Lima's Beach Boy delivers on fan request
Sep. 27—LIMA — Justin Evans is a huge Beach Boys fan. Eleven years ago, he mailed a letter to Lima-born Beach Boy Al Jardine and wanted to see if he would sign some Beach Boy CD covers.
Evans, from Springfield, Ohio, once lived in Lima and had been a Beach Boys fan since the age of 10.
He also collects autographs, something he's done since he was 13. Since he didn't hear back, he assumed the CD covers he mailed Jardine were lost.
On Sept. 3 he got a call from Al Jardine's digital media manager, Spud, who had been trying to track Evans down.
On Sunday, Evans finally got the signed CD covers in-person from Spud, at the Bellefontaine Avenue Happy Daz restaurant in Lima.
"I think I got this letter in June and sometimes stuff just falls behind furniture or in between file folders, and he (Al Jardine) gave me this envelope," Spud said. "He said, 'He's got all these CD covers. I know the guy's name is Justin Evans, but I don't have a return address or a return envelope, think you could find him on the internet?'"
Spud got to work, finding about 20 Justin Evans on Facebook. He checked the Beach Boys message boards and other Facebook pages for the Beach Boys but just couldn't find him.
"Then it was just maybe like three or four weeks ago, when I was organizing Al's office, I found this letter and the name Justin Evans. That sounds familiar, and then I put two and two together, and, 'Oh yeah, he's the guy with the CD covers,'" Spud said.
That letter was one Evans wrote to Jardine when he was just 16 years old in March 2000.
"My girlfriend found the name Justin Evans on one of those websites that list people and all the addresses they've lived before," Spud said.
He dialed the number, but Evans didn't pick up.
"I ignored the call because I thought it was spam, and then I get a text from the same number saying, 'Is this the Justin Evans that is a big Beach Boys fan?' So I called the number, and it's Spud."
Evans agreed to meet Spud at Happy Daz in Lima, as Spud and his girlfriend were traveling through the area, going down to Kentucky.
Not only did Evans receive his signed CD covers, Jardine also signed the letter Evans sent him 21 years ago, when Evans was 16 years old and just became an Eagle Scout. He also received Jardine's newest CD, signed of course by Jardine, and a guitar pick with Jardine's name on it.
Reach Sam Shriver at 678-242-0409.
