In search of...one of the legends of wrestling history in the deep
south.br ..If you are over the age of 40 and grew up in the Atlanta
area, you'll find this virtual cache a part of your early history.
What do you think of when you hear "Stars and Stripes Forever"
played? That's right! "Live Atlanta Wrestling". Saturday nights at
7 PM, gathered around the old black-and-white TV, with your host Ed
Capparal and sponsored by Bondstone. And your announcer for
tonight's matches....Ray Gunkel.
Ray Gunkel was a good guy. Clean cut and articulate, as opposed
to, say, the likes of Freddie Blassie, who was a mean guy. The
formula was simple. It was good versus evil, nice versus nasty,
right over wrong every week. There was no confusion. The mean guys
didn't obey the rules and fought dirty. The good guys were humble
and stayed within the rules most of the time. Even when the bad guy
won, you knew somehow he would get his comeuppance next week.
Sadly, Ray died of a heart attack in the dressing room after a
match in Savannah in August of 72. I always admired him, both as a
wrestler and as an announcer. So in doing some research on the
wrestling scene, I ran across his grave site. And the idea for a
virtual cache was born.
It's located in the Arlington Cemetery in Sandy Springs. Your
mission is to find the grave site and while facing the marker, look
90 degrees to the right and tell me the name carved on the bench
that you see. Send me an email with the bench name . Please
don’t disclose the name in your post. The cemetery is really
a nice place, . It has a nice lake, and a has waterfalls and
fountains all over the place. Some people even bring lunches for a
picnic!
Enjoy!
On Dec 4th, 2007 this cache was adopted from the original owner
ErnieB.