Thanks to EVERYONE who sent in their pics!
SemiSilver writes:
Last Sunday, my friend Combeferre and I, drove the 1 and a half hour confusing drive (thanks to wonderful Mapquest) to Winchester, Virginia for the Annual Apple Blossom Festival (and I wore my spiffy Goonies Shirt, just for the occasion!). This year, Special guests Loni Anderson (who wasnt very crowd friendly) and Sean Astin were to be the Grand Marshals of the festival and were to ride in the parade along with Soap Star Eva LaRue, and other celebrities like Chevy Chase and Kwame Jackson, runner up of the Apprentice.
We arrived around 12:30 ish, and wandered the streets that the parade floats had adorned. We saw nothing that Sean Astin could possibly be gracing his presence with.
So we moved on. Untill we noticed (some 45 minutes later) that a large crowd had gathered in a parking lot lined with convertible cars of all assorted models. We figured that was a good place to investigate. And aren’t we glad we did! Because therwe near the front was a really nice, old convertible labeled with banners saying “SEAN ASTIN, Sam, The Hobbit” Which I thought was rather comical. We waited, gathered with other Sean Fans (and a huge fan girl group that had Sean Astin written all over themselves in a bunch of different places) and before we knew it, there were a few screams and “There he is!” shouts.
Needless to say, I think my heart momentarily stopped. I have been a fan of Sean’s since I was 7, and I am now 21, so…you do the math 🙂
So here he comes, along with his wife and two daughters. He has such a beautiful family, and I could just eat his kids up. (Don’t look at me like that, it is a figure of speech!) 🙂 And people, no joke, FLOODED around the car. It was like releasing a dam at the begining of the Nile River… Everyone was shouting “Sean Sean!” and it got a bit rediculous. The security started stepping in a bit. People were asking him to sign things, and he had to decline, regretfully because Security wouldn’t allow it. (I wont say anything…) But Sean managed to respond to all the “Seans!” and made eyecontact with whoever he could, and someone gave him a monopoly One Ring on a chain, which I kind of had to laugh at, because honestly, HOW MANY TIMES do you think hes gotten a version of the one ring? LOL. But Sean was very generous, and said “I thought we destroyed this thing!” and of course everyone laughed.
Thats when they started the car and pulled out onto the main drag where the parade would begin. Only, they stopped in the street, and more people realized who it was, and since they weren’t moving, more people went to the car. And he still made sure to chat with everyone.
That’s when he looked at me. And he kept looking at me. I tugged down my Goonies shirt so it was readable and he smiled. So of course, I said “Rock on! He saw my shirt!” And again he was distracted away by people screaming his name. Thats also when I noticed that Combeferre was at the car shaking his hand and speaking with him! I hadn’t even noticed she had left me on the sidewalk and gone over! So I contemplated getting yelled at to go over, when Combeferre returned to me and informed me that he was leaving straight from the Festival to go to The White House in Washington, DC. So… he would most likely not be able to sign anything later. She also told me I should go to the car, and my reluctance was begining to fade. So I took a breath and walked to that car. And he looked at me and smiled (He is SO nice, lemme tell you!) And I said extremely chipperly “Hi Sean!”
To which he replied “Hi! How are you!?” I told him I was well and explained that I had been a fan of his for 15 years, since Goonies was released and I saw it for the first time. To which he said “Oh wow! Thank you! I was admiring your shirt way over there!” And I said “Oh! Thanks! I loved the Goonies!”
Before I could open my mouth to praise his Sam, the car began to move, so before I walked back, I asked him if I could take a picture, which he said yes to, and I extended my hand, and he shook it with a big Sean Astin Grin that I absolutely adore.
It was a fabulous day. The weather was great, the Hobbit Karma was great, and aside from sunburned arms and face, I am feeling extremely well! Once I get the pics scanned I will definately send them in. Take Care everyone and have a hobbit day!
