Friendly Encounters

This is another in a series of meetings of my friends and celebs.

I first met Vince Saputo about 20 years ago when we both worked at Lerner Newspapers. Years later, after Vince had left, his wife Melody joined Lerner. I got to know the Saputo family as we worked on several projects together. They were a lot of fun back in the day. They relocated a while back, but we recently reconnected through Facebook.
Vince is a District Sales Manager at Penton Media. He works directly with Electrical Contractors and Maintenance magazine and Electrical Wholesaling magazine. Vince writes his own blog, Poet at the edge, which is interesting, thought-provoking and informative.
When I saw that Vince posted a pic of him and Paul Teutul Sr., I asked him to share his story and he agreed.
Here's the story:Schneider Electric Co. is having Orange County Choppers build 8 bikes to give away during a promotion. As part of their efforts to promote this to electrical contractors, Schneider brought in Paul Sr. for a personal appearance on Monday, September 14, 2009, at the NECA (National Electrical Contractors Assn) trade show which was held at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle (WA).
Paul was there from about 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. The first half hour was given to people who had registered and won Paul Sr.'s book, so they could have a photo and an autograph. After that, they allowed any attendee or exhibitor to come up and have a photo taken with him. Well, I jumped in line!
I noticed all of the guys were standing and, of course, Paul was sitting, which I thought wouldn't make for a good photo. So, after I shook his hand and he said, "How are you doin/ Good to see you, man.", I said, "Thanks" and "I'm going to get down here with you." And he said, "Cool."
That way, I tried to get our faces on the same level. I think it worked.
I applaud Vince for his quick thinking on the photo composition. That is the mark of a true veteran. I also thank Vince for sharing his story. Hopefully, we will see more of the Saputo family here in the future.

Vince Saputo and Paul Teutul Sr. in Seattle, WA-September 2009.