A Conversation with Michael Whalton
“Thanks to my involvement with the Key West Classic, I can turn on ‘The Apprentice’ on any given week and think to myself, ‘I’ve done that’,” says Michael Whalton, executive director of the acclaimed tournament from 1990 to 2002.
He’s not exaggerating. After being asked by tournament founders Hayden and Jo Blaylock to be its director, Michael did everything from booking banquet rooms to arranging the printing of tournament T-shirts. As the event grew, he became its advertising and sponsorship salesman, travel agent, food and beverage manager and assistant auctioneer—as well as juggling half a dozen other roles.
Luckily, Michael had plenty of “juggling” experience. By the time he began coordinating the Classic, he had been the director of Fantasy Fest, Key West’s widely publicized masking and costuming festival; created and directed the internationally acclaimed Hemingway Days festival; and helped develop the island city’s Conch Republic Celebration. His company, Key West Festivals, was unmatched when it came to producing special events.
Despite his myriad organizational responsibilities, Michael’s working style was extremely casual—and working with the Key West Classic didn’t change that.
For example, unless he needed to transport cartons of tournament programs or large items for the fundraising auction, his preferred mode of transportation was a dilapidated bicycle. Wearing his trademark faded jeans and T-shirt, he zipped around town overseeing virtually every aspect of the event’s preparations.
When the pace got frenetic and his normally boundless energy flagged, it wasn’t unusual for associates to find him stretched out on the floor of his office, eyes closed and arms folded on his chest, recharging his batteries with an impromptu nap.
Each year as the Classic’s kickoff drew near, that office grew more and more cluttered with piles of auction items, stacks of brochures, hundreds of golf balls, mountains of notes and invoices—and even assorted animals.
On one memorable occasion, Michael told a volunteer seeking a misplaced memo to look for it “under the cat.” Sure enough, the memo was located beneath a sleeping neighborhood feline that had bedded down on a wide windowsill in his office.
Several years ago, Michael Whalton resigned his tournament directorship. Previously, he and his wife Susan had bought a West Virginia farm and adopted two children—and traveling to Key West to direct the tournament each year finally became too grueling.
Michael is now a West Virginia college student, real estate investor and renovator of residential properties. With Susan, he has renovated properties including a hundred-year-old Pennsylvania bank barn and a shotgun-style farmhouse.
Not long ago, Michael reminisced about the Key West Classic, the people involved, and the great satisfaction he derived from helping the tournament meet and surpass its goal of raising a million dollars for the National Mental Health Association.
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Q: How and why did you get involved with the tournament?
Michael Whalton: Hayden and Jo Blaylock started the Key West Classic in 1989 with the help of Norman Wood, Findlay Sinclair, Jim Sharpe, and several others. The first year was a totally volunteer effort and the Blaylocks recognized its great potential, both as a sporting event and as a means of raising funds for mental health.
Because of its scope, the Blaylocks decided to bring a paid tournament director onboard in 1990. I had created and directed the Hemingway Days Festival since 1981 and it had grown so much over those nine years that I’d decided to split off the Hemingway Billfish Tournament and hold it as a stand-alone event in the spring. I believe it was Findlay who came up with the idea to combine the two tournaments, taking the best aspects of both and creating a single event.
Hayden, Findlay and I met at Louie’s Backyard for lunch in the fall of 1989 and they explained the concept of the Key West Classic, how they wanted to raise money to fight mental illness, and their relationship with Texaco. I was impressed with their commitment and passion, and agreed to join forces that afternoon.
Q: Are you a fisherman?
MW: As a kid growing up in Marathon, I was more interested in diving. My brother John and I would go out in our boat almost every afternoon to dive for tropical fish and crawfish. Of course we’d also catch fish to eat, but I’ve never been patient (or skilled) enough to fish for billfish of any kind.
On the other hand, I love to wade the flats on a low incoming tide at dusk or dawn. The sight of a school of bonefish rushing toward me in a foot of water really gets my heart pounding. And I’ve actually caught and released bonefish, tarpon, and permit on fly.
I love the waters surrounding the Keys and am always amazed by the abundance of sea life. It’s wonderful that there are people in the area who are committed to keeping the reef alive and the fishery intact. I’m particularly pleased that, during my tenure with the Key West Classic, we went to an all-release format for all billfish caught.
Q: How did your involvement in the tournament grow?
MW: I jumped right into the tournament with both feet in 1990. During one of the early board meetings, someone proposed that we undertake a second adjunct tournament—a corporate tournament for bragging rights of Texaco. Hayden sold the idea to Star Enterprise regional manager John Curry and we created the Key West Challenge. It was a small tournament the first year, but we could see that it had great potential.
Eventually the Key West Challenge, with its golf tournament and two days of fishing, became every bit as complex as the public and much larger Key West Classic tournament. As the scope of the tournaments and their success in attracting anglers grew, so did my job. What began as a part-time position became full-time in 1997.
Q: What were your duties?
MW: I was responsible for scheduling, sponsorships, site management, marketing, hospitality, coordination, and prizes and awards. Basically, I did everything from designing the souvenir program with Sandy Husmann to stuffing ditty bags with Findlay. I booked charter boats and hotel rooms for the Key West Challenge, and coordinated the food and beverage functions for both tournaments. Over the years, I must have picked up and delivered more than a thousand cases of Budweiser and Bud Light.
One of the great things about the tournament was the fact that there was a wonderfully wide range of duties. Hayden and Jo were incredibly supportive when it came to trying different things to raise money for the National Mental Health Association. We added a golf tournament with a million-dollar shoot-out to the Key West Challenge and I coordinated that. We also incorporated an auction into our banquet and I was responsible for pulling that together.
Q: Did you ever fish the tournament?
MW: No. I never had the time and if I had, I wouldn’t have had the patience.
Q: What kept you involved and motivated?
MW: I loved working with Hayden, Jo, Findlay, Norman, and the rest of the volunteers. Additionally, Hayden had a great staff at Blaylock Oil Company who did a lot of the advance work, selling program advertising and putting together prizes for the tournament. I was also very fortunate to have an excellent support team in Key West who made the tournament a joy. Finally, the fact that we were raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the National Mental Health Association meant more than I can say.
Q: What did you enjoy most about working with Hayden Blaylock?
MW: Hayden is an amazing businessman and a great human being. He has an extraordinary wit. I don’t know exactly why, but for some reason we worked extremely well together and often seemed to be on the same wavelength. We both knew that if one of us said we’d do something, it would get done.
Q: What were some of the most humorous moments through the years?
MW: Most of the great funny stories involve Jo Blaylock. She had a wonderful, wry sense of humor and was able to find the silver lining in every cloud. When things didn’t go exactly as planned, she’d find a way to laugh about it—and at the same time make it absolutely clear that it wouldn’t happen again. One year, she almost tossed the food and beverage director of one of the captains’ parties into Key West Harbor because he wasn’t doing his job and was smarting off to her. We laughed about it later, but at the time she was not amused.
Probably the most memorable moment was when, at a Key West Classic tournament awards banquet, our celebrity emcee from Miami (the last one we ever had and arguably a great guy) got rather drunk. The harder he tried to be funny, the more embarrassing he was. Jo was on one side of the room, I was on the other, and our eyes locked while we both struggled to think of something to do. At that second Hayden jumped up onto the stage, helped the emcee off, and brought down the house by saying, “I’m no professional radio personality, and I know he’s going to be a hard act to follow, but I’ll do my best and hope you’ll bear with me.”
Q: How did it feel when the tournament reached the million-dollar mark in its fundraising?
MW: The million-dollar year, 1999, can only be described as bittersweet. Hitting that mark was something we’d been working toward for a long time, and accomplishing the goal was most satisfying. What made it sad was the fact that Jo Blaylock wasn’t there to savor the moment, as she had lost a long, valiant battle against cancer the year before.
Q: When did you buy your farm?
MW: We bought our first farm in West Virginia in the spring of 1990 and spent the next fall completely renovating the small farmhouse. After we adopted Adina and Alex in 1992, we started considering a move to the country. In 1994 we packed all our belongings and headed north.
Over the next several years we turned our 54 acres into a big petting zoo with horses, goats, chickens, ducks, a donkey, and the usual mix of dogs and cats. Since then we’ve purchased and restored several other rural properties and have placed our two farms in the West Virginia Farmland Protection program.
Q: What do you think is the most significant thing about the Key West Classic?
MW: First, the fact that the tournament has survived and thrived for seventeen years is most impressive. And second, the amazing feat of raising more than a million and a half dollars for the National Mental Health Association is incredibly satisfying.
Q: What’s your life like in West Virginia?
MW: In addition to being a reluctant farmhand and a member of an artists’ coop in Berkeley Springs, I’m a full-time student at Shepherd University and will graduate with honors this year. I’ve been focusing on business management, historic preservation, and graphic design courses and plan to continue my education by enrolling in the MBA program that Shepherd is introducing in September.
In 2003, Susan and her partner Mary Earley founded Hedgesville Hounds (www.HedgesvilleHounds.com) and have successfully placed more than 200 dogs, cats and goats in loving homes during the past two years. Finally, I serve on the board of directors of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation and am closely involved with promoting the Spirit of the Panhandle Awards, which annually honors unsung community volunteers.
Q: What’s next for you?
MW: I would like to teach at Shepherd University and assist in creating the marketing and promotion plan for their Masters Degree programs. Susan and I will continue to work in the arts and animal rescue. Finally, we want to protect the rural heritage in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia by helping other property owners place their farms in the Farmland Protection program.
