Shortly after the enormous success of Pro Arts, the company grew at an extremely fast pace. It doubled its facility and made investments into the industry to make the future success of the poster business a better, stronger and more lasting success.

In May of 1977, I had the opportunity to travel to Hollywood, California to obtain new licenses for Pro Arts. While I was in Los Angeles, I was amazed at the tremendous wealth associated with the Entertainment Industry! Star Wars was just being released and it was setting fantastic box office records! While we had renewed our contract with Farrah, I also obtained licenses for Cheryl Tiegs, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and Hardy Boys with Shawn Cassidy, Cheryl Ladd and Lynda Carter.

Upon my return to Medina, Ohio, I had a meeting with my brother, Mike Trikilis, and my Uncle, John Argiry.

Mike is three years older than I am and John is five years older than I am. Being the youngest, I was often put in a position that both Mike and John used as a manipulative tool to decide issues that were contrary between Mike and John.

Mike was the President of Pro Arts and often remarked that he had only made two mistakes in his life. One mistake was made when he was entering his teens and another mistake was later after college, but he could not remember it and it was not that important to him to remember.

Of all the men and women that I have known, I cannot remember anyone person that had a more analytical mind than Mike. Mike used to have the ability to see both sides of an issue, argue both sides of the issue and take the point of view that percentage-wise was the best view to be taken.

Yet, with all his mental ability, I often remarked that I had made several mistakes throughout all of my life, and would probably continue to do so. It is my ability to recognize the mistake and correct it that perhaps if my best virtue. I used to say to Mike that the next time he would "happen" to make a mistake, it would be a "BIG ONE!" And ironically, the prediction came to be true.

John, on the other hand, was a benevolent employer. His title, Vice President of Operations, said it all. He was in charge of the Hiring and Firing, the employees, the purchasing of equipment and other related areas. He dealt directly with the Union Steward and negotiated all union contracts subject to the acceptance of the Board of Directors. The Board was comprised of Mike, John and me.

John and Mike were often "competing" against each other. Whenever an issue was undecided between them, I was used as a "ping pong ball" knocked back and forth deciding issues that could and should have been resolved unanimously. When I voted with Mike, it was the "brothers ganging up on the Uncle. When I sided with John, it was the Vice Presidents ganging up on the President! It was a no win situation with me unless we all three agreed to the same thing. Prior to the Farrah Fawcett Red Bathing Suit Poster, Pro Arts had struggled to stay in business. After we had attained a level in business that should have guaranteed each of us a life of success, it seemed that everything we did was anti-productive and never completed to its ultimate conclusion. Some things were started and never completed. Some things were doomed before they were ever started.

When I returned from California in late May of 1977, I had a meeting with Mike and John in Mike's office. It was there that I disclosed a "revelation" concerning the future of the Poster Industry with Pro Arts being the leader.

It was clear to me, especially after reading Clive Davis's paperback book that the poster industry was very similar if not identical to the Record Industry. The Record Customer was the same Poster Customer. The individuals that sang on records often had a following that would also purchase their posters.

Prior to Farrah, we had done posters under license of Alice Cooper and Elton John. We had a very good KISS Poster Series that was at its height in sales at the time Farrah's first poster was released in September of 1976. Yet, we also produced posters under license of the Six Million Dollar Man (Lee Majors), The Bionic Woman (Lindsey Wagner), Kojak (Telly Savalles) and Barretta (Robert Blake). We had a poster of the Fonz from Happy Days that did very well, but it was Dargis Associates that truly capitalized on the FONZ!

Al Dargis and I have become friends after many years of "in and out" business relationships. But I have always said that Al Dargis was the one person that showed me the "way."

Al had been able to do hundreds of thousands (if not millions!) of dollars in the sale of a single poster without thousands of permanent poster racks!

When Pro Arts obtained the license to do a Fonz poster (it was a non-exclusive license), Pro Arts was able to sell enough posters in 1975 and 1976 to solidify its future. Though the "net worth" of the company in June of 1976 was barely $90,000.00, Mike, John and I knew that we were not "going out-of-business" after that point!

It was in April of 1976 that I first heard the name of Farrah Fawcett and I had no idea that this name would change the course of history for Pro Arts and for all the families that were involved with the company.

It was in the spring of 1975 that John had expressed an interest in obtaining additional stock in Pro Arts.

Prior to 1970, John was employed by Chrysler Corporation in Detroit, Michigan working with the department at their main office in developing the "hard core" worker for Chrysler. John had a very secure job with Chrysler, but as Mike and I had continued to grow with Pro Arts, Mike and I had several discussion involving John and the chance that someday John would work with us.

As a partnership from late 1967 to mid-1968, Mike and I had very little cash for working capital. It was Mike's ability to win money at gin rummy and poker that often sustained our early growth. Many times I would ask Mike to incorporate the Retail Store which sold Art Supplies and every time Mike declined to do so.

When we added posters to the retail merchandise in December of 1967, the "popularity" of the Viet Nam War created a very active selling market at Kent State University where the store was located.