Vanilla Ice doing DIY project in county

CINDY WOOD/independent feature writer

It’s that song that got into your head, and stayed there for over two decades. And there’s a better-than-average chance that it’s still in your playlist today.

The year was 1989 when Rob Van Winkle became an overnight sensation with “Ice Ice Baby.” Easily transcending the generation gap, the rap song appealed to everyone from teens to grandmas and remains a dance floor mainstay today.

While Van Winkle is not a household name, his stage personality, Vanilla Ice, is. And if Lady Luck has been on your side the last couple of days in Van Wert, you might have scored a picture with him. Van Winkle is in the area taping footage for DIY Network home-improvement show and he’s been spotted all over town, mingling with residents and promoting his much-hyped home improvement show.

Social media networks have offered a constant buzz of Vanilla Ice sightings and pictures with the rapper turned home improvement star. Kelli Cheney of Convoy made sure the odds were stacked in her favor for a possible encounter. Cheney and her sister drove by the area where filming was taking place and pulled over in a parking lot pondering what to do. “Then my sister with her eagle eyes actually saw him coming down the road and I jumped out and ran down the road,” Cheney said. “They had missed their turn and my sister asked me what we should do. I said I’ll flag him down.”

Van Winkle stopped to talk, and was impressed with Cheney’s tenacity. “He asked me how I found him and I laughed and said ‘honey, this is small town Van Wert. Everything is known.”

Van Winkle’s crew filmed the girls during the encounter, which may be used in the show. “He stated to us we’d be on his show. It was so awesome. What a great guy.”

Tarra Waltmire of Van Wert was also impressed with Van Winkle’s laid-back and easy personality. Waltmire first spotted the star at a local hotel early this week, but wasn’t exactly sure who she had spotted. “I knew he looked familiar but I had no clue who he was,” she said, adding “he just looked at me and smiled. He was probably thinking to himself ‘this girl has no clue who I am.’”

Later, though, Waltmire and some friends drove to the site near Wren where filming was taking place with hopes of meeting Van Winkle. “We saw him leaving and we asked if we could get pictures with him and he was more than willing,” Waltmire noted. “He was extremely nice and willing to take some of his time to make our day.”

Later in the evening, Van Winkle spent some time at Fricker’s and greeted guests and fans, reminding them to watch his show. “Check it out. You’ll like it,” he told fans gathered outside the restaurant.

Seth Kopp, already hyped up from a record-breaking performance at the county track meet earlier in the evening, jumped at the chance to get his picture taken with Van Winkle. “He told me he liked my socks and asked if they had batteries in them,” Kopp said of his neon socks.

Van Winkle said he was happy to be filming in the area and remarked how friendly the locals were. “It’s great here,” he said. “The people are really friendly. I’m having a good time.”

Van Winkle began filming the reality television show in 2009, and the third season kicked off in January on the DIY Network.