Rialto Car Show 2003
Hot Time in Rialto!!
I knew even before I got on the plane that this was going to be one of the best Bobby adventures ever! Old friends and new ones were coming in from every corner of the country and we'd be "getting together" to see our favorite guy. Hey, how could it NOT turn into a fantastic weekend?
We arrived at the Rialto High School a little early and were greeted by Martin as we were driving in. I guess he knows a car load of enthusiastic Bobby Babes when he sees them!! We then started looking around to see who else had already arrived and discovered a bunch of very smart ladies standing in the shade. As much as we wanted to see Bobby arrive, since it was 100 degrees out, we opted to chat there until we KNEW Mr. Sherman had officially arrived!! I can't remember if we were talking to Martin or perhaps it was the DJ, Vic Slick, but when someone said that Bobby had just pulled in...WE WERE OFF!! I was the first one of our group to get to him. Hey, when Bobby's in the house...see you later, alligator!! hehehe!! As I got to Bobby's car, he was just getting out and looked at me and said, hi, Ginny. Oh dear, if the heat didn't turn me into a puddle, that certainly did!! All he has to do is look at me with those big blue eyes and say my name and I'm a bowl of jelly!! I went up and hugged him right away. I told him I wanted to get that out of the way because by the time we got to the official picture taking session, I'd be too hot and sweaty and he probably wouldn't want to touch me!! LOL!! Bobby looked fantastic decked out in his Sheriff's uniform. We always hope he'll surprise us some day and wear regular clothes, but he looks so spiffy in that uniform that we didn't mind. He looked as handsome as ever, except that the poor baby looked sunburned already. Thank goodness they had set up a tent to cover him while he signed autographs. And, boy, did he ever sign autographs!! There was a never ending stream of people waiting in line to see, hug, kiss, touch and talk to him. A couple people...well, a couple that I know of because I'm sure there were more that I didn't know...got to realize their life long dream of meeting Bobby. Cheryl (a first timer), presented Bobby with a beautiful quilt she made for him. She had a lot of the fans make squares for this quilt and I was dying to see the final product. IT WAS GORGEOUS!! And Bobby obviously thought so too because he told Cheryl that he would use it that night!! Considering how hot it was that day, I'm hoping he cranked up the air conditioner before he snuggled under it!! LOL!! April S. (another first timer) also got to meet Bobby for the first time...giving him a special present too. hmmm...I didn't give him anything...hope he didn't notice!!
Oh dear, no present for Bobby and then Carol P. nearly got me arrested by him!! hehehe!! When LindaMay and I had checked into our rooms the day before, we went to look for Carol, Barbara, and Karen and found that they weren't in their rooms. So, I decided to leave a note on their door. What I wrote was..."I dropped by to take you girls out to lunch. Sorry I missed you. See you tomorrow. Love Bobby". Carol brought that note to the car show and showed it to Bobby. He looked confused while he was reading it (don't know why!! LOL!!). But then we explained what it was. In a flash, he whipped out his handcuffs and threatened to arrest me for forgery!! Of course, I resisted...hmmm...holding out my arms and saying, yes, please do it, is resisting, isn't it?!?!
Bobby was getting warm at one point and asked if anyone had a towel. LindaMay, being the ever prepared girl scout that she is, jumped to Bobby's rescue and pulled a towel from her bag. That towel got used a lot that day and became known as the Bobby Towel. Bobby wiped his face with it, and then it was also used to block prying eyes and cameras when Bobby signed happy birthday on Debra's stomach!! Yes, THAT'S what was going on under the towel, so those of you with dirty little minds should be ashamed of yourselves!! The Bobby towel also came in handy later when I nearly passed out from the heat. Someone poured cold water on it and gave it to me so I could cool off. I didn't remember at the time that Bobby had been using it, but when I put it on my face, I wasn't too far gone to realize that it smelled like Polo!!!!!!! And then good old Fred Miller (my hero) saw I was in trouble and came to the rescue and took my pulse. When he told me that it was twice what it should be, I told him that that's normal when I'm around Bobby!! He wasn't buying it and insisted that I be checked out in the ambulance. I was glad Fred was there...not so much that he saved my life (although that's a good thing too, I guess!!) but because I had proof that I wasn't faking it...just trying to get mouth to mouth from Bobby!! LOL!! When I was getting out of the ambulance, I remembered that I had gone in there with something in my hand...couldn't remember what though. Then one of the paramedics handed me the towel back. Thank goodness, LindaMay would have killed me if I had lost it!!
After meeting all the fans, Bobby then moved over to another area where he gave an interview with one of the local DJs. I missed the entire speech, but I understand that Bobby was wonderful!! Of course, I was getting this information from a biased group of Bobby Babes, so I'll never know for sure if he REALLY was wonderful!! LOL!! By the time I got out of the ambulance, Bobby was milling around with other fans and we all decided to stay in the shade by his car and wait for him there...so we could see him leave. As Bobby approached, I decided I had to get my "refusal of care" form signed by Bobby!! The paramedics had wanted to take me to the hospital, but there was no way I was going anywhere that day. Bobby must have thought I was a nut, but he signed it "Let her go!". He's sooooooo funny!!!!!
And then Bobby prepared to leave. But not until Charlyn's mom gave Bobby and Fred deviled eggs for the ride back. He loves her deviled eggs and even thanked her last year for them during his speech!! So, deviled eggs in hand, Bobby and Fred rode off into the sunset...leaving us there counting the days till the next time we can get together with him for another hot time!!
Of course, that was only a couple hours of our weekend. Thought I'd put that all first for those of you not interested in the non-Bobby times. But then again, when we get together, it's ALL Bobby times!! Sure, we talked about other things this weekend, but you just know the main topic was always Bobby related!! We started partying on Friday night when we went to Universal's Citywalk for dinner and then onto Howl At The Moon...a bar that Fred had recommended last year. It's a bit noisy and has a crowd much younger than us, but we had a great time. Hey, I even had a young whipper snapper buy me a shot!! When the waitress came over, I was sure he must have meant Barbara who was sitting across the table from me since she's such a cutie and looks like she's about 20!! But, no, someone told me that he said he wanted to buy me a shot because he liked the way I did the last one!! LOL!! Okay, don't ask!! LindaMay tried to convince me that the drink was probably spiked and that I would soon give birth to an alien child...again...don't ask!! hehehe!! We didn't party the night away because we knew we had to get some sleep so we could look as cute as possible the next day for Bobby. Personally, I needed more time, but I did the best I could in the allotted time!!
After the car show the next day, a bunch of us headed out to TGI Fridays for lunch. We had a very patient and sweet waitress. Can't remember her name right now, but even after dealing with a bunch of Bobby Babes still high on Polo, she never lost her sweet smile. She didn't even bat an eye when Charlyn started decorating the wall with Bobby pictures!!
After Fridays, we headed off to Charlyn's house. What a blast we had there!!! Charlyn and her VERY patient husband, Dennis, are such wonderful hosts and I always look forward to going to their house after the car show. I knew we would be celebrating Debra's birthday there, but what I didn't know was that we were celebrating MINE too!! SURPRISE!! I found out later that Bobby nearly gave away the surprise twice at the car show. While I was up talking to him, he suddenly leaned over to Debra and whispered something to her and she whispered something back. When I asked what they were talking about, they wouldn't tell me!! How rude!! I found out later that Bobby was asking her if I had gotten my presents yet. And then when he was giving his speech, he said something about a party. Luckily I didn't hear that because I was still being entertained by four hot paramedics in the ambulance. So, anyhoooooo...they had a separate cake for Debra and me...both with Bobby pictures on it, of course!! And then it was on to the presents. LOTS AND LOTS OF PRESENTS!! The entire floor was covered with stuff for Debra and me!! Everything was fantastic, but a couple of the things really floored me. Debra got Bobby to sign his "Just For You" album. He signed it..."Ginny, How's my girl doing? Love ya, Bobby". How's my girl doing?!?!?!? My girl?!?!?! Oh dear, be still my heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then she also put an autographed picture of him in a talking frame. And who's talking?!?! Well, Bobby, of course!! He's saying, "Happy Birthday, Ginny. Be good. Love ya! Bobby". Gee, I didn't even have to play it again just now to remember what he said because I've played it so many times already that I have it memorized!! Another great present I got was a calendar from Chris which shows a history of my Bobby fanaticism!! I had hinted around to Chris that I needed a 2004 calendar, but I never expected one this great!!! And Charlyn's present blew me away too. She's sooooooo creative!! She found a wooden box with a record player in it. Okay, that would be nice enough, but she put a picture of the "Bobby Sherman" album in the inside cover and then miniaturized the record label from that album and stuck it on the record inside!! TOO COOL!! She also gave me a wooden TV that has Bobby's "Getting Together" album cover in it. LOVE IT!! Another really cute thing was the Sheriff Bobby Bear from Nan!! She even made a nameplate for him that says "R. Sherman"!! There were so many wonderful presents that I thought I was going to have to buy a new suitcase to get them all home!! But once I took everything out of their boxes and bags, I was able to get everything packed. Thank goodness I ate one of Wendy's presents the night before because it never would have fit...yes, Wendy, the chocolate never made it home!! But you didn't really think it would, did you?!?! hehehe!! Thank you to everyone for making my pre-birthday so memorable!!
On Sunday, Debra, LindaMay, Chris, Debbie, Carol, Barbara, Karen, Teresa and I headed off to Venice Beach. What a beautiful place...and what a bunch of unusual people there!! LOL!! Thank goodness it was much cooler by the beach than it was in the Valley. They had been predicting 99 for that day, but it wasn't anywhere near that at the beach. We strolled along people watching and shopping. I even stopped to get a Bobby tattoo!! No, not a real one. It was a henna tattoo that will wash off in a couple weeks. Thank goodness because it really doesn't look that good!! We made up a story we were going to tell everyone...that I had gotten drunk the night before and woke up with a tattoo on my arm. Well, Carol had more to the story, but I won't go into that here!! LOL!! We then met up with Alice, Angie and Cora for dinner at Bob's Big Boy. Gee, do Bobby Babes go everywhere in a pack?!?! hehehe!! We then went back to my hotel and yapped the night away. STILL Bobby was the main topic of conversation!! Do we ever run out of things to say about that man?!?!?! Apparently not!!
Then the sad part...lots of goodbye hugs and kisses and everyone prepared to go back to the real world...leaving us all with very pleasant memories of our beautiful weekend in Bobbyland!!