Brigaders,

Wow! I don't even know where to start! Let's just say I have repeatedly asked myself, "Who's life did I wake up in?" I can't believe the experiences I was blessed with this past weekend and none of it would have happened without the Brigade. I just love you guys and I owe you so much. I know that my experience at the GH weekend was very different from what most of yours probably was. I hope that a lot of you will share your own reports and allow me to post them at HQ. For now, though, this is what happened to me.....

The week before the Soiree is a blur to me. Very little of it was spent sleeping, that's for sure. I confess, though, that I love this kind of excitement, and high-energy stress. I was having a ball! Friday afternoon started the events off at the Sportsman Lodge hotel. Capt. Quinn of TK Regiment and her boyfriend Devin (Road Dog, one of the Brigade's "L&L Lads") arrived that day and I met them for an early dinner. For those of you who don't know, Quinn and I have been good friends for quite a while, so it was so great to spend some quiet time with her before the chaos began :). After we ate, I hooked up with Becky's aunt Ginny to go over some final plans. Ginny is Becky's Official Fan Club president and my co-chair on the Soiree. Those of you who join the fan club will find out for yourselves what an awesome person she is. I had the best time ever just getting to know her.

Saturday morning I went to the Sportsman to meet some Brigaders for breakfast. I found Quinn and Devin first by the pool and then we found CurlyQgrl (Stacey). After a few minutes it seemed like Brigaders were dropping from the sky! I couldn't even keep up with the introductions to put names with faces. I think I counted a total of 13 that day. Moose35, one of our new members of the NNNs, had just come from Hawaii and put a beautiful flower lay (sp?) around my neck. Stacey pulled out some scrap books and we lost Quinn in some vintage Days of our Lives' photos of Patch and Kayla's wedding. I practically had to pull the book out of her hands so we could go eat. I think we overwhelmed the restaurant a bit and I hope we tipped that waiter well for taking a group picture with at least 10 different cameras. Everyone paired off for their own day adventures after that and I'm sure they will share them all with you later. I, on the other hand, still had a million errands to run that day - picking up the gift baskets, the video equipment, extra brochures for the charities, etc. That night I went to Real's event because I had been invited to video tape it for his fan club. I was so nervous because I'd never used this camera for more than goofing around the house. I was afraid I wouldn't get the smoothest shots, but it all turned out great. Quinn got recruited to help me and was a life saver! I have to tell you guys, I am a won-over Taggart fan now. Real was just awesome!!! He is a very caring and deep person. At one point when he was talking about his brother's fight with cancer and how much his fan club had helped him raise support for him, he had to turn away because he started to cry. Then he had me crying because it was so moving. His guest was Vanita Harbour (Dara) who will still be on maternity leave for a few weeks. He also had a surprise guest - Maurice Benard. No one knew he was going to show up and all the fans went ballistic. My camera got bumped a lot and I know you can hear this one girl swearing a bit in shock. I thought she was going to pass out to tell you the truth! After everyone had left, Real did a short message just to the camera for all of his fans who couldn't be there. Let me just say it was hysterical and you can probably hear me cracking up on the tape. What a nice guy!

Sunday started at 5:30 AM for me and I didn't get to sleep until 4:00 AM. I also barely had two bites to eat the whole day and night. But, I have to say, it was one of the most amazing days ever! I arrived first to set up our booth at the soap boutique and I wasn't really sure where to go or what to do. Being the novice fan club this year, I just went to the other groups when ever I had a question. Everyone was so nice and supportive. All the fan clubs seemed to be run by really great people. Ginny arrived with the stuff and we got our area set up. I really want to thank all the Brigaders who came early in case we needed help. It turned out we could only have one other helper and then we didn't really even use her, so I apologize if you guys got up early for nothing. We were just learning how do to this ourselves. Our booth was a huge success! People kept telling us that we were the only booth that had a constant crowd the entire time. We were selling some great new shots of Becky. My favorite was an 8X10 B&W of her in the "fantasy" dress (she also wore it when L&L danced at the photo studio). I sold a lot of those! I also loved the sketches she did of her dress designs that had fabric from her awards dresses stapled to the sketch. I know a lot of people really liked looking at her designs. All of these things will be for sale at the Fan Club website as soon as it's up.

I met several more Brigaders and "Brigade lurkers" at the boutique. Many people came up to me and said they had been trying to figure out if I was Boo. They all thought I was older or had me pictured differently. The comment I got most was, "So, you are the mysterious Boo?" LOL! Mysterious? Me? OK, let me set a few things strait. I'm 25! Why some of you thought I was in my 40's I have no idea! I may be a Californian, but I do not have blond hair and blue eyes. I have brown hair and green eyes. I guess I should have clarified that BEFORE you all came out. But, I'll do a better job for those of you who will meet me at SSW. It was so fun to meet so many L&L friends. The boutique was one of my favorite parts of the day.

Most of the Brigaders who came out just for Becky's event were also able to get last minute tickets to the GH Luncheon. I was so excited about that! I hope they will tell you all about it, but I wasn't there for the whole thing. While the lunch was being served, I went with Becky's family to where she was suppose to meet up with us. So, here I am just following along and I find myself walking into a room with most of the cast of GH just milling around. Needless to say, it was pretty cool! We went down the buffet line and got some fruit before sitting down at a table with a good view of the door. (I heard the fans in the other room got a big meal, but we sure didn't - not that I'm complaining). Becky showed up in a pretty mauve colored sun dress which surprised us because she'd said she was going to wear something else. She looked beautiful, of course. We did pictures, some of which you will see up at her new site, and it was time for the stars to line up for their entrance. We left Becky then and went to the main room to find a place to watch the program. All the stars were introduced and brought on stage. Then each one was asked a question that had been sent in by members of the GH fan club. Becky was asked, "Who is Liberty?" She explained that Liberty was her middle name and something that her parents sometimes call her. I can attest to this because I've heard them call her that several times. It's a cute nick-name, don't you think? She also talked about her two pet squirrels. When the program was over, all the stars went to one of the tables set up around the perimeter of the big room so fans could line up for autographs. At first Becky was at one table with Amber, Coltin (NuNik) and Michael (Juan), that was stuck in a corner. When Becky asked me to get some extra pens I realized that it was about 20 degrees hotter in that corner than in the rest of the room. They would have melted sitting there for 2 hours! So, we managed to get a new table in a different area for her, Amber and Coltin, while Michael moved to Maurice Benard and Steve Burton's table. This worked out much better! Becky was a real trooper. Although some stars left after a while, she insisted on staying the entire time so that everyone who wanted to meet her would have a chance to do so. I was impressed with how well behaved most of the fans were too. Everyone waited patiently in line and seemed very polite, even though it was terribly crowded. I stayed pretty close to Becky's table the whole time in case she needed anything, but I still had the chance to visit with a lot of Brigaders. Most of them would go through Becky's line and then sit with me and chat for a few minutes before moving on to the next line. It worked out perfectly!

I do have to tell you one of my favorite stories that happened at this time, though. Pvt LuckyJ (Jano) was at the lunch with her niece who, I'm guessing, was about 15 (am I even close to guessing right?). They sat down with me for a while and had bought one of those GH Freeway signs at the boutique to collect autographs on. As we were talking, Steve Burton suddenly sweeps by and leans over her niece to look at the Freeway sign. He says, "Hey, how ya doing? Have I signed this yet? No, it doesn't look like I have. OK, here you go! Take care!" and he rushes off after he signs it. I seriously thought this girl was going to faint dead away. It was the most classic reaction I ever saw! She looked absolutely terrified when he first touched her. Then she went white and stopped breathing. I couldn't help laughing and I told her to just breath in and out slowly. It must have taken her five full minutes to get her color back and she was still shaking. I loved it! It was priceless!

When it was time for the room to be cleared, we had to usher Becky out. She was still stopping in the lobby to sign autographs because she just doesn't want to say no to anyone. She's so sweet to her fans! Amber was with us now and we all went to change out of our nice clothes for a few hours of down time. We managed to leave the hotel for relaxing lunch too. True, it was already after 4:00, but we'd only had fruit to eat remember. To tell you the truth, I hardly ate anything because my mind had moved forward to that night and the nerves were really settling in. Becky wanted to have her boyfriend, Jonny, join us for lunch but he was helping out at Steve Burton's event. So, Becky just stuck her head in the room to get Jonny's attention. I remember thinking that the fans at that event were probably going to go nuts when they saw her. I know some of you were at that event, so I want to hear what you thought. Also, for those of you who still have this idea that Becky and Jonathan should be a real couple and that Jonny is the enemy, I just want to say that Jonny is the nicest guy! He and Becky are great together! Now, I'm not saying that I don't understand your desire to see L&L together in real life, I'm just saying, for the record, Jonny is a good guy too. As we were leaving the hotel I also saw a group of Brigaders sitting at the poolside cafe. You all looked very relaxed and seemed to be having fun. I wanted to stop, but we were rushing Becky and Amber out. I did wave to you, though. Did you see?

After lunch we all went back to the hotel and took a nap! I was sure I was so nervous that I'd never sleep, but exhaustion proved to be stronger than jitters. I woke up before anyone else (except Ginny, who didn't sleep) and got ready for the big Soiree. I was too busy to be nervous at that point. The one little problem of the night is that we had almost twice as many people as we had originally thought and we didn't get the time between events to set up that we had been planning on. So, it took us a little while to get everyone in the door and seated, but you guys were so patient. Because we got a late start, and Jonathan was on a tight schedule, we brought him on first. Everyone was really flexible, though, and it all worked out very well. So, at first it was Becky, Jonathan, and Amber. Becky looked so beautiful in her white, strapless dress with a few red rose buds on the skirt. Then Michele Val Jean joined them. The first thing she said was, "OK, here is a writer! Attack me!" She was just so great! I can't say enough wonderful things about this woman! During most of the Q&A I was in the back running around taking care of things, so I didn't hear what was being said. I do know that Quinn was my secret weapon. I was afraid of dead air because fans tend to get suddenly shy when they are asked to think of questions. I had prepared Quinn to make sure this didn't happen and she was a real ace. You'll see it on the tape, but Quinn really kept the conversation going. I owe you, my friend! The best part was when Jonathan teased that the window kiss was for the L&L Brigade and, when he winked at the end, he was winking at every one of the L&L Brigaders. That was one part I heard at the time and I just cracked up! When it was time for Jonathan to go, I went up front and told everyone we had time for just two more questions for him. After that, I had Becky walk him out by going slowly down the aisle, stopping every few steps, so that everyone could get a picture of them together without getting out of there seats. This worked out so well, but I have to give credit where it's due. Jim Warren actually suggested it to me just before I went up front. It was a great idea! Amber also left the stage at this point and, while Becky was in the back of the room for a minute, Michele was given time to answer some questions. When Becky joined her again, the two of them really had a chance to share their experience doing this rape story together. It was so moving to see them together and listen to the journey they took. The mood of the room took another turn when Amber came down the aisle announcing that she had this shirt that she was thinking about selling. When the audience realized it was Lucky's flannel they actually let out an audible gasp. You can hear it on the tape and it's so funny! This led us into our live auction and Amber was the best auctioneer on the planet. There is simply no way to describe how funny she was. We were all just rolling with laughter. For me, it was when she went into her rendition of the Titanic theme song that I completely lost it! I've watched it over and over on the tape and I crack up every time! We raised so much money too! We auctioned off two GH Tours, a lunch with Becky, a GH Freeway sign about 15 autographs (including Genie Francis), Liz's cargo pants (that a little girl about 8 bought and Becky said, "Oh, in about 5 years she can wear them!" LOL!), and of course, that's infamous bloopers tape.

--- OK, OK, now I'll tell you what the great TK Blooper is. During the first kiss episode, when Liz is pulling Lucky up into the boxcar he's blindfolded and she tells him, "Don't worry, I won't let you fall." And then.... boom!.... he falls out of the boxcar! LOL! As Amber put it at the auction, seeing Jonathan fall out of the boxcar has got to be some sort of goal in life! ----

After the auction was over, I reminded everyone of the silent auction going on in the back and told a little more about the charities. Then Ginny was introduced as Fan Club President and told everyone about how to join. We did some door prizes, including a huge basket of Snookies Cookies that Stacey won and said was for all the Brigaders (they were really good too!). Then Becky thanked everyone for coming and stayed up front so that each person would have a chance to meet her personally. This part was not planned. We figured she'd need to get going home because she had to work the next day, but that's just how she is. Several Brigaders stayed until the very end so we could get a group shot with Becky. About seven of them even stayed until we were all cleaned up. I found them in the lobby and sat down to chat for a few minutes. Well, I was so tired and that chair was so comfortable that I just couldn't seem to make myself leave and a few minutes turned into an hour and a half. Becky's mom came to the lobby and couldn't believe I was still there. Then, later, Becky and Michele, who had gone out together to talk afterwards, passed through the lobby. I know Becky was telling me I should go get some sleep, but I was so tired that I don't really remember what else was said. LOL! I'm sure you Brigaders thought I was pretty crazy because I was just running at the mouth in a half awake state! LOL!

I finally got home and got to bed about 4:00 AM. I wasn't really planning to return to the Sportsman the next day, but I woke up starving and decided to find someone to have breakfast with. I found LCiam and Angie back in the lobby. We ate and talked until 2:00. Then I was determined to find a TV to watch GH. We finally found an empty bar at the hotel that was just setting up for that night. The guy let us watch GH on the big screen TV and even got us some drinks! Obviously we had our priorities strait :). I was going to leave then, but the hotel had misplaced one of their bags and I didn't want to go until I was sure they did something about it. I got a little upset and insisted we talk to a manager. While they searched for the bag, we got whatever food and drinks we wanted at the pool bar free. I sure wasn't going to leave then, so we all hung out by the pool for the rest of the afternoon getting food and drinks on the hotel. I still don't know what the deal is with the missing bag, but I'm going to keep calling the hotel until it gets figured out. When I got home that evening, I pretty much slept for the next 12 hours. That's why I didn't get online and why this report is so late. I'm sure you can all understand :).

So, all and all the Soiree was a huge success! The tape turned out wonderfully! Because Becky stayed so late to talk to her fans, we didn't have a chance to do a personal message on the tape. I'm going to try to get her to do it later this week, but I don't want to put off getting the tape to the studio to dub so we'll just have to see. I'm still taking orders , so if you want one just let me know. I know you won't be disappointed.

You can now join Becky's Official Fan Club too. It's going to be a great club and, hey, I'm writing some articles for her newsletter and you wouldn't want to miss those would you? J/K! By joining, you will get advance notice of personal appearances, 2 color photos, updates on what's happening in PC, quarterly newsletters filled with photos, beauty and fashion tips, previews of Rebecca's clothing designs, articles and interviews. Yearly dues are $20 USA, $23 Canada, $27 Foreign. We still don't have the site up (long story) but you can join by sending a money order made out to Ginny Mahl to:

The Rebecca Herbst Official Fan Club
PO Box 141452
Spokane, WA 99214-1452

I can't wait for our next event and I hope to see a lot more of you there!

|_ _| Boo