Encounter
with a ghost … or a sunny day in the mountains
Moonridge
Wildlife & Celebrity Event
After
three weeks of travelling through the Wild West of the United States of America,
we’d become *pros* reading maps and finding our way to the most remote places.
So, driving to Big Bear Lake, 43 miles up the gorgeous San Bernardino Mountains,
was a piece of cake. Rosie would’ve called it Jedi
driving but we were totally cool with the steep hills and the sharp,
90-degree curves. Of course, the bears jumped into the lake when they saw us
coming. We, by the way, were Silke and Danny.
We
arrived at the Moonridge Animal Park around 10 a.m. on this sunny Saturday
morning. Meeting up with MJ and JoAnn in the parking lot, we picked up our
pre-ordered tickets at the gate. A walk through the animal park showed us what
great work the Moonridge folks had done to rescue injured animals and give them
a home when nobody else would do anymore. From ravens to snow leopards, wolves
and eagles, the zoo had managed to provide them with a safe haven to heal and
settle in. Silke and I talked to a couple of volunteers to learn more about
their important and dedicated work.
I
was a girl on a mission. "Armed" with the booklet** of ’Mrs.
Gill’s reading class’ I went looking for Debbie Richardson, the event
co-ordinator. We’d talked via email several times and she’d asked me to hunt
her down when I came to Moonridge. When I finally recognized her, she was
standing at Garett’s table, which was located in front of the wolves’ den.
Shyly (yeah, laugh, but I was really nervous), I approached her and introduced
myself. Debbie and I talked for a moment and I presented her with the park’s
copy of the booklet. She seemed very pleased and when I mentioned that I had the
original for Garett she offered to introduce me. I was shocked! (and the
butterflies in my stomach began their race again). Anyway, I gave my backpack to
Silke, my designated photographer of this special moment. Taking a deep breath,
I collected myself - more or less - and followed Debbie. By the way, I probably
ticked off a few fellow fans because I suddenly was in front of the line.
Debbie
introduced me to Garett and he reached out, offering his hand. "Hi, Danny,
how’re you doing?" he greeted, his expressive blue eyes sparkling behind
glasses. How I was doing was a good question. The butterflies took another turn.
Remembering my manners I took the proffered hand. "Hi... <what’s
his name again?>..., Garett." I told him the history of the booklet
and explained every detail, a speech that I had prepared for so long and that
was finally directed to the real deal. Garett seemed pretty touched and promised
to read it later (and I truly hope he did because the intro Vicki had added to
the booklet made much more sense than my well-practiced speech.) I thanked
Garett for coming and vanished into the crowd.
It
was then when I realized that I had forgotten to take a photo of him (as I had
promised the girls from France). So, I went back to the end of the line. FYI,
Garett looked great with his short, curly hair. Without exaggerating, his eyes
were most outstanding feature. Trees surrounded the area where he sat and they
had also built a tent to provide more shade. However, his eyes stood out,
shining brightly. Anyway, it was my turn again and I apologized for showing up
again, mentioning the French girls and my "task" to take a photo of
him for them. Well, honestly, the real task was to take a photo of him and
Richard Burgi but as the latter seemed to be a little late and hadn’t shown up
yet, I only took the photo of the subject available. Garett asked if I wanted to
be in the picture and I all but shouted "No!" and he chuckled, making
fun of my strict reluctance to be in the photo. The picture was taken quickly.
While we talked, Debbie showed up again displaying photos of Garett with various
animals.
Garett was surprised and asked what they were (duh, Garett!) and Debbie
explained the obvious - that these were photos of him posing with various
animals of the zoo.
Leaving
his table I suddenly realized that I had promised Vicki an autograph (duh,
Danny!). I bought a photo of Garett and Nova and waited in line yet again. When
I approached the poor guy for the third time within a few minutes, I apologized
once more. I asked if he remembered "the story of the booklet" and he
nodded, replying "Yeah, that was you!" (Unlike other people, I
didn’t think of Garett as "Blair Sandburg" when I talked to him or
saw him. However, at that very moment, he sounded *so* like Blair when he tried
to play down one of Jim’s or Simon’s comments.) Anyway, he kindly signed the
photo for Vicki and I was thrilled and happy because I *knew* my Wyoming friend
would be jumping up and down.
For
the record, Richard Burgi hadn’t shown up yet. (Me thinks, he was still busy
surfing or painting the house <g> -- explanations may follow later.)
**
The booklet of Mrs. Gill’s reading class
The
"mysterious" booklet I gave to Garett isn’t so mysterious at all. It
just requires a little bit of background info: My friend Vicki is a
teacher in Wyoming. Most of her kids have reading and writing problems, thus
every new school year Vicki has to find a way to attract their attention. Last
year she decided to adopt Nova, Garett’s wolf, to support Moonridge and for
her school kids. The children were quite fascinated to "own" a wolf
and they were eager to learn more about this endangered species.
When
Vicki told her pupils that one of her friends (me!) would be going to Moonridge
to see Nova and Garett, they were jumping up and down with
The
animal auction began. Of course, they did not auction live animals for you to
take home, but the feeding for one year for each animal. By the way, several
other celebrities had offered their status and reputation to be at Moonridge to
support the zoo. (Note: For some strange reason Garrett's table drew the utmost
attention... I wonder why??) Unfortunately, I cannot recall the names of the
other celebrities.
During
the auction there were a couple of mention-worthy moments. One of the, forgive
the cold word, "auction items" was a big, fat boa. Five people had to
carry it, Garett was among them. Once they had found the lucky person to adopt
the snake for the next year, four of the five carriers abandoned it and suddenly
Garett was there alone with the giant snake. The friendly ’beast’ gently
circled his arms and neck, never really threatening to use its lethal strength.
A bit helplessly, Garett called out for Debbie to come to the rescue and free
him. Afterwards one of the female celebrities officially introduced him and,
needless to say, the numerous fans cheered Garett on. He stepped forward to the
microphone and said a few words of thanks and mentioned the important work of
Moonridge.
The
auction went on. A seven-week old wolf pup was next and the audience ahhhed and
oohhhhed at the cute sight of the small pup wriggling in Garett’s arms. 400+
dollars was the final bid - and the lucky winner got a photo with Garett and the
little wolf.
Hours
ticked by. I met several people I had encountered in cyberspace and it was
fantastic to finally be able to put faces to the funny email nicknames. A few
folks had already been lucky enough to go and see Richard Burgi’s play
"Johnny on the Spot" and it goes without saying that I was eager to
hear all the little details - and to find an answer to the most important
question "Will he be playing tonight?" Okay, this question of all
questions at that time brought another, not less nagging question: "If he
played, would he still show up at Moonridge as planned?" or "If he
showed up at Moonridge, would he still be playing?" I had planned on trying
to see the play but, so far, I didn’t have a ticket or even a companion to
enthusiastically accompany me. Silke, sweet and game for anything, wasn’t
really interested in spending money on something she didn’t want to attend. I
offered to invite her which, certainly <g>, changed her mind. In the
meantime, I ran into Sally, of Sacramento, who I had met years ago in beautiful
Vancouver. We chatted a little and I mentioned the play, still wondering about
the above-mentioned questions. Twisting Sally’s arm just a little I convinced
her that this play was a must-see and we decided to meet later at our motel down
in San Bernardino. Sally didn’t have a place to stay so we offered our
bathroom, fresh water and towels... Sally left the zoo and we promised to be
"right behind" her, just bidding our farewell to MJ and JoAnn.
At
the gate, a small group of people had gathered around Garett. I heard him
mentioning that there’d even been a girl from Germany (wonder who that
was...). Apparently he said that he noticed my glasses but I didn’t really get
the actual words. It made me smile though. On this trip I’d already collected
many comments about my new pair of glasses.
It
was 3.30 p.m. when the four of us walked to the parking lot, talking about the
celebrity event, our incredible, insane trip and only regretting that Richard
Burgi had not managed to make it that afternoon. To see Garett and Richard again
together, same place, same time, would’ve been a blast.
Kneeling
on the asphalt, I tried to re-organize my backpack, while still chatting and
laughing with Silke and our new-found friends from the Grand Canyon State (to
hear all about our four weeks trip to the Wild West, please read my detailed
travel report, if I ever manage to finish that epic.). You know *somehow* my
camera should fit into that darn backpack. After all it’s been designed for
that kind of equipment...
I
still struggled with my stuff, trying to pull up all zippers and attach
everything which had to be attached, as a black car drove slowly across the
parking lot. The driver looked like..., I thought, and said out loud, "The
driver looked like Richard."
What
*is* it with my luck of leaving and he shows up (ref. "Excuse
me ... Mr. Burgi")? Must be some sort of good karma, maybe. Looking up
at my friends I asked the rather obvious question if we should go back into the
park. There were nods all around and so the four of us slowly walked back to the
zoo. Suddenly we stopped dead in our tracks when we realized that Richard had
brought both of his sons, too. So it wasn’t a pure matter anymore of just
walking up and talking to him. We hesitated because there he was, the actor we
adored and respected and the daddy we didn’t want to bother.
At
this moment we saw Garett all but running to Richard’s car, greeting the
family and immediately putting one of the kids on his shoulder. They all walked
back into the park. After a short debate, we followed very slowly.
Disappointment soon crept into our faces when the security folks closed the gate
behind them. Would he be playing tonight or not? All our well calculated
theories had shattered with Richard’s sudden arrival. Part of me thought about
asking the security lady to go and ask him but I abandoned the thought quickly.
This was really stupid! Instead, I played the only joker I could possibly (and
ever) have. I already hated it before the actual sentence left my mouth. "We’ve
come all the way from Germany..." Oh, God, did I really say that? It
didn’t sound good then and, honestly, it doesn’t ring right *now*. The gate
was closed anyway, darn but never mind. The event was over.
However,
a few moments later the security lady re-appeared and opened the gate for us!
I have no way of knowing whom she talked to and why it was suddenly okay
to go inside the park again. Thank you!
MJ,
JoAnn, Silke and I stayed at the gate, waiting for Richard to return from his
tour through the zoo. As far as I recall it the security lady even pointed us
into the direction where he’d gone but we all came to the unspoken agreement
to just stay put. A few lone fans had remained, too, but all of them respected
Richard’s privacy as he visited the various animal locations with his two sons.
Finally
he came back and visited with us for a moment. His younger son snuggled up in
his arms while Garett and the older one announced they wanted to go and see the
snow leopards. And off they went.
I
found myself talking to Richard, posing my question of all questions: "Are
you going to be at the play tonight?" He confirmed that he indeed would,
provided he made it down to Los Angeles on time. "I’ll have to be home by
six," he said, chuckling and smiling that dazzling smile only he can smile.
One of the ladies asked very politely if it was possible for him to put down his
little son for a second so that a photo could be taken. I thought that was very
considerate and inwardly applauded her thoughtfulness. However, the little Burgi
lad wouldn’t want to leave his daddy’s arms (can we blame him? <g>) at
the sight of the strangers. Then Richard surprised all of us by saying it was
okay for us to take pictures anyway. For some reason this seemed to be a huge
act of trust to me. He visited a little longer and then said he needed to find
his other son. Someone pointed out that he was with Garett looking at the snow
leopards. "Oh, my," Richard commented, leaving it up to us to
translate that into 'Oh, my, next thing he wants is a snow leopard cub,' or a
general "oh, my" statement that he was with Garett who might *talk*
him into begging his dad for a snow leopard cub...
It
was actually only a few minutes later the Burgi clan and Garett left the animal
park. In the parking lot they posed for a rare photo together and we all thanked
them for coming and taking their time to talk to us.
And
like Richard, Silke and I started our car and headed down the mountains. We, too,
had a play to catch.
***
Johnny
on the Spot
***
Okay,
I admit it: I’m lousy at directions. I mean I would’ve probably made it out
of Big Bear Lake if my mind was solely concentrated on driving and finding the
right road (Highway 18, then 30, then 10 West). However, my mind was occupied
with the events of the last few hours, flashing back to Moonridge and going
already forward to compose this little report. I took the wrong turn and it took
us about 90 minutes to get back to San Bernardino.
Sally
was still waiting for us at our motel. She was understandably disappointed that
she had missed the chance of meeting Richard but we cheered her up, promising a,
hopefully, great play. We all changed into clean clothes quickly, splashing a
handful of water into our faces. An equally fast dinner at Burger King (yuk,
fast food!) did not really still our hunger but it had to do for the evening. We
were running late.
I
decided (yet again) that I didn’t really like Los Angeles or its traffic. Even
at this hour the stream to downtown went slow and I kept glancing at the clock.
Sally, driving behind us, did some good ’juggling’ and followed our track of
changing lanes and driving just a little bit above speed limit. At 8 o’clock
sharp we arrived at the Matrix theater, a bit breathlessly demanding three
tickets. There were indeed only a few seats available and the ticket lady
admitted that they were running a little late. (Me wonders, who *else* might
have been late that evening.)
Of
course, I’m biased when I say that Richard was simply fabulous in the play.
However, I’m not exaggerating when I say that the whole play of "Johnny
on the spot" was extremely well done and the cast was phenomenal. The
Matrix Theater is a very small place which made it feel more like it was taking
place in your living room than on stage.
Richard
played two roles (three actually, if the fast appearance of a doctor counts). He
was old Fred, a ghost haunting Johnny, the main character. Like most old men,
Fred was walking with a hunch and totally appeared old. A funny orange hat, huge
glasses and a cigar perfected the picture. And whenever Johnny didn’t act
accordingly Fred, our friendly
ghost broke into song. Oh, boy, I almost wet my pants, laughing so hard when
this silly song *erupted*.
The
second part Richard played was Sy, an abusive stepfather. These two roles
couldn’t be more different and it shows again that he is a versatile actor. He
chilled me (and the rest of the audience) to the bone. The sudden change from
the funny old ghost to the menacing and violent husband and father surely left
an impression. After all, this was a live play and the drastic switch of
characters was more than stunning.
The
play ended with a happy end (hey, it’s Hollywood!) and we all applauded and
cheered when the proverbial last curtain fell. Richard, goofy and good-natured,
re-appeared in a pink evening dress and a female blonde wig to greet the
audience.
In
the foyer of the theater we met Kat Cole, our courageous leading lady of the
RBFC. Having met a few times already before, we chatted for a while and I gave
her a short synopsis of our trip to the USA so far. It was then when Richard
emerged from the artists' dressing room. I leaned against the wall for support
while Kat encouraged me go over and talk to him. Alarmed, I shook my head. No, I
couldn’t imagine myself walking up to him. So, we just waited and then he came
over to us. He touched my arm in greeting, supplying a few words in German. He
has a way of making you comfortable. There was absolutely no attitude, no
celebrity status noticeable. He also greeted Silke and Sally and Kat's friend
Martha who'd been brave enough to go and talk to him while I had grabbed the
wall for support. Way to go, Martha! We talked for a while (just like we had
talked to Kat moments ago) and complimented him on the play. Richard said that
he was very touched that we had come to see it. Meanwhile I noticed that he
indeed was "touchy-feely", that seemed part of the way he is. Posing
for photos, he stayed close, as if
to say that there was no reason to be nervous. Jason Brooks, the leading man of
"Johnny on the Spot", came over and commented that there were many
fans of Richard’s coming to see him. Another guy joined us, joking around that
Richard was his second favourite actor after Don Johnson. We all laughed. It was
good to laugh and seemed totally right. It’s hard to explain. Richard seemed
to be totally comfortable and relaxed. He mentioned that he regretted that he
hadn’t managed to join the Moonridge event earlier that afternoon. He hadn’t
realized that it was such a long way to drive. And, of course, his kids had
wanted to see the animals.
It
was time for all of us to leave. Richard bent forward to pull Kat into a bear
hug, telling her good-bye until next week. He surprised me when he turned to me
and gave me a big hug as well. Oh, and he gives great hugs! It’s not just a
simple embrace but also a full body hug, holding on until I hugged him back. He
gave Sally and Silke the same ’treatment’. As a matter of fact, when Silke
merely wanted to shake his hand, he insisted on hugging her. Totally
touchy-feely, as I said. We left minutes later, heading to our temporary home in
the San Bernardino Mountains.
You
know what? The down to earth man we met that evening wasn’t Jim Ellison or
Mack Wolfe or any other character he’d portrayed before. We got a small
glimpse of the real, amicable Richard Burgi.
(c) June 6, 2002
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