Adam West Day

Johnny Greene eats fire at the opening ceremony of Adam West Day in Walla Walla.



One of the MANY exhibits at the Kirkman Museum celebrating the life of Adam West.



People could get their photos taken with surfing Batman!



Holy Triple Batman! Three Batmen listen to Johnny Greene (who was in the original Batman television show with Adam West) talks about his experiences.



Adam West Batman impersonator Clint Young and Johnny Greene stand together at the opening ceremony.



The Marcus Whitman Hotel is all decked out for Adam West Day.



A model of the proposed Adam West statue to be erected in Walla Walla was unveiled at the events.



The homage to Adam West's most famous role can be seen as a shadow on the base of the statue.



The Bat-Copter made an appearance at the event, and children were allowed to enter the cockpit, to their delight.



An original Batmobile owned by Clint Young was also available for photo ops.

I attended Adam West Day this year with my mother and sister. We had a pretty good time, arriving a little early, about an hour before the opening ceremonies. We started at the Kirkman House Museum, where we visited the new Adam West exhibit, which includes some Bat-Surprises (hint, there's a bust of Shakespeare on the table along with a red phone). After enjoying the museum, we headed over to the opening ceremonies. This year's special guest was Johnny Greene, who appeared with Batman in the original series. In this clip, he says "Joker's good, what a kick-turn!"


He's also next to the trash can at the beginning of this clip (the taller green hair guy with a lanyard):


After the opening ceremonies, the three of us went to Olive for food, then down to the quilt shop Stash to add to Mom's stash. Then we visited the toy store and the candy shop before heading to the Marcus Whitman Hotel for the talk with Johnny Greene.

We learned about Greene's hair. He was told he couldn't succeed even if he had green hair, so he dyed his hair green and has had green hair all his life since. He is a working musician, was on a number of shows and even went on tour with Bob Hope in Vietnam. He also manages a number of stars and celebrities, including Hope for many years. He went to comic conventions with Adam West many times, and knows a lot of folks from his years in the business.

Clint Young, who is an Adam West Batman impersonator, also told about his life. He was hired for one job and now he's been impersonating Adam West's Batman for 30 years. He said that at the last event he did with West, he was later told that Adam and his driver came up behind Clint doing his schtick, and Adam watched Clint for a time, then turned to the driver and said it was very strange to watch Clint, as it felt like he was watching his younger self. Clint said it was the highest compliment he's ever gotten.

After the talk, the maquette of the proposed Adam West Statue, which will hopefully be erected in a park near Adam West's childhood home, was revealed. The statue is simply Adam looking elegant, with a nod to Batman on the base of the statue in the form of a bat-shadow thrown by a special light.

My mother won one of the door prizes, an Adam West Day poster signed by Johnny Greene. She gave it to me, and at some point I would like to get it framed with the itinerary and the promo card for the event.

The signed poster with a promo card and the back of Mom's winning promo card.

We didn't stay for the screening of the Batman movie or the repeat screening of "Starring Adam West". We also didn't stay for the children's hour at the plaza, featuring music and a chance to "walk up the wall like Batman". We headed home early to get some rest, since my mom and sister need to be home early tomorrow.

So that was the second annual Adam West Day for me. I'm looking forward to next year, particularly if the organizers do decide to move it to a weekend.

My report of last year's event can be found at File770.