Sad news for all Dukes fans... Tom Sarmento wants everyone to know that we have lost stuntman Paul Baxley. He passed either last night or this morning. I will post more information when I receive it. My prayers go out to his family and friends.

RIP Paul.

Phyllis

UPDATE ---- more time to get the card to Tom. Please read.

I have some news from Tom Sarmento. He has had many people asking him how they can show the Baxley family their expressions of sorrow over the loss of stunt coordinator Paul Baxley. The Baxley family will be having a memorial service in mid April for Paul. Tom will be attending. He said that he wants to help the "Dukes" fans so this is what he has come up with.

Tom thinks it best if people who want to do something send cards. That way each person can write whatever they personally want to say on the card. Then mail the card to him at his home address. He will personally hand deliver all the cards he receives before the memorial service to Paul's son, Craig Baxley, at that service.

Tom also has some pictures of Paul from the first couple of DukesFests which Paul attended. Tom is going to have those made into 8X10 prints and give them to Craig along with all of the cards he receives. He wants to do this for the fans since they are wanting to help the Baxley family.

The address to send your card to is:

Tom Sarmento
8719 Milton Morris Drive
Charlotte, NC 28227

Please fill free to give this address to anyone wanting to send a card.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Phyllis

Thanks. We hope it helps make the Baxley family feel a little better to know the fans are thinking of them.

Phyllis

I'm glad you sent one. I did too. Hopefully a lot of people do.

Phyllis

Yes, I do like that saying also.

Phylllis

Tom Sarmento called me this morning to give me the information about the ceremony to be held honoring Paul Baxley who passed earlier this month. Here is the info.
The ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 16 at noon at the following location
Braemar Country Club
4001 Reseda Blvd.
Reseda, CA 91335

Tom said that the best route is to fly into the Burbank Airport as it is a straight drive from there.
The Baxley family has said that the ceremony is open to anyone who wants to attend.

PLEASE remember that Tom Sarmento has volunteered to collect and hand deliver all sympathy cards which he receives for the Baxley family by April 13. He will hand deliver those to Paul's son, Craig, at the ceremony. He has been collecting these cards since Paul's passing and I am very disappointed to say that so far he has only received 6 or 7 cards. I find this very sad that we all as Dukes fans haven't pulled together and sent cards to let the Baxley family know that we are sorry for their loss. PLEASE stop at a store today and buy a card, sign it and mail it to Tom. We don't want him telling Craig that he has cards from all the Dukes fans and then handing him 6 or 7 cards. That would be embarrassing. Please send those cards to

Tom Sarmento
8719 Milton Morris Drive
Charlotte, NC 28227

Thanks,
Phyllis

Thank you for posting it on other boards. There may be a few people send cards from those boards even though they don't seem interested.

Phyllis

I just got off the phone with Tom Sarmento. He wanted to pass along how touched Craig, Craig's wife Valerie, and Gary were with all the cards Tom delivered to them yesterday at the ceremony held in honor of Paul Baxley. Tom said that Craig was a little late getting there due to work so he hand delivered the cards to Valerie. She gave them to Craig when he arrived and Craig, Gary, and Valerie were all very touched with the fact that fans had cared enough to send them. They asked Tom to get their "Thank You" out to everyone who sent a card. Tom told me that there were cards from around the world and he was so impressed himself with the outpouring from the fans. He said it is hard to imagine how much those cards meant to the Baxley family but if you were there and saw their faces and heard their voices you would have felt it yourself. They felt the love that was sent in those envelopes and it meant the world to them.

Tom told me that the ceremony was wonderful. It was like a reunion. The country club was beautiful. They ate a luncheon and several people, including Tom, got up and told stories about things they remembered about Paul, Tom said just meeting all the people again was great. He said there were stunt people and stunt coordinators there who he had not seen in thirty years. John, Cathy, and Rick were there from the cast. According to Tom, Cathy is looking good but is still very sad over her loss and John looked good driving up in his new Corvette. Al Wyatt was there and looks great after all of his medical problems he had a couple of years ago. Tom told me that it was very obvious that Craig, Gary, and Al were all very touched by everything that was said and done to honor Paul as they were fighting back the tears.

The cards will be kept by the Baxley family as a reminder of what Paul meant to the fans.

"Thank you" from Craig, Valerie, and Gary Baxley.

Phyllis

Tom Sarmento told me today that he is receiving a lot of phone calls asking him who from the Dukes attended the ceremony last Saturday in honor of Paul Baxley. He thought it best if he just give me the names and let me post them for him.

So here goes....

First I must apologize if I have spelled any of these names wrong. I did my best. I am posting them in the same order Tom gave them to me so they are not in any particular order.

Stuntmen from Dukes in attendance

Craig Baxley
Gary Baxley
Al Wyatt
Henry Kingi
Bobby O.
Jack Gill
Steve Boyum
Corey Eubanks
Russell Solberg
John Cade
Teddy Barba
Lance Turner
John Moio

Cast members from Dukes in attendance

John Schneider
Cathy Bach
Rick Hurst

Tom also told me that he has received 15 more cards in the mail since he has returned home. He is going to wait another week and then package all that he has received since he returned and mail them to Craig Baxley.

I hope this answers everybody's questions.

Phyllis