From Kevin…
Hi Shannon,
A quick story on Bo Field — the rolling-arm lady from behind the plate.
I grew up in Kearny, NJ — and very close was a diner in Lyndhurst, aptly named the Lyndhurst Diner. I’d go in four times a week or so for lunch, and got to know my waitress, Bo, very well. She was a hilariously sarcastic woman who took no one’s crap. One night, I was in from dinner — must have been around 10:30 PM — and in rolls Bo … with her straw Mets hat, Mets earrings, jewelry, etc.
Bo was the rolling-arms lady. I nearly had a heart attack.
Though we had become good friends over the years, it wasn’t until about 1996 that I learned who she was. And beginning in 1996, until the Met put those blue seats in front of hers, once a year or so, she’d sell me tickets to a game — and I had the thrill of a lifetime sitting in her seats. It was surreal.
She’s a wonderful woman — and though I haven’t seen her in quite some time, I can still hear her screaming Let’s Go Mets! She had, up to the late 1990s, kept in touch with DJ Strawberry, Daryl’s son. If you recall, she’d actually hold him on her lap a lot so he could see his dad up and close during games.
Sadly, tho, the Mets did her very dirty after all the years she had the primo seats in the house … when they put those extra rows in in front of her after I want to say the 1998 season.
Thanks for posting her pic. It brought back a lot of great memories.
KC
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Thanks for the wonderful story Kevin. I wonder what the Rolling Arms lady is up to these… can’t say i’m surprised that the Mets ultimately did her dirty…. $$ walks these days.
I ‘m very familiar w/ Kearney….as I’m a frequent patron of the Thistle restaurant and used to play the great Kearny Thistle football teams of the mid 80’s thru 2000.
LMG!!!
Hey LeGrandeOrange,
The last I heard, Bo is doing very well — in retirement. She sadly lost her husband a few years ago (together, they owned a paint store in Kearny for decades). But her granddaughter and I have kept in touch via Facebook — so I regularly get updates on her well-being. From what I understand, she still goes to a handful of games. Let me say this: It was a thrill to sit in her seats before they added seats in front of hers at Shea. I was lucky to get a hold of a few games over the years — and sitting there was just indescribable.
I used to go to the Thistle all the time for lunch when I worked in Kearny. If you could imagine it, it’s still in business — but they moved to Lyndhurst. Kearny certainly has changed over the years. And boy were/are those thistle soccer teams something to behold. Must have been formidable competition, eh?