Post by owlcroft on Jun 28, 2008 21:51:59 GMT -5
Here's what I remember about the ceremony. It was warm, but not
horrible out there; we stood in the sun with buses and trucks roaring
past and a bank of photographers and reporters at the end of the
barricaded area. By the time I got there, Kathy Garver had given out
some autographs, Victoria and her family were chatting with Danny, and
the Chamber rep was asking if there were any more celebs showing up
for the event. We had five or ten minutes to go, so I asked Danny
(whom I met for the very first time right then -- I offered my hand,
he took it and pulled me close to kiss my cheek [and from then on, it
was constant hugs and kisses -- ceremony, reception, reunion. Simply
incredible how many people I hugged and who kissed me.]) to sign for
Susan Z and he waded right out there and signed left and right for
folks.
The Chamber wanted to start and I checked that there were no more
celebs on the way, and then saw something I will never forget. There
came Shelly Fabares, right at the last minute, walking carefully with
her new cane and a wide smile, determined to be there to honor Brian.
Shelly does not enjoy the best health and she broke her hip last
month and had to have replacement surgery. We really thought she
wouldn't make it, but she did, she attended the reception as well, and
she thanked _us_ for asking her. (In fact, I've never been thanked so
much, either.)
The Chamber guy opened the ceremony, introduced Monsignor John
Sheridan, the former Keith family priest, and the Monsignor gave a
wonderful blessing, which meant so much to the family and to those of
us who knew how important it was to them. Very lovely prayer. Then,
Kathy Garver spoke for exactly two minutes and I remember she said
something nice, but everyone knew Danny was next and it was hard to
pay attention.
Okay, at some point, Joe Santos and his family showed up. I think it
was our intrepid photographer who pointed him out to me and I made
sure the Chamber guy (Leron Gubler) added his name to the people they
were mentioning as being there. Joe looks just like he always has,
cute as a button and we were very fortunate that he wanted to do honor
to Brian's memory and be at the ceremony and reception.
Danny was introduced and the crowd went wild. Danny is a very shy
person. Truly. He had three or four pages of hand-written notes, and
he went right to work. But almost immediately, he started to choke up
talking about Brian. He had to stop a couple of times, then start
again, voice quavering. He kept going, though, and got very emphatic
about Brian's war service and that seemed to help him collect himself
a bit. But you could clearly tell that this was supremely important
to him, that Brian meant a great deal to him and he was giving this
speech from his heart. We have it on the videotape and also hope to
have a transcription of it soon. It was the absolute _pinnacle_ of
the ceremony.
Next, The official Chamber declaration of Brian Keith Day was
presented to Victoria and she spoke very briefly, quoting from "Auld
Lang Syne". The star was "unveiled", and multiple photos were taken,
which you've seen.
Joe then waded into the crowd, shaking hands and signing for folks.
Stephen Cannell showed up, too late for most of the event, but _there_
and that's what counted. We met some of the people we'd had help from
behind the scenes, and we started folks slowly moving to the reception.
I was late getting there because the Chamber wanted me to do an
interview for a wire service reporter. It was _not_ the best time for
me to try to speak intelligibly, but then I don't think anyone ever
read it anyway.
Everyone kept telling Danny that his speech was so moving and the best
they'd heard, and he kept apologizing for choking up. It was the most
incredible thing to listen to and I can't wait for you all to hear it.
He and Stephen and Joe all sat at the same table with a couple of
supremely lucky fans and chatted for well over an hour.
Kathy Garver and Shelly sat at another table, Victoria and her family
had another, but Victoria spent half her time with Shelly. The fans
circulated, ate, watched the celebs. Cheri had set up a slide show in
the bar area, which ran continuously. It had screen caps from Brian's
shows and movies, a few candids, and everyone said what a terrific
touch that was to the occasion. Victoria asked if we could make a
copy for her and we certainly will.
The food was gorgeous and I ordered far too much. (When I left for
the airport last night, the leftovers had just been brought out to the
side of the pool for everyone to snack on. We had cheese platters,
smoked salmon with pickled onions and cream cheese, crudites of all
sorts, chicken satay in peanut sauce, artichoke bottoms stuffed with
spinach and cheese, tomato bruschetti, an entire basket of breads and
crackers, brownies and cookies.) Waiters passed through with trays
bearing glasses of champagne and sparkling cider for the Santos kids.
Johnny Whitaker told us a wonderful story about Brian, and his sister
and mother were such nice people and remembered spending time with
Brian on the FA set.
The Grill, where the reception was held, is in a fabulous Hollywood
landmark and was an entirely fitting place to celebrate. Stephen
Cannell left after about an hour (he really is supremely busy and we
were grateful he made it all considering everything else he had going
on that day -- his assistant had to re-arrange his whole calendar to
get him there), the other celebs drifted out after the second hour,
but Danny made sure to talk to everyone there and thank them for
supporting the star effort. Bobby Keith also just kept thanking us
and saying how grateful he and his mom were. Terrifically nice guy
and we'd never even emailed him before, so it was great to finally
meet him.
The fan group stayed until around 2:30, and the STAR group and our
honorary members (Marilyn, Angela, I'm talking about you!) sat around
snacking desultorily until three and I finally got my second glass of
champagne. It was incredible just to sit there and think about what
had just happened. It still hadn't sunk in that we'd accomplished it.
After looking forward to it for so long, it somehow didn't seem real.
Paid the bill, split up, and a few of us went back to look at the star
again. It's just beautiful. People walked by and I wouldn't let them
step on it, so now all Hollywood thinks I'm crazed. But that's never
been a secret with you guys, right? More photos taken and as soon as
other folks start getting home, they'll be shared with you all. I
just have a regular camera, but will get my film developed eftsoons.
Headed back to the hotel, rested for fifteen or twenty seconds, then
changed and set out for Barney's Beanery.
But that'll be another post.
horrible out there; we stood in the sun with buses and trucks roaring
past and a bank of photographers and reporters at the end of the
barricaded area. By the time I got there, Kathy Garver had given out
some autographs, Victoria and her family were chatting with Danny, and
the Chamber rep was asking if there were any more celebs showing up
for the event. We had five or ten minutes to go, so I asked Danny
(whom I met for the very first time right then -- I offered my hand,
he took it and pulled me close to kiss my cheek [and from then on, it
was constant hugs and kisses -- ceremony, reception, reunion. Simply
incredible how many people I hugged and who kissed me.]) to sign for
Susan Z and he waded right out there and signed left and right for
folks.
The Chamber wanted to start and I checked that there were no more
celebs on the way, and then saw something I will never forget. There
came Shelly Fabares, right at the last minute, walking carefully with
her new cane and a wide smile, determined to be there to honor Brian.
Shelly does not enjoy the best health and she broke her hip last
month and had to have replacement surgery. We really thought she
wouldn't make it, but she did, she attended the reception as well, and
she thanked _us_ for asking her. (In fact, I've never been thanked so
much, either.)
The Chamber guy opened the ceremony, introduced Monsignor John
Sheridan, the former Keith family priest, and the Monsignor gave a
wonderful blessing, which meant so much to the family and to those of
us who knew how important it was to them. Very lovely prayer. Then,
Kathy Garver spoke for exactly two minutes and I remember she said
something nice, but everyone knew Danny was next and it was hard to
pay attention.
Okay, at some point, Joe Santos and his family showed up. I think it
was our intrepid photographer who pointed him out to me and I made
sure the Chamber guy (Leron Gubler) added his name to the people they
were mentioning as being there. Joe looks just like he always has,
cute as a button and we were very fortunate that he wanted to do honor
to Brian's memory and be at the ceremony and reception.
Danny was introduced and the crowd went wild. Danny is a very shy
person. Truly. He had three or four pages of hand-written notes, and
he went right to work. But almost immediately, he started to choke up
talking about Brian. He had to stop a couple of times, then start
again, voice quavering. He kept going, though, and got very emphatic
about Brian's war service and that seemed to help him collect himself
a bit. But you could clearly tell that this was supremely important
to him, that Brian meant a great deal to him and he was giving this
speech from his heart. We have it on the videotape and also hope to
have a transcription of it soon. It was the absolute _pinnacle_ of
the ceremony.
Next, The official Chamber declaration of Brian Keith Day was
presented to Victoria and she spoke very briefly, quoting from "Auld
Lang Syne". The star was "unveiled", and multiple photos were taken,
which you've seen.
Joe then waded into the crowd, shaking hands and signing for folks.
Stephen Cannell showed up, too late for most of the event, but _there_
and that's what counted. We met some of the people we'd had help from
behind the scenes, and we started folks slowly moving to the reception.
I was late getting there because the Chamber wanted me to do an
interview for a wire service reporter. It was _not_ the best time for
me to try to speak intelligibly, but then I don't think anyone ever
read it anyway.
Everyone kept telling Danny that his speech was so moving and the best
they'd heard, and he kept apologizing for choking up. It was the most
incredible thing to listen to and I can't wait for you all to hear it.
He and Stephen and Joe all sat at the same table with a couple of
supremely lucky fans and chatted for well over an hour.
Kathy Garver and Shelly sat at another table, Victoria and her family
had another, but Victoria spent half her time with Shelly. The fans
circulated, ate, watched the celebs. Cheri had set up a slide show in
the bar area, which ran continuously. It had screen caps from Brian's
shows and movies, a few candids, and everyone said what a terrific
touch that was to the occasion. Victoria asked if we could make a
copy for her and we certainly will.
The food was gorgeous and I ordered far too much. (When I left for
the airport last night, the leftovers had just been brought out to the
side of the pool for everyone to snack on. We had cheese platters,
smoked salmon with pickled onions and cream cheese, crudites of all
sorts, chicken satay in peanut sauce, artichoke bottoms stuffed with
spinach and cheese, tomato bruschetti, an entire basket of breads and
crackers, brownies and cookies.) Waiters passed through with trays
bearing glasses of champagne and sparkling cider for the Santos kids.
Johnny Whitaker told us a wonderful story about Brian, and his sister
and mother were such nice people and remembered spending time with
Brian on the FA set.
The Grill, where the reception was held, is in a fabulous Hollywood
landmark and was an entirely fitting place to celebrate. Stephen
Cannell left after about an hour (he really is supremely busy and we
were grateful he made it all considering everything else he had going
on that day -- his assistant had to re-arrange his whole calendar to
get him there), the other celebs drifted out after the second hour,
but Danny made sure to talk to everyone there and thank them for
supporting the star effort. Bobby Keith also just kept thanking us
and saying how grateful he and his mom were. Terrifically nice guy
and we'd never even emailed him before, so it was great to finally
meet him.
The fan group stayed until around 2:30, and the STAR group and our
honorary members (Marilyn, Angela, I'm talking about you!) sat around
snacking desultorily until three and I finally got my second glass of
champagne. It was incredible just to sit there and think about what
had just happened. It still hadn't sunk in that we'd accomplished it.
After looking forward to it for so long, it somehow didn't seem real.
Paid the bill, split up, and a few of us went back to look at the star
again. It's just beautiful. People walked by and I wouldn't let them
step on it, so now all Hollywood thinks I'm crazed. But that's never
been a secret with you guys, right? More photos taken and as soon as
other folks start getting home, they'll be shared with you all. I
just have a regular camera, but will get my film developed eftsoons.
Headed back to the hotel, rested for fifteen or twenty seconds, then
changed and set out for Barney's Beanery.
But that'll be another post.
