'Christmas Story' stars sign autographs at Hartville Marketplace

Triple dog dare ya to meet three stars from the hugely popular holiday movie “A Christmas Story” (1983), who spent the afternoon on Nov. 29 in the main lobby of the Hartville Marketplace & Flea Market signing autographs and talking to people about their roles in the famous movie.

Scott Schwartz, who played Flick; Yano Anaya, aka Grover Dill; and Zack Ward, who played the infamous bully Scut Farkus, look much different today than when they were childhood stars in the movie. They spent the afternoon having a different kind of fun than they portrayed in the movie when speaking with local fans.

If you are one of the few people who have not seen the movie, it is based on the writings of author Jean Shepherd and, over the years, has grown to be one of the most beloved holiday movies.

The movie is filled with family escapades of a holiday season from the 1940s. It follows a young boy named Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) whose family is preparing for the Christmas holiday. The movie details Ralphie spending most of his days before Christmas dodging a bully (Ward) and daydreaming of his most desired Christmas gift, a Red Ryder air rifle.

The three stars at the Hartville Marketplace event included actors Schwartz, Ralphie’s best friend Flick, who ends up licking a pole in the cold of winter in the movie and gets his tongue frozen to the pole; Ward, who played Scut Farkus, a notorious bully; and Anaya, who played Grover Dill, another bully and a sidekick to Scut Farkus.

Nobody was being a bully during the signing event. The three stars signed posters, pictures, shirts and someone’s leg lamp shade. The lamp became one of the funniest parts of the movie when Darren McGavin, who played Ralphie’s father, won a contest and the prize was a lamp shaped like a woman’s leg with a big yellow lamp shade on top.

Dale and Debbie Baldwin of Akron brought along the lamp shade from their collectible leg lamp and asked the three actors to sign it, which they did.

“We like the movie a lot and have collected some items, including the lamp and some ornaments, and other items,” Debbie said.

Authentic Ink was the promotion company managing the event for the three actors. The company was also selling photos of the characters the actors portrayed in the movie and had representatives helping people get in line for autographs.

The stars themselves were enjoying talking about their iconic roles in the movie and listening to fans tell them how much they love watching the movie every Christmas season.

Anaya lives in Atlanta and said they do the signings and meet-and-greet events all over the U.S. and Canada.

“We also do charity events, commercials and other events throughout the holiday season,” Anaya said. “My son is an adult now but still watches the movie. My two stepchildren also watch it.”

Ward was born in Canada and said he was 13 when he was in the movie. He said he enjoys seeing and meeting so many fans during signing events.

“The events like these can draw anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of people,” Ward said. “We did an event in another city in Ohio where we had over 5,000 people. Today, I understand there is a big football game going on that may be keeping people from coming out until later.”

The football game Ward referred to was the Ohio State Buckeyes versus the Michigan Wolverines.

Schwartz lives in California but has been to Ohio many times since the movie. He said one of the questions he gets asked the most is about putting his tongue on the pole in the movie. In the scene, his character was triple-dog-dared to touch the pole with his tongue, which ended up getting stuck.

“People always want to know how cold it was,” Schwartz said. “The movie has been so popular because it portrays a much simpler time. We get many people in their 70s and 80s with their grandkids come to the events, but we also see many teens and younger adults come out to see us.”

His favorite part of the movie is when the family goes out to eat at a Chinese restaurant after the neighbor’s dogs eat the family’s turkey that was supposed to be for Christmas dinner.

The three actors spent the afternoon sharing stories and questions, and hearing how people relate to the movie, while signing autographs and taking photos. For fans of the beloved movie, meeting these three stars brought back memories of the film and why it has become such a holiday favorite.

Niki Slabaugh, who helps manage the events at Hartville Marketplace & Flea Market, said many people stopped in just to meet the actors.

“This is the first time we have hosted this event, and we are happy with the turnout,” Slabaugh said.