January 24th, 2009 - McCormick Place, Chicago

A year and almost to the day later, Micky was at McCormick Place in Chicago with the Monkeemobile. The event was a World of Wheels show. The man who customized the Monkeemobile, George Barris, was also appearing, along with the Batmobile from the tv show, and Kitt from Knightrider. McCormick Place is a stop on the South Shore's route into the city. I decided I would go, and took my son Bill's g.f Jeanette with me. After I made up my mind, WLS-FM (the oldies radio station) had a contest. One was to answer 3 trivia questions about Micky, in order to win 2 tickets to the show, AND a brunch with him there at the Mc Pl Hyatt, sponsored by the radio station. Of course I knew the answers, so I had to put my entry in...for two reasons. Free admittance to the show, but more importantly, I HAD to see if I could get another meal with Micky! The day to notify the winners came and went, with no call from WLS. Aw shoot, well...I was still going. The next day, I get a call from them, saying a winner canceled out, so I was picked!

Jeanette and I took a morning train. Brrr! It was one of those below zero windchill days. But at least there wasn't any snowfall predicted. Once there, we it was still an hour before meeting the people from WLS, Matthew and Donna. (The next train would have gotten us there a half hour after we were to meet up.) So she and I walked around a bit on the floor of the W.O.W. We familiarized ourselves with our surroundings, and looked around briefly at all the custom cars and motorbikes. (The Monkeemobile was the first car we saw!)



People rushed around doing last minute things before the show opened. We could move about freely because we had gotten our hands stamped when we checked in at the show office. As it got closer to opening time, lonnnggg lines were forming at the ticket booths and entrance doors. I was surprized to see how quickly the lines got so long!

We made our way back to the s.o. as it got closer to the time to meet the radio people. In a few minutes, 2 young women came into the office. One of them wore a tee-shirt with the Monkees logo on it, and the years 1986-2006 underneath. Must have been more than one winner then, but it didn't bother me. We introduced ourselves to them. Can't recall their names at the moment, but I do recall they were sisters and from Crestwood, IL. Jeanette and I found them to be not very talkative. Were they shy? Were they upset they weren't the only winners, even?? Then Mr. Barris (who was to be feted at a luncheon and get an award), came in with some people. He asks the 4 of us if we were there for Micky. "Yes!", we all say in unison. "Great guy!", Mr. Barris replied. After they left, the WLS people came in. Everyone made introductions, and then we were off!

They took us all the way back to the Hyatt dining area, which was near where we came in off the train. Along the walk back, in my excitement I couldn't help but tell Matthew about having a meal once before. "What a neat experience!", he said. In the restaurant, we are led to private dining areas. There were 6 of us. The food gets ordered, and then here comes Micky! (with a liason.) Jeanette squeezes my arm as she tells me, "Omg, there he is!!" He enters and says hi to all of us. He orders, and he had things for the winners (a live cd of a concert in 2004 and a pair of drumsticks a-piece), and pictures for everyone he'd sign. When asked for names, I realize he may spell mine wrong, a common thing that happens to me. I spelled it out, stressing the second 'a' in my name. (The second 'a' is what usually gets omitted.) I figured if it's going to be personalized, my name ought to be spelled correctly, no? Micky said he used to sign his name M-i-c-k-y-7 - when people asked what the 7 was for, he told them the 7 is silent. Everyone laughed. After he finished the picture-signing, the food came. Once we all began to eat, he asks, "What did you have to do to win the contest?" Matthew and I tell him about the trivia questions. Micky asks where Matthew got the answers from - "Wikipedia", he says. Everyone laughed.
"Was it done online or on the air?", Micky asks.
"Online", Matthew and I say.
More eating.
Micky asks the winner from Crestwood "What year does your shirt have on it?"
She said, "1986."
"Ah," he said. "The younger generation."
Matthew's asst Donna says "I'm an old one, I'm so old," she groans and laughs.
"Me too, ya, me too," I say to her as I feebly raise my hand.
"Really?", Micky said to me. "Because you look familiar..."
"I do???" Omg I am thinking, deja-vu he remembers me from Hershey!
Matthew says, "Go on, tell him the story you told me."
"What story?", Micky asks, in an accusatory voice. I imagine he has no idea what is going to come out of my mouth, lol.
I say, "Well...I...I...wasn't going to bring it up because I am just one of many...I didn't expect you to remember me..."
Matthew says reassuringly, "Don't worry Micky, it's a neat little story."
"So tell me the story," Micky says to me. I tell him I saw him in Pippin. Without naming anyone, I tell him in general about the dinner we all had with him in Hershey. After I finish, he said, "Well, you do look very familiar to me."
"Do you know of a site online called ---- ?" I ask him.
"I am aware of it", he answers with a raised eyebrow to me. (That told me that he knew I knew the people he knew from there.)
I then finished my story with, "...so when this contest came up, I HAD to see if lightening would strike twice for me -" He laughed, along with the others. "And it did!"
He said, "I knew I'd seen you somewhere before.", and smiled at me!
Then he says to us, "Since you guys all are talking about being online, let me tell you my experiences with that and connecting to the fans...." He proceeds to tell of getting online in the mid-90's and posting in a Monkees community. (I knew of which one he was talking about.) He said they didn't believe it was him, even to turn him in to the server as an imposter! The server calls him and wants him to prove his identity! He said he figured that's it, I'm outta here. He said people online were very mean in the things they were saying to him.
Matthew said, "Wow, is that right?", as he shakes his head.
I say, "Not everyone is mean THESE days online."
"....Perhaps you were one of those people," he shakes his finger at me!
"Oh no not me!", I shoot back. "I didn't get online till '06! But of course by now, I have surfed all over the fandom..."
"Well watch out," he tells me. "Some fans are very, very mean."
More eating. Then Matthew begins to talk about the custom cars on the floor of the W.O.W. Micky said he used to have a Thunderbird that he cruised around in. I figure it was the early 60's he was talking about, so the movie American Graffiti came to mind with all the music. "What music were you listening to?", I ask. "Early 60's?"
"Very early 60's", he answers.
The other winner asks, "What color was it? Red???", in a sarcastic manner. She giggled with her sister. Imho she said red because the M-mobile was red. Why else would she, a fan, say red?
But Micky answers plainly, "No. It was white." More giggling from them. More eating. Then I mentioned that Gone Country 3 will be on that night, a show on CMT. "Yes! That's right!", he says with a smile. Matthew asks what it is, so Micky tells him it is a reality show that seems to him to have a purpose, because it helps you to write country songs, something he's been wanting to do. He says he doesn't like reality shows, otherwise.
He-he-he, so I ask "I don't suppose you can tell us who the winner is?" (It was being filmed this past November.)
"No." A collective 'awwww' went up from the group. "Well, they want you to watch it.", he replies. Ya, ya, we understand, we are telling him.
More eating. Some begin to have their plates being taken away. I seemed to have a little less than half of my food still on my plate - but then again thinking about it now, it appeared I was too busy talking! Friends have since asked me how can I have a conversation, let alone eat, with a person like him there. I say it isn't too hard. Just focus and do it. Though by that time, it was beginning to sink in that here was Micky of yore, in person, right in front of me! Again! Lol so when I noticed plates cleared away, I just told the waitress to take mine too. He-he-he I knew I wouldn't be able to eat much more. After the commotion ends, he says to Matthew, "Ok! We are finished? I've got to get over to the floor and go to work."



"Yes! Thank you Micky!", Matthew says.
"No problem. Nice to have met all of you," he said, "And you - ", he speaks to me, "...take care of yourself."
"I will!" Off he goes with the liason.
Omg

After the rest of us are thanking Matthew and Donna and saying good-bye, Jeanette and I go back to the floor. Whoa, it seems like just a few minutes passed, yet the line around Micky and Mr. Barris' exhibit was long and snaking all around. We didn't go through it, just stood and watched from different vantage points now and then, in between walking around amid the rest of the crowd at the show. By the time it was 2:30 or so, I'd seen enough. Jeanette was getting antsy as well. We headed back to the trains.

January 26th, 2008 - Star Plaza, Merrillville

Micky was one of 3 acts at a Salute to The 60's concert on this date at the Star Plaza Theater. The other two acts were the Grass Roots and the Buckinghams. I remember the Buckinghams came from the Chicago area. I liked their music.
I took my son Steve to the concert with me, though I'd see a few of the people I knew from online. 'This will be interesting' I thought, in light of the almost-snub in Calumet City. Turns out I spotted them easily and we all were talking, but I was picking up vibes I was intruding...body language and all that, you know....anyhow, once we were in the lobby area, there was a wait because sound checks were still being done. When we were finally let into the theater, they were seated right up in front. I wasn't that far away from them, down the aisle a little, seated right on the aisle.

The Grass Roots were on first. They played Midnight Confession, Temptation Eyes, etc. At one point, though, someone was telling the lead to speed it up from off-stage when he was introducing a song. I guess because the show got a late start?
The Buckinghams were next. Kind of a Drag, Susan, and Don't You Care, among other songs, had me on my feet and singing along. They even played a couple of songs by the group Chicago, because the lead singer said their manager in the 60's was also the manager of Chicago.

By the time Micky came on, I was full of energy from the Buckinghams. He was wearing black and gray and looking pretty good I thought! I did see a solo concert of his before, remember, but this one seemed a whole lot better for some reason. He can really sing so fine - and when he sang a Beatles song after he told about meeting them and being in the recording studio, he sang Oh Darlin'. Wow. Fantastic.

Afterwards, Micky was in the lobby for a meet-n-greet. I brought along a book for him to sign. It's called The Monkees Day By Day Story by Andrew Sandoval. I happened to see a few others with the same book too. There was a long line of people in front of me, but it was moving along at a good pace.



My turn and I say, "Hi Micky, will you sign this for me?"
"Sure darlin'"
"I saw you in Pippin."
"Did you like it?"
"Yes!" Then I said, "This is my son Steve."
Micky said, "Hi Steve! How are ya?"
"I'm doing fine!' Steve says.
"Great!", Micky says.
"Can I get a picture? My son will take it..."
Steve fumbles around with the camera, admitting, "I'm just a little nervous...ok, I got it."
"Thanks Micky!", I say and then we were moved along by the attendants.
I saw one of the online fans nearby, on the other side of the rope that was used to mark the line. "Let's go over there for a bit", I tell Steve. How come you were nervous?"
"I never met a really famous celebrity person before"' he said. "He was right in front of me!"
Once by my friend, I chatted with her as I watched all the interactions. "Where's everyone else?", I ask her.
"That-a-way I think...", pointing to the right. We stood talking about the concert. Then she told me she had to go find them.
The line ended. I heard Micky say, "So that's everybody?" Someone answered yes. "Ok then", he said. "I'm thirsty", I could hear him saying as he walked away with the attendants.
Then I saw the others coming my way. "Must be going home or something', I thought. "Hi guys! You leaving?"' I ask. Yes, they were saying, as I begin to walk with them. They sounded in a hurry...."Where are you staying?"' I ask.
"Down 30 to the east", one of them said. "We're going home from here right now."
By now we were all in the parking lot. Turns out they parked close to where I did. The driver was rushing everyone into their suv. "Bye!", they all were telling me. Zoom! Off they went! I became suspicious they were up to something, but then I put it out of my mind. I later inadvertently learned that they met up with Micky at an after party thing in the bar. Apparently they didn't want me to come too, let alone know about it.
I get da pichur guys...

Aug 25th, 2007 - Calumet City, IL

I learned that Davy would be coming to Calumet City, IL in the late summer, here in 2007. This was just a mere few miles from where I lived. Home turf. In fact, he would be playing in the high school parking lot where my two older sons went to school at! The mayor of the city, a woman, must have been a Davy fan. In the summer, the mayor's office had put on a concert series - every two weeks was a concert in a different location/park in the city. Some were local bands, some were big names from the '60's. On August 25th, a concert with Davy was scheduled at the athletic complex.

My friend Sherry and I planned to attend. Knowing that some online friends/fans were also going to be there, I walked around looking for them before Davy's show started. I couldn't find anyone. But while walking, I saw a bunch of people looking into a floor-length window inside a hallway area of the school, so I had to see what was happening. Sherry and I saw Davy in there, signing autographs and getting his picture taken with the mayor and her family and other city officials.
Then I heard someone calling my name. A woman came up to me who I didn't recognize, but then I saw someone I met in PA in one of those red 8-button Monkees shirts they wore in the first season, coming up behind her. "Hi, you must be ----," the woman said.
"Yes...," I said. "You must be....???"
"----," she said.
"Oh!," I said. "Hi!", and shook her hand. I greeted my fellow fan from Hershey as she caught up to us. "I was looking for anyone, where are you guys at?"
"We are sitting down over there on the other side of the fence.", she said.
My new friend said, "They saw you walking around, but no one wanted to come up to you."
'Ah-hah' I thought.....
"So I told them to point you out because I wanted to meet you. These things are just silly....," she said.
"I know," I said, immediately realizing that I was getting confirmation of a feeling I had lately that a couple of them had issues...or something...but I just say "Rediculous, wouldn't you say? I mean we ALL are fans, and that's all that matters!"
"Right!", she said.
"Well com'on," I replied, "I'd like to say hello to them." He-he-he.....and I proceeded to be led by them to where they were. One was sitting on a blanket on the blacktop, along with another who I had not met before, and a friend who brought the one I met. After introductions and some small talk, Sherry and I made our departure for another area to the right side of the stage. We happened to see Davy behind the stage, watching him prepare himself to go on. He was pacing back and forth a little, looked to me to be gearing up his incredible energy.

Then - on with the show! It was a great performance that he put on! I couldn't believe I was watching a Monkee in the parking lot of a place that felt like home to me. SO many trips back and forth I had taken when my sons went to school there in the mid-90's! Little did I know that I'd be seeing Davy here one day, about 10 yrs later.



He rocked, man! And in the encore, one of the songs he sang was No Time. A bunch of us went up to the stage, I could have reached out and touched his shoe! Lol After the show, he moved along a fence to greet everyone. Sherry and I were there, and the others I knew were by us and moving about. My turn and I say, "Hi Davy! It was a great show!"
"Thank you", he said. He had changed into a gray hoodie with a white tee-shirt under it, and jeans. Really looking good!
"I've been a fan from waaay back," I said. Why that is about the only thing I can say to him I'll never know.
"Well.....we won't tell anyone how old we are, will we," he laughed. He took my hand and cupped it in both of his. I laughed too. Then he moved on to the next person. Sherry and I stood around with the others talking and watching Davy, as the crowd began to thin out. Then poof! It was done. Sherry went home, but I stuck around with the others, and somehow ended up going to the motel room they had -- one invited me to come along. I'd seen some of her Monkee memorabilia that she brought before, but I went anyway. A couple hours later after talking with everyone, I headed for home.