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Gordon
Huge Kellie Follower
Kellie Bean #320
KellieFanFL is offline
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Atlanta,GA
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Gordon's magical day at Churchill Downs May1,2008
On my six hour drive home last night, I had lots of time to digest the day’s events and try to make sense of it all. May 01, 2008 will be one of the most amazing days in my life. It was a birthday gift for the ages! Was it fate? Was it meant to be? Was someone listening to my prayers? Perhaps I had an angel sitting on my shoulder all day long guiding the events as they unfolded? I don’t have the answers, but when I finish writing yesterday’s story, everyone will agree it was truly a magical day! Had I written a script on paper and presented it to Kfans, it might be dismissed as a dream or wishful thinking! Lol I can only describe the events as taking pieces of a puzzle and throwing them all up in the air and when they came back down, all of the pieces mysteriously came together!
Here is the story:
Jess had PM’ed to remind me to get there early! Thanks, Jess for the advice. I arrived at Churchill Downs before the gates were opened. I wanted to park as close as I could so I didn’t have to drag my bag full of Kellie goodies all over the place. One of the parking attendants told me to park near the tunnel that leads to the Track’s infield, where the concert was to be held. I couldn’t immediately locate it, so I stopped an employee on a golf cart and explained my situation. He said “follow me”! I parked at the entrance to the tunnel. What I didn’t realize that it was the service tunnel. Not for the general public! I was still early, but nearby was a van with the sponsor’s name: Crown Royal. I decided to approach them to see if they could help me get to Kellie! I hit the jackpot! The two people (brother and sister team, Mike and Kate) at the van were in charge of the concert. I didn’t let the opportunity pass. I explained how much of a Kellie fan I am. I showed them a photo of Kellie and me, and some of the neat gifts I had. They were impressed and wanted to be helpful. I was handed a piece of paper with the suite number and told that they would get me backstage. I thought, OMG! This is too good to be true. Lol I thanked them and gave them 2 bags of ketchup chips! Lol lol I still had plenty left over for Kellie!! Lol
Finally, at 1030am, the tunnel was opened and although it was a service tunnel, I was given the OK to walk through. It was long, damp and sort of spooky! Lol The infield area is very large but the only way to get there is by walking under the track via these tunnels. I was able to hitch a ride with the “Bud man” and he dropped me off right in front of the stage. I placed my chair and bag of goodies right in the very front! BUT, to my disappointment, there was a wire fence about 7 feet high in front of the stage. Not good for taking photos, I thought. I would just have to deal with it. (In the end, I didn’t have to deal with it all!!lol) I knew that Kellie was not coming on to perform until late in the afternoon and perhaps they had not arrived! Wrong! The band came out to check the sound system. Kellie actually did her checking from the bus! Lol She was handed a mic , but stayed in the bus. In a few minutes it was all done and I shouted to Josh to come over. He obliged and we started chatting. I showed him my Kellie goodies and he assured me that he would tell road manager, “skinny” Greg and try to arrange for a meeting. We talked a little more about Iraq and other things. As he left, I handed him a bag of Ketchup Chips! He said he would dangle them in front of Kellie, but not offer her any! Lol If she wanted some, she would have to meet me!!! Lol I thanked him. Drummer Gregg spotted me and said he would come around the fence. We had a great conversation for more than a ½ hour! We discussed my two favorite subjects: Kellie and baseball! Lol Gregg is a baseball fan too. I explained all about Kfans in detail and he told me that once in awhile he takes a peak! I told him to read the threads more often and suggested Kellie join!lol
He mentioned Jess in particular; and how she came to the Ellen Show and is such a devoted fan! We even discussed the CMT awards situation. He told me that the private party was booked a long time ago, but Kellie really wanted to be in Nashville to receive the Buckles in person. I showed Gregg most of my Kellie gifts and gave him a bag of Ketchup Chips too!! He also assured me that he would tell “skinny” Greg to arrange something with Kellie. I was getting excited and hoped that the two band members would come through for me!
A local band came on in the late morning. I struck up a conversation with the couple next to me (also big Kellie fans) and asked him to watch my stuff. I needed to walk around and stretch. I walked near the Crown Royal suite and Kate saw me and came over. She handed me a VIP pass that allowed me EVERYWHERE! Backstage, front stage, Kellie’s bus area-EVERYWHERE!! I thanked her and, OMG, could not believe how things were going. The pass allowed me to go in front of the wire fence. That meant I would be able to get clear views of Kellie while taking my pictures.
Sometime after I received the VIP pass, I was approached by Kfan, Amanda near the bus. She was with her Dad. She is so adorable and VERY sweet. She was wearing a KP t-shirt. Her Dad had no clue who Kellie was!!! Lol lol He is into rock! She has a final today, but I am sure she will tell her story later or tomorrow! We basically hung out together the remainder of the day.
The second band of the day saw my camera and asked me if I would take photos for them. I agreed. The VIP pass allowed me in front of the fence and I took a few photos. All of sudden I see Amanda running towards me shouting, Kellie is having guests on the bus! So much for taking photos!lol Amanda grabbed my bag and I ran to the bus area. I thought this is my chance! Amanda and I met at the bus and handed me the bag and a letter for Kellie that she wrote! I promised to give to Kellie. Amanda, THANK YOU a million times!!! There was a line with about 10 people. I showed my Pass and tried to join the line. I was stopped by some man who told me: sorry, she is only going to see 10 people. I pleaded with him. But he was adamant and not nice about it! I could not believe my day would end with me bringing back home the bag of goodies. That angel sitting on my shoulder appeared once more. A few moments passed and along came drummer Gregg. I explained my situation and he told me that road manager Greg knows that I was there with the gifts. The other group was in and out of the bus in a moment. One quick pic with Kellie and off the bus!! Gregg was just about to search for other Greg, when suddenly the bus door opened and out walked road manager Greg! He came right over to me and said;” Ok, Gordon, Kellie is waiting for you”! He told me to go up the steps and he would carry my bag! OMG, I was walking into Kellie’s bus to meet her! Someone. Please don’t pinch me and wake me from this dream, I thought.lol I was in the bus with Kellie and Greg. No one else. I was given a private audience with our Kellie. Yes, you are reading this correctly: I WAS ON THE BUS!!! Lol
As I got to the top of the last step, there was beautiful Kellie sitting with guitar in hand. She looked up and said in that sweet southern drawl “Hey Gordon” !!! I said “Hi Kellie back. She came forward to give me her patented Kellie HUG! That angel on my shoulder brought me to heaven! Lol She told me how she was trying to learn to play the guitar. The pick fell into the instrument and we both laughed!! Lol My nervousness dissipated and adrenaline kicked in! I became a motor mouth!! Lol I told her that I had a number of gifts for her. I reached into the bag and out came a few bags of Ketchup Chips! She laughed and thanked me. Next came a Louisville Slugger personalized bat I had made the day before at the factory. I had them add to the bat: (in script) Kellie Pickler. Next line was American Idol MVP 2006 (block letters). The third line read: 3 Buckle Awards 2008 (also block letters). She loved it! I reached into the bag and out came a book I bought her: Gourmet Cooking for Dummies! Lol Greg saw the gift first and burst out laughing. Kellie got a real kick out of it! I found an appropriate card to go along with it. I told her that after she reads the book, she can use the Target cookware and invite me over for a gourmet dinner! Lol I said I would bring the wine and ketchup chips! Lol Into the bag and out came a personalized red t-shirt I had made for her. I explained that a few months ago, I was visiting my relatives and friends in Israel and had the shirt made with a neat Israel screen motif and her name spelled phonetically in Hebrew! She said “Wow this is great;. I always wanted to go there”!! I also handed her a jar of facial cream made from the Dead Sea area. She thanked me again, but added, “I will try it after the AMA awards; I don’t want to break out in hives”!! lol lol Into the bag again and as I was about to give her the next gift, I heard Greg laugh loudly! He saw it before Kellie. It was the map of BUDAPEST that I had used when I was there some years ago!! Lol She was rolling with laughter! Ok, back into the bag and out came the DVD of the METS fans documentary that I was in. I explained she was a star, but I am having my 15 minutes of fame with the DVD! I showed Kellie and Greg the back of it which has my photo and under “featuring” ,my name!! I told her if she gets bored enough on the bus, she can play it! Lol Finally the last item was a NY METS t-shirt I bought for her. I told her I was making her an honorary Mets fan! Lol By the way, in between each gifts, came more and more bags of Ketchup Chips! Lol She said that if she ate all of them, she would not fit into her AMA dress!! Lol Greg added, “don’t worry we will help her out by eating them”. We also talked about the Atlanta HS event on Monday. She could not believe how many texts were sent. I told her that I live only 10 minutes away from the HS but since I was not a teacher or student, I would have no way of attending. Kellie said that if she spotted me, she would ask the people in charge to let me in! I thanked her. WE took one photo together and she choose the Cook book to hold up! I sat next to her and trying to be a gentleman (lol) I asked if it were OK to put my arm around her. “Sure”. Came the answer! There was so much more I wanted to add, but she needed to get ready for the concert. I was on the bus for about 10 minutes. As I was about to get off, I remembered Amanda’s letter and handed it to Kellie. I told her its from a Kfan member. I quickly added everyone at Kfans loves you. My private meeting with Kellie was over. It seemed like a dream, but it was REAL!! Amanda was waiting for me near the bus and I gave her a thumbs up! I told her the letter was in Kellie’s hands. The concert was soon to start and I wanted to get a good spot for photos! The VIP pass got me into the stage area. There was a low barrier about 15 feet in front of that wire fence. I was able to go in front of the barrier. There was nothing between me and the stage! I moved from side to side at will. I dont know the total amount of photos, but its probably more than 100! Three times Kellie looked down and either smiled or waved to me! Josh also gave me a thumbs up sign and a wink! The concert was awesome as usual. She sang Rocks Instead of Rice as well as most of STG songs; 9-5, etc. More on songs later. This is getting tooo long! Lol I will add that I did see Kellie briefly after the concert by the bus. I thanked her and then remembered that the Birdhouse subject was forgotten by me. I showed her the photo of it that came along with the item. She said: “You actually bought that ugly piece?” She laughed and said she was only joking. I mentioned we needed to take a pic together with it and she agreed. She added “Wow, you are a real trooper”! Kellie signed the photo. I waved goodbye, thanked her again, thanked Greg and left Churchill Downs in total amazement!! Surely, I must have been dreaming?
Today is my birthday and I am busy; tomorrow, my brother is coming for the weekend. The photos wont be posted til next week! My novel is over. Lol I hope everyone here at Kfans gets to have a similar day together with Kellie. She is sooooo AWESOME! My day was AWESOME!!
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Thank you Jessica M. for the new photo and Emily for my Mets avatar
Gor
Last edited by KellieFanFL; 05-02-2008 at 08:25 AM.
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