B.F. Day Reminisces About Visit from J.P. & Gertrude

The monthly newsletter to parents, the B.F. Day Elementary School Dayette, contained a note about a historic visit to the school, circa 1997, by J.P. Patches & Gertrude.

King County Landmarks & Heritage Commission wrote about the visit:

“Two of television’s pioneers, J.P. Patches and Gertrude, appeared in Mabel Adkins’ classroom at B.F. Day School.  They performed for the students, presented a video from their early days programs on KIRO-TV and answered questions about being in TV during the 1950s, 60s & 70s.

“TCI Cablevision of Washington is producing a documentary on pioneers of television for History House.  The students will be part of the program.  Lani Edenholm is producer and director.  The project is made possible by a special grant from King County Landmarks and Heritage Commission.

“Other (pioneer television) stars appearing in the classroom are Stan Boreson, Brakeman Bill, Chuck Herring, Rod Belcher, Bill O’Mara, Jim French, Kit Spier and Chuck Snyder.”

This trip down memory lane comes as we lost Bob Newman on December 13^th, 2020.  Newman played ‘everyone else’ on the J.P. Patches Show, including Gertrude.  Chris Wedes, who brought J.P. to life, passed in 2012.  The two performed together for two decades, but then found even more success touring around the area performing for private parties and local landmarks – including in Fremont where Newman was a regular at the Nickerson Street Saloon.

Thank you to Carrie Bauer, and the B.F. Day family, for sharing these memories!