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The GH and PC Fanclub weekend Sunday, July 29, 2001
 by Suzanne Lanoue

Sunday morning I got up way too early to register for the GH luncheon.  They make you register hours before the actual luncheon, so I went back to my hotel room after registering.  I was going to go back to sleep but that didn't work so I got ready instead.  I went to the event about 10:30 and looked at the pictures and other items for sale.  There seemed to be far fewer this year than last time I came.  There were more silent auctions and raffle tickets, it seems.  Too bad, I wanted to spend more money!   I got quite a few things, though, and bid on a couple of auction items.  I wanted to win a studio tour but I don't have the money to really get those.  I bid $350 on one but it went for much more than that.

There was a long line to stand in and I didn't see my friends so I guessed they were in line ahead of me (but actually I think I got in before they did).  I eavesdropped on the people behind me, who were from New York, to pass the time.  After I got inside, I quickly found our table, which was very close to the front (yay!).  I think I went to the bar to get a soda after that...I didn't have much money left at that point!  I was going through my bag of items, trying to get my cameras ready (I take disposable cameras) and keep my photo scrapbooks out of the way.  The paper bag I had brought was breaking so it was kind of a nuisance.  Stacey arrived at some point but she was interviewing the actors before they came in, so I didn't see much of her.  Lynn arrived and she introduced me to some of the people at the table and we chatted.  Joan arrived at some point but she was also outside a lot taking pictures.

I went back to their room at one point (I was staying at the cheaper Days Inn one block away) to put some of my stuff there...and maybe see if I could find a bag.  On the way back, as I was passing through the area where the tables had been, I saw a big bag so I went to get it, thinking I could use it.  Inside were two nicely-framed pictures of some of the GH stars, autographed.  Being the honest (but very tempted! :) person I was, I turned it in to the luncheon people.  Turns out it belonged to Becky Herbst's sister, someone recognized it.  Did I get a thank you from anyone? Noooooo....and I didn't get to keep the bag, either! :)

The lunch was okay, nothing special.  There were ENDLESS raffles and finally, they got ready to bring in the stars.  There were 30 seats on the stage so we knew a lot of people would be there.  I think everyone was there except for Ingo Rademacher, Robin Christopher, Stephen Nichols, Jackie Zeman, some of the little kids, and the big three (Tony Geary, Genie Francis and Kristina Wagner).  Even Denise Alexander (Lesley) and Kimberly McCullough (ex-Robin) were there.

Each star was asked a question and most of them tried to give humorous answers.  John J. York and Brad Maule hosted that part, and they were very funny.  Chad Brannon had brought his own video camera and that was funny, although apparently he had no tape in it.  I was happy that Maurice Benard and Robert Kelker Kelly were in front so I could ogle them! :)

I can't remember all the things that were said, of course, but nothing monumental in terms of storyline.  They gave out fan awards for various things.  Sonny and Carly won for best love scene, and Sonny and Alexis won for couple you'd most like to see together, so that was funny.  They seemed a little surprised at that.  Lisa who runs John J. York's site won for best online fan club, so that was neat.

I got numerous comments and questions during the day on my Maurice Benard t-shirt, by the way, even from some of the actors!  I had bought it in the soap boutique earlier in the weekend.

Anyway, our table did not get called that quickly this year so that was not fun, but finally we got to leave our table and run to the autograph lines.  I hit A Martinez'  (Roy) first.  It went very slowly, between the fact that he's popular and the fact that he is SO nice and likes to chat with everyone.  Next time I come, I'm bring a backpack for my stuff, and a portable chair!  Anyway it was great to meet him and get my picture with him because he was just very nice and down-to-earth.  Next I stood in Jensen Buchanan's (Melissa) line, which was right next to his.  She was very nice as well.  I told her that I remembered seeing her on One Life to Live (as Sarah) and she joked about how long ago that was.

Next I stood in Robert Kelker Kelly's line because he is another favorite that I didn't have yet.  His was another long line, but not as long as the others.  I chatted with fans while I stood in line, which is always fun.  Well, okay, there was one REALLY annoying guy at the events and he stood behind me in one line, but other than him, it was fun talking to people.  Anyway, my photo books always get people interested.  Even though this year's was not as nicely put together as the previous one.  Anyway, RKK was very funny!! I asked him if he had a web site and he laughed and shook his head.  When I asked him if he wanted one, he said no, chuckled, and said, "If I did that, I'd have to start taking this shit seriously".  LOL!  He was great.  Two girls were chatting in front of his table, sort of holding up the line, and he came up behind one of them and did a sort of Dracula-thing over her head until she turned around.  He was really great.  He looked at my book of pictures and saw the one of Charles Keating (ex-Carl, AW) and he said, "I really miss him".  I mentioned that he was coming on Port Charles, but there seemed some confusion at that point about when he would be on, or how long.

I next went to get Denise Alexander's autograph and photo.  She didn't have any line. I guess the younger people don't care about her since she doesn't have a story any more, but I really like her and have seen her in some early 80's GH tapes, so I wanted to get hers first thing while I could (she wasn't at the last one I came to).  She was sweet, too.  After that, I just stood in the shortest lines because I had most of the other people's autographs already from the previous year, or I didn't care about the ones that were left.  I would have stood in Maurice's line but he was already gone, sob!  Missed him again.

I did get autographs from Breck Brun (Georgie) and Logan O'Brien (Lucas), who were cute kids.  Also I got Angel's autograph and John J. York's, because I had missed theirs before, too.  I would have gotten Tamara Braun's (Carly) but her line was very long and at that point she hadn't been on the show much for me to see.  I got Jacob Young's autograph for myself and for a friend (he is so cute! too young for me, though), and Marisa Ramirez's (Gia).  She has a very cute boyfriend who was there at the table with her, so I got both of them in the picture.  I also got to say hi to the actor who plays Elton and take his picture.  He was very nice as well.  OK so most of them were nice, but what else can I say?

I didn't get a chance to get Anna Lee or Kimberly McCullough's autographs or pictures before they left....another missed opportunity!  It seemed like many of them left very quickly, which I didn't think was very nice for the fans.  A Martinez and RKK should be commended for staying VERY late!  For the rest of the actors, the lines were long and I was beat, so I just went around the room taking pictures of them.  

I won two things at the event!  One was a giant autographed photo of Stephen Nichols (silent auction) and one was a photo of Rebecca Herbst (not signed or anything, in the raffle).  So I can say, if you spend enough money on raffle tickets and silent auctions, you will win some things...not necessarily anything you want, though! LOL

After that event, I went back to the room to change and rest a bit, I believe.  Next was the afternoon event of the Gospel Hour.  I had never been to this before so I didn't really know what to expect, other than religious singing.  My friends were sitting on the opposite end of the room (on chairs, lucky them!) but I found some nice people to sit with.  I'm not at ALL religious but I enjoy singing and well, obviously I was there to see the celebrities!  Real and his wife, who are deeply religious, hosted the event, even though he doesn't sing himself.  I had hoped more GH actors would be there, like maybe Maurice, but there weren't all that many.  

There were a couple of non-GH singers there, and a preacher who, fortunately, didn't talk much.  Lisa Vultaggio (ex-Hannah) and Vanita Harbour (Dara) sang religious songs, and they were okay.  I thought one of the best singers was this blonde woman who was an old friend of Lisa's.  The song was great, too, and she just had a beautiful voice.  Coltin Scott (Nikolas) came in and sang a few non-religious songs.  I hadn't heard him sing before.  He's really good.  Apparently he is having some crisis of faith so that's why he didn't sing religious songs, but no one cared, of course, they just liked the music.  Then the finale was Jonathan Jackson (ex-Lucky) and his brother Richard (and I think their father?).  Jonathan sang lead and played guitar, his brother played drums and sang backup vocals, and I think that was their father on guitar or bass and singing backup vocals.  It was great to see him, although I don't think having his hair pulled back in a ponytail looked very attractive on him.  He sang really well and played with great feeling.  He is from a very religious family so this is what they are into all the time, having these gospel sings in their house.  He was very nice, although I didn't get to meet him personally, and he was very welcoming to everyone.  I enjoyed some of his songs because they were more Christian Rock.  But the concert went on for an hour later than planned and some of those songs he did went on way too long for those of us sitting on the floor!  I probably could have left but that seemed rude.  I did enjoy most of it and at the end we all sang Amazing Grace, a song I really like.

Real filmed a lot of it for his own personal use, I guess...so I know I'm on Real's home video, LOL  Since I was to one side of the stage, I got to see Real, Vanita, and Lisa quite a bit as they went off and on stage, so that was neat.  Vanita is always very sweet.

Real also showed his inspiration video that he had showed at his own event.  Lisa spoke at length about her own religious background and how she was born again, so that was kind of interesting.  Jonathan did a lot of preaching and singing.  I'm not sure I'd go again to this event but it was very interesting to see the actors in a religious setting (certainly nothing you get to see otherwise).  I like to hear them sing, so I wish they'd all have a non-religious singing event.  They'd probably get more of the actors to show up that way, too.  But I know that's not what the point of the gospel event is for.

Stacey and Joan went to Becky Herbt's event after that...Lynn went to dinner with me and my husband.  We were all starved at that point.

The events were a lot of fun and if you haven't gone before, it's definitely worth going at least once!  This was my second time and I enjoyed it almost as much as the first time.  Meeting the actors and getting to know them a little bit as real people is great fun.

I wish I had gotten to stay another day to see the last-minute event with Maurice, Wally and Chad...I'm sure that was great.  But it was my anniversary and we were scheduled to leave.

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