KEEPING UP WITH THE PFG
POLITICALLY INCORRECT
THE ROAD TO LOCKPORT
By: Bonnie Borgh
(With A Lotta Help From My Friends)
a.k.a. The Crazy Lot
All photos in this story are courtesy Bonnie Borgh, Shane Worden, and Tom Litterio
Bonnie: It was a picture-perfect fall morning as we departed Lockport at 11:07 am on Sunday, October 24. The Carpenter’s song, Top Of The World (Imagine that, wrong group!) played in my head: “Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye, and I won’t be surprised if it’s a dream…”
Shane: "Psychologically speaking, the human mind, or brain, or whatever, is almost incapable of distinguishing between the real and the vividly imagined experience."
Cindy: If only the forty-eight hours prior to that departure had been as nice!
Bonnie: It had been fifteen months and seventeen days since I had a Close Encounter of the Jones Kind.
Cindy: But who’s counting?
Shane: That's true. Oshkosh was a NOT EVEN CLOSE encounter. Not that I'm bitter, mind you.
Kimmi: Yeah, um, obviously not.
Cindy: Poor Shanie!
Bonnie: As you may recall, for the October 18, 2003 Lockport show I was in Minnesota for my girlfriend’s daughter’s wedding, and Kimmi was in sunny Florida.
Janet: Ah yes, I recall where I was that day.
Kimmi: I was wondering if Kevin would notice me gone for about thirty-five hours. “I was just out for a walk enjoying the ocean, Honey, I swear!”
Cindy: And boy are my legs tired!
Bonnie: When I learned about “Almost Same Time This Year”, I said, “No weddings, no funerals, no bar mitzvah’s, etc. would prevent me from going.” This included the annual school night scheduled for October 23. I was asked, “Are you going to (Paul) Norton Night?” I would reply, “No, I have plans.” The response was, “What?!” I would repeat, “No, I’m not going. I have plans.” Perhaps I should have said, “No I have a plan!”; Right Cindy?
Cindy: The best laid plans of mice and men..
Bonnie: Our plans were to travel to Lockport on Saturday, October 23, but when we learned about David’s booksigning at Harrison’s from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Saturday, we had to reconfigure our schedules to arrive there in ample time.
Cindy: See?
Bonnie: Cindy arrived in Bettendorf about 3:00 pm on Thursday, October 21 after having spent the morning at a campaign rally for John (not Lennon-God rest his soul) at Muscatine High School. Yes, I agree, he is very handsome, but he’s no Davy Jones. He definitely gets a point for having “I’m A Believer” playing in the background prior to his arrival, but that’s all I’m going to say about that!
Cindy: Yes, Mr. Edwards was quite an inspirational speaker, but his choice of music was even more inspirational! You gotta love a politician who plays Monkees’ music at his rallies.
Shane: My goodness, can that be true? It seemed politics was all anyone wanted to talk about when we weren't discussing Monkees that weekend!
Kimmi: Don’t get me started...again.
Cindy: It was a lively debate that went on all weekend until we found one candidate whom we could all agree on!
Bonnie: Meanwhile, Diane Klosak (who unfortunately had alternative plans for the Lockport weekend) accompanied me as we waited in line an hour and a half to obtain tickets to see George (not Harrison-God rest his soul) in Davenport on Monday, October 25.
Shane: See? What did I tell ya?
Cindy: Shanie, are you gonna whine through another “He Said SLASH She Said”?
Bonnie: Cindy and I picked up Hannah from school. Kimmi and Kevin arrived in Bettendorf shortly thereafter just in time to refocus Hannah from an accident on the tree swing just moments before.
Kimmi: Mumsy, you should be ashamed!
Cindy: You’ve heard of Midget Tossing? Well, now there is Hannah Tossing. I don’t know what happened. One minute she was on her tummy in the tree swing, and the next she was flying through the air with the greatest of ease. I reached for her, but she slid right through my hands. Poor kid…I am sorry, Hannah. I usually save all of my abuse for Shanie. Fortunately, Hannah was so excited about Kimmi coming that she soon forgot the scrape on her forehead.
Bonnie: Craig came home from work, and we all migrated (since that’s what birds of a feather do this time of year) to the bus station in downtown Davenport.
Shane’s bus was scheduled to arrive at 5:50 pm. It was right on time which was a good thing because it’s not a place I would want to hang (a)round very long.
Shane: Oh Bonnie, the Davenport bus station is nothing compared to the downtown Chicago terminal, and if I can survive that, anybody can!
Janet: Us Chicagoans, or perhaps I should say us IllinoiSans, are a pretty tough bunch!
Bonnie: Well, we are a Gang!
Shane: Thanks to a recently reconfigured connection schedule, I am now able to get to the Quad Cities a great deal sooner than I ever used to before. It is so nice to be able to get into town now in time for dinner. In the past, it was all I could do just to get into town without losing my sanity after being en route for over twelve hours. The trip went amazingly smooth. Everything went exactly according to clockwork despite some heavy fog as we were leaving town.
Bonnie: The fog was probably due to the atmospheric changes of Jones being in the Midwest.
Shane: The only scary part was the old mentally ill man at the terminal in Oshkosh who snapped at me for no apparent reason as I walked in the door that morning. That scared me for a moment or two, but at least he wasn't riding the bus.
Kimmi: Were we walking into the station, and I looked up and there was my brother staring at me. I swear I saw him take a deep breath before approaching me.
Bonnie: We then journeyed to Lunardi’s (official Italian restaurant of the PFG) where we enjoyed wonderful food, and Cindy presented Kimmi with her belated birthday present which was her very own re-appropriated (as opposed to stolen)...
Cindy: You say Po - tay - toe, I say Po tah - toe…
Bonnie: Whatever happened to Dan? ROBY FOR SUPERVISOR yard sign. I told Cindy she should have called upon her Republican friend, and I would have been happy to pick up one of those signs for her, but she insisted that Kimmi would much prefer one hot off the market. Needless to say, she was thrilled.
Cindy: Just as lyrics are important to the song, the story is important to the gift, and what a story this one had. I had been seeing these signs all over town before the election, and I thought, ’If I only had guts to take one out of someone’s yard.’ Being a good Democrat, I couldn’t bear to walk into Republican Headquarters and ASK for one. While riding around town with three of my fiftysomething friends from work, I saw two signs in one yard. I explained to them the significance of the name and how I would love to “borrow” one as a gift for Kimmi. When the car stopped at the corner, one of my friends simply jumped out of the car in broad daylight and …ahem…acquired the sign. The gal driving had vanity plates with her name on them and was dying at the idea someone would report her. The next day at work one of the guys told her he had seen the police in the parking lot looking at her car, and she spent half the day waiting for the police to escort her out in handcuffs. We were laughing so hard we were in tears.
Bonnie: I’d heard on the local NBC news of the reported thefts of political signs in Muscatine. I thought (in the nicest possible way), “Cindy’s been working the streets.” However, I thought she would be heisting to destroy rather than preserve!
Kimmi: I have the best Mom ever!! (Sorry, Aunt Bonnie; You’re less than one centimeter behind, I swear!) It’s the greatest!! Robey and Mrs. Robey were both very happy to sign it. They, too, got a big kick out of it. It now has a special home in my room with the rest of my memorabilia. Thank you, Mumsy!
Cindy: The things I do for my kids! By the way…Diane Roby won the election by ONE vote!
Bonnie: All for the good of your party, of course, but perhaps you should have taken both signs.
Seriously, the Presidential Debates filled us with such friendly fire that we decided we would nominate DAVID JONES FOR PRESIDENT since he is a candidate we all support, and we even made a little sign for him.
Shane: Little sign? I should probably provide a little bit of history on the origin of this particular "backstage goodie". One of the neat things about being a part of this peculiar order of the PFG Road Crew (that crazy lot) are the things that happen when we aren't working on the newsletter at all and are just goofing around. Most of the time, our ideas and thoughts wind up in the newsletter anyway, and that's where the "Jones for President" sign came up. Quite often, Cindy, Kimmi, Janet, Bonnie, and I will find ourselves in the middle of these hilarious group mass e-mails that just develop lives of their own, and for some reason, one night we started coming up with political slogans that had a "Davy Jones angle”, i.e. “I’m Davy Jones, and I am standing up.”, “No (flower) child left behind.” You get the idea. Before we knew it, Bonnie had incorporated all of these ideas into this huge poster board sign that Janet agreed to leave backstage for Jones. Pretty funny stuff, if I do say so myself.
Bonnie: It’s hard to read the fine print, but the sign also included David’s website since most politicians these days have one. It also credited: Paid For By: The Entertainment Party. It was just simply “Good Clean Fun”.
After dinner, the Gang came back to the Borgh’s for lemonades (actually it was Whitey’s pumpkin ice cream and homemade Halloween chocolate chip cookies).
Kimmi: Mmmmmmmmm...is it dinner time?
Cindy: You people spend entirely too much time thinking about FOOD!!!
Bonnie: Unfortunately, we had to make it a short night as it was “a school night”.
After I dropped Hannah off at school Friday morning, the Gang came over to our house about 8:45 am, and we departed for the Amana Colonies for lunch. Craig said, “You mean, you’re going to Amana for lunch (due west), and we’re going to Lockport (due east) tonight for dinner?” He learns so quickly!
Shane: North, South, East, West (Chapter 2).
Cindy: East, West?! Silly boy! That’s Herman’s Hermits!
Bonnie: It rained most of the way to and from Amana. Visions of Oshkosh danced in our heads.
Shane: Rub it in, rub it in. I can take it; I'm not bitter.
Bonnie: The majority vote was to eat at the Colony Inn even though Craig took the liberty to find us a “Buy One Get One Free” coupon at the Ox Yoke Inn. I have such fond memories of the Colony Inn. My family and I would travel there to eat on special occasions.
Shane: And this is another one! How often do we get together and actually have the time to go out to Amana to eat there? It's been a few years for me. I am sure we all appreciated Craig's efforts, but the Colony Inn is just one of our special places, just like Lunardi's. Sometimes you just gotta splurge.
Bonnie: The place was still the same authentic German style restaurant. When we sat down, I looked up. I could not believe what I saw! There was a white Monkee hanging upon a coat rack just staring at me. (It would seem fitting, though, with a Monkee in Amish country.) I said, “Did you see that?” What were the odds?
Cindy: There’s your sign! We’ve beaten the odds thus far!
Bonnie: We had a wonderful lunch. The coconut cream pie was killer!
Janet: You spotted a MonkeE at lunch? Hmmm…interesting! Lots of that going around on Friday afternoon.
Bonnie: Oh, that’s too weird, Girl! Same Bat-time!
Kimmi: I love that food! The chicken! The potatoes! The salad! The dessertssssss!!! Uhhh...
Bonnie: In the pouring rain, we stopped briefly at an Amish chocolate shop and winery.
Janet: Was it raining “Cats and Dogs”?
Bonnie: Who writes that stuff?!
Janet: I don’t remember much about the weather on Friday. I don’t think it was raining here. David and Dave Robicheau were on the WGN Morning news, and from there they went to an interview at the Chicago Oldies Station-WJMK. I was at the office taking ticket calls until noon. Work, work, work! Luckily I was free in the afternoon. I had quite the enjoyable and relaxing Friday afternoon before all the activity of Saturday. I never realized just how tasty a calamari appetizer and halibut lunch could be.
Bonnie: So you did really eat what wasn’t taken from you and eaten?
Shane: I also appreciated the stop at the mall along the way. I picked up some really cool DVDs while I was wandering/wondering around. Kingdom Hospital is so much better on DVD.
Bonnie: It seems the conversation in the car to and fro continued to gravitate toward a political nature.
Shane: sigh
Bonnie: I said, ‘I was a brave woman being the only Republican in a car filled with Democrats.’ Cindy said, “Now you know how I feel being a Peter fan with all you David fans.” It’s not easy being purple!
Shane: Hey Cindy, I like Peter too! I wouldn't have gone all the way to Lewisville if I didn't!
Cindy: I thought you went along for the abuse Now that was a trip and what a way to break you in on road trips!!!
Kimmi: I will now take this opportunity and speak for myself and all of the other millions upon millions of Micky fans and say “Skillet face or not, I love him!! Go Micky!” But I love you, too, Davy.
Cindy: True, but let’s face it, throughout the seventeen-year history of this group, I was way out numbered!
Bonnie: It’s just like the polls! Speaking of which, we arrived back in the Quad Cities just in time to pick up a red, white, and blue bouquet to complement our nomination sign and refuel for our next departure. I picked Hannah up from school. Craig returned home from work. The rest of the Gang decided to depart after refueling their automobiles. In other words, they had a head start on us. Craig, Hannah, and I were almost out of Dodge when I realized a few blocks down the road I had forgotten my pillow. Like VISA, I don’t leave home without it. It was a good thing we returned home for it, too, because the door from the garage to our family room was locked but not shut. I wonder who the last one out of the door was, Craig?
As I explained to the Gang, getting the Borgh family out of the house is not an easy task any time of day which was why we opted to leave on Friday afternoon SLASH evening rather than Saturday morning as originally intended. Of course, it rained (kittens and puppies) almost all of the way to Lockport. Craig wanted to stop at a Shell station (since we get 5% back on gasoline charges on our Shell card), but we ended up at JC Penney’s to use their facilities. A mall makes a fabulous pit stop to quickly enter and exit. Of course, the Gang was miles ahead of us at that point.
Shane: Kimmi and Kevin did a really good job of staying close behind Cindy's lead on the way down.
Kimmi: As soon as Mumsy quit fiddling with her phone and her jacket and her whatever and found an accurate speed!
Cindy: Hey, it’s been a while since I was on a proper road trip so it took a while to settle in!
Shane: Unfortunately, Cindy's new (used) car does not have a CD player, so we played around with the radio dial, scoping out the oldies stations on the way down. One of the stations played a tune that gave me an idea for a new addition to the PFG songbook.
Bonnie: What was it, Shane?
Shane: Cindy has gone to town on that one, and I am sure the results are somewhere in these pages. We did have potty breaks of our own along the way, although somehow we managed to avoid Penney's, and missed a turn as we got close to Orland Park. Cindy and I recalled that we missed the same exact turn the previous year, as our directions via Map Quest on the internet were a bit misleading. We soon got on the right track again, and shortly thereafter Kimmi, Kevin, Cindy and I were at the hotel.
Cindy: Yeah, well, I would have had a tape player if someone who shall remain nameless (KIMMI) hadn’t poured Pepsi in it!!!
Shane: Now, before we continue, I need to remind everybody of what happened last year when Cindy and I arrived at the hotel in Orland Park.
Bonnie: Shane, you don’t have to remind me. I remember I was in Minnesota!
Shane: As I approached the front desk to check in at that time, I noticed that Aviva was checking in right in front of me. Everyone remember that story? No? Well, why not?! Aren't you paying attention? As we were loading a luggage cart on the way to checking in, I happened to relate last year's encounter to Kimmi, but alas, nobody was at the front desk this year. That makes what happens next all the more interesting. This is Kimmi's story to tell, and I don't want to step on her toes.
Kimmi: Bring it on, Sister!
Shane: Well, okay, maybe I do, but I don't care if I've offended her, ‘cause she can't catch me.
Kimmi: Really? Care to find out???
Cindy: Shane, my money’s on Kimmi!
Shane: So I'll be nice and let her relate the events of check-in. All I want to say is “deja-vu” all over again.
Kimmi: We were checking in, and the front desk couldn’t find my reservation. I, of course, couldn’t find my confirmation number. After searching the depths of my purse SLASH suitcase (Why do I need such a large purse?! It’s only more room for more crap!!) I found it! Then they found it under Kimberly Maloney! “Hello, Kimberly Maloney. Nice to meet you.” “Please, no autographs. I’m in a hurry.” It didn’t trigger at first, but Shanie was quick to explain. Then I caught on. “Ah, hah!” We told Mum what happened, then, “Uh-oh.” “Hey, Aviva!” We told her the story, and she said they had her name as Kimberly Maloney, too. That crazy lot!
Cindy: Not that we are superstitious, but don’t you find it interesting how many signs we get? There’s your sign!!!
Bonnie: Cindy called about 7:30 pm just as I was about to turn off my cell phone as we were blocks away from the hotel in Orland Park. They had just arrived. We were actually minutes behind them. I’m not sure how that happened.
Cindy: I still cannot figure out how you made up forty minutes that quickly!
Kimmi: Um, Uncle Craig is a Mad Man behind the wheel!!
Bonnie: We were on a mission, I guess. After we all checked in, we had a wonderful late dinner at the nearby “Fire and Ice” restaurant.
Kimmi: Again, delicious! Fantastic Cheezy Broccoli Soup Platter!
Shane: This place has undergone some drastic changes since Cindy and I had our "little snack" there last year. I'm not sure whether or not they are changes for the better or worse. The seating arrangements and atmosphere inside have been totally changed to more of a modern/club theme. (A polite way of saying that people of a certain age have a hard time hearing themselves think.) The food, while very good, was also quite expensive. I recall so vivdly the conversation Cindy and I had with David in the elevator at the hotel last year when he said that the restaurant was "reasonably priced". No more. Good food, just not what I had remembered or expected.
Cindy: It was good but expensive. I really liked the place better last year though.
Janet: Actually the restaurant that occupied that space last year, Alexis, is now in the Register of Historic Places in IllinoiS...
Bonnie: Pardon me, Janet, but I think it’s pronounced SLASH spelled “Illi-NOISE!”
Janet:…after Davy Jones ate there last year!!! It’s TRRUUEE! No, actually Fire and Ice was just renovated...It had to be because mad fans stole the booths, bar stools, plates, and beer mugs after Davy Jones was there last year. Everything was gone!!
Cindy: We did not! I only steal signs!!!
Janet: Not buyin’ it…Okay, it really just opened two weeks before you arrived. I hadn’t been in the new establishment until the Saturday evening after the show.
Bonnie: Again, we needed to cut the evening short to get Hannah to bed. We had a busy day planned for Saturday.
I enjoyed an early morning 6:00 am swim despite the fact I thought the torrential rain was going to come through the roof.
Shane: Just like Oshkosh. No, I'm not bitter. Whatever gave you that idea?
Kimmi: Don’t make me come over there and hurt you! Wait, that’s not a good threat, is it?
Bonnie: I noticed the “Pool Rules” sign said “Absolutely No Swimming Alone”, but there was no one besides me there. I thought, “Oh well, what are you gonna do?” I thought to myself, “It’s no different than swimming laps at the fitness center with our lifeguard “on duty”. He’s out of the room more than he’s in it.”
Craig brought Hannah down to swim shortly after 7:00 am (It must be genetic.) We pooled it for awhile before showering and eating breakfast.
Shane: Cindy and I employed the "HELLO” system at the continental breakfast in the lobby. However, Kimmi broke protocol and showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time. See??? Now you've even gotten ME talking in political-ese. Heavy sigh.
Kimmi: I stumbled down eventually. I needed my beauty sleep, though it never seems to do much good.
Cindy: Ah, yeah, beauty sleep...
Bonnie: We left shortly before 11:00 am to leave for the booksigning at Harrison’s. We saw Janet in the breakfast area going over details with Deb Robicheau and spoke very briefly as we knew she was busy. We were one of the first groups to arrive at the restaurant and were greeted very warmly by...
Janet: All the plans were set, but I had to pick up a few things before I went to Harrison’s.
Shane: The hostess?
Cindy: No, definitely not her.
Bonnie:…Tom Litterio. The hostess obviously didn’t know who we were, but Tom told her! Who are we again? Oh yeah, we’re the “crazy lot.” Tom offered us a little out of the way place that nobody goes where we could just sit and take pictures. We settled in comfortably after a little drapery redecorating.
Kimmi: Heh, yeah...great idea, Aunt Bonnie!
Bonnie: Thank you, Girl. Too much natural light emitted from behind is not good for photos. David arrived promptly at high noon. When he sat down, he said, “Hello, Bonnie.” We had a fabulous view of whatever. David is so gracious with his fans, and it’s so wonderful to see how excited people are when they meet him. I heard numerous people say, “That was fun!” One time, I heard David say, “Would you look at that? I signed right over Micky’s face!”
Janet: I’ve heard from so many people that attended the events of the weekend. All of them were so impressed at David’s graciousness and warm-heartedness with everyone he met while he was here. It is wonderful to see how happy people are upon meeting him…the look of pure joy in their faces was priceless.
Cindy: He certainly was animated and in a good mood wasn’t he?!
Shane: I had debated about going through the line myself. Since I was lucky enough to get an autographed copy of David's book (a little present from an "old friend") when the book first came out, I decided to just people watch this time. I perched myself on some bar stools behind Cindy, Bonnie, and Kimmi and took some overhead shots whenever I could get a good glimpse of whatever. It WAS fun to watch Jones react with all the different people, young and old alike. When fellow PFGer Karen Barnes came through with her daughter, I was able to get a really funny shot of them with David as he is trying to locate where I was taking my photos of them from. I still get a chuckle out of that picture. (Thanks, Karen, for the presents! The Peter CD has been in constant rotation in my player ever since I got home!)
Cindy: Yes, Karen! Thanks so much for the music and photos! It was great to see all of the PFG! The crazy lot!
Bonnie: Kimmi and Kevin were kind enough to stand in line for us. Kimmi wanted David to autograph her copy of “Daydream Believin’”. I asked Kimmi if she would ask David to sign another copy of his autobiography for Renee, a friend of mine, who is dealing with cancer. Cindy thought it would be nice if David would autograph Oliver (the stuffed Monkee which rides in her car). The paparazzi were ready and aimed to take a photo of Kimmi, Kevin, and David. Kimmi was also thrilled to have Deb Robicheau autograph her “ROBY FOR SUPERVISOR” sign. Deb suggested Kimmi bring it to the concert to have Dave autograph it, too. I think Kevin was impressed with his first Close Encounter of the Jones Kind (despite the fact that he looked like he was going to visit the dentist) because he was having second thoughts about going to the concert afterwards.
Kimmi: Yes, Kevin and I stood in line with our 50 lbs. of books and 50 lbs. of monke(e) and eventually mission was accomplished. I think Kevin had a good time. I’m slowly sucking him in. Mah, hah, haahhhh!
Bonnie: That’s English for?
Cindy: Kimmi, the Monkey(ee) is a pillow so he probably only weighs 49.5 pounds and I appreciate you taking him up to be autographed. He’s too young to be standing in line by himself.
Shane: Kevin must be going to the wrong dentist! He needs one that plays Monkees’ music in his office! I've got to give Kevin a lot of credit. He was a real trooper, even when he wasn't feeling well and would just have rather gone back to the hotel. It says a lot for a person who really isn't into this like the rest of us are to have been so willing and patient all weekend.
Bonnie: Just like Craig and Hannah, right?
Shane: You've got a good 'un Kimmi; I'd chain him to the couch if I were you.
Cindy: Kevin is a sweetie and now that we’ve bonded Kimmi, you had better behave!
Kimmi: I use the basement wall. More stable.
Bonnie: When David was finished, he passed by the Gang and waved. Unfortunately, most of us missed it. David was definitely working overtime because he did not leave until about 2:45 pm. I don’t know how almost three hours could pass so quickly!
Janet: I can’t believe how quickly the entire day flew by. Time seems to go by SO fast!
Bonnie: Kevin had a request to eat at Denny’s. (Isn’t there an alternative name for that?)
Cindy: Like maybe Crummy’s?
Bonnie: By George, I think she’s got it!
Shane: We've had plenty of requests, but we're gonna eat anyway.
Cindy: Rim shot please, Sandy!
Bonnie: Unfortunately, Kevin developed a nasty headache on site and was unable to even finish his late lunch SLASH early dinner. Kimmi took care of that!
Kimmi: Eat one little onion ring off of someone else’s plate…
Cindy: People have lost fingers for less!
Janet: It’s always a nice gesture to share part of your lunch...be it an onion ring or say a bowl of soup with whomever you’re dining with...to get a good sample of the fare of the day.
Bonnie: What was the special of the day again, Janet?
Shane: The headache or the dinner?
Kimmi: Hmm, hmm. What do you think?
Bonnie: We made a quick costume change and agreed to meet at 6:00 pm to leave for the concert. We were on the road again until Kimmi remembered she had forgotten her tickets (to the really big shoe) in her car!
Shane: At least she didn't LOSE them or anything
Kimmi: Nope! They were right inside the glove box where I had put them so I wouldn’t lose them!
Bonnie: After a quick circle tour, we were once again enroute to Lockport East High School.
Shane: This is where experience pays off. Cindy and I learned from last year's wrong turn out of the hotel on the way to the show, and we were on the right track immediately. Familiar landmarks passed by as we were heading towards the high school, so we weren't nearly as frazzled when we got there this time as we were last year.
Janet: It always helps the second time around!
Bonnie: We made arrangements with Tom at the booksigning if he would be able to stick our sign (in the nicest possible way) in David’s dressing room along with the patriotic flowers. Ironically, Tom was the first person we saw moments after parking the car. We once again handed off the goods from the hoods.
Shane: Tom, I must tell you, I do so enjoy this car to dressing room delivery service you were running. From one room server to another, ya done good.
Kimmi: Thank you, Tom!!
Cindy: Thanks for all your kindnesses, Tom!
Janet: Boy, talk about a real trouper throughout all this…that’s Tom!!! Always in the right place at the right time.
Bonnie: There’s another political comment right on the tip of my tongue, but that’s all I’m going to say about that! We arrived well in time to sign the guest book for David which was a fantastic idea.
Janet: I had a little help with that suggestion…Thanks to Cindy. We had a guestbook last year as well. I wanted the people to be able to leave a message for David so he would be able to read for himself what I had been hearing the last several months.
Cindy: I thought it would be a nice way for HIM to remember the evening.
Shane: I told him not to forget about us poor, rained out fans in Oshkosh. What, me bitter? Pshaw!
Cindy: Keep beating that dead horse, son!
Kimmi: Sigh!
Bonnie: When the band began to assemble their equipment, Cindy encouraged Kimmi to ask Dave to autograph her sign.
Kimmi: Encourage? Is that what you call threatening your children these days? Actually, it was Shanie that made me! Thank you, Bro!! :-D
Bonnie: What is this ”:-D”? I never learned that in typing class.
Cindy: Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie! It’s a smilie face! Where have you been? Kimmi, don’t mess with me! I already threw one little kid out of her swing and I’m not afraid to do it again!!
Bonnie: With a little coercing, Kimmi agreed. From our vantage point, Dave seemed to find it most amusing. He was kind enough to hop off the stage, pose with Kimmi for a picture, and kiss her on the cheek. I’m sure she will never wash her cheek again!
Shane: No wonder Kevin gets sick. :-)
Bonnie: There it is again! “:-)”
Kimmi: Yeah, he was getting annoyed with the dried saliva so I finally had to wash it. My saliva, not Dave’s. Like you never drool in your sleep!
Bonnie: We anxiously awaited for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin SLASH David Jones.
Shane: We had the most sincere audience around. Sincerity as far as the eye can see....
Bonnie: At approximately 8:05 pm, David appeared on stage (in Hannah’s words) wearing a “snazzy jazzy” sparkly white and black short-sleeved shirt with black pants. Whoever decorated the stage with the “dummy” in Dave Alexander’s station and the JONES tombstone was (What’s the word?)
Cindy: The only thing I would have done differently is I would have had a green wool hat on the mummy!
Shane: "Really something"?
Bonnie: Artistic? It reminded me of the stage props yester decade or two ago in the Monkees’ 1987 Pool It tour.
Cindy: Autistic!
Janet: I’m not quite sure whose handiwork that was. I did remember seeing the JONES tombstone last year. And I know that Ken, the theater manager, was working on the “monster” on Friday evening when we arrived to set up. He made that himself. What talent, huh? I suspect the culprit may have been Bobby…the chap that helps us every year with tattoos nearly as big as David. Bobby is SUCH a nice guy!! Although from my vantage point, I still haven’t seen his face. He’s quite tall.
Bonnie: David was so funny through the entire show opting more for conversational dialogue and humor. In fact, I think a half hour had passed, and he had only sung two songs! “I’m a Believer” it’s the first concert I’ve attended where he omitted his standard “I Wanna Be Free” in lieu of storytelling. I absolutely loved his schtick about odd expressions, i.e. “raining cats and dogs” where he dramatized sound effects of cats meowing and dogs barking.
I’m sure David’s sister, Hazel, and his brother-in-law, Ken, would love to hear all of the big, kind-hearted words he said about them following their recent visit at Beverley’s wedding in August.
Cindy: She will, she will!
Kimmi: Hazel, make sure you ask Davy about it!
Shane: Time and again we have extolled the virtues of David's storytelling in this newsletter, so it should come as no surprise that we were extremely happy with the show's focus (whether it was planned or not) on the stories and using the music almost as a secondary aspect of the concert. I swear that the guy touched on all kinds of topics, from Oprah Winfrey's car giveaway (I believe the joke was that he was giving everybody in the audience a car, but you had to supply your own keys), to reality television, (David is thinking of starting something called "Cooking For One" (a good idea, if you ask me!), to his travels through airports and the security checkpoints, therein, even mentioning some sculpture he found fascinating in one of them.
Bonnie: Michelangelo’s “David”, right?
Shane: For all of the talk and all of the jokes, the funniest part of the entire concert had very little to do with anything that David did. During the performance of "Girl", most of the audience members who had purchased flowers for Jones took that song as a cue to come to the front of the stage to hand him their gifts. He got absolutely deluged with flowers, but that's not the funny part. Once all of the women were through, up comes this big, burly biker guy in a black leather Harley vest, chains, and the whole nine yards (the sound tech from what I'm told), who hands him his own flowers. Talk about drop dead funny! I would have LOVED to have gotten a picture of that, but I was just laughing so hard that I couldn't even think about picking up my camera!!
Bonnie: If you didn’t know it, one would have thought it was all part of the show. It was hilarious!
Janet: The big, burly biker guy was one of our soundmen, Bobby. What a stitch!! Back in March when it seemed that another concert was on the horizon, I called Bobby to line up the service of the company for which he works. He told me then that he’d be working on some new material for Davy’s upcoming show. Little did I know he’d become part of the show! Oh yes, speaking of “Girl”, talk about an honor. That was totally an unexpected, but a VERY thoughtful surprise.
Bonnie: Just for the record, David sang:
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
Valleri
Who Will Buy? (Intro)
Meatloaf impression
Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
Last Train To Clarksville
Consider Yourself
I'd Do Anything
Who Will Buy?
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
It’s Nice To Be With You
Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby?
I’m A Believer
Why
All In The Family skit
Bright Side Of The Road
(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone
Girl (dedicated to Janet)
(I’ll) Love You Forever
Daydream Believer
No Time
I loved hearing David sing the song Janet has talked about entitled, “Why”.
Janet: When David started talking about being in a cathedral in Ireland on Good Friday, I knew what song was coming next. You see, a few years ago Tom and I were talking with David at a booksigning at the Hard Rock Café in Downtown Chicago. At one point in the conversation, I was talking with him about the possibility of him coming and doing a benefit for our church, and I remember thinking at that time, yeah right, like THAT would EVER happen-who knew. As we were talking at the booksigning then, David started telling me about a song that he had heard that moved him and began singing that beautiful song to me. That was something I will never, ever forget. I was so moved that when he stopped singing, I literally could not find my voice.
Bonnie: It was a beautiful song; I’d love to hear more of where that came from. I also enjoyed hearing the tunes Wasted Days and Wasted Nights and Bright Side of the Road. I had not heard Nobody Cares About the Railroads Anymore since David’s Prairie Meadows concert in Altoona in January of 1999.
Shane: Just a few overall comments from me about the music. I was very impressed to see some change-ups in the setlist from the typical Davy Jones concert (if there is such a thing). For one thing, I was pleasantly surprised to see "Nobody Cares About The Railroads" back in the lineup. I hadn't heard that one in quite a while, and I was afraid that this was just another tune that he'd do for a while and then cast aside like so many of the other non-Monkees’ songs that we've seen in his concerts. Keep this song, David, and bring back a few others like "Here Comes My Baby", "Somebody Slap Me", and "When All Else Fails" (original version). I was also enchanted by the impromptu performance of "Why" (a personal request from Janet I have no doubt).
Janet: No, it wasn’t a personal request from me. I was as surprised as everyone else when David sang that song. But it is SUCH a pretty song, I was honored that people that attended our show were treated to the same song to which I was treated a few years before.
Shane: It shouldn't be too hard to dig up the music for this song somewhere, as Jones had wondered about onstage.
Janet: I found the words to that song shortly after I heard it previously. Consider the words as having been shared.
Shane: I also enjoyed the fact that David tried his hand at "Clarksville". Yes, he did flub up the lyrics a bit...
Bonnie: When was that?
Shane: He covered well, and I have to give him his "props" for trying. What makes these three examples all the more exceptional to me is that NONE of these were on the official set list that the band was supplied with before the show. (Aviva gave me hers after the show, so that's how I know...swoon!) In other words, David probably chose all of these tunes on the spur of the moment, which I think makes his performance more "real" and "down to earth".
Bonnie: Grandpa Borgh said David was a “down-to-earth, kind of guy”. David was very appreciative and thanked Janet and Tom for all their hard work. He also said, “All the guys from the Purple Flower Gang came out” to which arose select applause. David looked out into the audience toward the sound, smiled, and said, “You crazy lot!” and just laughed. Sometimes the insane act quite normal; Isn’t that right, Ken? David said, “I get the newsletters all the time, and I read them…” It does go with notice.
Cindy: Select applause? Kimmi and Shane came out of their seats!!!
Shane: Better a crazy lot than a vacant lot...
Cindy: Been there, done that!
Kimmi: Well, depends on the day or the minute.
Cindy: Or where the pool is or was…
Bonnie: There’s another political comment there, but my tongue is still tied!
David performed for close to two and a half hours. It was nice to see Mike Bush and talk with Beverly. It was also nice to see some other Monkees’ fans from another lifetime ago.
Shane: That's always part of the fun; isn't it? Chatting with folks before and after the show is almost like a little cocktail party, sans lemonades.
Janet: Yeah, the only drawback to having the show in such a beautiful theater is lemonades are not allowed on school property.
Bonnie: Someone once said that wasn’t a problem.
Shane: I've said this before, but it's always true. One starts seeing a lot of the same people whenever there's a Monkee performing in the general geographic area. The Midwest seems to have a very loyal contingent, which I think is part of the reason why David comes back to these parts as often as he seems to.
Bonnie: I dunno, Shane. I’ve seen George Bush more times in the Quad Cities since 1999 than I’ve seen David Jones. What is wrong with that picture? Oh, I’m sorry. My tongue was tied!
We stopped at “Fire and Ice” for something to eat and drink after the show since we had not eaten since mid afternoon, and it was approaching midnight.
Kimmi: Awesome popcorn shrimp!
Shane: We all must have our three squares a day...breakfast, lunch, and dinner...in that precise order.
Cindy: Shane, don’t you think they are just a bit obsessed? What happened to Tic Tacs, Vivarin, and Pop Tarts?
Kimmi: But pancakes for dinner are the best!! Right, Aunt Bonnie?
Cindy: Don’t confuse her!!!
Bonnie: That’s right; Pancakes are for breakfast! I slept until 6:15 am and swam from 6:30 am to 7:30 am. Once again, it was wonderful to have the pool to myself. I estimated that one hundred forty-eight pool lengths was close to a mile. I got out when I started to feel like a guppy.
Shane: It was probably around 11:30 pm or so when we got back to the hotel from our late meal. I can understand that Bonnie wanted to check on her family, and Kimmi wanted to see how Kevin was feeling. As for myself, I was too wired to even think about sleeping. I got to my room in just enough time to flip on the TV to Saturday Night Live as Ashlee Simpson was performing her now infamous lip-synching goof. I had no idea at the time how much press that blunder was going to receive! I wonder what David might think about it... Shortly after that, I just laid there on the bed and waited for sleep to come. That was a long time in coming, though. No sooner had I drifted off to la-la land, or so it seemed, than I was wakened by a large, reckless and boisterous party making their way through the hallways. I'm not sure if it was the remnants of one of the many weddings going on that weekend or what, but it was certainly unwelcome. Not only were they yelling, but I heard them throwing things around in the hallway, as well. It wasn't until I decided that I wasn't going to be able to sleep any longer and finally just got up and ready to go that I noticed that this group had shattered a great many beer bottles all over the hallway. How mature, sigh. Well, I hadn't come all that way to sleep anyhow. I showered, dressed, packed, and met Cindy down at breakfast.
Cindy: We were all on different floors, and we all had to deal with the party. It must have been one heck of a party! In younger days I would have joined them, but let’s face it, I’m too old for this crap now!
Bonnie: I didn’t hear a thing. I probably had water in my ears from the previous morning.
Janet: We left “Fire and Ice” around 2:00 am. It probably was the remnants of one of the wedding parties that we saw there. They were still going great guns when we left.
Bonnie: Cindy and Shane were having breakfast, and I told them I would be down as soon as I had showered and dressed. Hannah woke up when I came in the room so Craig went downstairs (no doubt) to fire up another political conversation.
Shane: HEAVY sigh
Cindy: ((((just grinning))))
Bonnie: Actually, he was probably reading the newspaper and eating a pre-breakfast.
Shane: PRE-breakfast? Wow! Meal times at your house must be sumthin' else!
Cindy: I told you OBSESSED!
Kimmi: Don’t you know about second breakfast?
Cindy: And elevensies..
Bonnie: Every Saturday morning for breakfast, Craig makes awesome homemade whole-wheat blueberry (or strawberry) pancakes with whipped cream. At any rate, back to the story.
Hannah and I arrived somewhere between 8:15 am and 8:30 pm. I was standing at the juice decanter when I saw David appear. (I’m not sure where he came from.)
Shane: "Heaven...I'm in Heaven”...
Cindy: Now you are Fred Astaire?
Bonnie: I didn’t think he was Eric Clapton.
Cindy: It was a nice way to start your day!
Bonnie: David approached the beverages. He had a mischievous smile, and I thought, “Okay buddy…” and I said, “Good morning, Mr. Jones!” He said, “Hey, how ya doing? Hey, thanks for all that stuff you sent me.” I said, “You’re welcome. We had fun doing it.” (He has no idea!) He said, “I’m working on the form…” I knew exactly what he was talking about, and it wasn’t IRS. I said, “That’s good. Take your time.” and he was gone. Dorothy thought people came and went quickly in Oz!
About fifteen minutes later, David reappeared again. Once again, I was back at the orange juice. Anita Bryant (Cindy’s cousin) would be proud of me. I said, “Hey, that was a great show last night. You were so funny!” He started to chuckle at himself as if to say, “Yeah, I’m not sure where it all came from…” I said, “I loved that bit about ’raining cats and dogs’ with the meowing cats and barking dogs.” He said, “Yeah” and then said something about another odd language expression, “hard as nails”, I think.
David came over to our table before departing. I was going to ask him to join us, but it was obvious his bagel was “to go”. He chatted with us for a few moments, and as he was leaving he said he would “drop the interview in the mail tomorrow” (tomorrow on Jones’ watch). I am still waiting, David! [“There’s always tomorrow for dreams to come true.”] He must have been reconsidering his answers because as he was headed towards his luggage, he said he was “being silly”, and he was “going to do it over”. Cindy and I spoke simultaneously, “No! Leave it! We like ’silly’!” He looked at us like, “You crazy lot...you would!” He said it was nice to see us (vice versa), and he thanked us for coming. And then, Elvis left the building.
Cindy: David almost did join us I think. He stood at our table and chatted about winterizing the house in PA and everyday things. There’s just never enough time to have a proper conversation.
Shane: Of course, Kimmi slept through the whole thing. Say it with me folks, "Ya snooze, ya loose!"
Kimmi: I’ll survive.
Bonnie: Wasn’t that what Gloria Gaynor said, too? Imagine that; wrong group! The Gang departed in shifts with (surprise surprise) the Borgh family checking out at 11:00 am.
Shane: Well, technically, my bus didn't leave Chicago until noon, but I was out of Orland Park by that time. Chalk it up to my experience from last year. I gave myself plenty of time to get a cab and get to the downtown bus terminal.
Bonnie: The breakfast area was closed by the time we left and uninhabited. It was like looking at one Charles Peterson’s memory pictures. The images of our Close Encounter of the Jones Kind filled my thoughts and Hannah said, “Mom, what’s wrong?” I said, “Nothing honey.”
Cindy: A half hour out of town the guy on the radio said we should please excuse him for being a little hoarse this morning. He had been to a Davy Jones concert the night before; There’s your sign!
Bonnie: It was truly a wonderful weekend. Janet and Tom worked very hard to coordinate the booksigning and concert, and I am thrilled that once again, “Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow would keep us from a Monkees’ show.” This time, my umbrella stayed in the trunk!
Shane: Nope. Not bitter. Never bitter. I wouldn't dare.
Janet: Thank you. Tom and I did work very hard to coordinate everything from the booksigning to David’s media appearances on Friday, and oh yes, THE concert. I was heartened to see as many fans come to Harrison’s to show David their love and support.
Bonnie: Thanks to you, too, David for appreciating our “crazy lot”. Remember...it’s the Isle of Capri in Bettendorf!
Shane: My thanks to Janet, Tom, David and da band, as well. Also thanks to my fellow road warriors who make these trips the incredibly insane adventures that they always turn out to be. Love ya all. David also remember that Waterfest and Oshkosh wants you back, too!
Janet: While I so appreciate all of your thanks, the thanks really should go to David and The Davy Jones Band. Memories were made that weekend…not only with all of us, but for the hundreds of people that attended the events and saw and heard David on the TV and radio. Had it not been for our love and admiration for David, none of us would probably have ever met. Thank you to my fellow “road warriors” for supporting our church’s fundraiser and for all the fun, all the time. Thank you to the members of The Davy Jones Band...but mostly...THANK YOU DAVID!!! Hope to see your back in IllinoiS real soon!
Kimmi: Thanks everyone!!
Cindy: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again...I love you guys!!! Thanks Janet, Tom, David, the band, Kimmi Maloney, Shanie the Whiner, Bonnie my sister in crime, Craig and Hannah, and Kevin. Let’s do it again real soon.
Bonnie: Amen! Good night, John Boy!
