2022 Winner: Jon Auvil

Looking back now it is plain to see it was The Call of the Wannabe that beckoned me to Sloppy Joe’s those years from 2014 to 2022.

In 2014, despite a bit of hesitancy on my part, I ventured to Key West and entered the “Papa” Contest and was astonished by the newfound friendships of wannabees that my wife and I enjoyed. My very first year and camaraderie was abundant.

In my case I had intended to enter the contest that one year only to experience the event and then be done with it, at least that is what I had told to my wife. But she and I both knew the second day of our first year that we would be back the following year, and highly likely all future years. The experience was that profound, and that much fun!

Now all those Wannabe years later I am a Papa! Papa, 2022, and all seems quite surreal!

Being called back up on Sloppy Joe’s stage as this year’s winner and being welcomed by this group of very fine men, many of whom have become important friends though the years, was wonderful beyond words and a magical moment that I will never forget! Having my greatest supporter my beautiful wife of thirty-seven years, Leslie Auvil, by my side, and dozens of our family members and friends with us and cheering us on, made it all that much more special.

Eight years looking forward to Key West Hemingway Days, the HLAS Look-Alike Contest, and the HLAS Mid-Year event. Mid-Years where we’ve joined the HLAS Mid-Year crowd from the Tarpon Lodge at Bokeelia, Florida, to the Mission Inn in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, to a group cruise to Nassau in the Bahamas. We enjoyed warm and welcoming Southern hospitality at its best in Savannah, Georgia, and last year once again at beautiful Amelia Island, Florida. Realizing many of our closest friends now are within this wonderful group of people whom we’ve met through the Look-Alike Society. The Papas! The Mamas! The Wannabes! Wives, significant others and all the extended families and friends. And the supportive, dedicated staff of the iconic Sloppy Joe’s Bar, many of whom also have become family to all of us…you out do yourselves year after year.

Now it is time for me to get to work and see what I can do to assist the other Papas in furthering the aspirations and efforts of ours and our predecessors. Those who grew this American institution from the birth of the first contest in 1981, and created the Hemingway Look-Alike Scholarship Fund in 2000 - a growing educational fund that has awarded more than $325,000 in scholarships to Florida Keys students in the fields of writing and nursing. Be proud my brothers!

What have I learned from this experience? Winning this contest is far less important than the wonderful friendships you will gain from your continued involvement in the Look-Alike Society. That is why the core group of Wannabes grows each year, and return year after year, like the Patron Saint of all Wannabes, Honorary Papa Hank Wielgosz who at this writing is celebrating his 28th year!

Wannabes become your brothers and the light competition and hours spent together in the various events, including the meet and greets, the preliminary rounds, the Cuban Yo-yo Fish Off competition, Running of the Bulls Parade, and the Saturday night final round, with everyone cheering each other on, all mixed with a lot of kidding around and laughter and maybe a few cold ones too, make for a very happy place to be.

December of 2019, right before the world was changed by COVID19, twelve of us flew to Havana, Cuba where we stayed in apartments overlooking the Malecon and the mouth of the Havana Harbor. We spent days visiting many of Hemingway’s favorite haunts in Old Havana, and then took a day outing to Finca Vigia (the “Lookout farm”), his estate located in the outskirts of Havana, where we were allowed inside the residence and to make ourselves at home among Hemingway’s art, books, possessions, and writing tables with his old manual typewriter and tools of his trade as they were left. Hemingway’s beloved fishing boat Pilar is docked on dry land there. The highlight of that day was being able to watch the children of Gigi All-Stars play a game of baseball on the grounds of Finca and share a bit of Christmas with them afterwards. Thank you, Honorary Papa Brian Gordon Sinclair, for that extremely special day. Cuba was an amazing trip and the twelve of us returned as brothers for life and with a new appreciation of our neighbor island and her hospitable people.

The Papas are often in the role of mentors, contest mentors but also life mentors. These men come from all walks, but each has realized his own version of success and has an important story behind him. Talk to them and you are sure to learn something new and significant. I certainly have!

Lastly, don’t underestimate the absolute force of the Mamas!!! The support, guidance, and affection offered by these fine ladies are like that which you received from your own mother or grandmother.

What is the best piece of advice I can pass on to a new Wannabe? As my good friend Papa Stephen Terry told me soon after we met on Duval Street my first year participating in 2014,

“Remember to enjoy your journey, wherever it may take you.”

And I’ll add to that - listen for the Call of the Wannabees, you will not be disappointed.

God bless!