| I'm too young to remember Johnny Carson with any great detail (he went off the air when I was 9), but what memories I do have of him on the "Tonight Show" are very fond. I recall my dad being really bummed about him retiring in 1992. He must have made his opinion really known if I remember it. Of all the little stories and interviews I've heard over the last 24 hours, this one hit closest to home quite literally. As taken from WHOtv.com: "Carson was born in Corning in southwest Iowa and even though he spent little time there Carson gave back to Iowans. "For decades, Johnny Carson was the big name in the big city. In 1925 in rural Corning, Iowa in this house, he was just little John William Carson. He only lived in town for about a year. People here really only know him years later from television. But they've gotten to know him in a different way. "About three years ago, kids complained to their parents there was no place to play. So parents raised money for a new skatepark. They came up with $8,000, they needed $83,000. ?One night my husband said, you know he had given money to playground project at the elementary school here a few years back. And he said, what's it going to hurt to write him?', says Cindy Klassen. Cindy and her friend Lori wrote a letter hoping Carson could help. Two weeks later, they got their answer. ?On Monday, the Fed Ex truck showed up and when I opened it, I literally fell down,' says Lori Goldsmith. Inside was a letter from Johnny Carson himself and a check. ?I had to look at the zeros. At first, I thought $7,500. No, $75,000,' says Goldsmith. "Thanks to him and in honor of him, Corning opened the Carnac Family Skatepark named after Carson's famous Carnac the Magnificent Tonight Show character. Now, when the park's not full of snow, it's full of dozens of kids. "Cindy and Lori say Johnny Carson only wanted one thing in return for his check, a picture of the new skatepark. So of course, they sent him a one." What else is there to say? |
