In life many of us are faced with events that occur as a total surprise. I have had such things happen to me. I would like to note those events as noteworthy and occurrences that I will not forget. Here, I am listing them as they come to mind.

 

WATERGATE

In 1972, I was staying at the Watergate Hotel to attend the National Food Manufacturers Conference One morning at 5:30 AM I was walking out of the Watergate on my way to attend church before driving to Greenbriar to play golf with Ralph Harding, a former Congressman from Idaho. There were a number of police in front of the hotel and I asked them what was going on. They said, “nothing, some people were trying to get into the Democratic Headquarters and we are looking into it”. That was my first experience with the break in and Nixon. I was there when it happened.

 

STAND IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE DOOR INCIDENT

One of the products I invented was the Vitality orange juice dispenser in the 1960’s. I was in Brimingham, Alabama, demonstrating my orange juice machine in 1967; which was during the height of the Civil Rights movement. George Wallace was at the University of Alabama, blocking the entrance of  African-American students. As I walked, I turned the corner and all of the sudden I saw Robert Kennedy, who was the Attorney General of the United States. He was standing with the National Guard opposing George Wallace at the door of the University of Alabama. There was a confrontation when Wallace prevented  the first African American student to enter the building and attend college. It was noteworthy on my part because this was the first time I had ever seen a conflict like this in real time. Afterwards, when I read the Time Magazine reporting of this event, I found that the actual event was much different than what I actually witnessed. It made a lasting impression to note the way things happen in real time is different than the way they are reported, and I never forgot that experience.

 

ROBERT KENNEDY

I happened to meet Robert Kennedy on Sunday, June 2, 1968 at 11:00 am, four days before he was assassinated. I was walking down the steep street from Nob Hill to Old Saint Mary’s Church in San Francisco with my son Michael. We happened upon Robert Kennedy who was also headed for the church. As we walked, we began to chat.  He had his bodyguard Roosevelt Grier, with him, and we had a pleasant talk. I introduced Bobby to my son, Mike, who was very shy at the time. It was fun visiting all the way down the hill to the church and I never forgot this moment in time, especially because of Robert Kennedy’s subsequent assassination which shocked the nation.

 

PAVAROTTI

Back n the 1970’s when I I was working at the combined Basic American Foods Companies, my boss Jack Hume was President of the San Francisco Opera. On more than one occasion he invited my wife and I to the opera. I was managing Basic and that day, there was a major crisis at the Vacaville garlic facility. I had been working all day and into the night because of the problems at the plant. I barely had enough time to go home, shower, and dress for the opera. That quick shower was the cause of the ensuing problem and the reason for this story.

 

Pavarotti was the guest star of the opera. Jack had a private balcony and sat alongside his wife and several other guests. It was an elegant and  beautiful evening. When we arrived, immediately the problem became obvious. I had showered, but I violated the one rule when you work with garlic: I had not washed with tomato juice to remove the garlic odor. The unpleasant, strong smell of garlic permeated the area. Mrs. Hume made it clear that she was very offended by the odor. I asked Jack Hume if I should leave and he said “no!”, so I stayed.

 

As was the tradition, after the show, Jack invited us all to a late dinner at his beautiful home in San Francisco. There were about 12 people at the dinner, including Mr. Pavarotti. When Pavarotti heard the story and smelled the odor of garlic all around me, he could not stop laughing. He sang a song about it and got everyone laughing, even Mrs. Hume. It ended up with everyone having so much fun. It was a déjà vu moment and I will always remember what a great evening it was. Jack and I loved to reminisce about it.

 

Those were some of my great experiences that were not planned, it was a great history.