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Past Appearances - Tombstone
The TOMBSTONE Festival in
Tombstone, AZ on July 5-7, 2002 was great! There is simply no other word for
it. Tombstone is a fun town, even without a festival,
and this, the "Second Annual Tombstone Western Film Festival," was, in
fact, even bigger and better than last year. Unfortunately, that did create a
problem for many of the fans attending since they had to stay at hotels in other towns;
Tombstone is simply not big enough to accommodate that many overnight visitors.
The high school gym was used for most of the events and even that was bursting
at the seams at times.
I will preface my commentary by saying that
since I run Robert's website and I provided both the Wagon Train and The
Man Called Shenandoah episodes that were featured, I was lucky enough
to be accommodated at the hotel where all the stars stayed (along with my
roommate for the weekend, Becky). This put us in a rather unique position. After all,
how many times can you find yourself sleeping next door to Bruce Boxleitner? Or
to have the opportunity to act as Robert Horton's personal chauffeur?
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Friday, July 5th: Becky and I drove Robert
(someone pinch me, please, I'm still having trouble believing this has happened)
downtown, where we met up with Alinda, another fan and friend, and the four of
us proceeded to check out the stores. Becky was looking for a "tacky" souvenir
for a friend of hers. Robert got into the spirit of the search and most
definitely found the "tackiest" one of the day: a rubber steer's skull!
In the early afternoon, we all went to Schieffelin Hall to watch the screening
of the Wagon Train episode "The Dora Grey Story." It was really
interesting to watch this from Robert's perspective and hear his comments on it.
Of course, we all broke out laughing when he got shot in the shoulder and off
came his shirt! My theory (which is known by many, including Robert) is that
"Flint" got shot so often, just so they had an excuse to take off his
shirt! But it was a good episode, and Wagon Train has held up well, making it just
as enjoyable to watch today as when it first aired. We then all went back to our
hotels to change for the night's events, which included a Celebrity Reception at
the OK Corral and Dinner with the Stars (at the High School Gym). The reception
was nice and they had free soda, beer and wine and naturally we got to talk to
all the stars.
As the reception was winding down Robert found us all and suggested that we all walk over to the
gym together. He said that if he took the van (for the stars only) he'd be stuck at some
"star" table and he'd rather sit with all of us (by this time Randy
and Bev had joined Alinda, Becky and me). The dinner itself was TERRIBLE. The food
was just about inedible. From what I understand, they ran out of food and some
of the tables in the rear didn't even get served. Robert took it all philosophically,
saying he wanted to lose some weight anyway. After dinner, the stars were
presented with honorary Tombstone citizenship and made honorary Marshals of
Tombstone (see the scans below)! The entertainment later by Johnny Western was very enjoyable.
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Saturday, July 6: People will be talking about
the panel discussion Robert was on for years! When the tapes are available I
told the organizers I would put the order form up on this website; believe me
you will all want a copy! Others on the panel included Bruce Boxleitner, Don
Collier, Dale Robertson, Dirk London, and Jan Shepard. Though Jan and Dirk are
husband and wife, they were sitting at opposite ends of the table, with Jan
sitting next to Robert. At one point she was explaining a joke that the stuntmen
on one movie had put her up to, and for the punch line she leaned over, grabbed
Robert, bent over him, and planted a kiss on him (and I do mean
"planted") that had him blushing from his collar to his hairline! And
though he may now have a glorious head of silver hair, the fact that he has a
redhead complexion was really obvious. The audience just cracked up. It was
Robert's reaction that was so funny. From there Robert was scheduled to do an
autograph session, but the heat had just gotten to him and he asked me to take
him back to the hotel. Since he was having dinner with friends that night, a
large group of us (fans) all went out to dinner in town after an afternoon of
shopping.
Sunday, July 7: Sunday started with a pancake
breakfast by the Lions Club, which was very good (even without real Vermont
Maple Syrup!). We then all walked back to the gym, where Robert did a double
session at the autograph table. Since Marilynn was unable to accompany Robert on
this trip, at his request I ended up sitting at the table handling the money for him, which considering my mathematical abilities
was really funny. Later that afternoon there was a "Legacy Walkway
Ceremony" where the guest stars all wrote their names and put their
handprints in cement blocks. Tombstone will have its very own walk of fame!
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Monday, July 8: Time to say
"Goodbye," and it was sad! I did get to hug Robert goodbye and lucky
Becky and Alinda got to drive him to Tucson airport! So we'll have to get a
report from them on that trip!
While in Tombstone, Robert was asked by the
organizers of the Scottsdale (AZ) "Festival of the West" if he would
be a guest there next year, and he said "Yes!" So mark your calendars
folks: March 13-16, 2003! I will, of course, post additional information as I
get it!
Here's Alinda's report on the drive back to
Tucson:
Hi Everyone,
Tombstone was a lot of fun. If you like the western way of life, you have to
see this town. Of course having so many of the western stars, especially
Robert made it really exciting.
About our ride to the airport -
Robert seemed happy to accept our offer to ride back to the Tucson Airport
with Becky and me. I was a little nervous about driving because so many
men I know are terrible back seat drivers and just don't think women can
drive. He wasn't that way at all! We talked about all kinds of
things. He asked us questions and seemed interested in our lives!
I didn't spend as much time with him as Alicia and Becky, but I was surprised at
how humble he can be and also at how honest is he about himself. We
were talking about riding horses, and he said that when he was on a horse you couldn't see any daylight between his butt and the saddle. That was
funny, but it sure was the truth!
He talked about traveling with Marilynn and the different places they had been
and how hard it can be to find your destination in other countries. I'm
sure he was trying to make me feel better about my driving. He asked me
about my husband, my parents, and even my religion, if I'd been raised
Christian.
We dropped him off at the terminal with all of our luggage. Becky stayed
with me to return the car. When we met up with him again, he bought us
all drinks while we waited. I asked him about Glenn Ford, if he
was still alive. He said that Glenn is still with us, living in Beverly
Hills somewhere.
He mentioned that I should get my boarding pass, so I walked up there,
unknowingly leaving my luggage with him and Becky. I turned around to
see him dragging my huge, embarrassingly heavy suitcase and my other bag which
was way over packed also. I could have died!! I'm laughing thinking
about this; he must have thought I was crazy, taking all this stuff to
Tombstone. Some of it was gifts I purchased there, but I definitely did
over-pack! We dragged it up together and even the young, strong guy who
worked for the airport had trouble getting it up and over to the other side of
the counter.
We hugged Becky good-bye and headed off to board our plane. As we got
closer, I noticed they were searching people with a wand looking thing and I
thought just great! The airport people weren't real friendly and it just
seemed kind of embarrassing, but they only picked out certain people at random
and skipped over RH and me. I then noticed Peter Brown, William Smith, and
some other western actors in line. We had a lay over in Phoenix and
I went on to Ontario International, and I guess they all went on to Burbank
Airport. As we boarded I hugged Robert and told him what a great time I
had had; he said that we had an hour layover in Phoenix and he would see me
there, but I never did see him after I got off the plane. I was kind of
a wreck when an airline employee had told me that my flight to Ontario had
been cancelled; thank goodness they were mistaken. I had hoped to thank
Robert for being so gracious to us (for just putting up with us!), but I didn't
get the chance. If any of you guys get the chance to go to one of these
things and meet him, do it. You will be pleasantly surprised at how nice he
is.
One other thing, we somehow became referred to as "His Harem,"
because we were with him quite a bit. He would just look at us and
smilingly shake is head and say, "Okay." I'm sure he was
flattered but thought it rather funny. He does appreciate his fans.
The one picture that was taken of him, me, Alicia and Becky, didn't come out
of course. I should of told the person taking it to just keep clicking
away at the shutter button!
Hope everyone has a great summer,
Alinda
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