The Grand Finalé of my youthful days of Artistic Roller Skating competition. The 1979 National Championships were held in Fort Worth, Texas. I managed the trip by funds that we gained from taking the Southern Regional Silver medal in March of 1979. It was a difficult time, but a rewarding one. I remember eating baloney sandwiches and sleeping on the floor in the motel room. I also remember Jo Jo Starbuck as one of the annoucers at the major National Meet. Another amusing memory is that there had been a rodeo event in The Will Rogers Colleseum where we skated on the previous day. They still had the cattle ramps on the sidelines and we skaters actually had to enter the floor for competition by way of these ramps! I remember us all trying not to slip and fall as we went down these ramps (on skates, don't forget), all of us "mooing" like cattle as we went!