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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 25, 2004 12:29:38 GMT -5
Here`s a few of the guy`s that I grew up training with ,mostly in the 70`s and 80`s, but I started long before that. After the YMCA there were two hardcore gyms in my town at the time....Central City Gym,and Big Daddys Gym. Springfield Massachusettes,Jeff King at Central City Gym, circa late 70`s early 80`s ? My best friend Dan Demas took this pic, and he will be included in this thread also and looks better than ever!! Enjoy!  |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 25, 2004 12:34:13 GMT -5
Another shotof "Kinger" as we all called him, around the time of his Mr. America or Mr. Universe win....1983! Please hold comments if you will, until the thread is done, so as not to ruin the continuity....thanks guys!   |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 25, 2004 12:40:28 GMT -5
Arthur "Artie" Prince Mr. America tall class winner. Just a great big gentle giant of a guy, and very humble and almost shy. Saw him last year in Boston, and he`s still huge...260-270,but not in contest shape, but looked very lean!! Got a pic with hm at the time, but I have no scanner! He sometimes trained with Kinger for shows,and it was itensity at it`s best, trust me on that....can you say animals!!  |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 25, 2004 12:51:49 GMT -5
Pat Hayes,also a contender for the Mr. America title. A former really good hockey player,and the first guy I knew who took D-Bol. Smoked a lot of pot before training, and also appeared in Weiders mags ,and did a video of Diana Ross` old song "I Want Muscles". Good kid, who left for Cali to make it big, and got shot in the neck by a jealous husband,while bouncing in a bar. Never went too far after Gary Leonard beat him for the America, but modeled for articles in Muscle & Fitness a lot. Still alive, and doing OK from all accounts...I have lots and lots of stories about some of these guys, which I will add to thread in time!!  |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 25, 2004 12:59:20 GMT -5
Another shot of Hayes,whose head I split open once breaking up a fight with my training partner in the locker room....more on this later.  No hard feelings ,we were still friends, but I guess he underestimated my strength at the time,a big no no on his part, and he has the scar to prove it!! ;D   A now long defunct magazine where Pat Hayes was used on the cover!!  |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 25, 2004 13:28:14 GMT -5
Matt Dufresne....Kinger was his boyhood idol, as he worked in the gym as a kid, and went out with the gym owners daughter. Jeff helped him, and advised him in his training, as he unselfishly did for many . Matt`s goal was to follow in Kinger`s footsteps, and win the America and the NABBA Universe, back to back, just like Jeff did in 1983, and Matt did just that, winning both titles back to back in 1989. Along the way he also won the Teenage Mr. America, and the Mr. USA titles. Alot of people thought Matt was c**ky, but he was just focused, and always pushed me and my twin cousinns to train our asses off. When I returned to Springfield in `97, after living in Florida for 4 years, I had $20.00 in my pocket, and I called Matt to see if I could traiin at his gym, and pay him at a later date....he said sure Wes no charge. I tool 2 busses there and 2 busses back at 5 AM everyday in the snow, and when Matt last saw me I was a down and out drunk, but when I showed him some pics Doris Barrileax took of me winning my class at the Over-35 Southern States at age 40,Matt was amazed, and asked me who trained me, and did my diet, as I had lost 5 inches on my waist, going from a 33 to a 27 inch legit waist measurement,I replied to Matt with a tear in my eye, that I did it myself and had obviously stopped drinking. He never asked me for a dime! Good freakin` guy in my book, and today is a professional cyclist, racing all around the East Coast, but mostly in the New England aea,and doing very well at it I might add. Who would expect less from a guy who has always had incredible drive? Not me that`s for sure!!   |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 25, 2004 13:57:21 GMT -5
Central City Gym had about 5 different locations over the years, and we all pitched in and helped owner Roger Auidi move all the equipment...which was a mean feat in itself. This early shot of Jeff King doing squats, was at the South End location in Springfield...incidentally, the guy spotting Kinger is Rich Roy, who later went on to become an NPC Nationals competitor and even later a WABBA Mr. World winner. More stories and personalities to come ....including other guys from my hometown,such as Chris Aceto,Joe Gomes,and a great tale about a visit from Ted Arcidi,plus some amusing,shady,tragic,and odd stuff that occured in that town, and in the gyms of Springfield Masachusettes once a hotbed of bodybuilding that is once again turning out lot`s of top physiques!!  Another shot of Rich taken right outside the gym. Rich lived in the neighboring town of South Hadley, right outside of Holyoke, which are suburbs of Springfield. He and his family owned, and ran a company that made marble items for bathrooms, and other various other uses, and they still do today. He also raised and bred Morgan horses. He won the WABBA Mr. World title, which I beleive was put on by Serge Nubret,and did very well also in the AAU and the NPC!!  An early cover shot of Rich Roy !!  |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 26, 2004 13:02:33 GMT -5
Another guy that trained at "Big Daddy`s Gym" in Springfield, was noted author,and nutrionist to Jay Cutler, among other big name bodybuilders, Chris Aceto!!  Chris was a very nice person,and won a lot of contests also,most notablt placing 6th. in his class at the NABBA Mr. Universe,3rd. in the NABBA Nationals,winning his height class at the Teen-Age Mr. USA,and also taking his height class at the Collegite Mr. America!! Not too shabby!! Don`t forget that in those days to win or place in the NABBA Mr. Universe was quite a distinction as it was one of THE most prestigous contests at the time!! I`d say old Chris did OK for himself, wrtiting many book`s on training and nutrition,and doing contest prep work for Mr. Olympia contendrs,and writing countless articles for the major bodybuilding magazines. |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 27, 2004 11:17:37 GMT -5
The only thing that brought guy`s like Artie Prince,Aceto,and King together in my town, was that they all attended Springfield College...the birthplace of basketball, and home of "The Basketball Hall Of Fame", most of whose local residents have never visited once...I`ve never been there myself, and lived there for decades!! King was from New Jersey,Prince from Boston,where he still resides,and I beleive Aceto was fro Maine. Aceto, being one of the top nutrional advisors of today, learned a lof of his early info from King, who could almost change the look of his body at will, just by altering his diet. They both graduated with degrees in nutrition, and King and Prince were also "All American " athletes at SC!! A couple of shots of Chris with his former wife Laura Creavalle !!   |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Nov 28, 2004 14:33:40 GMT -5
OK,getting back to the story of how I split Pat Hayes` head open!! Back then in Springfield, as far as gyms went, there was only the Springfield YMCA, or a crappy health club type gym with chrome dumbells and stuff located in the suburb of Agawam Mass,called The Roman Health Spa. Needless to say...we trained at the "Y" !! ;D I first met Pat at the YMCA way back in the early 1970`s.He had been a very good hockey player, but started lifting to help out his hockey, and he was bitten by the "iron bug" and it stuck. To make a long story short,which isn`t too easy for me,while training at the "Y", we met a guy who was going to school at American International College ,also located in Spfld. His name was Roger Auidi, and he promised the guy`s that he was going to open up a hardcore gym ,we didn`t beleive him, and thought he was just blowin` smoke, but he did start a modest little gym which grew fast and moved 4-5 different times all over the city, called Central City Gym. Everybody knew me in town, and I was an obssesive trainer, who blitzed and blasted my way through torturous marathon workouts..I didn`t make great gains,but I trained my ass off. My then training partner, Ray Harris, who was just a total animal as a teen-ager, was going into the Marines, so a young kid who use to marvel at our intensity level when we trained,named Glen Clark, asked me if he could start training with me and if I could kinda`show him the ropes. I agreed onthe one condition that we trained in psycho fashion!! No problem for Glen as he soon got a lot stronger and was gaining good size.We trained together for a year or so when Roger then offered me a job working at the desk in the gym.The job entailed showing prospective members around,helping out novice trainees,and designing workouts for people without a clue. I quickly and enthusiasticallt agreed !! What better gig for a guy who loved to train than working in a gym...........right? RIGHT!! |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Dec 1, 2004 18:25:53 GMT -5
For the most part, my job at the gym was great,all I actually did most of the time, was spot buddies of mine,sit in the office and eat,and talk bodybuilding to my friends......the gym was like a second home, where at times after training, we`d all hang out and shoot the breeze about certain pros, or contests,or training or girls,or what have you. Well one day while perusing a muscle book, and knocking down a couple of tuna sandwiches, with a couple of cartons of milk,and just kicking back in the office waiting for my partner Glen Clark to get out of school.............he was attending Springfield Technical Community College,Pat Hayes popped his head in and we sat around BSing for about an hour, while I waited for Glen to show up so we could train!! It seemed that Glen and Pat had known each other a lot longer than I had known either one of them,and they just did not get along!! As we sat there talking,Glen`s head suddenly popped in the door and it was..."Hey Wes, c`mon brother I`m psyched to do legs" !! The fact that he interrupted our conversation didn`t sit well with Hayes, as he told Glen he was a complete jerk, and asked him if he didn`t see us talking. Glen immediately gave him the finger, and took a sharp right into the locker room to change into his workout gear, Pat sprang from his seat like a wildman, and went in after him grabbing Glen by the throat !! Glen gave him a shot in the face, while World Arm Wrestling champ,Guy Lasorsa, who was already in the locker room, stepped in and grabbed Glen to break it up. As Guy grabbed Glen, Pat hit him in the face, so I headlocked Pat, and ran with him into the sharp edge of a locker door, splitting his head open. After I made sure he was calm ,I let him go!!! I didn`t mean to hurt the guy, but it all happened in the blink of an eye. Later Pat told me I was a strong guy, and that he couldn`t get out of my headlock...........he wasn`t the only one that failed to escape, as I had been put through windows by bigger guys, and still never let go of their head! Hey no brain...................no pain!! :Head Bash: I`ll have more on Pat and a bunch of other guy`s as I add steadily to this thread!! I hope you are enjoying these boring stories,but they are good memories for me!! |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Dec 8, 2004 23:09:05 GMT -5
Another really good bodybuilder who used to train at Central City Gym was Ray Wilson!!   |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Dec 9, 2004 0:18:46 GMT -5
Another shot of Ray Wilson! He left Massachusettes and moved somewhere in the Midwest........Chicago or a suburb of Chicago,I beleive,and continued to compete out there!!  |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Dec 19, 2004 9:59:41 GMT -5
Another guy from Springfield who occasionally trained at either Central City or Big Daddy`s,but wasn`t as well known as the guy`s above, was Chris Gordon! Chris was probably the first bodybuilder I ever saw in person, as he lived right in the same neighborhood as me when I was a kid. He trained in his basement gym for the most part. Though you`ve probably never heard of him, he did a lot of local contests, and even did some big early IFBB show`s in NYC....... but did`nt fare tooo well in "The Big Apple". Once you look at the two pics below.....if you`ve ever seen the movie Pumping Iron,you`ll recognize Chris and his wife from the film. Chris was a real charachter and I have a bit more to add about him later on in the thread!! His wife went a bit spastic in the movie.......to say the least!!   |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Mar 20, 2005 22:22:44 GMT -5
More pics of Jeff King!! Deadlifting at "Big Daddys" !!  Leg press,top position at Central City Gym!  Bottom of leg press!  |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Mar 17, 2006 21:12:26 GMT -5
I will add to this weekly,as there is a long way to go in this thread,and a lotta` stuff I need to include.
I lost a lot of pics,but will get them back and posted ASAP.
Lots more great bodybuilders from my hometown who influenced me in some way.
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Post by sapphire on Mar 26, 2006 15:12:25 GMT -5
WOW! Those are some outstanding physiques! |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Mar 26, 2006 19:35:40 GMT -5
WOW! Those are some outstanding physiques! Training in the same gym with those guys was a constant source of inspiration to me !! Taught me to focus, and train like nothing else in the world mattered, until after the workout was over. #ataz8pb# A great bunch of old friends,some of which I will be seeing this May when I head home to do the New England BB Championships. |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Apr 22, 2006 12:25:48 GMT -5
It`s been a long time since I posted in this thread,but I just found some more great shots of Ray Wilson who used to live and train in my hometown and is mentioned above. I have a lot more stuff to add,as well as a lot more friends pics to post who came out of Springfiels......some still compete,and some have turned pro,and others are still trying for that elusive pro card. I`ll try to add a bit each week. Here`s the pics of Ray Wilson!   |
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Post by Tim Wescott on Apr 22, 2006 12:27:34 GMT -5
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