Camarillo grandpa’s mistaken selfie goes viral

‘Proposal’ receives 210,000 views on social media, puts man in spotlight



SELFIE STAR—John Hart with his grandkids Kole Hart, 9, left, and Jaedyn Hart, 10, in his Camarillo home on July 16. ROB VARELA/Acorn Newspapers

Camarillo husband and wife John and Kathy Hart had taken a drive to Albuquerque in June to pick up their grandkids Kole and Jaedyn to bring them from New Mexico to the Harts’ hometown for a visit.

The grandparents drove their camper trailer so they could make stops along the way, including New Mexico attractions Carlsbad Caverns and Roswell.

But it was a stop at the Sandia Peak Tramway just outside Albuquerque that the Harts—and more than 210,000 YouTube viewers— will remember most.

At the top of the tram, a man who was about to propose to his girlfriend handed Jayce Flauding of Albuquerque, a family friend of the Harts, a camera to record the moment. Flauding also wanted to capture the proposal and handed his phone to Hart, who didn’t realize he wasn’t recording the magical moment.

He was videotaping himself.

The video, which lasts nearly a minute and a half, shows 71-year-old Hart’s reaction when the man drops to one knee and his girlfriend says yes. His excitement is contagious, as is the laughter when the family realizes Hart recorded his own face.

“My wife was standing in the background and she was wiping a tear out from her eye, she was laughing so hard, and you heard Kole in the laughter at the end of it,” Hart said.

Flauding uploaded the video “Wholesome Grandpa Records Himself Instead of Marriage Proposal” to YouTube on June 28, and it has since gone viral.

Hart has been interviewed on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” “The Five” on Fox News and Sirius XM’s “Music Row Happy Hour with Buzz Brainard,” which Hart said helped reconnect him with friends across the country.

“It’s a lot of fun. I’m just glad I got to put a happy smile on a lot of people’s faces,” he said.

Hart said the highlight may be his interview for “Inside Edition,” which sent a limousine to Camarillo to take Hart, his wife and the grandkids to the studio in Culver City and then back home.

But as nice as that was, Hart said, he doesn’t want to get caught up in his newfound fame.

“I try not to get a big head because then I can’t wear any of my hats, especially my Marine Corps hat,” he said.

The Marines are an important part of Hart’s life. He served two tours as a sergeant in Vietnam in the late 1960s.

He eventually moved to Camarillo and worked as a traveling millwright until 1981, when he began working with the military again. He got a job as a jet engine mechanic and high-speed photographer for missile shots at the Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, where he worked for 36 years.

It was in Camarillo at Valle Lindo Park that he met Kathy. They’ve been married for 35 years.

She said even with his online success, he’s still the humble guy she married, though she is looking forward to the attention dying down a bit.

“I’m ready to go back to daily life,” she said. “I’m probably more introverted than John. He’s the extrovert in the marriage.”

But while the spotlight is still on him, Hart said, he’s using it as a way to make memories for his kids and grandkids. He said he is collecting all of the videos he can find to put together a collage that the whole family can laugh at for years to come.

In the meantime, he’s enjoying the fame while it lasts, but when his 15 minutes are finally up, Hart said, he won’t be different.

“I’m still the same old humble grandpa I always was, and that’s the way the kids will always know me,” he said.