For those of you who were cheerleaders, this will make a lot of sense to you…
Last night and this morning I had the rare opportunity to help the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) celebrate their 60th Anniversary by working with a couple of other photographers at their ball at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. I photographed the NCA staff in 1986 for their corporate Christmas card so this was not the first time I had photographed the NCA, and they were just as fun this time as they were 22 years ago. In 1986 I had the privilege of meeting cheerleading icon, Lawrence Herkimer (Herkie), who founded the NCA in 1948 and invented his signature jump, the Herkie. I was not a cheerleader, but I dated a few in my much younger days, so I knew of Herkie and his jump that is now practiced by cheerleaders around the world.
Herkie, who is now 83, took center stage at last night’s event that was attended by past and present instructors and NCA staff members. Herkie no longer owns the NCA but his many admirers wanted to be photographed with him so we were happy to oblige. An all star staff was brought together for this event: Jamie with Jamie Christian Photography, Joe with Champion Images Photography and myself. We had a great time and everyone loved their photos. We were kept busy – we shot over a thousand photos and printed over 200 at the event. This is a photo of Herkie, a spirit stick and two of his fans (photo taken by Joe Champion) – the ladies are twin sisters who used to work for the NCA and they were very excited to be able to do a photo with Herkie.
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary NCA!
Cheers!
