June 25,1977, was Donny Osmond Saturday

....and I got to see this guy.

Yep. Donny Osmond. Not quite 20 year old Donny Osmond. Photo snapped in Des Moines, Iowa--Donny, his brothers, sister Marie and their parents, were literally in my own back yard. Well, 35 miles away from it, yet closest at literally I was gonna get! *****By this time in 1977, I'd trekked to Las Vegas a coupla times to see said Osmonds. Back then, Vegas wasn't so family friendly like now. My friends and I weren't 21 yet--so we were underage to be going around Las Vegas alone. We did not care--OSMONDS made all the difference. Also by 1977, I'd journeyed to the East Coast to see the Osmonds--in fact, come August of 1977, I was in Pennsylvania, where we stayed up all night. Yes, we did. We were giddy Osmond and planned to leave early in the morning so to the Philadelphia airport to see them off.*****And we did. I have one of my favorite photos of Donny from the Philly airport, which I cannot locate. Digital wasn't around then. Just negatives. It's gotta be somewhere. *****I digress. Back to Des Moines.*****What I remember is how GREAT it was to have the Osmonds where I lived! Although I loved my adventures to see then (have I told you about the time Donny came off the stage and gave me hug in front of the whole audience?) it was way cool to know they were just RIGHT THERE! *****Girls were everywhere. Screams. Osmonds. Flashbulbs. Pictures snapped. The Hilton in Des Moines was absolutely no match to the Las Vegas Hilton, so we fans were crammed in tight quarters. I think the police weren't that sure what to do either! And we didn't care. Being crammed into that hotel, was better than the concert at Veterans Coliseum. Our seats were about 6th row--yet so far over to the side. I could probably have seen better, literally from my own back yard. Spoiled from previous Osmond Concert seats. Still to this day, I MUST be up at that stage, regardless of who the performer. So to see the Osmonds up close and personal at the Des Moines Hilton made up for it:

...and did I tell you about the time Donny said he had more soul than me?
Water color and purple memories...
And even those glasses that I LOVED at the time--
Nice....nice... indeed.