Well, I don’t know where to start so I’m just gonna start. My buddy LaVern Johnson has passed away after a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. Many of you knew LaVern, from his days racing at Dunn Hill and the Old Shangri La, to now, with his son Paul at Shang II and Chemung. He’d been diagnosed early this year and only a few people knew, and we were sworn to secrecy. I’ve been searching for days for the proper wording of this but still don’t have the words to describe him. Passionate I guess is the word I’ll use. Passionate about EVERYTHING, racing, his family, politics, the carpenters union, hunting, I guess just about everything he came in contact with. The neat part about someone this passionate, he was easy to derail! Just yesterday Junior Falk and I were talking about LaVern and he told a story where LaVern was madder than hell about a call Jr. had made and he’s all red-faced and hollering and Jr. says to him “How about that Obama” and off he’d go in another direction! Wayne Lent and I often kidded each other about taking a call from LaVern….. ya didn’t dare unless you had an hour to spare! About every week or two he’d call and we’d discuss everything under the sun. My thoughts and prayers are now with his wife Pat and their three kids. In typical LaVern fashion, there are no calling hours or funeral service. RIP