The gesture set the stage for an enduring friendship. Zimmer came right over, smiled broadly and humbly introduced herself. As Zimmer stepped off the plane and descended the steel stairs onto the tarmac, Young waved like a Beatles’ fan. Mom, Dad and Young piled in the family car and drove to the airport.
Zimmer told Young she’d be delighted to meet them at the airport. But a call from a national celebrity? To a home in a wooded area next to a two-lane blacktop?ĭuring a recent phone conversation with Young, I asked if she was surprised about Zimmer’s call. Mind you, a long-distance call was a rare thing back then.
Could the Young family meet her at Lehigh Valley International Airport? But she was even more excited when she learned that the entire Welk Musical Family, including Zimmer, was coming to the Allentown fair. Welk, known to pay close attention to fan mail, agreed.įive-foot-two with blonde hair, blue eyes and a pure soprano, Norma Zimmer officially became the new Champagne Lady on New Year’s Eve, 1960. Young even wrote a letter to Welk saying so. The night Zimmer appeared, Young, barely 20, turned to her mother and said, “She looks just like an angel. Welk took a year testing various singers. Victoria’s Secret commercials? Excuse me? In those days there was something called family programming. In 1959, Welk’s original Champagne Lady, Alice Lon, was fired for showing too much knee. You were lucky if you got all the network stations.
In some respects, it truly was a simpler time. No one fiddled with a smartphone, an iPad or a Blackberry. But, let’s admit it, the crazy bubbles were fun too.Īlmost immediately, the twice-weekly show was a hit and perhaps nowhere more so than in Young’s Allentown home.Įvery night the show was on, Young and her parents gathered in the living room. Four years later it graduated to the national airwaves. It was 1951 when “The Lawrence Welk Show” debuted on KTLA.
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