I will try to capture my experience. First, I want to thank Carolyn & Vicky for everything. They did a superb job on Friday's Reunion. Carolyn is so sweet & nice. She instantly knew my name the very next morning when I ran into her near the hotel lobby. I never did get to meet Vicky. Everytime I thought I had it ended up being her identical twin sister! LOL!!
My husband & I left Alabama early Thursday morning (9/27) & got to the hotel about 4:30 p.m. We knew we would have Thursday night & later in our trip to San Francisco
so we were roomies with dewlanna on Friday & Saturday. We helped each other out, us with the hotel room & she with a car. dewlanna is so nice & easy to get along with, I really enjoyed getting to know her in person.
Friday morning my husband & I went to Hollywood. We walked the "Hollywood Walk of Fame" with famous stars names in the sidewalk. We visited Grauman's Chinese Theatre & paid to go on the tour of it. John Wayne had his footprints & his fist print......My husband was surprised because his fist & feet are bigger than John Waynes'. We saw the Hollywood Sign & visited the Hollywood Highland Center at Hollywood & Highland.
We met up with dewlanna when we got back. After we all got ready for Friday's reunion, we went down to the lobby to wait. I heard someone say that Lynn Hamilton (Verdie) was in the bar. That was just a few feet from the lobby, so off I went! There she was sitting at a table & just about 6 to 8 other people with her. I have always loved "Verdie." I sat down beside her & she was so nice & down to earth. I got several pictures taken with her & we talked. She said that she got a "residual" check the other day in the mail for.....25 cents.....yes, one quarter! She said they paid more in postage to mail it to her than the check was worth. LOL! I had made myself a badge out of my keeper (see it below) & showed it to her & told her that I was the keeper of her kerchief on the forum. She put my hand in hers & she seemed to be genuinely touched that I had chosen her. She graciously autographed it for me.
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I was able to get 24 autographs at the reunion & took numerous photos. INSP had each of us a cotton canvas bag in our seat (that was an unexpected pleasant surprise). Inside was an 8"x 10" photo of the Waltons, a pen, mints, etc....We had a lovely souvenir program at our place setting. Our guest at our table was Hal Williams (Harley Foster-Verdie's husband). My husband always liked him on Sanford & Son. Charlene1961 from the forum sat by my husband & beside me sat Kevin. Kevin lives locally in Cali & he was really great to talk to. We ended up spending alot of time with him on the house tour & at the VIP event. Believe it or not.......there was an EMPTY seat at our table! I forgot the name on the namecard (it was a female). I guess they must have had a family emergency or something....hope everything is ok with them.
When we got through eating (the food was delicious) we all talked to Hal Williams. He was also very down to earth & told us about his career & that he took pride in the fact that he had been on The Waltons because of the way the show portrayed black people. We talked to him about residuals & he said that if before you die you designate a child, grandchild, etc....then they will continue to get the residuals after you die.
Carolyn & Vicky put on a wonderful heartfelt program. At one point during the program I looked over my shoulder & there stood my husband with Ronnie Claire Edwards (Cora Beth) beside him. Then later I looked again & this time Hal Williams (Harley Grant) was beside him. Carolyn had a silent auction at the event & I was the lucky bidder on the script from, "The Scholar." It is one of my very favorite episodes....the one about John Boy teaching Elizabeth to read & write. He involves Verdie so that she can also learn. It was already autographed by Earl Hamner, Jr. & Richard Thomas so I went to Lynn Hamilton (Verdie) & she signed it for me. Mrs. Hamilton talked to me about the episode. I also got Kami Cotler (Elizabeth) to sign it. I also asked Hal Williams (Harley) if I could have his namecard from the table & he said yes. I also got Lynn Hamilton's (Verdie) after she had left the event.
Saturday morning I went down to the lobby & I bumped into Lynn Hamilton again (she stayed at the hotel). We got ready & went on the Warner Brothers tour. We saw the Waltons house/barn, passed by the fountain that was used in one or two episodes (forgot the names of them...they have also used the fountain in the show "Friends"), we went by the Baldwin Sisters house. They were going to stop there but there was a filming trailer blocking the way. So we then went over to the part that had Curt & Mary Ellen's house, Daisy's, the hospital, the church, etc.....Michael McGreevey & Earl Hamner, Jr., also showed us the house that they installed Grandma's stained glass window in & then it was used as the extertior shot for filming them dancing through it.
Mr. Hamner was so gracious & kind to everyone. He made sure that everyone got a picture with him that wanted one. He asked a few people to please wait a minute, that he would be right back. He went to a woman (from his hometown) in a wheelchair & helped her stand up so they could have a picture taken together. After he came back & the pictures resumed, someone told him that it was time to move on.....Mr. Hamner said to wait a minute I haven't had my picture taken with Jane yet. (Jane is on the forum here....she is LovesLondon35). He is 89 years old & gets around great, no cane or anything. My husband was impressed with his voice, he mentioned to me several times that he couldn't believe how strong his voice still was at his age.
From the forum I met fellow roomie dewlanna, memphisshamrock, Big Bruno, michellet, LovesLondon35, RyanJames, Brenda (our forum administrator), Carolyn Grinnell, Tracey, Charlene1961, weezer29, don & emf673. It was nice to meet them all. I found out who bmcgill was after he left so I didn't get to personally speak to him.
Saturday night dewlanna, my husband & I had VIP tickets so we got nearly at the end of the red carpet right before they would go inside. I was able to obtain another 20 autographs from different actors/actresses that did not attend Friday nights event. Alot of people have said over the years that my husband looks like Gerald McRaney. I was able to stop him on the red carpet, get his autograph, & my husband got to shake his hand. We hoped to get a picture of him with my husband later but after he did his bit in the program, he left.
So no picture of them together!! I said to Tony Becker (Drew) I heard you have a little girl? He said yes, want to see a picture of her? And he showed me the cutest picture of her. She has his beautiful blue eyes.
My autograph seeking can be deemed a success because I got everyone that I wanted except Ed Lauter, Deanna Lund & Jonathan Frakes (they did not attend the VIP event) nor did Michael O'Keefe. I could have gotten Michael's because he was on the red carpet but he got by me while I was obtaining another autograph. I brought two or more things for everyone to sign & they all happily consented. I got Joe Conley (Ike), Ronnie (Cora Beth) & Mary (Erin) to sign their books for me. Stephen Collins loved the picture I had of him (it was from the Waltons episode he was in). He said that he had tried to get one from the Waltons but had not be able to get one. He asked if he could take a picture of it with his cellphone, of course I gladly said yes. James Bond III loved the pictures I had of him & he said that he would love to have copies himself. He gave me his address to mail them to him. ;D Lynn Hamilton also wants me to mail her copies of the pictures I had of her!!
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My only major disappointment was Ketty Lester (Hester Sue from Little House on the Prairie) was to be there & she did not show up. Neither did Morgan Woodward, David Friedman, Hersha Parady, Radames Pera, Todd Bridges or Ellen Geer.
The seats were great & the program was very special. During intermission, I went & talked to Charlotte Rae (Miss Garrett...Different Strokes & Facts Of Life). She is extremely small in "real" life. She was very sweet, she told me to sit down & let's talk! LOL!! She wanted to know where I lived & I told her Alabama. My husband also went & talked to her. When it was time in the show for her to honor Michael Learned (Olivia) she mentioned that she had met some people who had schlepped all of the way from Alabama to be here. I thought I wish you had said that people had schlepped all of the way from Alabama, Germany, England & Australia.
There was videograms from Linda Purl & William Schallert (Stanley Perkins). Mr. Schallert was extremely funny. He is 90 years old & he said that he really had wanted to be there but that when they had another one in 40 years that he would make that one! They also had video messages from Richard Thomas & Michael Learned. Their "in memory" video of the ones who are no longer with us was very bittersweet. The only one I noticed that was left off was Lucille Benson. She played Tillie Shanks in "The Fledgling", the episode about John Boy wanting to buy a printing press.
At the VIP event/dinner afterwards I went to ask Bruce Davison for his autograph. I do not know why but I have always thought he wouldn't be very gracious to fans. I was happily wrong. He was very gracious & nice & gave me a hug. The band Covered Grass from Germany was there to sing their song "Goodnight John Boy." They gave me a postcard of them in front of the Waltons house & they autographed it for me. My husband came up to me & asked, "Who is that guy up against the wall?" I looked & calmly told him, "It's Jimmy Fortune from the Statler Brothers". He wasn't so sure, I said go ask him. He did & as always the WIFE was right!
I then came up to Mr. Fortune & told him that my husband had asked me who you were & I told him. He was there to sing a couple of songs.
When I went to ask Mariclare Costello (Rosemary Hunter Fordwick) for an autograph, I asked how her husband was & to tell him that I enjoyed watching him on M*A*S*H. She seemed very pleasantly surprised that someone at a Waltons event would remember her husband. She said that she would be sure & tell him. Her husband is Allan Arbus he played Sidney Freedman the psychiatrist. Richard Thomas' son came up to me & start talking. I asked him about his triplet sisters (they are 31 now), what he does (he's a writer), etc....He was very friendly. Rachel Longaker (Amy Godsey) really liked the pictures I had of her also. I had one of her & Kami (Elizabeth) together & asked her if she wanted it. She graciously said yes & thanked me for it. The picture I had of TK Carter (Verdie's son) had him in front of a picture of Muhammad Ali so I asked him if he liked Ali & had he met him? He immediately goes into an impersonation of Ali. He done a great job ;D & yes he has met Ali. When we decided to call it a night we headed out the door to look for the shuttle bus that had brought us from the parking lot a few blocks away. The guy said the last one had left at 9:35 p.m. It's after midnight by now....I asked another guy in a suit & with a walkie talkie about the bus. He also said there was no more. I nicely said you mean I paid $300.00 for a VIP ticket & now I am going to have to walk back to the car? He asked how many of us there was & I told him three. He said come on I will give you a ride in my car. I noticed that dewlanna didn't have her high heels on anymore or in her hands. I asked her if she forgot them, she said no, they hurt her feet too bad so she just left them behind under one of the tables! The guy that took us back to the car said that he does security for the Waltons & Whoopi Goldberg. He mentioned someone elso too but I forgot who he said it was.
Sunday morning I go down to the lobby & there sits Charlotte Stewart (Miss Beadle from LHOTP) reading the paper. I went up to her & told her I know you are just a normal person like the rest of us but still to come down to my hotel lobby & to see you just sitting here reading a paper, it just doesn't seem real. She told me that she had become a Great Grandmother two weeks ago. Later when we went to the Hotel restaurant for breakfast she was having breakfast with Carolyn Grinnell & Carolyn's son Chris.
After we packed we went down to the lobby to say our goodbyes. Ryan James & a few others were there. dewlanna was nice enough to drive us to LAX & we said our goodbyes to each other. Then my husband & I flew to San Francisco. We saw the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the sea lions at Pier 39, Chinatown, Nob Hill, Postcard Row, Lombard Street, North Beach, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, Twin Peaks & the Pacific Ocean, etc.... We also went to Sausalito & to Muir Woods National Park. So I got to see the giant redwoods finally. They were up to 252 feet tall & 14 feet across!! We also saw homeless people lined up in a very looooong line at a soup kitchen. It really put a perspective on things.
We got back to Sweet Home Alabama on Tuesday (10/2). All of our kids were at school except for our four year old. We went to pick him up from a friend of ours who was keeping him. As soon as he saw us he came running. "Mom, Dad you're home! I missed you!" and he jumped into our arms & wrapped his legs around us in the biggest bear hug possible. Our friend said that he kept asking if you two were ever coming back home, that he missed you. How heartwarming is it to know that you were missed & are loved! When my husband gets time I am going to have him post some pictures on here for me & hopefully change my avatar to a picture of Lynn Hamilton & me! ;D Sorry this was so long but I couldn't stop!!!!
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so we were roomies with dewlanna on Friday & Saturday. We helped each other out, us with the hotel room & she with a car. dewlanna is so nice & easy to get along with, I really enjoyed getting to know her in person.
;D 
So no picture of them together!! I said to Tony Becker (Drew) I heard you have a little girl? He said yes, want to see a picture of her? And he showed me the cutest picture of her. She has his beautiful blue eyes.
;D 
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