Is it his birthday? The anniverary of his death? No, but as I was dutifully wasting company money, as I often do, googling random ****--peglegs, for instance--I discovered this guy.
I think he's great.
Below is some more info about him.
Peg Leg Bates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clayton 'Peg Leg' Bates (1907 " , 1998) was an Afro-American entertainer from Fountain Inn, South Carolina.
Bates lost a leg at the age of 12 in an industrial accident. He subsequently taught himself to tap dance with a wooden peg leg.
He owned and operated the Peg Leg Bates Country Club in Kerhonkson, New York from 1951 and 1987.
This also made Bates the first black resort owner in Ulster County in the Catskill Mountains, Borscht Belt of Jewish resorts, hotels, and bungalow colonies.
He was also very active in the local Ellenville Lions Club, and during the last ten years of his life he traveled regularly to schools, senior citizen centers and nursing homes showing a video about his life and talking about his life experiences and also helped found a local Senior Citizen's Center in the Ellenville / Kerhonkson area.
Bates performed at a fundraiser in his honor on Saturday night in his hometown of Fountain Inn, South Carolina, and then collapsed on his way to church one day later, December 8, 1998 at age 91.
During one USO hospital tour, he partnered with vaudeville tap dancer Dixie Roberts, who said "he danced better with one leg than anyone else could with two."
U.S. Route 209 in Ulster County has been named the "Peg-Leg Bates Memorial Highway".
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