Shortly after I had moved into my brothers’ house I realized the value of having great neighbors. I had met Ron Manoogian and always thought he was a fantastic guy with a fun sense of humor. I felt fortunate that I had connected with Ron and his partner, Tom, on my previous trips visiting by brother from Alaska and I was even more thrilled to have started making friends in our little community in Central Phoenix. Nothing truly prepared me for what I’m about to share with you.
It was a lovely spring day, and I was outside tending to my little patio garden when I heard a scooter come into our neighborhood. What do you get when you have a guy wearing a full-length fur coat, riding a baby blue Vespa, no shirt, boots and a hat all with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth? You get Manoog! Gone Wild! There he went as he rounded the corner, (vroom, vroom) his coat gliding in the wind and the smoke from his cigarette billowing behind him as he rode forward and up the street to his driveway.
Only Ron would go to Circle K dressed as he is.. no worries or cares at all. I nearly fell over laughing–I don’t even think he saw me standing on my patio that day. I could hardly talk as I told my husband Brian what I had just witnessed and we vowed that we would document Ron’s Circle K scooter adventure one day. So, this was a project we had on the calendar for months–to shoot Manoog in all his wonderful Glory! Thankfully he went along with the recreation of events–I still crack up just reliving the shoot almost every time I look at the gallery set of his shots.
He is so much fun–and we had an incredible time working with him! As you can imagine just by the photographs–he’s quite the character! He’s one of the most gentle, loving men I’ve met that is mild mannered, sweet and kind. He and Tom are just plain good people! I think he had just as much fun as we did!
Thanks, Ron, for allowing us to climb into that mind of yours for just a few moments as we captured your spirit just being you! 🙂
We love you, Man!
K&B 🙂
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