Garth in Washington DC for the "Concert of the Century"
Approximately 3 weeks prior to the date of the Concert of the Century sponsored by VH1 on Oct. 23, 1999, I posted a message on the Garthbox, in which I heard on the radio of Garth being one of many celebrities slated to appear at this concert. I called my local radio station, only to be told they had no details. I received an e-mail from Trisha (aka Gbrksfan@aol.com) advising me that she had contacted VH1 and was told that the concert was a private event to be held on the lawn of the White House at 4:00Pm, but that there would be no tickets available.
Soon thereafter, word spread about the concert but as far as anyone could determine, the venue had been undisclosed. Kim e-mailed me expressing a desire to join us should we ascertain more info. and decide to go; subsequently, she would meet us at the White House on the morning of the concert. About a week later, Trisha e-mailed me that a group of ladies from various states would check into a hotel in DC the night before the concert, in order to prepare to converge on the White House the next morning. As it stood then, there would probably be 7 of us.
On 10/20/99 Trisha called me to give me directions to her house, as Teresa and I were welcome to stay there along with Arlene. (thanks Trisha!) I advised her that some of us from my area would be seeing Garth on Good Morning America on 10/22/99. Well, Friday (10/22) arrived and you know what happened in New York...from Part I. When Barbara, Sandy and I returned home from NY, I called Teresa to see if she had slit her wrists :-) after missing Good Morning America and to tell her all about our Garthadventure and to ascertain if she still wanted to make the 2-1/2 - 3hr. trip to Trisha's, then on to DC the next morning. She told me that in light of Garth having confirmed to me the location of the concert and although it would be in a tent, she agreed to go for it and at 7:00Pm we embarked on our trip.
The rain that night made for very poor visibility but the Garthangels carried us safely to our destination and we arrived at Trisha's at approximately 10:20Pm. We were greeted by Trisha and Arlene (aka GBSweetP77). Although we had brought goodies for Garth, we still wanted to give him flowers....so off to the market we went. When we returned to Trisha's, Trisha began working on pins for each of us to wear the next day that had the photo of Garth from her "butter pic" and had "I traveled ---- miles to see the artist of the century, Garth Brooks" on it(with the miles filled in for each one of us). It soon became obvious that we would not get any sleep that night. (Trisha got about an hour) So Teresa, Arlene and I stayed up talking all night until it was time to get ready to leave.
With Trisha's daughter, Stephanie, in tow and Trisha's brother as our tour guide, we depart at 7:30Am and head for the Metro, where we would meet up with Jen, Lisa and Bobbie. We arrived at the White House at about 9:15A, where Kim was to join us. I soon spotted a lady standing by a concrete barrier and it turned out to be Kim (hi Kim!!) As it appeared that no celebrities would be arriving/departing at the front of the White House, we decide to split up and cover both the front (just in case) and the back. Now, the temperature in DC that day is only 52 degrees if that, so it's pretty cold. Teresa, Kim and I decide to go into a coffee shop to warm up and one of DC's finest spots our pins and advises us that Garth was in front of the White House last night with his Father and Sandy signing autographs (writer's liberty o.k.?) and how nice of guy he really is (like he's telling us, huh?) Anyway, he tells us the celebrities would be entering and exiting at the East gate. So we head for the East gate and meet up with the rest of the nutts there.
There's the wrought iron gate, driveway and barricades on each side of the drive...along with alot of cops and secret service. There are also approximately 60 - 70 people gathered to watch the celebrities arrive/depart by limo or van, just like at a Hollywood premiere. We soon realize that whilst Teresa, Kim and I warmed ourselves in the coffee shop sipping coffee, we missed a host of celebrities (but did catch alot of them depart from rehearsal)and Garth had been taken onto the White House lawn to the tent by a van. As we watched, most celebrities would be let off at the end of the drive and would walk through the gates and depart the same way. (In fact, someone goofed because Eric Clapton was allowed to walk completely out and down the street...ooops!)However, some were arranged to have the limo or van back into the driveway to be picked up there.
At approximately 11:45Am, someone(I believe it was Kim...sorry if I'm wrong) spots Garth inside the gates talking with some others outside of the tent(he's wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants). Do I have to tell you what happened next....??? O.k., o.k. we start yelling his name and when he hears us he waves. Allright!!!!!!!! We know we're gonna have our Garthmoments....the G-man knows we're here!! The excitement starts to mount...as we watch Garth talking on a cell phone walking back and forth in and out of our view. (Is he calling one of us....???, we're not home darn it...we're here!!!:-) Garth teases us for approximately a half hour....when a van backs into the driveway and Kelly and Garth climb in. OH MY GOD...the van's coming toward the gates!!! It makes it's way through the gates as we're all yelling and waving and............stops!!! Kelly climbs out, then Garth. Now, who does Garth come to first....?? His loyal fans, of course. This part gets a little fuzzy, but I believe Kim has her moment first.
Oh my God....to watch her moment was absolutely gorgeous! Just like a scene out of a movie, Garth sets the tone of the day by giving her the most tender hug and says hi Kim, it's so good to see you, how are you?? He tells her he got her letter about the Pittsburgh concert, row 13 and asked if she ever made it. (now friends...we all know of the miraculous memory of this man, but he remembered a letter from last year!!!!) I then take Kim and Garth's picture. I can't remember who was next, but I do remember Stephanie's (Trisha's 8 yr. old daughter) moment, as Garth kneeled down to her level, gave her a couple of hugs and signed her cast, asking if she spelled her name S-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e. She told him yes and the cameras begin to flash....it was precious!
Then Trisha had her moment and begins to ball as she tells of her father dying in July and hands Garth a beautiful poem in honor of his mother and her father, with photos of each of each side. She almost had me crying! I don't remember whose moment was next, but Garth's in a hugging mood and eventually I had mine....and yes I get a hug too...and somehow my face ends up on Garth's neck.....so the natural thing was to....you guessed it!!! Wooooo baby....I always wanted to do that, ever since I started licking the television when close-ups of his neck were shown....but don't worry I did it with grace!!! (you know...Grace Kelley style :-) Anyway, I tell Garth I told him we'd be there and he says....you sure did Cheryl and Kim takes our photo. I then ask Garth if he'll be leaving the same way after the concert and he said yes, but he wouldn't be able to stop as he had to get his father back to the airport. :-( That's o.k. 'cause we couldn't ask more of him.
The rest of the nutts have their moments (way to go Jen....it was her first!!)and Garth starts working his way back to the van, greeting others and signing autographs...until he and Kelly get in the van and drive off. Now, you can imagine how everyone was totally tearful, content and ecstatic over what had just happened. NEVER, EVER underestimate Garth....when he knows the fans are there to see him, he'll stop...believe me, he'll stop. I ask you, how can you not LOVE Da Man!!!!!!!
So, now we decide to leave and head for the Metro where we'd get the train back to Trisha's and say our goodbyes and depart exhausted but elated. Oh, one more thing...when the van stopped that carried Garth through the gates, the cops and secret service scampered as they really didn't know what to expect...guess they don't know Garth at all! :-)
33 hours later, I drift off to sleep dreaming of the events of the day and the day before.................
It's been one helluva ride!
Me Giving Garth a Gift & "The Hug"~yummy!(thanks Kim!!)
Garth signing Stephanie's cast
Eric Clapton
Sheryl Crow
