Welcome Out-of-Towners II

I had mentioned on July 22 that I had no photograph of an old friend of mine Shannon Zura. My sister Tammie had read this comment and dug up a few for me to post here.

If I remember correctly, Tammie was visiting me while I was attending college in Oklahoma. She was currently in high school and taking a photography class. Tammie had taken these two photographs and developed the film herself. I have an over-exposed copy of Photograph #1.

In this photograph are Bert Ballou, Shannon Zura, and Tammie is up front. I was living with Bert Ballou at the time. This photograph would have been taken in 1995. I had just returned from BTF and the Drama League. Bert had a nice condo. Besides Bert and I, we also had Tanja Rice and some other chick living with us (I can't remember her name). I'm not too sure what ever happened to Bert Ballou. I've tried looking him up on MySpace and Facebook, with no results. The last I heard of Bert, he was working for some theatre in Oklahoma City. So, with that said, if anyone reading this knows of his whereabouts, please let me know. I'd love to get in touch with him.

Shannon Zura and Bert Ballou 1995

Shannon Zura, as you all very well know, currently works at the University of Southern Maine as a professor of Stage/Lighting design. Shannon's a great gal...at least she used to be. I have to imagine she still is. Shannon was as genuine as anyone could be. No frills. No bull-shit. What you see is what you get. Shannon and I attended college together. We studied Theatre Arts together.

UPDATE


Reggie Choquette is moving to Las Vegas this weekend. I am so excited! I haven't seen Reg since 1994 when he visited me while I was working for the Drama League. We've stayed in touch over the years (off and on). Now that he's only going to be 7 hours away, we will be sure to see each other again. Plus, going to visit Las Vegas is a great excuse to take off and see him. I love Las Vegas! I'm not too sure what he's doing in Las Vegas. I have to imagine that he found employment at one of the casinos. He's been working as a black jack dealer in Tennessee for the last year or so.


Well, we're off to Elitch Gardens tomorrow. And, like all of the years past, it will rain this weekend.


Listen:


Kelly and I have been taking Johnny to Elitch Gardens for the last six years and every year that we take him, it rains.

Johnny's first trip to Elitch Gardens

Elitch Gardens is part of the Six Flags' chain. I'm not too fond of the crowds, but I do enjoy the rides. This year will be different. The minimum height requirement for most of the rides is 48". This year, Johnny will be able to ride all but one ride (he's now 52" tall!). He's so excited that he can hardly contain himself! This reminds me of an incident when we last visited New York. Johnny was so excited to visit the Empire State Building, and after standing in line for 2 hours, once we got to the top he just broke down crying with joy. Poor kid. I'll make sure to post plenty of photographs from our trip.


This is a pretty short trip that we're taking. Just two days. We plan on spending Sunday at Elitch Gardens, with day 2 at the Water Park. This all depends on the weather. Who knows? Because of the weather, we may end up at the Natural History Museum or Denver Art Museum. Barb Brady was able to score me a sweet deal at the Staybridge Suites ($159 for $300 suites), so there will be no need for us to stay with Sister Tammie, although we will end up visiting. Kelly's never seen Tammie and Cody's new house or hard-wood floors. Tammie doesn't live too far from Park Meadows, so I'm sure we'll go over and raid the fridge.


Anyway...Time to start getting for work. The A-Team is attending Kent Bozarth's wedding this weekend, so I'm running the show today. Oy...