My
John Schneider Experience
First
off, I have to say that it was such a joy to meet John Schneider and get to see
the project that’s been such a labor of love for him.
It was such an awesome experience and I won’t ever forget it.
Okay, sit back and enjoy the story!
Friday
started off to be cold (well, by Houston standards anyway) and we started off
really early. Chase and I were both
excited, but each for different reasons. Chase
was excited about getting to see the scenery, while I…well, I was trying to
get my nerves under control. I
mean, it’s not everyday that you get to be in the same room with the guy who
played Bo Duke. With the advice of
a certain friend (who’s helped me in many, many ways and she knows who she
is), I managed to calm myself and just enjoy the experience of the trip.
What
a long trip it was!
From Houston to Little Rock, it was 8 hours and it felt like forever.
I mean, it was so grueling, but so worth it.
We finally arrived in Benton (a suburb of Little Rock) and found a motel
room.
Meanwhile, I was about to go crazy just sitting in the room, twiddling my
thumbs, just waiting for us to go and see John and his movie.
The time finally passed, we out ourselves ready, and off we were to see
Collier & Co.
We
arrived at the Robinson Center Music Hall in Downtown Little Rock.
We got our tickets and waited for the doors to open.
The servers were setting up the food, and we waited until 6:45.
It was such an excruciating wait, but the doors finally opened and we
took our seats.
Of course, true to my nature (and for those who know me really well, I
bet you’re nodding your heads), I had to use the restroom.
Every time that happens, I miss something!
It never fails!
When I came back, Chase informed that John was going to pull up in front
of the music hall in “Traveller” at 7:20.
I couldn’t believe my ears!
We rushed out, at the risk of losing our seats, and we waited for him to
show up.
5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes…then he showed up.
He looked good, ladies.
REALLY, REALLY Good!
He gave a little speech about the car and after that, we all went inside
to find our seats.
Well, in the process of doing that…I dropped my ticket along the way.
I was so upset!
I wanted back in!
Well, we found it on the floor in front of the stairs.
I was back in.
The usher told me that she was going to let me in anyway.
That was really sweet of her, but nevertheless, I found it!
Anyway, we sat back down and Chase and I both spotted Rick Hurst (Cletus)
and Sonny Shroyer (Enos).
It was so great to see them there to support John.
However, we didn’t see James Best, and that’s okay because we knew
we’d see him the next day.
The
two guys that helped organize the festival came out and gave two little
speeches.
And then…(drum roll please!) they introduced John and he came out onto
the stage.
He received a standing ovation from everyone.
He gave another speech and it was so sweet.
He thanked everyone for coming out and supporting the movie.
It was so John!
Finally
came the movie.
It was good and you can see that he really put his heart and soul into
this project.
His wife did a good job playing his wife.
His kids did a good job, especially Karis, who plays Danielle in the
movie.
The guys that played Tex and his sidekick stole the show with their
comedic timing.
Even the mechanic was hilarious!
John’s mom was so cute!
She made me laugh so hard.
All in all, it was good movie and I definitely give two thumbs up!
I’d say more, but there are two certain people I know that haven’t
seen the movie yet, and I don’t want to ruin it for them.
So please understand if I don’t share more.
After
the movie, John thanked everyone for coming and told everyone that he was so
grateful to have fans like us.
Saturday…oh
boy! I’m probably going to get so
flustered just writing this, so please bear with me.
I’m still trying to process the whole thing!
It
started to be a great day. Woke up,
got myself ready, made absolutely sure that I looked good, and Chase went to eat
breakfast. Once again, I had to
calm my nerves. Being in the same
room as him is not as nerve racking as being say maybe 6 inches in front of him
and having him standing by you. Excuse
me…I have to scream and freak out again.
(pause)
Okay,
I’m back.
Anyway, back to the story.
I realized that I forgot the shirt that I was going to have John sign.
I was upset about that and Chase turned around to go get it from the
motel.
What a sweet husband, huh?
Okay, we got my shirt and we went back for the main event.
When we got there, there was already a line, waiting for the stars to
show up.
They finally arrived about 10:45.
First, Jimmy Best shows up.
Then, a golf cart containing one John Schneider zooms past us.
He was close to me.
REALLY, REALLY close!
Then we saw Rick Hurst and Sonny Shroyer pull up in the Dixie Jeep.
I tried to get pictures of them, but of course, people kept getting in my
way.
It was aggravating, but I dealt with it.
I took the pictures once I got a clear shot.
The
line started to move and we got closer and closer.
When we were pretty close to the tent, Erik came over to me.
Now, for those who don’t know who Erik is, he was in the movie with
John and he is the owner of the “Undercover Traveller”.
I had been talking with Erik through MySpace for about a month and half,
maybe more.
He recognized me and we talked face to face for the first time.
He said he had to shake Chase’s hand, before he had to hug me.
It was sweet.
Chase was amazed how involved I was with trying to promote Collier.
Then he called Breet over and we introduced ourselves.
I felt so bad for not recognizing Breet off the bat.
I apologized and we hugged.
Breet is someone else who is very close to John, and he’s been helping
with the promotion of Collier as well. This
made me feel so good that these guys actually recognized me and I felt like I
was a part of this group.
I met Kristin, Breet’s wife, and she recognized me as well (I tell ya,
MySpace is such a wonderful thing!).
Then the moment came…I was standing next to John Schneider.
JOHN FREAKIN’ SCHNEIDER!!!!
Oh, my god…have you ever had the feeling where your knees started
knocking and they didn’t stop?
That’s how I felt at that exact moment.
I had Phyllis’s words stuck in my head, and I calmed down.
No, I didn’t freak out, Phyllis, so don’t worry.
I was good!
He
saw the shirt that I brought and it had the picture of him in the red tank and
it says “BO-Delicious” underneath it.
He said “BO-Delicious” really loud!
It was so funny.
It was the only shirt of its kind there, and I think it tickled him.
Anyway, I said, “Hi, John.
How are you?”
Of course, he said “Good.”
The guy told him my name and he was like, “That’s different.
Where did that come from?”
Of course, my smart ass self had to reply, “My parents.” He laughed
for a second and asked how to spell it.
“I want to get this right,” was his reply.
And I said, “It’s like Kimberly without a K.” He asked, “E?”
“Yes,”
I said.
“M
as in Mary?” he asked.
“Yes.
B as in boy…”
“ERLY?”
he asked.
“Yep.”
Then
Breet stepped in and said that I had been helping with the movie promotion and
that I was on his MySpace friends list.
He looked straight at me, smiled and said, “Oh really?”, excited
about both things.
I nodded, and said, “Yeah!”
When he looked straight at me, I thought that I was going to pass out.
He has the most beautiful blue eyes, and he was looking straight at me!!!
I think I blushed.
I’m not quite sure.
It’s still kind of blurry.
I
told him that Phyllis told me to tell him hi, and he said, “Oh good!
Phyllis is a doll.”
He called you a doll, Phyllis!
Then he put his arm around me, I put mine around his and Erik took our
picture.
John saw my camera and asked, “What kind of camera is that?”
Now, I don’t have a digital camera, but I do have an APS camera, and
it’s blue and purple.
I think since he saw Chase and Erik talking about it, so John asked.
Frankly, I can see why he would ask, it does look a little funky, but I
think it’s a cute camera.
It’s small and sassy, just like me.
I told him that it was an APS camera and he asked if you could save the
pictures on disk.
I told him that you can.
When
I stood beside him while our picture was being taken, I noticed that he’s
really tall.
I felt so small next to him!
Oh, hell, by that point, I was like, “OH MY GOD!!!”
Some other choice words were going through my head at that point, but
I’m not going to say what those are.
But I noticed the height of this man and I was so…so excited just to be
beside him, getting to talk to him.
I was excited that his arm was around me!
We
said our goodbyes and he told me that he’d see me online!
I was so excited about that because he looked straight at me again.
Those blue eyes were looking at me!
Hold on again…gotta scream!
(Pause)
Okay,
that’s better.
After we said our goodbyes, I went and took a couple of pictures of Jimmy
Best.
I didn’t get to meet him because I didn’t have anything for him to
sign.
It was just cool seeing him from afar.
Then we met Erik over by “Traveller” and we talked for a while.
He talked to Chase and I like we were lifelong friends and that was
awesome.
We talked about the night before and we just chatted.
It was so great!
You
know, I have to say that I won’t ever, EVER forget this trip.
Not only did I get to see John, I got to meet him, talk to him…he made
sure that every fan felt so special.
He does treat his fans like their his friends, and that is so amazing.
You don’t see very many celebrities do that.
I so appreciate that, and it makes him an even greater person in my eyes.
He’s not your everyday celebrity.
He’s a human being just like the rest of us, and he wants you to feel
very comfortable around him.
I have to say that I did!
I felt so wonderful around him.
If
you ever get the chance to meet John, I say go for it!
You will be so happy once you do.
He’s such a sweet guy, and I will NEVER forget this trip!