Absolute Rollerfest '96 Organizers:

Cathy Rice(left) & Becky Mosley (right)

The day started out sunny and beautiful, and knowing I was on my way to Bay City made the sun seem to shine even brighter. As my friend Sandy and I headed north on US23, the traffic started to get heavy. We had left home at 4:30 for what should have been a 1-1/2 hour drive, but it ended up taking us a lot longer. Cathy Rice rang me on my cell phone at about 6:10, "I'm stuck in traffic!!" I told her. I was so anxious to get there. Cathy gave me our room number, so when I got there, I was pretty sure which way to go. Bay Valley Resort was beautiful! It was set on a huge golf course with a nearby lake, the hotel itself was very rustic looking, but spectacular at the same time. I was finally there!! I found our room, but Cathy wasn't there. She had told me on the phone to head down to Nicki Sheck's room if I couldn't find her, so I did. On my way down the hall, I noticed that many of the doors had tartan ribbons taped to them! The tartan bandit was busy!

At the end of the hall, there was a door with a big poster on it (mostly photos of Ian with the BCR) and it said, "Rollerfest '96, Bay City or Bust!"

It turned out to be Wendy, Kathy Page and Jeanie's room. Later, we decided to decorate our door with Tartan wrapping paper, a BCR poster and a sign that said "Roller Headquarters." As I got to Nicki's room, I noticed that there was note on the door: "Becky, we're in the bar." I read it outloud with Sandy, and from inside the room, someone heard my voice and came out, it was Mary Sue Nutt! (BCRNutt) Soon, Nicki came down the hall, as well as Kathy Ritchie, (Saxon777.) Before I knew it, I was meeting Ian and Craig, who were in the room next door. I wasn't ready for that! Ian was very nice and thanked us for having him (!) I thanked him too! I went to shake his hand, and then I said "Oh, I think I deserve a hug," and he said "Yea, that's better." I also met Wendy, Kathy Page and Jeanie the Bellydancer. It was great meeting everyone, but I knew I had to find Cathy and get the key to our room. I had to unload my car, especially that big Rollerfest cake that was going to melt before long! When we got to our room, some AOL'ers came to see us with gifts!! Michele Chase (MicMouse63) brought Cathy and I each a t-shirt emblazoned with the famous Japan reunion photo (yes, the one where Ian has a Bud, and has a ciggie hanging from his mouth!) Thanks, Michele! And Laure Antley (ex-Elfquester, et al,) brought us a guest book to put out on the ticket table. You were all so good to us that weekend! Thanks to Caiti, too, for the great tartan picture frames!! As soon as we got our things all put in our room and helped Cathy unload her car, I decided I had to take a shower. That hotel was so toasty!! We found out later that their air conditioning had been malfunctioning (no kidding!) We went back up to the lounge and just about everyone was there. We had not had dinner yet, so Cathy, Sandy and I decided to hit the hotel restaurant...WOW! Their prices were high! Oh well, I managed to find an inexpensive chicken sandwich and it was a little cooler in there, too. Before long, almost all the other Rollerfest people were in the restaurant, ordering up something to eat. While I was raving about the excellent coffee, in walked two more tartan-clad fans, Caiti and Martha! We were growing by the minute.

We all finished up eating and met back up in the lounge where a new bunch of faces had arrived; it was Gina from Chicago, along with all of her friends, some from as far as Florida. Let's see if I can remember all their names; their was Fran, and her husband, and then Lisa, Debbie and Lori, the other Gina, and Vicki. I think that was it, I hope I didn't forget anyone. They brought a bunch of scrapbooks and fbs, etc. LOTS of fun stuff to look at!! These girls were a riot! Everytime they came to a picture of one of the Rollers with a bathing suit, or no shirt, they starting getting wild! We played BCR CD's on Michele's CD player over in the hottest corner in the whole place! (no air, no fan!) I went back up to our room to get the Absolute Rollerfest t-shirts and pass them out to the people who had ordered them, and everyone just loved them. I gave Wendy a bag with the shirt she had ordered for a friend, along with the 3 shirts that we gave to her and Ian and Craig as gifts.

While we sat around getting to know each other, Ian came in! He came right up and started talking to the girls from Chicago and Florida, who were falling on the floor in shock, literally! He just made himself at home with us for a bit, getting to know everyone. Everyone got their cameras out and we all had a chance to get our picture taken with Ian.

Connie got her picture taken with Craig! (You lucky girl, Connie! CRAIGFEST '97! LOL) It was really great for everyone that came a day early to get a chance to meet up with Ian before Saturday's Rollerfest.