Virgil LaFerney, Rita Gilligan, David Pennington
Peter Morton, Virgil LaFerney
I first set foot inside the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe back in November of 1986 during pre-opening week with my good friend David Pennington. Pre-Opening (training) week was the time when new employees received on-the-job training while serving invited guest. David and I were fortunate to have been invited guest and were able to meet Rita Gilligan (see top picture above) of the London Hard Rock Cafe. Rita was the first waitress hired by Peter Morton, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe (see picture above), and Isaac Tigret back in June of 1971. Over the years I have stayed in touch with Rita as she is still working at the London Hard Rock Cafe. Rita and the London Hard Rock Cafe recently celebrated their 31st Anniversary.
Since 1986, I have visited the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe over 3300 times. During this same period, I have also visited over 50 other Hard Rocks around the world. People ask me all the time "how is this possible". Well... I have been fortunate to have known several of the owners and VP's of both Hard Rock America and Hard Rock International over the last 16 years. For that reason, I have been invited to numerous "Grand Opening" parties and festivities for many of the new Hard Rocks.
In June of 1998 the Management of the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe presented me with my own "Brass Star" which commemorated my 2500th meal. The star is permanently embedded into the food counter where I have sat for the last 13+ years during my visits to the cafe.
I am currenly 1 of only 3 people in the world (non-celebrity status) to have ever been presented with a permanent tribute that has been displayed at any Hard Rock Cafe. The other 2 honories are David Pennington of Dallas and Judson Pitt of Chicago.
In December of 2000, during renovation of the cafe, the Management of the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe presented me with a new "Brass Star" which commemorated my 3000th meal.
The star is embedded into the food counter where I have sat for the last almost 15 years during my visits to the cafe.
Picture of David and me with Robert Earl, President and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe International at the Grand Opening of the Paris France Hard Rock Cafe. November 23, 1991. Robert left Hard Rock Cafe International in early 1993 to become the Founder, President and CEO of "Planet Hollywood", "The Official All Star Cafe", and "Marvel Mania", all based out of Orlando, Florida.
Picture of David and me with Art Levitt, President and CEO Hard Rock Cafe International 92-96, and Rod Pitzer, former General Manager - Hard Cafe Dallas, while attending the Grand Opening Party of the San Antonio Hard Rock Cafe (Jan. 1995). Art left Hard Rock Cafe in early 1996 to become founder of several Disney Interprises out in California. Notice I was keeping with the Hard Rock "theme" by wearing my Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour" tie... David was wearing one of his vintage AT&T work ties...
Picture of David, Dave Terry, Jim Stanley and me at the Grand Opening Party of the Paris Hard Rock Cafe. November 22, 1991. Dave Terry and Jim Stanley left Hard Rock Cafe International in 1995 to work for Robert Earl. Dave Terry, in 1995 became Director of Operations for "The Official All Star Cafe". Jim Stanley became Director of Operations for "Marvel Mania". Jim later became Director in charge for all 3 of Robert's endeavors, being "Planet Hollywood", "The Official All Star Cafe", and "Marvel Mania" all based out of Orlando, Florida.
Picture of me with Peter Morton, Co-Founder of the original Hard Rock Cafe, at the Grand Opening Party of the Phoenix Hard Rock Cafe. October, 1995. At that time, Peter was still President and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe America, based out of Los Angeles. Notice Peter was NOT wearing his special "invitation only" VIP badge!
Picture of me with Matt Duguay, General Manager of the Phoenix Hard Rock Cafe. I had known Matt for many years when he was the General Manager of the Houston Hard Rock Cafe. Matt left Houston in 1995 to become the Opening General Manager in Phoenix. This picture was taken because I was the very first customer to walk through the door of the Cafe on the day it officially opened to the public. You should have seen the line of people wrapped around the building waiting to get in.
One minute before they officially opened the doors, I walked up to the front door, showed them my Hard Rock Express Gold Card
Picture of Pete Beaudrault, President and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe International at the Grand Re-Opening of the Houston Hard Rock Cafe - Houston Texas - (June 1, 2000).
Tommy "D", GM of the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe and me at the Grand Re-Opening of the Houston HRC. Tommy and I have became good friends since early 1999. He is very supportive of pin collectors and is always looking for ideas and new ways to help customers enjoy the "total" HRC experience. He loves the Hard Rock and is proud of the fact that he manages the last and most awesome HRC that Isaac built. Tommy is continually trying new ideas in order to bring new customers into the Dallas HRC. If you are ever in the Dallas HRC, be sure and ask for Tommy "D". He will treat you right!
Back in 1991 I was presented with one of only 600 "Hard Rock Gold Express" cards. This card can only be obtained when requested by a top management person in your behalf. This card will allow me to obtain special treatment at any Hard Rock in the world, including first seating, no matter how long the wait line is outside. In 1995 I was presented with a "Lifetime" version of the same "Hard Rock Gold Express" card by Hard Rock Cafe America management. In 1996 I was presented with a "Lifetime" Express card from Hard Rock Cafe International management.
I am also an avid Hard Rock Cafe pin collector. Hard Rock Cafe pins are the small lapel pins (guitar, piano, drums, logo) you can purchase at any merchandise counter. I started collecting Hard Rock pins back in late 1990. Back then, there were less than 200 total pins worldwide. Most of those early pins were, even at that time, limited as many of the early London pins were almost impossible to find.
When I visit any Hard Rock, I usually take along my bags of trader pins. I have found over the years that employees love to trade pins, and in doing so I tend to find some of the older pins.
I am a founder and an Club Officer of the official "Hard Rock Cafe Pin Collector's Club" which presently has a worldwide membership of over 7,000 members. A true honor to have been in on the merger process of the old HRCPCC with the now Corporate sponsord club. Along with Judson Pitt we've seen many benefits being provided to club members that would have never been possible without this merger. If you are not a member, you are missing out on a lot of benefits that you can only obtain through the one and only "Official" club. Consider becoming a member soon.
Two other great Hard Rock sites to visit are the official Hard Rock Cafe Corporate website located at "Hard Rock Online" and the "Hard Rock Hotel and Casino" website in Las Vegas. Visit either of these great WEB sites where you can learn about the history of the Hard Rock, purchase memorabilia and much more. Also, I have included a list of a few of my friends Collectors Web Pages located around the world. These are sites created by other pin collectors and gives you an idea of the interest there is for pin collecting.
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This Hard Rock Cafe Webring site is owned by Virgil LaFerney. Click for a |Random Site|List of sites| Previous Site|Next Site| Click here to join! |
In October of 1995 at one of our yearly meetings, I was presented an award for being "Hard Rock Cafe Pin Collector of the Year" (see photos below). During this same get together, we raised over $25,000 that was donated to "Bryan's House", a local charity located in Dallas.
Oh yes, in case you are wondering, I now have over 3,000 pins (I quit counting 4 years ago) in my growing collection, with another 500-600 pins I use for traders...
On November 8th, 1997, I headed up a "Gang" of local collectors who promoted our "2nd Annual Texas Pin Shootout" which was held at the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe in the historic "Cheese Club". Over 60 collectors from all parts of the globe attended. During the event, with Hard Rock memorabilia donations from pin collectors and the staff from the Dallas HRC, we sponsored a raffle for charity. The proceeds of the raffle netted over $3,300 which will be donated directly to "Bryan's House" here in Dallas. Everyone who attended had a great time and you can't begin to imagine what a room full of literally thousands of pins looks like. I also headed up the "1st Annual Texas Pin Shootout" held here in Dallas back in late October of 1996. At that event we raised almost $4,000 for a great local charity chosen by the Hard Rock employees named "Child Protective Services - Community Partners". Many thanks to all of the local collectors who took part in staging the events and making them so successful (Monica Bergstrom, Terry Fuller, Butch Luthy, Jan Owens, David Pennington, James Daves-Peterson).
Chris Wood, Virgil LaFerney, David Pennington
The World's largest HRC Logo pin
(FC Parry - large boxed print)
One last item of note. The large Hard Rock Cafe logo 
that you see at the top of the building in the picture below is now hanging on the wall in my garage (see picture above). The Dallas Hard Rock Cafe replaced the original 10 year old aluminum logo in 1996 with a new logo that sports fluorescent lights.
In doing so, I felt very fortunate when their management gave me the old logo. The logo itself weighs close to 50 pounds, and is 9 feet across and 5 feet tall.
The Supreme Court of Rock and Roll
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Me...
I can be found most Friday nights sitting at the food counter at the Dallas Hard Rock Cafe. While there, I am usually visiting with my friends and the Hard Rocks great staff while listening to selection after selection of good old Rock and Roll from one of the best sound systems to be found anywhere. Stop by and visit any time.