{"id":2742,"date":"2024-04-16T09:06:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T16:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2024-04-21T14:58:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T21:58:44","slug":"aarps-paula-cunningham-goes-hollywood-with-star-martha-reeves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2742\/aarps-paula-cunningham-goes-hollywood-with-star-martha-reeves","title":{"rendered":"AARP\u2019s PAULA CUNNINGHAM GOES HOLLYWOOD WITH STAR MARTHA REEVES"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hollywood\u2019s<\/a>

Hollywood\u2019s Walk of Fame stretches throughout Loews and iconic theaters and attractions. Photo by Harrison Shiels<\/p><\/div>\n

AARP\u2019s State Director Paula Cunningham traveled from Lansing to Los Angeles and was figuratively \u201cDancing in the Street\u201d for music maven Martha Reeves, who made that song a smash. The street was Hollywood Boulevard, and the occasion was a ceremony unveiling the hit singer\u2019s star on the Walk of Fame. Cunningham was among the VIPs who gathered in California\u2019s golden sunshine to salute the \u201cMartha and the Vandellas\u201d songstress. Her hit singles also included \u201cHeat Wave,\u201d \u201cNowhere to Run,\u201d and \u201cJimmy Mack.\u201d For that special day in Hollywood, in the shadow of the iconic Capitol Records building, Motown\u2019s music stars eclipsed them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the folks I grew up listening to and dancing to their songs were there,\u201d Cunningham told me.<\/p>\n

Stevie Wonder, Berry Gordy, and Smokey Robinson were among the gathered honoring Reeves, who was described as sassy-but-classy. \u201cIt\u2019s a good description,\u201d Cunningham insisted. \u201cShe is 82 and she is still going strong. She will speak her mind in a heartbeat. She actually told Berry Gordy he got his story about her wrong. It didn\u2019t happen that way. She was not his secretary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outspoken Reeves even served on the Detroit City Council.<\/p>\n

Walk of Fame \u201cstar ceremonies,\u201d listed at\u00a0WalkOfFame.com, take place at lunchtime, and are free to attend. The website offers helpful tips.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hollywood Chamber of Commerce did a fabulous job. They block off the street for the ceremony and people lined up on the sidewalk just to get a glimpse of Martha Reeves. They didn\u2019t even know the other music stars were there at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham did, though, but insisted she is not a groupie who brings out the camera out every time she sees someone famous. Nevertheless, she ended up talking selfies with the stars. \u201cAll of a sudden it hit me that I was sitting with historical people who changed the world in a lot of ways. There was so much civic unrest and social unrest at the time their music brought people together. I thought, \u2018That\u2019s Steve Wonder three seats down from me! Don\u2019t just sit here, Paula Cunningham! Do something!\u2019 So, I did: I jumped up like a 16-year-old at a Taylor Swift concert and ran over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeves kept trying to pin on the elaborate hat (a gift she wore out of appreciation) which kept blowing off her head during the ceremony. Cunningham said she wore red \u2013 the color of AARP. \u201cA red dress really does stand out because people kept asking me who I was. Smokey Robinson, when he walked in, waved to me like he thought he knew me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hollywood Boulevard is home to the TCL Chinese Theater and the Dolby Theater, the venue for the Academy Awards, which is attached to Loews Hollywood Hotel and Ovation Hollywood, a shopping complex offering a panoramic view of the Hollywood Sign. Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s nightly ABC show tapes across the street next to the colorful, flashing marquee of Disney\u2019s El Capitan Theater. All of it, and much more, is connected by the sidewalk of stars. It is a scene of costumed, posing performers; wax museums; and bacon-wrapped hotdogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would think that the Hollywood Walk of Fame is some kind of pristine place where you walk in, like a museum,\u201d said Cunningham. \u201cBut people step all over the 2,000 stars on that street. It\u2019s a tourist area and a good place to go and see the names and have some fun bringing back memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt, which she described as delightful. \u201cIt is an old-school, historic hotel where the first Oscar ceremony was held. You can walk down the halls and imagine you are back in history with Marylin Monroe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham also attended a reception at the Grammy Museum downtown at L.A. Live during which Reeves spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe talked about how she got started as a little girl in Alabama, went to Detroit, and bulldozed her way into Motown Records. She started answering their phones just to show she was willing to do whatever she had to do to have her talent heard and seen until they realized they had a star on their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

That \u201cstar\u201d is now represented on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.<\/p>\n

Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0<\/em>MShiels@aol.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His new book: Travel Tattler \u2013 Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via\u00a0Amazon.com<\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AARP\u2019s State Director Paula Cunningham traveled from Lansing to Los Angeles and was figuratively \u201cDancing in the Street\u201d for music… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[4998,1023750],"class_list":["post-2742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses-and-travel","tag-michael-patrick-shiels","tag-hollywood"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/04\/Hollywoods-Walk-of-Fame-stretches-throughout-Loews-and-iconic-theaters-and-attractions-Photo-by-Harrison-Shiels-e1713736709692.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2742"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2747,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2742\/revisions\/2747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}