Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Diamond T Ranch Owner Jerry Thomas as John Wayne - 8/20/1984r
THIN WEEK
NEW:QPAPEBS
Volume 6, No 25 August 20, 1984
Three Sectior s Section A
Listen up pilgrim
EAGAN
Your
Community
Newspaper
Ya better sit tight and read this here story
By JEFF BURR iLL
Johnny Cash vas astonished.
Mickey Gilley ouldn't believe
his eyes. Tanya Tucker wanted
her picture taker with him, as did
Charly McClain.
Fact is, at the gigantic "More
in '84" country vestern festival
held in Detroit Lakes, MN, last
week, Eagan ; esident Jerry
Thomas was sou ;ht out by fans
and superstars ilike for auto-
graph and snapsi of sessions.
So why all this . ittention paid to
Thomas, who — despite being
owner of Diamon 1 T Ranch and a
member of the Eagan City Coun-
cil — can't carry . i tune? Just one
look — that's all it took — and
country- western : ingers and fans
alike thought Joan Wayne had
returned for anot ier go around.
In reality, it was Thomas'
resemblance to " Elie Duke" that
caught them off guard. It was
also the reason h ?, was asked to
help emcee the famed Detroit
Lakes festival.
"It's a four -day event and drew
over 70,000 pee ale," Thomas
related. "Detroi Lakes is a
resort town about t80 miles north-
west of the Tw! a Cities. Last
year, a man nam■ d Jeff Krueger
promoted the irst country -
western festival t sere and it was
such a success hE tried it again.
He plans to mak ?, it an annual
event.
"And with peo Ale like Merle
Haggard, Johnny Cash, Sons of
the Pioneers, R annie Milsap,
Tanya Tucker ar d the Charlie
Daniel's Band en ertaining, the
fans get pretty e cited. My job
was to welcome the audience
each night, toast \ 'ith them, and
introduce some of the acts — all
in my John Wayne character. Let
me tell you, it was fun."
Thomas was hii ed as "enter-
taining emcee" a t the festival
through the efforts of a friend
who alerted Krueg er to Thomas'
uncanny resembla. ice to the late
Wayne. Krueger w■ ,nt for the idea
and Thomas beta me an unex-
pected celebrity 1 or four days
(Aug. 9-12).
"Except for the singers them-
selves, I was the only one in the
VIP area who didn't have to show
a pass," Thomas said. "They just
waved me through. The only time
I was stopped was to have my pic-
ture taken or give out an auto-
graph. It was really something to
have the fans and stars ask to
have their pictures taken with
me. Some of the stars knew John
Wayne personally and were just
blown away when they first saw
me."
Thomas used "The Duke" as
his nom de plume when signing
autographs and was also in-
troduced at festival sessions by
the same handle.
Thomas and his wife, Carol,
both took time off from running
Diamond T Ranch to journey to
Detroit Lakes.
"It was a wonderful weekend,"
Carol said. "The performances
were fantastic and getting to
know some of the singers was
fun. Johnny Cash was our ab-
solute favorite. He was making a
movie in Atlanta and flew in for
the festival."
Portraying "The Duke" at the
"More in '84" gathering was not
the first time the 45- year -old
Thomas reincarnated his John
Wayne character. He began
assuming the role for fun and pro-
fit a year ago.
"It was about 10 years ago that
I began to physically resemble
John Wayne," Thomas explain-
ed. "Our kids would be watching
TV and say Dad, you're on
television' when a John Wayne
movie came on. I was flattered
because I've always been a big
John Wayne fan, but never
thought that much about it."
While it was Thomas' kids who
"discovered" him, the same ag-
gregation — Mike, Teddy, Mitzi,
and Lisa — encouraged their dad
in 1983 to enter a celebrity look -
alike contest being sponsored by
a Twin Cities radio station. A pro-
fessional actress placed first,
assuming the character of Lily
Tomlin. Thomas was runner -up.
"That was the beginning of my
John Wayne career," Thomas
said. "From that point, 11 of us
who were entered in the look -
alike contest put together a
brochur, advertising our avail-
ability to appear at parties,
award presentations, grand open-
ings, business promotions, and so
on.
"Since then I've emceed a
Ricky Skaggs concert after a
Strikers game at the Metrodome,
and the Western Art Classic Show
at Pillsbury Center. I've also
hosted nightclub and steakhouse
grand openings with a Dolly Par-
ton look- alike."
During the past year, Thomas
won two local celebrity look -alike
contests, including one on televi-
sion's "Good Company." He also
recently received TV exposure on
WCCO's local version of "PM
Magazine."
"I heard from them recently
and now they're going to use the
segment on their national broad-
cast," Thomas said. (The local
showing — filmed at Diamond T
— was televised a few weeks ago;
no date has been set for the na-
tional broadcast. )
It's not too surprising Thomas
ended up owning and operating a
horse ranch. He had his first pony
when he was two.
Following graduation from
Southwest High School in Minne-
apolis, Thomas served four years
in the Navy. He was then employ-
ed at an auto supply dealership
for two years, before going to
work at Sears for 11 years where
he eventually managed five store
departments.
"Carol and I met and gotmmar-
ried when we were both working
at Sears," Thomas said. "Then
we started raising kids and
horses."
Twelve years ago, Jerry and
Carol figured that perhaps it was
time to do something with the 21
horses they were keeping on their
land.
"We decided to let the horses
start feeding us," Thomas said.
And thus Diamond T Ranch
came into being, featuring trail
rides, hay rides, horse boarding,
etc.
Though operating Diamond T
Ranch is enough to keep Thomas
more than busy. he is not only en-
joying his fledgling second career
as "The Duke" revisited, he's
looking beyond emceeing con-
certs and hosting grand openings.
"There's a possibility of doing
`The Duke', see page 10A
TRUE GRIT is what Jerry Thomas is displaying in this
photograph, while bedecked in an outfit similar to
one worn by John Wayne during his academy award
winning performance in the movie "True Grit."
Thomas is developing a second career as a John
Wayne look- alike.
`The Duke' continued from front
commercials," Thoi ias stated.
"And I've been con acted by a
Hollywood promoter ,vho saw me
on stage in Detroit bakes. I'll be
meeting with him soon.
"Things seem to be channeling
in the right direction for me. I've
been in.the right place at the right
time. And they're going to be
making a movie of John Wayne's
life story. You wanta talk about
my dream, pilgrim ..."
JOHNN >t CASH couldn't quite believe his eyes when confronted by Jerry
Thomas as "The Duke.''
CAROI THOMAS with Mickey Gilley at the "More in '84" country- western
festival .
TANYE TUCKER had to look twice when meeting Jerry Thomas at the
"More n '84" festival in Detroit Lakes.
i