As vehicles bearing more than 300 adults and students filled the private parking lot of Lisa and Kenny Troutts’ estate, the Just Say Yes lunch supporters gathered on Tuesday, April 14.
While VIP guests had their photos taken in the cabana with Gena and Chuck Norris, Kenny confided that he was working on his midriff with exercise and a “girdle-like” waist trimmer to stay in shape.
The guests included Honorary Co-Chairs Sue and Jimmy Gragg, Myrna and Bob Schlegel, Jan Rees-Jones and dotter-in-law Jenny Rees-Jones, Jan Miller and Jeff Rich, Tavia Hunt, Diane Wolford and Cassandra Johnson (Avery couldn’t make it due to his new position as a coach at the University of Alabama).
The real action was at the lunch on the Troutt indoor basketball court, though. Atop each table was a “golden tree” centerpiece. The day’s theme was “Break Through.” But that didn’t mean breaking barriers as much as allowing a seed to break through and become a golden tree thanks to mentoring.
Just Say Yes Founder Dan Bailey told the group that, since last year, Just Say Yes had experienced a 38% increase in expanding its program to more than 100,000 students. He also thanked the Kimberlin Elementary students for playing in the garden during the reception.
Dan went on to tell about how following last year’s lunch, Thomas Jefferson High School Principal Sandi Massey signed up for the program resulting in a break-through year.
He told how he had recently discovered that there were four ingredients to success for young students:
- Graduate from high school
- Get a full-time job
- Get married at 21 or later
- Wait until after you’re married to have a baby.
A raffle then was held for a necklace donated by Sue Gragg. When Tavia pulled the ticket, it turned out to be Cathy Peterson of Topeka, who was not present. However, a friend volunteered to take it to her. Eyebrows and laughter arose.
Dan then introduced Mentor Coordinator Veronica Lee, who told about Just Say Yes’ mentoring program that has resulted in students showing more respect, improving their grades and arriving for class on time. She then told of Tyree Jackson, who was having conflict issues. After having joined the mentoring program, Tyree’s turning point was when she walked away from a fight and her attitude changed. Then she became a mentor.
Dan returned to the podium to announce the creation of the Avery Johnson Impact Award. Appropriately, the first award went to Avery himself. In his place Cassandra accepted it. A video clip was shown of Avery’s press conference where he announced he was joining the University of Alabama and thanked Dan and the Just Say Yes organization for including him in their efforts to help youths.
At 12:36, Dan introduced Chuck kidding that the former “Walker, Texas Ranger” “doesn’t do pushups. He presses the earth down.”
Chuck admitted that public speaking didn’t come easily to him. He was an introvert and didn’t participate in sports as a kid. It was in the military that he started training in Tae Kwon Do and eventually Judo. In 1961, he was transferred and started a club. For the first class he wrote a half-page speech and worked to memorize it for two weeks. He still doesn’t know whether he gave the speech or not, but it broke the egg that he’d held for 21 years.
After the military he went to work at Northrup. To make more money he started giving karate lessons. His stepfather gave him $600 to open a school. To grow his name in the sport, he and three of his students drove to Salt Lake City, where the students won and he lost.
But that loss resulted in his understanding that “the only time you fail is when you don’t learn from the experience.”
Eventually he ended up winning the national in Washington, D.C., and then the international in San Diego. In 1968 he won the international competition again and then the World Middle Weight competition. It was around this time that he met Bruce Lee, and they started working out together. In 1971 Lee called him and said he wanted Chuck to be his opponent in a movie staged in the coliseum.
With that movie under his belt, Chuck sold his two karate schools. However, within two years the new owners had put the schools into bankruptcy and Chuck bought them back. In four years he had paid off the debts 100% on the dollar.
One of his students was Steve McQueen, who asked him if he wanted to be an actor. The 34-year-old Chuck didn’t think it was a great idea. After all, there were 16,000 unemployed actors and the average income for an actor was $4,000.
McQueen said, “Is this the same instructor who told me that nothing’s unsurmountable?”
Chuck ended up going to acting school on the GI bill and took lessons for six months. He decided to create a screenplay with a student with a plan to sell the screenplay and star in the movie. Alas, there weren’t any takers.
After four years his friend Larry called a 21-year-old producer, who agreed to have dinner with Chuck and Larry to discuss the idea. When the bill came for the meal, Chuck realized he didn’t have enough money to pay it, so he borrowed the money from Larry.
Even after the movie “A Force of One” was made, no studio would take it in 1977. So, Chuck set out to personally show the film in theaters in small markets. After four months, the movie had earned $12M.
He then created and starred in “Good Guys Wear Black.” Again, no studio wanted it. This one earned $19M. In the end, “A Force Of One” earned more than $20M.
After taking a beating by critics, Chuck went to Steve and said, “They’re crucifying me.” Steve responded, “It doesn’t matter what they say. If your movie makes money, you’re gonna keep working.”
Steve added, “You talk too much. Let your co-star do all the talking.
After describing how his movie career had taken off, Chuck started recalling the success that he had had in teaching. In the early 1980’s, it seems, he tried to convince the public school system to make martial arts a part of the inner school programs. They turned him down.
In 1988, President George H.W. Bush’s advisor Lee Atwater called Chuck and asked him to emcee a rally. Through the time together, Bush and Chuck got to know each other. One day at lunch the President asked him, “Do you have any other ambition outside your acting career?” He told him about his idea and the President said it was a great one. When the President learned that the idea had been rejected, he said that perhaps he could help. Through his contacts, the President arranged for the program to take place in one school in Houston’s Third Ward. It turned out to be the toughest school in Houston. He assigned Roy White to the task of teaching the program.
As Chuck was leaving for a four-month shoot in Israel, he got a call from blond, blue-eyed Roy, who was fearful to say the least. Roy said, “I don’t know if this is going to work. These kids are tough. They don’t listen to a word I’m saying.”
Chuck asked him to stay with it until he returned from the shoot. Roy said that if he was still alive he would be there.
Upon his return Chuck went to the school that was surrounded by barbed wire, “like a prison.” When he got to the gym, there were 150 kids standing at attention. They addressed him as “Mr. Norris,” were presented with a demonstration by Chuck, did a Q&A with him and left. Chuck was amazed that four months ago Roy was ready to throw in the towel. Roy explained that every day he would provide positive affirmations and they were showing slight signs of turning around. The turning point was an eighth-grader named Jerome, a 6’1” kid who wanted to spar. Roy told him that one didn’t challenge his instructor in class because he didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the other students. After the class, the two sparred. Then Jerome said that he was better at wrestling. Roy accommodated him. Jerome thanked him for the session and word got around “not to mess with Mr. White.”
That was 23 years ago. Today Roy is still there. About five years ago Roy had to have double-hip replacements and the kids called Chuck and begged him to let Roy teach from his wheelchair and “we’ll take care of him.” Chuck agreed. The kids would meet his van with a wheelchair and take him to class and the cafeteria. As Chuck said, they “loved him because they all felt like they were people.”
And as for Jerome? He got a full scholarship to MIT. From the seed that Roy nurtured, a tree of gold grew.