During the 1990's, I had some encounters with some famous and sort of famous people. One was with BB King. He had come to Columbia for a concert. The show was at the Township, and it was great. After the show was over, I went around to the stage door to see him. He was still inside signing autographs for a bunch of people who paid money to meet him. I waited for over an hour before he came out. I was one of a handful of fans back there. His limo pulled up. They had a special place made in the trunk to put Lucille (his guitar). One of his assistants gave each of us a picture of Mr. King and a plastic guitar lapel pin. These were pretty special, because the people inside didn't get them. When he came out, he said hello to us. He was very gracious. I left to go to my car. His limo passed by me, and the driver honked the horn. King waved at me.
Another was Bob Dylan. He also played the Township. It was 1997. I danced in the aisle during his show. Good stuff. After the show, I headed back to my car and saw his tour bus pulling out of the parking lot. I tried to catch up with the bus. It was going toward I-26, as he was heading to Knoxville for his next show. I drove 70mph and running red lights to catch up with his bus. I finally did about 10 miles outside of town. My plan was to ride behind the bus to Knoxville, but I failed to notice I was running out of gas. I pulled alongside the bus and honked my horn. Dylan looked out of the window. I waved, and he waved back. I yelled out "No Gas!". He smiled. I pulled off of the interstate to get gas. His bus continued up the road. I went home.
The Shirelles were playing at the Township along with Gary Lewis. I was sitting on the second row with Chris and Del. I was on the aisle. As they were about to sing "Going to the Chapel", the lead singer pointed at me and wanted me to join her on stage to sing the song with her. Fortunately, the man sitting in front of me stood up and went on stage to make a fool of himself. That was a close call. We met Gary Lewis at the stage door after the show and gave him a tape of our music. He liked it.
And then there was Elizabeth Ann Hilden. She was the Pet of the Year for Penthouse in 1997. She and her husband lived close to me in Forest Acres. I would see her at the Piggly Wiggly next to Ravenwood frequently. She was nice. I knew who she was, but most in the neighborhood didn't. When I had first met her, I told her of my friendship with Ginger. We hit it off, as I treated her as a person, not judging her for what she did. One Saturday, I got off of work and was exhausted. I had to stop by the store to get some food. Elizabeth had been to a magazine signing at a bookstore. When I got out of my car, she was getting into hers. She smiled and greeted me. I was so tired that I could barely speak. She looked perplexed as to why I wasn't more friendly. I told her I had to get some food and walked on by. Shortly thereafter, she and her husband moved away. I hope it wasn't my fault.
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