Dallas 30th Anniversary Reunion at Southfork
November 6-8, 2008, Parker, TX
I arrived in Texas on Thursday, November 6th, full of hope and enthusiasm at the prospect of meeting Larry Hagman again, in his home state, at Southfork Ranch, one of the filming sites of his most famous television series, Dallas. Thursday evening I headed out to Southfork with Kimberlee and Maria, to get some outdoor photos of the famous property before the crowds arrived. This is a must-see destination for any Dallas fan! We had the last tour which unfortunately meant we were up against the clock. We got the Dallas museum exhibit on video and photographs, then hopped on a golf cart to the main house. After a short presentation by a tour guide, we were allowed to roam around. I stayed outside, anxious to get photos before the sun went down. The tour guide who had driven us to the house was pressuring us to leave, because he had to close up. I ran around to the front of the house and got some photos. I never got to see the inside of the house, which was nothing like it was on Dallas, making it a low priority for me. Kimberlee and Maria did see the inside, and I managed to climb the outside stairway to the balcony overlooking the pool. Couldn't miss that shot! Although everything, especially the pool, looked smaller than it did on the show, it was an amazing feeling just to be there, to see it with my own two eyes.
On Friday we took a side trip to Larry Hagman's home town of Weatherford. A fairly long drive (this is Texas, after all), first stop was the "Welcome to Weatherford" sign. Such tourists we were! It was a beautiful day. Everything was surprisingly green for us northerners! We soon found the home Larry Hagman lived in as a small child, which belonged to his grandparents, as well as his father's former home, where Larry spent his high school years. The two are close by, which allowed us to walk around the neighborhood, a mix of fancy and more modest homes. There are many beautiful old Victorian homes in the area. At one point we ran into an older gentleman who knew Larry and his family. He said Larry Hagman walks just like his father!
We stopped at Greenwood Cemetery, and found the Martin family plot. There was a low fence surrounding the final resting places of Larry's mother, Mary Martin, along with her husband, parents and brother. Other Martin graves were nearby, all from the same family, dating back to the 1800s. Finally, we headed for the Weatherford Public Library, to see the statue of Mary Martin as Peter Pan. What a nice tribute to her!
Dallas was next. Like most cities, it was a nuisance to find parking, since we only wanted to snap photos and run. We found the "Ewing Oil Building" which is a bank. We got a few shots of it from a nearby lot without parking the car, then found a metered spot on the street near the building. Security chased us away, saying photos were not allowed. That man was kept busy that day, with all the Dallas fans arriving for the Barbeque on Saturday! We walked across the street where he couldn't get us, and got some more photos. As we were leaving, I managed to get a few shots of the Dallas Skyline at a read light.
On Friday night, we met up with other fans at the Southfork Hotel bar. It was great seeing fans I had met the month before at the Fan Source event, as well as new ones. Many are regular posters on the Ultimate Dallas forum. All were exited about the upcoming Ewing Barbeque at Southfork the next day!
What was to be a dream vacation, the ultimate event for a Dallas fan, turned into a string of broken promises. The first sign of trouble came before noon, when we arrived at Southfork to pick up our tickets. They were not ready! It took several hours before we were able to get them, which turned out to be just the beginning of our problems. The delay in receiving our tickets caused a time crunch, since some of us had brought a change of clothes for the event. Luckily for us Southfork Tourism Sales Manager Sally Peavy went out of her way to make sure we were taken care of. She drove us to the Museum and gift shop building to use the bathroom there, and arranged a ride back for us as well!
Back in the ticketing area, I saw a J.R. Ewing impersonator, who does bear a resemblance to Larry Hagman. A woman came up to him, telling him how much she loves his shows! He had to break it to her that he is not really Larry Hagman!
We had Cocktail Hour tickets, and were on line well before the 3pm start of the event. Security was in place, with metal detectors. They did not even start to screen people until 3pm, cutting into our Cocktail Hour time. Little did we know that there wasn't going to be any Cocktail Hour! The seat assignments were to be based on the time the tickets were ordered, within the first few minutes in our case. Luckily, we did arrive early and got to our assigned seats while the numbers were still up. But the rules were changing on the fly, and event volunteers were taking down the table numbers as we arrived. It was to be open seating! We would end up having problems with squatters at our table refusing to move until Southfork staff had them moved. The Cocktail Hour tickets were advertised to be limited to 100, but over 350 were sold.
There were no announcements and no one had any idea what was going on. We did see some of the cast arrive outside, with fans and the media quickly crowding around them. Kimberlee got to meet Linda Gray, who hugged her. Larry was not there at that time. After the fact, I found out that the media was interviewing the cast from 3pm -4pm, taking up half of the time the fans with Cocktail tickets were to have with them. The media was very intrusive throughout the evening, making it very difficult to get near the stars.
After wandering around trying to figure out what was going on, I moved to the front of the house, where Maria spotted me and told me about the line to get photos with the Dallas cast. That was not announced, you had to just find it! One of the nice women from Southfork suggested we go up to the balcony overlooking the pool to get photos of the cast. We took turns doing that. With my 100-400mm lens, which served me well that day, I got some decent close-ups. No one was checking if people on line were entitled to a photograph or not, leading to some getting photos who shouldn't have. When we approached the area where the photos were taking place, we saw how bad the situation really was. They had placed two chairs in front of the cast, and were plopping people into them, taking a quick shot, and sending them on their way. That just would not do! Maria told one of the woman there that we wanted our photos next to Larry, and thankfully she obliged. When my turn came, I put my arm around Larry and rested my head on his chest, as is my custom. Larry seemed to be in a daze, I don't know if he even recognized me! Unfortunately, this was to be my only contact with him that night. Witnesses to the photo session reported that Larry Hagman was not happy with the way the photo session was going. So, I guess I was lucky he didn't take it out on me! The only bright spot is Kimberlee managed to get a photo of me with the Dallas cast. After my photo was taken, I stood on a chair to take some photos of the actors. At one point Larry Hagman looked directly into my camera. I guess he spotted that big white lens of mine! Shortly afterwards, they announced a five minute break, which turned out to be permanent! Some people paying up to $1000 to meet the cast of Dallas didn't even get a photo!
The red carpet was next, also unannounced. I worked my way through the crowd, and crouched down in front of people so they could shoot photos over me. After a long wait, the actors started to arrive. Many turned and posed for photos, but the lighting was tricky. Once again, the press was in the way, grabbing them for interviews. Some lucky fans close to the ropes got autographs and more. All of the Dallas stars came down the red carpet accept the one I most cared about, Larry Hagman. Where was he? Giving people helicopter rides! Several helicopter rides were auctioned on eBay to benefit White Bridle Humane Society. These were supposed to have taken place earlier in the day, before the Barbeque was to start. Instead, it turned out to be one of many activities that took time away from fans, and was unfair to the winners of the helicopter ride auctions as well. They took place after dark! So we waited for Larry to walk down the red carpet. And waited. The temperature was dropping fast, and I was shaking from the cold. Finally Larry Hagman arrived, but, unlike the other Dallas cast members, he was surrounded by security and forced down the red carpet at a brisk pace. He couldn't have stopped for fans if he wanted to!
I grabbed my jacket and went for food. Most of it was gone, and so were the forks! I had corn and beans and a little bit of meat, which wasn't too great. The cast eventually appeared on the balcony overlooking the pool. My big lens came in handy once again, giving me some nice shots. Most of the cast did not mingle at the tables as promised. I saw Steve Kanaly, who graciously autographed my Dallas book. Thank you, Steve! I heard Susan Howard was also meeting with fans, but unfortunately I didn't get to see her. I'm actually glad Larry didn't try to go out into the crowd. Too many people wanted to meet him, and it was a mob scene. Not safe for him at all!
Finally, the highlight of the evening, the Q&A on stage. I was close enough to get some really nice photos, when I could avoid the bright lights shining down at us instead of the stage. I was not sure where the microphones for the fans were, or the rules for asking questions, so I just concentrated on photos. This part of the evening was entertaining, but behind us was utter chaos. Many people from the lower priced sections of the event came into the VIP section to get a closer look at the stars, crowding people and getting in the way. Luckily we were at a table close to the stage, and no one bothered me, probably assuming I was with the media because of my camera. The Q&A was followed by the presentation of keys to the city of Parker by Joe Cordina, Mayor, to each member of the cast of Dallas. An auction of Mario Della Casa's beautiful paintings of the Dallas cast followed. The paintings were being auctioned for charity, and a few sold for over $10,000! Some of the cast signed the paintings for the winners. One in our group bought a painting, and Kimberlee managed to get on stage to say goodbye to Linda Gray!
The evening ended for most of us with fireworks and a goodbye from the Dallas stars. They left for yet another press conference. I left at this point, cold, tired and hungry. I later heard that the promised concert did in fact occur, once again without an announcement. The poor singer, Billy Joe Shaver, apparently a replacement for the advertised "Asleep at the Wheel", didn't have much of an audience!
This was the most badly bungled, out of control event I have ever been to! True Ewing Barbeque style, one guy even ended up in the pool!
While the Dallas 30th Anniversary Reunion took place at Southfork, they unfortunately did not organize or run the event. The Reunion was run by Austin Media Group. The staff of Southfork Ranch went above and beyond to smooth over problems at this event. They are professional event planners, and it saddens me that all of the negative feedback the Dallas Reunion has received may reflect negatively upon them. I was very impressed with Southfork, and would not hesitate to hold or attend an event there.
For the complete story of a series of Larry Hagman events, see About This Site.