Survivor events

The 4th diabetes fund-raiser was held in Cincinnati and the above ID lanyard gave me a Sponsor pass to all the events. The booklet shown contained color images of all the reality celebs who attended and copies were given to each as a souvenir of the weekend. Autographed copies were prepared for the organizer and sponsors.

The opening event was a Thursday night meet and greet at a local pub which featured karaoke, "lap dances" and photo opportunities. Snow was falling that evening and we learned that six of our reality friends coming from Los Angeles had their connecting flight cancelled in Chicago and would arrive after midnight by driving a rented van. Scenes from the evening are shown above.

No public events were scheduled for Friday afternoon, so I joined the 5 castaways from Survivor Vanuatu for a late breakfast where they decided to go shopping at the nearby Tri-County Mall. I drove Mia, Eliza and Julie while Leann rode with Chris and his wife, Lorie. In the Mall, Leann bought a silver ring, Julie a new top and Mia decided she wanted her hair cut. Lorie also decided to have hers cut. The above photos show the group at the Waffle House and the mall, including before and after pics of Mia's hair styling.

The Main Event was a buffet dinner and live auction on Friday evening. I used to occasion to dress up and pose for photos with most of the celebs. Seated at my table were Survivors Christa, Sandra, RyanO and JohnP. Christa had donated one of the dresses from her ChristaHilda collection and Eliza modeled it for us. I was the winning bidder for the orange top that Mia wore during Survivor Vanuatu. The above photos were taken at this event.

Some of our reality friends had to leave Saturday morning, but the rest joined a public autograph signing at Strikes & Spares Bowling Lanes that afternoon. The above photos show them as the event began; the line of fans coming by for autographs continued for an hour.

Fans had paid to bowl with their favorite celebrities and for the next 3 hours, we mixed a little bowling with lots of conversation and photos. My partners were Eliza and RyanO plus the two fans shown with them above. We also had the opportunity to purchase leis so we could "lei" our favorites! My seven leis went to Eliza, Mia, Rebecca, Sandra, Hailey, Lena and Toni. Other favorites Julie, Leann, Christa and Diane were not present.

The closing event was an informal party back at Westy's Pub late Saturday night after most of the celebs had made an impromptu stop at a Sushi Bar. Scenes from that party are shown above.

Two Michigan promotors, formerly associated with Mike Skupin, used those contacts to stage "charity" events which were neither for charity nor for fans. In May, a group of castaways were lured to West Virginia for river rafting in order to sell tickets to Survivor fans. The promoter pocketed the proceeds, isolated the castaways from fans, sold tickets to a side event which was cancelled and kept that money too. By far, the worst "event" I ever attended.

Jan and Iris, owners of the Discovery Beach Restaurant which they have decorated with their large collection of Survivor memorabilia, invited a large group of castaways for a weekend at Cocoa Beach. It was neither a fund-raiser for anything nor a commercial appearance...simply a fun-in-the-sun time paid for by a few of their biggest fans. Shown above is my Sponsor pass together with a photo of me with Jan and Iris.

Most of our castaway guests arrived on Friday and were shown to the luxury condo suites which had been rented for them. They were free to sightsee or enjoy the beach for a few hours; a private cocktail party was held that evening in Jan's bar and attended only by the event sponsors and a few VIPs who had chipped in $250 toward the costs. Above are scenes from that party.

Nothing was planned for Saturday morning, so many of the castaways gathered on the beach for sunning and water games. I went to brunch with Clay and Linda Jordan, Tanya Vance and Rory Freeman where we ran into Chris and Lorie Daugherty dining with Bubba Sampson. About mid-afternoon, the castaways gathered again in Jan's restaurant to sign autographs. A long line of local fans gathered and it took about 3 hours for the last of them to pass the tables where the castaways were seated. The above photos were taken at the signing.

On Saturday evening, a dinner was served in Jan's restaurant where a handful of fans joined us for food, conversation and photos with the castaways. Scenes from the dinner are shown above.

Later Saturday night, and until the wee hours, many of the castaways joined the event sponsors at a local nightclub for dancing, karaoke, playing pool and just having fun. Sarge from Vanuatu did several country songs while others also took their turn on stage. Above are scenes from the party.

The first annual fundraiser for Rupert's Kids was billed as "Tuxes and Tennies: An Evening of Comedy." Above is the event program which Amber and Boston Rob signed for me, together with the wristband which permitted access to the VIP Reception prior to the event.

These photos are among those I took of the attending castaways during the VIP reception. Richard Hatch was scheduled to be there but cancelled at the last minute. Following the reception, we moved into the grand ballroom for a dinner with silent and live auctions of various memorabilia. We were welcomed by Debby Knox, anchorlady of a local TV news show. Comedian Rex Havens did a stand-up comedy routine titled "Everything I need to know I learned from my wife" and the evening ended with a question and answer session with the 4 castaways.