|Tribune staff reporterDecember 31, 2007
Halfway through Mike Oltersdorf's version of the Beatles' hit "Twist and Shout," a Parkinson's patient sitting toward the back of the South Elgin Village Board chambers begins to clap along.
Oltersdorf, a Paul McCartney look-alike who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease three years ago, smiles as he softly sings along with the recording. His hands, as he plucks a guitar, no longer tremble... Read entire story
As the Booker prize result demonstrated so clearly, what the nation's taste-makers want these days is grim, dispiriting narratives, suffused with a sense of the ultimate meaninglessness of existence. So perhaps that's what explains the ongoing fascination of literally some people with the meandering divorce proceedings of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, currently grinding towards a multi-million-pound stalemate at the high court in London. The former Beatle - and it's many years since fans of McCartney's career-defining 1980s collaborations with Rupert Bear resigned themselves to the fact that he will always be known as "the former Beatle" - is expected to part with £25m of his £725m fortune. The offer has been put on the table, says a source, and "all he has to do is sit and wait".
Anyway, the McCartney tip-off reached the Wausau Daily Herald from Tate Baumer, owner of the Baumer Limousine Service, who first heard the rumour from a friend. "I called the restaurant and asked if anything weird was going on, and they said Paul was eating dinner, so I went," he said. The back terrace room, he reported, was shut off for McCartney's party. "I didn't get a good look at him," said one diner, Chuck Ghidorzi, "but everything going on around him indicated it was him." Excited onlookers were "pounding on the doors" and chasing McCartney's entourage. "Rock Legend Sighted In City," read the headline, followed by speculation that the 102nd richest individual in Britain might be in town "doing a commercial with Wausau Insurance".
You can almost see why they believed it - notwithstanding the daily news reports from the UK detailing McCartney's appearances outside court. What better hideaway for a pop icon in desperate need of some peace than a town that nobody back home could even find on a map? A town, no less, whose name comes from a native American word meaning "faraway place"? (Which is, when you think about it, an odd name to give to a place when you're actually there, but never mind about that for now.) The appeal is obvious, really.
But of course it wasn't the former Beatle - it was Mike Oltersdorf, a 57-year-old professional Macca lookalike from Illinois, hired by Delco Estate Planning Services to perform at the company's annual appreciation dinner for its senior clients. He had done his job too well - particularly impressive given that the photograph accompanying the Wausau Herald's sheepish follow-up suggests that he only somewhat resembles Sir Paul.
Still, call us sentimentalists, but we can't help being moved by this tale. In a world that can sometimes seem oppressively dominated by the triple spectres of global warming, armed conflict and Martin Amis's spectacularly ill-justified sense of self-importance, there's something touching about the way the residents of Wausau, for a few enchanted days, brought a little bit of magic into their lives through the sheer power of belief. Because if you only believe hard enough ... anything is possible.
One could draw an alternative moral from this story, which is that there's at least one extremely stupid person born every minute. But that would be mean-spirited and depressing, and thus wholly inappropriate in the context of the dignified story of how a former Beatle and his former wife amicably decided to go their separate ways, leaving everyone involved, and everyone looking on, feeling somehow uplifted, and a just a little happier to be alive.
Star Tribune (Minneapolis - St. Paul): "Paul McCartney in Wausau?"
It wasn't the 65-year-old former Beatle who had shown up in north-central Wisconsin but a professional look-alike, 57-year-old Mike Oltersdorf of West Dundee, Ill.
Delco Estate Planning Services, a financial planning firm with an office in Wausau, brought in "McCartney" along with look-alikes for Dean Martin, Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret to perform at the company's annual appreciation dinner for its senior clients.
Read Entire ArticleONE OF my favorite kind of stories is the celebrity sighting in an unlikely place.
It's probably because I have received so many calls over the years about one famous person or another being spotted in Madison. They often turn out not to be true, though not always.
Either way, it's fun to watch the stories take on a life of their own, which they seem to do even more now that everyone is text-messaging and blogging.
Which brings us to Paul McCartney and Wausau.
Tuesday afternoon, Jane Reynolds, a Madison native living in the Twin Cities, contacted me saying she'd read in a blog on madison.com that McCartney, the rock music legend, might have been in Wausau last week.
"Was he?" Reynolds asked.
It was the first I had heard of it, and I decided to try to check it out. Read entire articleA possible sighting of Sir Paul McCartney in the Wausau area this week has people talking.
The former Beatle was reportedly seen dining Wednesday night at 2510 Restaurant with a large entourage that included two or three bodyguards, said Tate Baumer, who owns Baumer Limousine Service. Baumer's father, Pat Baumer, owns 2510.
Tate Baumer said he received a call from some friends in Milwaukee asking if he had driven around anyone famous in Wausau that day. Baumer said he replied, no, and then was told by one of the friends, whose mother was at 2510, that McCartney also was there.
"I called the restaurant and asked if anything weird was going on, and they said Paul was eating dinner, so I went and stopped down," Read Entire Article
The great mystery of whether Paul McCartney was in town last week has been solved.
It was not the 65-year-old former Beatle who dined at 2510 Restaurant on Wednesday night. Rather, it was professional look-a-like Mike Oltersdorf, a 57-year-old from West Dundee, Ill.
"The only difference between Paul and I is a galaxy of talent and billions of dollars," Oltersdorf said.
Oltersdorf was hired by Delco Estate Planning Services, an Elkhorn-based financial planning company with an office in Wausau... Read Entire ArticleAfter years of working toward this, I am excited to be offering my speaking services. My first demo can be seen here, and more information about my speaking services can be found here.
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/10512232.html Word has it the legendary musician, Sir Paul McCartney was in Wausau this week. The famous Beatle reportedly enjoyed gorgaonzola salmon for dinner on Wednesday night, which raises questions about the story because he's reprotedly a vegitarian. He entered in through the front door fo the restaurant around 7, and dined in the back terrace room. 2510 employees say, McCartney was in town to shoot a commercial for Wausau Insurance that will air in January. McCartney was accompanied by two body guards and took pictures with people but did not sign any autographs. Even though people say McCartney was in town because they had their pictures taken with him, it raises some questions. He was reported to be in court for ten hours on Thursday for negotiation on his divorce. Perhaps he made it over there because he was a "Band on the Run."
I am excited about having my blog, and I look forward to sharing updates, ideas and insights here. Please post your comments, thoughts and suggestions!
