Thanks for letting us know, Nancy. Everyone I'm rooming with is covered, but this is good to know because there are some people I'm aware of who haven't sent in their fees yet. I'll urge them to hurry up! This is going to be so exciting, though! Wow! I'll bet it's going to be SRO!

Bay leaf salad? Nah -- you can't eat them. Tea? Yes, as someone said, that makes much more sense. As to eating salad, Josette would have probably eaten that on Martinique because they were French. The French were THE arbiters of all things food back in those days, unlike the English and their colonist cousins. A dressing would simply have been a simple vinaigrette or a more complicated homemade mayonnaise.

Okay, show of hands here -- I'm all for asking Nancy to please reconsider her position on the fandom. After all, if it weren't for her tireless work behind the scenes, we wouldn't be treated to seeing Jonathan Frid at all this year, fest or otherwise.

Nancy, we are a cantankerous bunch, myself among those who groused about this not being an actual "festival." That doesn't mean, though, that we're unappreciative. When I first heard Frid was going to be the "mystery" guest, I was ecstatic. I'd long ago given up hope that he'd ever attend anything DS-related and that I'd ever get to see him. Thanks to you, that is exactly what's going to happen! My sincere gratitude!

Believe me, when Jonathan stands on that stage, and you see the fans cheering and doing a standing ovation, I think you'll be more than pleased with what your efforts brought and how much delight and joy you've given us fans. I do hope so!

Thanks for your observations, adamsgirl.  I certainly have seen some goodnatured bantering between JF and Lara on earlier Fest tapes, so I would like to think Lara was making a joke when she made that comment after Jonathan's call at last year's Fest, and since you were there you would have had a much better idea of what transpired then, so thanks.

My pleasure, Miranda. I will say this, though: Some people who also witnessed it took offense. As you can tell, I wasn't among them. I think, and this is just an opinion, some Frid fans are just overly sensitive -- LOL!

The people I feel sorry for, and this is what prompted my initial reaction, are those fans who actually spend an entire year from festival to festival planning their costume gala participation. I don't number myself among them, but they're out there. I can't imagine how disappointing it must be for someone who's spent time and money sewing some incredible costume (last year, there were some young women who had phenomenal period costumes made by their mother) and not get to wear it and show it off. There's also one lady (her name escapes me) who spends a year working on some kind of dance. Some might call these things hokey or whatever, but they mean a lot to the people who do them. Still, as I said before, I understand time constraints and the nature of this event.

Oh, and as for those people who claim to be relatives or to have some terminal illness, that's just sad! Then again, I've seen some crazed people at these festivals, and thankfully, they seem to be in the minority.

Well, bottom line for me is, I'm glad there is an event at all. I was worried there wouldn't be anything at all any more since we'd discussed on another thread that last year's festival in Brooklyn was a financial disappointment. Am I disappointed it's not an all-out fest? Sure, but that doesn't mean I won't attend or not enjoy myself. When it was announced that Frid was the mystery guest, I was ecstatic, and I'm not a rabid Barnabas fan as some others are. I guess I fall into the category MB pegged as a general DS fan -- the whole magilla, so to speak. However, since he hasn't been to a festival in over a decade, this truly is a mega-event, and it's thanks to him there's a Dark Shadows to commemorate in the first place!

As for Jim Pierson's personal feelings, I don't know the man intimately and have only met him in passing at festivals. I would hope, though, that were he to make any decision regarding these festivals/events continuing, it WOULDN'T be based on personal feelings but on practical considerations.

Well, from where I sit, it seems very convenient to fall back on this as an "event" as opposed to a full-fledged festival so that the fans can accept getting short-shrift where other actors' attendance is concerned, as well as the few fan participation events that normally take place being eliminated. Still, I realize that there are only so many hours in a day, so shortening this "event," or whatever one wishes to call it, to a day and a half really did the trick.

adamsgirl, do you know if the Collinsport Players will be performing?

I really don't know, Midnite. I tend to doubt it if they've pulled the Gala. Generally, the skit would go on right before the gala. Of course, when I know for sure, I'll let you and everyone else know.