Here we have George Eifferman trying out for the horn section of The James Brown Band. Oops...wrong photo!
That's George Eifferman playing a tune on his trumpet and pressing a 135 lb. barbell much to the delight of the Muscle Beach crowd.

The Muscle Beach Hall of Fame Petition Needs Your Support!
by Kevin Carbone

Legendary bodybuilder Bill Grant, along with his friends and supporters, has come up with a great idea to construct a Muscle Beach Hall of Fame at Venice Beach in California. The idea is to preserve the history of the sport of bodybuilding and to make it a major tourist attraction benefiting Venice Beach, the city of Los Angeles, and to increase the credibility of bodybuilding in general. This would be a fitting tribute and remembrance to the guys and gals who were the pioneers of bodybuilding and later what was to become the fitness revolution. Early heroes like Steve Reeves, Jack LaLanne, Joe Gold, Armand Tanny, and Zabo Koszewski to name a few, would be honored along with the next wave of greats like Dave Draper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Lou Ferrigno and many others.

As Bill Grant says, "If the NFL and baseball can have their Hall of Fame then bodybuilding should certainly have their Hall of Fame too." After all, it is largely because of these early pioneers of bodybuilding that we have the current great interest in fitness and health today. It was their trial and error experimentation with training and diet that eventually evolved into today's current bodybuilding and fitness lifestyle. I would bet that the vast majority of people working out at the shiny health clubs of today know very little about the history of this sport and a Muscle Beach Hall of Fame would be a huge step in educating the public. It would, in fact, become a destination point or mecca for people to come to from all over the world. Venice Beach is already a huge California tourist attraction and the addition of a building housing the Muscle Beach Hall of Fame could have the effect like a "Disneyland of Muscles" in that it would be educational and fun at the same time.

Originally Muscle Beach was located in Santa Monica, California, during the 1940s. Gymnasts and hand balancers would perform for the beach-going sun worshippers and early bodybuilders would train outdoors and get a tan at the same time. Because of a dispute with the city council, Muscle Beach was closed down in Santa Monica. Around 1960, Muscle Beach was relocated to Venice Beach, California. Currently, Venice Beach is the second largest tourist attraction in California right behind Disneyland which is number one. The Muscle Beach area features an outdoor weight training pen with a gigantic cement dumbbell sculpture and a great area for live events. All this, along with the general fun and funkyness of Venice Beach make it the preferred location for the Hall of Fame even though this was not the original Muscle Beach site.

Bill Grant, a bodybuilding legend, was Mr. America (1971) and Mr. World (1974). He has over 40 years of professional experience in bodybuilding, health and fitness and is no stranger to the Southern California bodybuilding scene. Bill has produced and hosted his own successful Comcast Cable television fitness program and radio show on WEVD 1050-AM called "Fit for Life". He has appeared in numerous movies, theatrical productions, television shows, and commercials. Currently, Bill is president and owner of Bill Grant Nutrition, The Next Generation of Sports and Performance Nutrition. Check out his website here: http://www.billgrant.net

Bill Grant, Joe Wheatly and the Committee to Build The Muscle Beach Hall of Fame, along with the help of Laree Draper of DaveDraper.com IronOnline have created a petition so that potential investors, city council and the people of Los Angeles could hear the message. Your support is greatly needed. Please sign the petition to show your support and interest. It will only take a few minutes of your time, but will go a long way in getting this project off the ground. As Bill Grant says, "Let's keep the dream alive and make this a reality!"

Click below to review the petition and then enter your name. http://www.petitiononline.com/MBHOF/petition.html