In 2018 Saintpaulrepublicans.us celebrated the first ever Bob Ross Day. It was to honor the late great painter of happy little woodland scenes, Bob Ross.
It was a bit of a shock to read about how he came to be a painter–through a USO activity when Bob was stationed in Alaska when he served in the US Air Force.
Bob Ross was born on October 29th, 1942.
I, Publius Jr, used to watch Bob Ross on Saturdays when I was in the US Army and later when I was in college on PBS stations. He had a relaxed nature that was contagious, a “visual Valium” in a sense. While researching Bob Ross’ biography I didn’t know a few things about him. Here are a few things:
-Bob was a 20 year US Air Force Veteran from 1961 to 1981, and retired at age 38 as a Master Sergeant.
-He was stationed in Alaska when he first started to Paint through a USO program.
-He went with the Permed Hairstyle to save on his usual crew cuts upon retiring from the US Air Force.
-He passed away on July 4th, 1995 from Lymphoma.
-His show Joy of Painting ran from January 1983 to May of 1994. It still lives on in re-runs and on YouTube.
So have a Happy Bob Ross day
If you would like to help out another US Military Person find a hobby, or relax after a stressful life-threatening kind of day feel free to donate to their USO program
This is the sixth year we are celebrating this non-partisan holiday. The video below shows off the former Muncie Indiana PBS station. It now has a museum and a classroom where budding painters can learn from a certified Bob Ross instructor at the Bob Ross Experience (video begins at 2:24 minute mark).