Part 1 - The Benefit - Throckmorton Mining Company
by Trish McLeod   1/27/02

Thursday, January 24th, the Throckmorton Mining Company in Dallas, Texas and Survivor Brandon Quinton  sponsored an AIDS benefit which included appearances by the entire cast of Survivor Africa.  Net proceeds from this event were donated to the Resource Center of Dallas and the Walt Whitman Community School.  I made the trip from New Orleans to Dallas to attend and it was well worth the journey.

Thursday evening the doors opened at 5:30 PM but my group did not arrive at Throckmorton until after 8 PM.  The Survivors were scheduled to arrive at 10:30.  It was jam packed in the club, which reminded me of House of Blues, if you've ever been to one of those, you get an idea of how small and cozy this event was.  

We stood near the bar chatting with some friendly folks while 2 transvestite MCs entertained. The crowd was a mixture of women and couples along with the local Throckmorton regulars.  There was a roped off VIP section of tiny tables squeezed tight in the center of the floor.  There were two long tables on the stage with 8 seats at each table and name cards visible, so I knew then, all 16 contestants would be there for sure.

The Survivors arrived early via limo at around 10:00 PM, they walked across the stage waving and went directly up stairs for photo ops.  Most were dressed to kill and all seemed pumped and ready to party. Teresa had on a stunning, reddish-pink lame dress.  Kim Powers wore an awesome pink, leather skirt outfit and had her hair in pig tails like she wore in Africa.  Kelly's dress was long, red and said "Sex Instructor Certification".   Kim Johnson  wore a black pant suit, Linda looked great, too. All of the ladies looked fabulous.   Tom had on jeans and a t-shirt, a black bowler hat with red feather.  (I later learned that his luggage was lost by the airlines).  Lex wore tight, red pants, a studded belt and white muscle shirt.   I spotted Lex's wife, Kelly van den Berghe, across the nightclub but didn't get a chance to introduce myself because it was logistically impossible.  Brandon's mother and Kelly Goldsmith's father were also in attendance.  Click Here for an official Photo of the Cast

Cameras were strictly forbidden, however some folks were able to snap off a few clandestine photos.  The MCs kept warning that if you were caught with a camera you would be banned from the bar.

The Survivors came down from the photo opp promptly at 10:30 and took their places at the two tables as they were introduced.  They were all seated as they are seated at the live finale.... first voted off, 2nd voted off, etc at back table, jury at front table, etc.  Diane at one end of the back table, Kelly at the other.  Brandon was seated directly in front of Diane, Ethan was at the other end of the front table. Many of them were boozing it up, some just had water.  Kim Johnson stumbled onto the stage, the whole place erupted in laughter...I think she had a Smirnoff Ice...she appeared to be embarrassed.  Frank had two Corona beers, one in each hand.  So, yes, Frank can party!

A question and answer session and an auction took up the most part of the Throckmorton show. Auctioned items included:  Clarence's signed underwear, special signed contestant t-shirts, signed cast photos,  3 of Carl's signed photos that he took while on Safari in Africa.  At one point they asked Tom to come down and dance (to dueling banjos).  Most of the guys in the bar were smitten with Silas (remember, this IS a gay bar) so they raised 800 bucks to have him take his shirt off.   They asked Kim Johnson to show her thong but she said it was up at EBAY.  

Lex offered for all the guys to drop their pants if the money was right.  Lex, Tom, Frank, (yes, Frank!) Ethan and Clarence dropped their pants for $850 bucks. Lex had on the black, tight boxer-briefs that he wore on the show, Frank wore loose boxers, I couldn't see the others.  Silas and Carl refused... said they weren't wearing underwear.  Clarence mooned (and I mean full moon!  dropped his pants and underwear! ) the room for bids, I forget how much money he raised  for that.  When I looked up and saw his bare butt I did a double take!  So it was not the type of auction that I had envisioned!!!  The attention was definitely on the men this night.  It was pretty wild and  I was half expecting  someone to strip down nude. The auctioning continued for quite some time, the Survivors were very upbeat and in a party mood, great sports and put on a spectacular show.

The downside was that too much time was spent on introducing the mayor, local politicians, zzzzzzzzz, yawwwwwn..... giving Brandon the key to the city (well deserved! cheers to Brandon for organizing this event and also to all the Survivors for appearing), giving gifts to the Survivors (some didn't get a gift, go figure, none of them opened their gifts).  Brandon stepped down from his seat to speak and to thank the sponsors, his fellow Survivors, and give out the gifts.  He was SUPER nervous and admitted to it, he was shaking like a leaf.   I thought he was about to cry... he was very overwhelmed with gratitude.

Later I saw that Diane and Jessie (they were sitting at the end of the back table) could be reached at their seats if you walked around to the other side of the bar and pushed your way through the crowd.  I made my way through the crowd and got Diane's attention and introduced myself.  She shook my hand from her seat.  I gave her a t-shirt to pass around the two tables to have everyone sign but it got lost. It was a  Survivor crazed crowd, people screaming at Diane and Jessie from that side, throwing them T-shirts (they sold plain black and white Survivor t-shirts for 30 bucks, that you could have signed).

Part 2 - The Autograph Session - The Village

At 1 am the Survivors were ushered over to a different club, down the block from Throckmorton, for a second show and what was supposed to be an autograph session.   I did not understand this agenda, unless they just wanted to pack out all their clubs. This other club, The Village, had an 18-21 year old crowd with dance-trance music blasting, lights flashing, couples on the dance floor.

The music went off and the Survivors came out and on this stage they had one long table.  Sitting in order:  Diane, Carl, Silas, Clarence, Brandon, Kim P, Tom, Kim J., Ethan, Lex, Teresa, Frank, Kelly, Lindsey, Linda, Jessie.  There was another short question and answer and auction.   A lucky 100 or maybe more of us charmed individuals were allowed backstage into an autograph session line that would only last 1 hour.  I was VERY disappointed to learn that you could only get ONE autograph from ONE contestant. While we were in line backstage some of the Survivors would pop back there for a cigarette break or breather and sign autographs for free. 

When it came my turn to choose the one contestant,  I made sure that I strategically chose someone at the beginning of the table because security actually escorted you to the contestant that you chose.  I picked Silas because he's cute and he was near the beginning.  When I was escorted to Silas by security Diane recognized me and stood up and shook my hand again, I shook Carl's hand.  Carl is an extremely handsome man.  If I had chosen Linda or Teresa (which I really wanted) they would have escorted me to near the end of the line and I probably would not have gotten to speak to all of the contestants.  

Silas was adorable and very sweet.  He asked, "How do you want this signed"  I said, "To Trish at Survivor Fever."  Silas said "Ohhhhh is that youuuuuuuuuu?????"....  I smiled and said "Yep! that's me". 

After Silas signed my photo I spoke to each Survivor on my way down the line and out of the autograph session.  I asked Ethan to sign my T shirt.  I don't even remember him signing it... Why?.....Because Tom was seated near Ethan.  I suddenly went under some mysterious spell and looked at Tom and I said, "I  loooooooove you", Tom said "I love you too, baby!"   At first I thought this was just flirting but the more I think about it...it had to be love at first sight!   I walked closer to him and Tom and I exchanged a few more words.... He asked if I had something I wanted signed.  I told him no, (one autograph rule)  I should have explained to him that I couldn't.  I definitely would have paid 5 bucks for an autograph from each of the Survivors.  Apparently time was an issue and the autograph session was limited to one hour, hence the one autograph rule.

The Survivors seemed bored and confused.  Most of them were just sitting there doing NOTHING and looking bewildered and tired.  Carl kept checking his watch.  This one autograph rule was totally BIZARRE and left many fans dismayed, however, the Survivors were extremely patient and kind to the fans and always willing to sign for free if you could catch up with them backstage.

I was very fortunate that security allowed me to stop by and speak to each Survivor.  Teresa and Linda seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say, I was very impressed with those two ladies. Linda listened intently, as I told her that she's an inspiration, she smiled hugely....seemed to appreciate my words to her.  And Kelly Goldsmith!!!  I told her who I was, "hey Kelly I'm Trish from Survivor Fever"....and her eyes got HUGE,  ..... she said "OMG!.....that's you????"  then she stood up reached across the table and she gave me a big hug!  Said she has always enjoyed this website.

I was really very fortunate to speak with each Survivor as chaotic  and crowded as it was.  The Survivors were all very gracious and upbeat although you could tell that by this late hour they were all ready to wind down, as was I.  It was a great night, all 16 Survivors together, imagine that!

Cheers to all 16 Survivors, to Brandon and to the event sponsors and Throckmorton/Caven management for a very successful and a grand event!  So that's it.... a very nice ending to a great Survivor 3 season!

Special thanks to Rick and Roger for the advance tickets.

Thanks to wonka-kida18@hotmail.com and maxhaz for the photos