel. I'm a professional daredevil.

Heather: 0:17

Along the way, we meet people involved in the life, the times, and the legacy of the King of daredevils. Here with their stories is your host, Joe Friday.

Joe P: 0:28

Hey, welcome to the Evel Knievel Thrill Show from the Evel Knievel Museum. This is John Katsilometes, daily columnist with the Review journal. Mr. Katsilometes has earned numerous accolades, including the Nevada Press Association Journalist of the Year Award and multiple Best of the West honors, and was inducted into the UNLV College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame for his insightful coverage of the city's entertainment scene. He hosts the PodKats podcast-- and that's hard to say-- the Podkats podcast and season three of Mobbed Up the Fight for Las Vegas, which is required listening. If you're interested in the history of the Neon City. Hello, sir. Hello, sir. Allow me to introduce myself. We are bringing the Evel Knievel Museum to Las Vegas.

Katsilometes: 1:21

That's very interesting. Yeah,

Joe P: 1:22

it's fun. It's going to be downtown.

Katsilometes: 1:24

Yes. My neck of the woods.

Joe P: 1:26

It's your neck of the woods? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Katsilometes: 1:28

Yeah, I live down there.

Joe P: 1:29

Oh, well you can probably see it from your place. I think

Katsilometes: 1:31

I can, yeah, when it's up and running, for sure.

Joe P: 1:34

It sounds like a happening place. Las Vegas has been very welcoming to us as far as the people go. Mm-hmm. Like we've adopted Mondays Dark as our Mondays dark hang as our Mondays hangout. Mm-hmm. You know, people are nice. Government. Yeah.

Katsilometes: 1:50

A little bit hard to work with. So what's your position with the actual museum, if I might ask?

Joe P: 1:54

So I've been volunteering there since we opened about eight years ago.

Katsilometes: 2:00

Okay.

Joe P: 2:00

My friends, I've been a Harley Davidson rider for a long time, and my friend had a Harley dealership in Topeka for 75 years. He specializes in restoration of historic motorcycles. Okay. Yeah. So most Harley dealerships will work on it if it's, you know, a model within the last 10 years. But Mike will find parts at flea markets, on eBay, or I'll make them at my fabrication shop and get the motorcycles ready. We had an Evel Knievel collector come in, Lathan McKay, and had us restore Evel Knievel's big red circus wagon. Not a motorcycle, but a Mack truck, Uhhuh. Okay. He's the world's leading collector of Evel Knievel memorabilia. Mm-hmm. Since then, we've done a dozen motorcycles, half a dozen vehicles, plus the big red circus wagon. So there I am just hanging out and eventually came and bought a vehicle from Wayne Newton. He is a buddy of mine. Yeah, I know Wayne. I figured you would Uhhuh Uhhuh. Yeah. He had a car that Evel Knievel would drive into haystacks or whatever and blow the doors off and steam would come out of gas cylinders to make it look like it wrecked.

Katsilometes: 3:18

Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, that's interesting. Yeah. Well, you talked about motorcycles. My uncle who lived in Pocatello, Idaho, back in the Evel Knievel heyday has a, currently, a 1966 Triumph, the same motorcycle that Evel attempted his, or made the Caesars Palace jump. He has one in his I guess he technically made that jump. He made the jump and he didn't land well, but he did make it across. He has it in his home, completely restored. There were only 394 of those bikes made originally in 1966. There are very few of them around. I was just talking to him and he said, oh yeah, I've got an Evel Knievel to donate. I don't know. I'm not going to negotiate any of that, but he owns it. I will tell you factually. Yeah. Oh,

Joe P: 4:05

that is so cool. Mm-hmm. I was just in Provo, Utah at a foam fabrication. They make this kind of foam fabrication to do a 1966 Triumph that we can hang from the rafters there. Oh, cool. And kind of make a sequence at the Caesars Palace, exhibit, you know, just bonk bonk and then go in the wrong way. And

Katsilometes: 4:27

Gotcha.

Joe P: 4:28

All right. Got the arms and legs going. Oh, yeah.

Katsilometes: 4:30

You got to love it. Yeah. Authentic.

Joe P: 4:32

Yes. So your uncle's from Pocatello. Are you from Idaho? I'm

Katsilometes: 4:36

originally from Pocatello, Idaho. My family's from Pocatello, Idaho. Yeah, that's my first hometown. Yep.

Joe P: 4:42

Wow. So did you. Are you old enough to have gone to Snake River? His Snake River jump?

Katsilometes: 4:50

I am old enough to have, but I did not see the jump. Yeah. Here's the story about Snake River. I was about I would've been seven years old, and a week before the jump, it was either a week or two weeks before the jump my father took us to Twin Falls, which is about an hour and a half drive from Pocatello and he was a veterinarian and they had a veterinary convention at the Blue Lakes Inn there in Twin Falls, Idaho. Mm-hmm. It was a pretty fancy, pretty nice hotel at the time. We saw Evel Knievel, he was staying there himself and he was prepping for the jump. And I was just talking to my dad to get the memory of this right. And Evel walked out of the hotel wearing a fur coat. Big fur coat. And he had a staff like a cane. Mm-hmm. It was gold. Gold or gold plated. And women on both sides. Being Evel and he came up, as I remember it, he was signing posters, and that's the first time I'd ever seen him in person was then. And the next week, he took the jump and we watched that on Wide World of Sports. But yeah, my uncle who I was telling you about, worked for the company that, we're a little sketchy on this. I thought that he worked for the company that designed the crane that took him up into the bike. Mm-hmm. He said that's not the case. But there was a brand of called Bucyrus Erie on the side of the cage that he was standing in when he came into the put, yeah, I've seen that. Sign was BE. It was a B on the top and E and that's where my uncle worked, that was his manufacturing company. They manufactured mostly farming equipment and stuff out of Pocatello. I was wondering what they did.

Joe P: 6:32

Coincidentally, we just packed up that display in preparation of our move. Our intrepid team at the Evel Knievel Museum in Kansas set out to relocate the Sky Cycle exhibit to your next favorite action sports museum, which is our future location in Las Vegas, Nevada. This steam powered oddity, the star of Evel Knievel's 1974 Snake River Canyon splash is a 600 pound slice of daredevil history. Disassembling the contraption was less IKEA and more Acme rocket --part precision, part circus, all with a grin. The crew started by shoveling a truckload of actual dirt and rocks mined from the hallowed jump site, along with rusty beer cans of genuine Idaho tumbleweeds into museum grade containers. The Sky Cycle itself, a twisted relic of Evel's wildest gamble, needed kid glove treatment. Museum techs swarmed it with curiosity and marveled at the mad scientist engineering involved in its creation. The winged vehicle was delicately lowered to the ground. It took the brawn of seven fully caffeinated bikers--thank you Oz Hogs-- to do the work of one prematurely deployed parachute, without adding so much as a scratch. As far as you know. The launch ramp, a steel beast built to catapult Evel into legend, was a different kind of monster. Weighing tons and scarred from its 1970s heyday, it demanded hoists and muscle. Techs wrestled bolts that seemed to be tightened by Lou Ferno on Wheaties. The ramp's gritty surface, a testament to Knievel's guts, was later cloaked in sheeting to protect its battle worn patina. The whole gig was a highwire act with a laugh track. Techs juggling irreplaceable parts while sidestepping stray screws, and joking about Evel's canyon sized bravado. By the end, the Sky Cycle and ramp, were ready to dazzle under the Vegas neon carrying Evel's legacy of fearless--if slightly bonkers-- dreams to a city that thrives on big risks and bigger stories. As you can see, we're still working feverishly to prepare for the move while simultaneously building out our space in Vegas.

Katsilometes: 9:06

So that's the Snake River Canyon. And then now there's a monument to Evel at that site. And also the framework of the jump is still there. The ramp is still on that site as you drive across on the interstate, I 84, it is. You can see it to the west and it's just nondescript. But if you drive over there, if you take off the interstate, you can see dedicated to Evel Knievel, the rocket bike is on this big granite. It looks like a tombstone almost.

Joe P: 9:43

Oh, yeah. That's

Katsilometes: 9:43

their dedication to Evel.

Joe P: 9:44

Huh? Yeah. Yeah. Really great.

Katsilometes: 9:47

Yeah.

Joe P: 9:48

Well, apparently next door to you, there's going to be a big ass museum, which is also a huge tribute to Evel Knievel, with the motorcycles, rockets. Mm-hmm. Yeah. capes, casts, canes.

Katsilometes: 10:00

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Are they going to have the little action figures?

Joe P: 10:05

Got the little action figures. Yeah. Actually, somebody found the original molds from those in the 1970s and is recasting those now.

Katsilometes: 10:14

Wow. Yeah. So they're going to re market them. Mm-hmm. Are they going to put them on the market?

Joe P: 10:17

Yeah. You can buy one now. They are for sale on our Evel Knievel Museum okay. site. And it's fun. It's it is like a secret code when people our age walk into the museum to experience. First they kind of shrink down. They Their freckles come back and their clothes get baggy and they turn into their 7-year-old self. Yeah. Right. It started like magic started like, motion as if they're reeling in a fish, but I know they're really winding up that toy.

Katsilometes: 10:47

They Yeah, they worked a little differently in person than they did in the commercials. I remember that. We had experience with-- In Pocatello, there was an Evel Knievel They owned Knievel's Market. Yeah, a little. It was a corner gro literally a corner grocery store, a little market, and they had a lot of Evel Knievel items inside there. So that was his connection to Knievel's market. You know, it did business for quite some time, especially in the Seventies. So he had family there and my dad one year who was a member of the Rotary Club, who were very active in the community, went helped book Evel Knievel or I think had suggested that they book Evel Knievel to do a talk at the Rotary Club. Mm-hmm. It was in the mid Seventies, probably. It might've been after the Snake River jump. He was still active as a daredevil. He came in and he got up on stage. This is the memory that my family, my father has. He got up on stage, he introduced him and he says, I hate Pocatello, Idaho. And he went on to tell a story about how he had been unfairly locked up in Pocatello, Idaho and was sitting in a little jail cell and was not happy about it and let everybody know and leveled his complaint, had his hearing and then left. That was it. That

Joe P: 12:11

was

Katsilometes: 12:11

it. That was, that was the appearance. That was it. That was Evel. So that's the memory that we have. Evel at that particular time, aired his grievances and left and years later when I moved to Las Vegas, Evel was still alive. This was about 1996 or so. He was known to hang out at the Cloud Nine Bar at the Maxim Hotel Casino. Oh, here? Yeah. I had friends there. Well, friends now, but bands used to play there. The Playboy Women of Rock and Roll I think was a band there that my friend Lon Bronson helped put together. Anyway, this is going back a bit and we had heard that Evel Knievel used to hang out at the Cloud Nine Bar, so we went on an Evel Knievel hunt and went in there and we saw him in there and went up and said hello to him. And he was drinking a, as I remember, he was drinking a Coors Light over ice, a very light beverage. I gotcha. So we saw him there. Yeah, so Evel.

Joe P: 13:12

So a lot of those stories,

Katsilometes: 13:14

yeah. Evel Knievel.

Joe P: 13:15

I have a picture of a marquee at Filthy McNasty in Los Angeles that says"Evel Knievel inside Drunk." Ah.

Katsilometes: 13:25

I ran into Robbie a few years ago, over at the Casa di Amore. Hung out with him for a bit there after he was done with his jumps. I never covered Robbie in his jumps in Las Vegas. You know, my friend Geechee Guy, the late Geechee Guy, the comedian had a joke about Evel Knievel that I just loved, when both he and Evel Knievel were still alive. And the joke was, yeah,"I was walking in front of the Ceasars Palace fountains the other day, and I ran into Evel Knievel and he jumped me."

Joe P: 13:59

Bu

Katsilometes: 14:00

that's right. Or, "He tried to jump me." That's the other punchline.

Joe P: 14:03

Oh yeah, that's even better. Yeah.

Katsilometes: 14:06

Yeah, so I love

Joe P: 14:07

that connection. I love the Vegas connection. He spent so much time in Vegas. It has always surprised me. Mm-hmm. I mean, state fairs around the whole country, but then back to Vegas, and then back to Vegas. Yeah. It's like a magnet.

Katsilometes: 14:20

It suited his identity, I think, at the time pretty well. It was kind of like an Elvis figure, you know, I have a Halloween costume. It's an Evel Knievel costume that I wear. I've worn it twice on Halloween. I've had it for about 10 years, and people often think I'm Elvis who don't know. If they don't know Evel Knievel because it looks like an Elvis jumpsuit. It's the stars and stripes and the cape and the whole thing.

Joe P: 14:41

See,

Katsilometes: 14:42

see?

Joe P: 14:42

Yeah. But

Katsilometes: 14:44

yeah.

Joe P: 14:45

There's only one though. You could tell the difference though. Oh, yeah. Like you got the sideburns, you got the belt buckle, the glasses, got the cape. Yes. All that is in common, but only one of them gets to call it a jumpsuit.

Katsilometes: 14:57

Right. Well, I don't know which one is which. This is by definition a jumpsuit a jump suit. Evel had taken an interest in a band that my uncle by marriage had formed, my uncle by marriage. His name Steve Eaton, and he was married to my mom's sister, so he was that was his position in my life. They've since divorced, but we're still close. Steve Eaton had a band called Fat Chance. It was out of southeastern Idaho, and he used to play at, I think it was, there was a bowling alley in Twin Falls. I can't remember the name, but I want to say it was a Pine Bowl, but that's, I don't know that that was it. But they used to play a bowling alley, used to, and Evel used to go to the bowling alley and hang out and watch them. This was early Seventies, and he had taken an interest in Fat Chance. And the story there was that he suggested that they go big and open for other acts and they ended up doing that until a band broke up in a few years. My cousin, who's a filmmaker in Los Angeles, is doing a working on a treatment of the story of Fat Chance, the band, that's going to include hopefully Evel, a stretch of Evel Knievel in the story. He touches our world, and I think everybody's world, in a unique way. He was a very unique figure in pop culture, you know?

Joe P: 16:24

Yeah. He was just huge. Mm-hmm. He was so recognizable. And then patriotic, also, when patriotism wasn't really in style. That's when he got his first red, white, blue suit was 1967 that he wore at Caesars. Mm-hmm.

Katsilometes: 16:43

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 16:44

When, you know, they're protesting Vietnam. Yeah, yeah. Spitting on soldiers. That's a different

Katsilometes: 16:49

era. Yeah. Different time. He certainly made his mark. I'm looking forward to seeing the museum.

Joe P: 16:57

Yeah. It should be cool.

Katsilometes: 16:58

Do you guys have a partnership? Is the Evel Pie part of the museum family at all? The restaurant.

Joe P: 17:04

No.

Katsilometes: 17:05

Okay.

Joe P: 17:05

But Branden Powers is building a pizza place right next to ours and it's a great concept. He also did the Golden Tiki. Yeah.

Katsilometes: 17:15

Yeah. I know Brandon. Yeah. Has he been on this? Has he talked you? Yeah,

Joe P: 17:18

he's been on this

Katsilometes: 17:19

yeah.

Joe P: 17:20

Yeah, so he describes his vision of a fun restaurant and then it's pretty awesome. He has found the last of the Showbiz Pizza animatronics, and he's going to get them dressed up in leathers and mullets. Very cool. They can do heavy metal. Mothership Coffee's also moving in that same building.

Katsilometes: 17:39

Yeah. Cool.. Joe P: I had no idea how First of all, I had no idea how friendly and welcoming Las Vegas Las Vegans are. Mm-hmm. Really, really kind, nice people, well, that's so far That's the heart of the city. If you put a pin on the map that's kind of the middle of the valley where this is going to go, where we live. You know, Fremont Street, that whole area. You know, I'm about a half a mile from the Plaza where I live, and Fremont Street hotels, so it's the nerve center of the local community, at least the entertainment district for the locals. Yeah.

Joe P: 18:20

Yeah. Good. Our museum's going to depend on tourism. Definitely dependent on locals to come volunteer and also work and do all the

Katsilometes: 18:29

Well, that's true. You know we've got Mob Museum down there. We've got the Punk Rock museum down there. We've got the Neon Museum in our radius. There's a It's a museum central. You can do a whole

Joe P: 18:38

tour. Isn't it funny how that worked out? A tour

Katsilometes: 18:40

of museums. Yeah.

Joe P: 18:41

I love the Punk Rock Museum so much. I do

Katsilometes: 18:43

too. They did a great job with that. Yeah, they did a really great All those I've named, they've done terrific jobs with them. Yeah, I expect this will be rad, too. Oh, and

Joe P: 18:50

Zak Bagans also. Mm-hmm. Awesome. I just

Katsilometes: 18:52

saw Zak yesterday. I kid you not, this happened to me. I was pulling into the Park MGM and valet and I get out of my car and this guy gets out of his car and we look at each other and it's Zak. who I know, who my family knows Uhhuh and he was there going to the WrestleMania, the Raw, not Wrestlemania but WWE Raw, and got to reconnect with him. He has recorded an episode of his Ghost Adventures from my Dad's bed and breakfast in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, which is just next to Pocatello. Well, you didn't tell

Joe P: 19:23

me it was haunted.

Katsilometes: 19:24

It's haunted. Well, Zak says it's haunted. Zak says it's haunted. He spent three days there, did a whole TV show about it. He would know. But yeah, he's got the lights and the equipment and, yeah, he took over the entire place. So, although I've been to my dad's end dozens of times over the years, and I've never seen anything, so but Zak says

Joe P: 19:45

it's haunted. You don't trust the experts.

Katsilometes: 19:46

I don't. I only trust my own experiences and I have yet to be approached by an apparition. But I do trust that Zak has a lot of equipment to find them. So yeah. So he says that it's haunted. Who's to argue?

Joe P: 20:01

Yeah. Speaking of Raw,

Katsilometes: 20:04

yes.

Joe P: 20:06

I have got to take a moment and thank The Space, which is run by speaking of Raw's own Mark Nash, right?

Katsilometes: 20:14

Mark Nash, yes. He looks a lot like Mark Shunock who hosts Mondays Dark. Yeah. Uncanny. Oh, they're like twins. It's

Joe P: 20:20

amazing.

Katsilometes: 20:21

I think he's severed. You know, the show Severance. I think he's got an Innnie and Outie, Mark.

Joe P: 20:27

You know, we started this podcast to keep people interested in what's going on with the museum while we build out our actual museum. In that museum will be a podcast space, but in the interim, we didn't really have a place where we could go. The space has volunteered for us to record our podcast here, and this is a place that you could support by coming to their secret party. On Mondays, they raise$10,000 for local charities. It's a pretty cool program because like Broadway or the West End, things are closed down on the Strip on Mondays. This gives the chance for the headliners on the Strip to come down, kind of cut loose. Like the guy that plays Cher all week doesn't have to do that. He can come sing Verdi's operas and it's a lot of fun. It costs like 20 bucks, 30 bucks to get in and it's a total blast. So we do want to extend our gratitude to the Space for what you're seeing and hearing right now.

Katsilometes: 21:33

I was just here for that last night, the Mondays Dark. They did the Beatles show. Yeah. I forget the charity. It's a charity show.

Joe P: 21:39

It was Make a Room.

Katsilometes: 21:41

Yeah. Yeah.

Joe P: 21:43

Once Upon a Room.

Katsilometes: 21:45

Okay. Marc Badain was here from the A's. He was here. His family has an interest in that charity. Yeah. Yeah. I like it. Well, they're doing great things here and you guys are doing great things and it's a great community effort and great community partnership, you know?

Joe P: 22:01

Yeah. Well, you're doing great things too. I depended a lot on your previous podcasts and on your articles for other things to do, which our visitors will want to know once they get here. Mm-hmm. You know where we're going to eat and what other attractions we're going to see. And so I was glad you mentioned those museums.

Katsilometes: 22:20

Yeah, we are museum heavy. We just announced a Bob Marley's Hope Road is coming into Mandalay Bay in June. That's going to be a whole experience, walk around experience, dedicated to Bob Marley's music and history and the reggae culture. And that's going to be a big deal. So we just announced that, broke that today, this morning. Congratulations. There's a lot of those. There's a lot of walk arounds. There's a lot of, you know, John Wick is over at Area 15. They've got Amplified over at Area 15, the Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll Show. There's quite a few of these coming online now.

Joe P: 22:54

Yeah, right. And also at Area 15 is the, or close to it, is the Universal Haunted House.

Katsilometes: 22:59

Uhhuh. Yeah.

Joe P: 23:01

That ought to be awesome.

Katsilometes: 23:02

That will be good. Yeah. There's a lot of revenue behind that. A lot of backing. Yeah. And same with Wick, and same with Rolling Stone, and the Amplified. That's an ongoing, those are ongoing. Where's that? That's right next to the John Wick. It's in the, oh God, what they call it? The portal? No. No, the Illuminarium, I'm sorry, the Illuminarium.

Joe P: 23:18

Oh, I know that.

Katsilometes: 23:18

And it's just next to, just west of the main Area 15 building where they have Omega Mart. Just to the west, and there's Illuminarium Amplified, Rolling Stone history of rock and roll. And then just to the south of that is John Wick, next to that. So it's kind of where, 20,000 Leagues used to be. Yeah. It used to be. It touches that space. So

Joe P: 23:41

That's a great space too.

Katsilometes: 23:43

Did you look at the Strip for museum?

Joe P: 23:45

We looked

Katsilometes: 23:45

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 23:46

I mean, I felt obligated. I have to look at Caesars Palace because

Katsilometes: 23:49

Absolutely. Yeah.

Joe P: 23:51

He crashed, but that is not going to happen yet. Uh,

Katsilometes: 23:58

Not yet, I know.

Joe P: 23:59

And then did our due diligence at Area 15.

Katsilometes: 24:02

We've got the Linq promenade too. They have a lot of activations, but I don't think they would have enough space for what you guys do available at the Linq. But yeah, obviously Caesars is the place that he... Did he ever jump anywhere else I don't remember anything. Did he?

Joe P: 24:20

Don't think so. I don't he did, but hung out, as you were saying, at the Hung out with Jay Sarno.

Katsilometes: 24:25

Yeah.

Joe P: 24:25

He hung out at Circus Circus.

Katsilometes: 24:27

That was a good guy to hang out with, Jay Sarno. You're going to have a fun night if you're hanging out with Jay Sarno in the 1970s, Sixties and Seventies. Yeah. Yeah. True. He was a good time guy. Yeah.

Joe P: 24:37

But I think

Katsilometes: 24:38

A gourmand

Joe P: 24:39

Say what?

Katsilometes: 24:39

A gourmand, they called him. That's the term for it. Gourmand, loved life in excess. Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 24:48

I always learn something from you. But we did land in the right spot, I think. The Arts District is great. It's away from everything. If people would like to get away from everything, and a lot of people would like to get away from everything after three days in Vegas, take a day off, go see the museum. Yeah. It'd be fun. I don't know where Have you heard where the Neon Museum is going to land?

Katsilometes: 25:14

Not specifically. I think we've reported, but I can't remember off the top of my head exactly what parcel. I mean, it's downtown. It's in the Arts district. Is there Oh, good. Two, they have two different places. I need to follow up on that. But nearby you guys. Yeah. Mm-hmm. That'll be cool. Good.

Joe P: 25:31

Well, it was such a pleasure to meet you.

Katsilometes: 25:32

You too.

Joe P: 25:33

Wanted to for a long time.

Katsilometes: 25:34

You too.

Joe P: 25:35

We're in the same place at the same time. We were at the same show last night.

Katsilometes: 25:38

Yeah, yeah, in here. Didn't we go to the Weren't you at the Westgate for the Wasn't there a gala around the holiday season? There was an Evel Knievel tree.

Joe P: 25:50

Oh, right, the tree thing. Oh, oh yeah. The Evel-- Oh, things that I owe you.

Katsilometes: 25:54

Yeah. That one. Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 25:56

Yes, right. How much do I owe you for that? John Katz was the judge at this Christmas tree fundraiser that we did.

Katsilometes: 26:04

I judged everything fair and square, but I loved it. The Evel tree was, it was very special. I think a lot of people loved it. It was distinctive. God, we had about a 20 trees at least, that were decorated.

Joe P: 26:15

Oh, at least. That was so much fun.

Katsilometes: 26:17

City of Lights? What did they call that charity anyway? Festival of Trees. Festival Lights. Festival of Trees. That's it. Was lights. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very non-religious. All the trees and whatever. All those trees were impressive. They were all different. But the Evel one just popped. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. So

Joe P: 26:35

What we did was we donated a tree to the cause, which was not Opportunity Village.

Katsilometes: 26:41

It was Down Syndrome of Nevada. Linda Smith's son was honored. Great. She used to be with Opportunity Village and she was an honoree. We recognized her as a woman of the night. Yeah, I just saw her on Easter over at the Jungle Palace, at Siegfried and Roy's old home. She was out there with the Down Syndrome event on Easter Sunday. Oh, they had an incredible tree too. Yes. That was a nice, the one dedicated to her son. That was Linda's son. Okay. Yeah.

Joe P: 27:11

By way of explanation, team Knievel that is the Family Museum and fan club banded together to donate a Christmas tree to a charity event. We bedazzled the pre-lit Christmas tree with red, white, and blue ribbon laced with glittery reproductions of evil's famous belt buckle folks from everything Evel sent some vintage toys to Nestle in the bows. California Creations contributed dozens of miniature stunt cycles that were wired up as ornaments. Wrapped under the tree were two kid-sized bicycles. Custom designed with trademark stars and iconic number one plates complete with matching safety helmets. Of course, there were tote bags and a pair of signed prints, one from Caesar's Palace and another from King's Island. My wife Bessie channeled her inner florist from a previous career to top the whole thing with a festive bow featuring a historic stunt cycle from 1974, which as we know topped every child's wishlist. The whole holiday assembly was auctioned off during dinner at the Festival of Trees, commanding the highest price to support Down syndrome organization of Southern Nevada. It's a cause near and dear to our winner. Our friend and fellow EK fan, Darryl Borges. Major props to him for the generous donation and much thanks to his roommate who's enduring the year-round display at his apartment. By the time dessert was served, we were awarded the Judge's Choice Award for best overall design. Congratulations, Bessie. Coincidentally, the judge that night. It was this very same Johnny Katz who I didn't know at the time.

Katsilometes: 28:56

It was good to see you. It's good to see you too. Okay. So we're winners. Thanks to John Katz, is what I'm trying to say. Yeah. Check's in the mail. Until next time, happy Landings.

Heather: 29:11

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Evel Knievel: 29:31

I just think the Evel Knievel way.

Heather: 29:36

We leave you with the encouraging words from the book of Deuteronomy. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Until next time, happy landings! You like to fly to the seat of your pants? This is where you belong.