Monday, March 12, 2012

Munchkins on the way to work


September 2009
I was on my way to work on a Friday. I took the same route every day. It was 7:15 a.m. and I was traveling down 75th Street in Woodridge, Illinois. Sitting in a strip mall parking lot was a giant, green, hot air balloon. The balloon said "Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz." 

© 2012 Tinseltown Photo all rights reserved
© 2012 Tinseltown Photo all rights reserved

Being that my sister is a huge fan, I decided to stop and get some shots of the balloon. I always keep my camera with me.

© 2012 Tinseltown Photo all rights reserved
After I pulled into the empty parking lot, I noticed WGN News was out covering some type of story. As I got closer, I noticed three “little people” standing off to the side. As I zoomed in with my camera, I noticed they looked kind of familiar.

© 2012 Tinseltown Photo all rights reserved
A few moments later, I noticed a young lady walking by who had been talking with them. I rolled down my window and sheepishly asked if they were “Munchkins.” She said yes, they were, and that they were there to promote the HD release of the film and that the film was screening there tonight. At that point, I realized I was in the parking lot of Hollywood Blvd. Cinema. She said Hollywood Blvd Cinema had hosted an annual Wizard of Oz Festival for many years and, as part of those festivities, they always had the surviving actors from the movie host the screenings and meet the public. She then asked if I wanted to meet them….. How could I resist? As we were walking over to them, I introduced myself to her and Angelique, the public relations guru, explained that these were three of the last five remaining munchkins. She also told me of how the theater's owner, Ted Bulthup, was very close to them and was responsible for getting the Munchkins their star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame."

Karl Slover, Margaret Pellegrini & Jerry Maren
© 2012 Tinseltown Photo all rights reserved

Angelique said, “Thom this is Karl Slover. Karl played the First Trumpeter, Munchkin soldier and one of the singers who led Judy Garland to 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road.' This is Margaret Pellegrini. Margaret played the Sleepy Head in the bird's nest, and was also one of the gals who wore a flower pot hat. This is Jerry Maren. Jerry was a member of the Lollipop Guild trio, who will always be remembered as the munchkin who presented the enormous lollipop to Judy Garland as she was welcomed to Munchkinland.”  I could not believe they were standing in front of me.

© 2012 Tinseltown Photo all rights reserved

The only thing I could think of was that my sister was going to freak. We took a few photos and made a little small talk and I was then on my way.

While I continued to work, I was still trying to process what had just happened. I just met the Munchkins here, in Woodridge? Later on that day, I emailed one of my photos to the local newspaper that ultimately ended up using it for their story.


A few days later, I contacted Angelique and sent her a link to the newspaper. She appreciated me going out of my way to get some extra press for the theater. During our conversation, I asked if they had a photographer to cover their events.  She said, “No we don’t. We did try at one point, but it never seemed to work out.”  I told her that if they had any events coming up, I would love a chance to show them what I could do. She said “Let me see, maybe there is something we could do in the future.”  In a million years, I  never would have dreamed where this would lead...

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