Cal Ripken, Jr. played baseball from 1981-2001 and is recognized as the “Iron Man” of baseball due to his consecutive games played 2,632. A tremendous athlete who loved the game and all that entails. Being one of the true gentlemen of the sport, Ripken made sure to sign autographs after games to the kids who waited around to see their hero. He truly appreciated his fans.

 

Ernie Brown, who is known for his television show “Call of the Wildman” stopped by the Harrison County Parks and Recreation Complex for a surprise visit to the Mountain State on Tuesday. More commonly known as the Turtle Man, Brown has been hitting the roads here as of late to promote his YouTube channel “Live Action” as well as a 14-song album which releases this April. He is a fan of the area and the fans are what fuels him as he explains.

 

“I have been a little under the weather the past couple days, but seeing all the fans who love the Turtle Man and the shows gives me the power I need to get me through the day. I get stopped pretty much everywhere I go and what started as a trip to Walmart for milk turns into a 4-hour stay talking to the fans of the show.”

 

Having a person like Brown visit the facility and speak to kids from a local elementary school about turtles and the different types of species is not only an educational experience, but also entertaining to the kids as he puts a different spin on it. Deputy Director Doug Comer explains.

 

“We are very fortunate to meet a man like Ernie (Brown) simply for the factor that he is a friend for life now,” Comer said. “He definitely brings his own kind of energy to the table that cannot be duplicated. And the wealth of knowledge that he possesses and the way he teaches it far outweighs anything you can read about in books or on the net. Our doors will always be open for him.”

 

What turned into a field day visit from Norwood 1st graders later became a publicized meet-and-greet session with the public as Brown gave the OK to open for a special evening with the locals of Harrison County.

 

“We sent a press release to local radio stations like Sky 106.5 and WKKW as well as local television stations telling about our event and needless to say, the word got out,” said Comer. “After hearing the amount of hits on Connect-Bridgeport as well comments on our Facebook page we knew to be ready in case of a big rush. And thanks to Commissioner President Ron Watson and Harrison County Sheriff Robert Matheny we had the support needed to make things run smoothly.”

 

And, to the staff’s expectations, people started to flock around the building around 12 p.m. with the intentions of meeting Brown first. And as the minutes ticked closer to the 2 p.m. start, the crowds continued to grow.

 

Now, back to the Ripken opening. At times, if the crowds were big, he would sign hundreds and hundreds of autographs to kids and parents until the last person had something with his signature on it. You have to commend a person for not disappointing the fans. So, goes the same for Brown.

 

The hours of the event were from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and the line of people looked like a line to ride the Space Mountain at Disney. Tipping at close to the 1,000 mark, the Turtle Man took pictures, signed autographs and spoke to every person that made it through the door. And he did not take one break.

 

“This guy is some trooper. When we told him the amount of people lined up across the parking lot, he said to keep the doors open passed the cutoff time and he will make sure that all his friends sees him somehow,” said Comer. “Finally around 7:45, we had to cut the line off and probably 30 people got turned away. We hated to do it, but this guy has been going on seven hours straight.”

 

But, the story does end with a happy ending as many of those stuck around and did get a chance to meet Brown. Around 9:15 p.m. he popped his head out the front door to get to his car and he did as promised. He signed a few more autographs and took a few more photos, but most importantly, he made a few more fans happy.  

 

Editor's Note: Pictured above is Ernie "Turtle Man" Brown and BHS alum, Jack Cann.