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Pittsburgh Says: So Long Springfield…

Celebrating Seven Wonderful Decades of

The Guiding Light

Written by Amy Blank with Carrie Zikeli

"It's the dream you hear about and never truly think it's realistic till it blows your mind."

-Okay, so here it goes… As best as we can remember, here is how the best two days of our lives went - moment by moment, laugh by laugh, tear by tear…

Day One - Saturday, October 24, 2009: Session One (1pm-5pm)

Chapter 1: Waiting and Anticipating

Day One was off to a good start. We arrived at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at 8am and there were only 5 people in front of us in line! Actually, we got there so early that they wouldn't even let us form the line yet, rather had to wait in part of the lobby/hallway. During our 3 hour wait in line until we were allowed to check in/register, we were able to "go shopping" at the merchandise table, purchase expensive food and beverage, or learn about the 2010 Soap Cruise. We let in to temptation and purchased the coffee mugs and blankets, and by spending so much we scored ourselves a free eco-friendly tote! We met some great people in line. One of those ladies had just arrived in the airport herself - bumping into you'll never guess it!!! TOM PELPHREY on the metro!! He was a surprise 11^th cast member!!!! Eeeek!!! It was too good to be true! But she even showed us a picture she took of him for proof!

After trading stories and memories of Guiding Light, we were finally able to check in and grab our seats! We snagged seats in the front row, nice and center! We were getting very anxious - the stoles for the cast members to sit on were only 5 feet away from us!! However, we still had two more hours of waiting. One at a time (to be sure we didn't lose our amazing seats), we went to look at the items for bid - random GL props, an autographed script, dresses worn by Alex, Reva, and Marah, Frank's shirt and shoes, etc. We sat by some ladies we met in line who were from Ohio and some others from Atlanta and Nebraska! Behind us were a few ladies who came all the way up from Florida! Talk about dedication!

At 12noon, one hour until show time a man from Magee women's hospital came to talk to us about Breast Cancer and what do you know?! The one and only, the great Kim Zimmer walks in to share her stories of the breast cancer storyline Reva went through. She also stressed that we should get our mammograms! The breast cancer presentation ended around 12:30. And, at this point, the room (with 1,100 seats!) was yet to be half full! As fans who arrived HOURS earlier, we wondered - where the heck is everyone?!?!!

To help pass the time, Carrie whipped out her video camera to ask various fans where they were from, their favorite character and storyline. However, this didn't last long because the mean lady/assistant to the man in charge, Judi, yelled at Carrie that "there is no video taping allowed." She could have been nicer, especially since no cast members were in the room! About a quarter 'til one the man in charge, Michael Gold, came in to announce that all of the cast members were officially in the hotel! (Some arrived the night prior, while Grant Aleksander was the last to check in.) The room of seats still was not full! We thought well, maybe some people aren't going to show up - a huge plus for us! Shorter autograph lines! But, our luck couldn't be that great, with only five minutes until show time, fans came pouring in to fill up the remaining seats. Moments later in walks Michael Gold and the show was about to begin…

Chapter 2: Heaven on Earth

Michael Gold went over how the day was going to work, first Question and Answer session, and then the Meet & Greet, followed by acting out scenes with the stars. To introduce each actor, a brief clip was shown from the final days of "GL." The fans went crazy with their screaming - us included! First out was Robert Newman! Next, Bradley Cole! Third - Grant Aleksander! And, at this point, I had tears! They were SO CLOSE to us it was unbelievable! Fourth out was Jordan Clarke, then Frank DiCopoulos! Daniel Cosgrove was next, followed by Gina Tognoni, Jeff Branson, and Ron Raines. Kim Zimmer was the last to be introduced - or so we thought! Kim Zimmer said there was another cast member who ended up showing up in Pittsburgh, but she wasn't sure if we'd even care that him/her was here! They showed a clip of Jonathan and the crowd FREAKED OUT as Tom Pelphrey came walking out! He received the loudest cheers from all of the introductions! As each cast member hit the stage, they were allowed a few quick seconds to make a remark before Michael Gold snatched the mic out of their hands so the next person's clip could be shown.

With all 11 cast members on stage (and with Jeff Branson sitting right in front of us) it was time for the 90 minute Question and Answer segment of the afternoon session to take place. Frank DiCopoulos and Danny Cosgrove wondered the crowd to get to those asking a question while a director, Adam Reist, took a seat on stage to help with the answering. While some good questions were asked, most of those told a personal story of how much the show has meant to them/their family. Some stories even had a few cast members tearing up (Kim Zimmer and Gina Tognoni to name a few.) Frankie and Danny were doing a good job covering the crowd, except they were skipping over the front and center people - us! Carrie was dying to ask a question and what do you know? Her IDOL - Kim Zimmer handed her a microphone!! Carrie told a brief story about the day she found out GL was canceled and almost threw up at work, then proceeded to ask her Question - "Why didn't they ever bring Roxie back? And what ever happened to her? They should have brought Roxie back to kick Cassie's butt and to kick Josh's butt!" With a laugh, Kim answered that the actress who played Roxie stopped acting, got married, bought a ranch and now lives in Texas.

Kim was also asked about what it was like to film the fountain scene [%$@@ of Springfield]. After discussing it, she mentioned "there were live fish in the fountains and one of them swam up that lingerie type deal" - to which Tom Pelphrey interrupted with "So thaaaat's what they called it back then!" - causing Kim to cover her face in embarrassment. Another question Kim Zimmer was asked was out of all of the men she's been linked to, who was the best kisser? She answered with Robert Newman, but added that Jordan Clark had the softest lips she has ever felt.

Ron Raines was asked what it was like to play such a villain and if he was that nasty in real life. The same fan said she and her friends referred to Alan as an evil bastard! Ron had a chuckle and said he's nice in real life but acting like a villain was some-what therapeutic. A question was asked about what the fans can do to keep Guiding Light going or to help get our light turned back on. Frank DiCopoulos mentioned the various things we can do and told us how much he wants to keep the show going. He added that the fans deserve to have our Guiding Light back and he truly believes it will somehow come back and to keep our hope. One lady who was picked to ask a question read a poem she had written. It was about apologizing to P&G for being over 50 and even though a consumer of their products, no longer being cared about by the company, who had a target market for those in their teens and twenties for the soap. Kim told the lady she should submit it to a soap digest magazine!

The remaining questions asked during the Question and Answer segment were either ones we already knew the answers to from reading various interviews the cast members have done over the years, or related to what the characters did. One lady asked "What was Jeffrey thinking not ever coming back to Reva since they have a kid together!" Kim jokingly replied "Jeffrey was chasing his real love." Of course, what were the cast members supposed to say to questions about why the characters did certain things? After all, they weren't the ones who wrote the storyline!

Chapter 3: And Little Did We Know, We Had Gone From Heaven to Hell.

Finally, the Question and Answer session was over and it was time to disperse for the Meet and Greet. Michael Gold said that it was set up in an orderly fashion - which got us excited because we knew if the stars were split up there was NO way we would meet them all. But then Michael Gold went on to explain how the lines would work. Did he just say LINES?! As in more than one? Crap. He did! Ugh. The stars were split up in groups of two (with KZ by herself) in various parts of the room. The lines were to form against the walls and through the few aisles of the chairs. Well, let's just say, this did not work at all!! It was MASS CHAOS! On the bright side, Michael Gold made us "look at our neighbors" so we could return to our same exact seats - sweet! We'll still be front and center! We thought it couldn't be that bad and Carrie informed me to run like hell to KZ's line. Well, that wasn't really all that possible. You see, Michael Gold was a bit of a douche bag. "Since I don't like sitting in the back, how about the last 5 rows get up and go get in whatever line you want." Our jaws dropped and we became FURIOUS! "Okay, now the next last 5 rows, go get in line." What the hell!? "Okay, now the rest of you go get in line." And we did just that, mad as all hell, but still full of determination.

After struggling through the massive crowd and tons of empty chairs, we made it to the end of the Kim Zimmer line, which is where we spent our most of our time. (Carrie HAD to meet Reva one more time! And I surely wasn't going to separate from her!) There were so many people and we had to move quickly - we only had time to say "hi" to Ms. Zimmer while she signed for us followed by a super quick picture with her. I wasn't even able to say anything else because there were a huge mob of FEVA (Jeffrey and Reva) fans stealing her attention!

With Carrie and I both through the Kim Zimmer line we quickly debated which line to go to next - Grant Aleksander/Frank DiCopoulos or Robert Newman/Jeff Branson?! We chose Robert and Jeff and headed across the room - fighting through the crowds, coming to a dead stop and an 'unknown' line. I asked someone "whose line are you in?" They replied Robert and Jeff; I asked someone else two people over the same question - only I got a different answer! Carrie was beyond determined and peaked behind the curtain! And she went for it! She walked 1/3 of the room's length behind the curtain to…. find herself still in the crowd. Instead of going with Carrie behind the curtain I fought through the crowd with this crazy Italian elderly women and her Julian Michaels look-a-like daughter (who called Reva Reba and referred to Grant as 'chisel face') to meet up again with Carrie. We discovered that the Robert/Jeff line went out the door, into the hall, and was about 75 people long. Damn. With less than half an hour left in the Meet and Greet portion of the day, we began to lose hope.

The crazy Italian lady and I left Carrie and "Jillian" in the line and went off to see if we could sneak up to the Tom Pelphrey and Bradley Cole line because we had heard Tom was giving out signed pictures of himself. After struggling, we finally made it to Tom Pelphrey! The lady in charge of that line was NASTY!!!! "If you are not on this side of me you do not get a picture or signing from either of these two actors." (And, of course, we were on the WRONG side of her!) The crazy Italian lady tried to sneak in anyways saying "I'm his mother!" It didn't work though, so I said to Tom Pelphrey - "Thanks for coming back to Guiding Light!!!" He smiled, autographed his headshot picture, and slipped it to me. SCORE! I skedaddled back to Carrie!

With the Robert/Jeff line barely moving, it was announced that the Meet and Greet session was over. Disappointed, we returned to our seats! Everyone around us only made it through one line - maybe two! The ladies behind us from Florida didn't make it through any line at all!!!! We all began our %@*%%-fest until Michael Gold returned to the stage to give us his lame excuses for why the Meet and Greet was such a disaster. "We didn't expect this many people." Well, hell… you KNEW you sold 1,100 tickets!!! "No one ever said there were going to be this many actors here." Really? Because the advertisements said ten, there's only one extra… not that big of a deal. "It never said you would meet them all." Yeah, actually, it did. He explained that a few of the complaints he received included that the Grant/Frank line was at a complete dead-stop for a straight 45 minutes. Sure we were all mad, but we weren't about to let this spoil the rest of our day!

Chapter 4: From Yawning to Basking in the Spotlight

Moving along, it was now time for the Acting segment! Woo-hoo! This could be fun! But first, the director, Adam Reist came back onto stage to give us a lecture about how he directs, how the stories are written, and then intertwined to become what you see in each episode. He showed us a clip where he played a waiter at a wedding reception to see if we could pick up on how many cues he gave to the different actors in the scene. He showed the clip again and pointed out said cues. This whole process is about half an hour long, interesting, sure, but not something angry fans necessarily wanted to sit through at that point in time!

Alas!, the acting was about to begin. Adam Reist picked out people from the crowd to match up with each actor. And. OH MY GOD!! Carrie got picked to act with Robert Newman!! She played the part of Olivia! Their scene was up first. I was sure to take as many pictures as possible - especially when Carrie sternly looked down to make sure that was exactly what I was doing. Thank God no one in charge noticed or else they would have taken my camera away from me / kicked me out! Needless to say, Carrie is no Crystal Chappell, but she sure did knock it out of the park! Before Carrie could even get to say a few of her lines, Robert Newman dropped the F-bomb, shocking even himself! He said, "Are you going to *+!%*+* direct, or what?" to the director because he wasn't introducing how the scene was starting out. The entire crowd busted with laughter to which Carrie replied "Isn't Josh a minister?!" Continuing on, Robert explained that the scene picks up right after Olivia and Josh just got done making out. Carrie muttered Natalia's name to which he replied "I think about Natalia too when we make out." More laughs from the crowd! The scene goes on, and a camera man goes onto stage, right behind Robert to which he says "What's he doing here?" and, quick-witted Carrie's response - "He was supposed to stay in the closet!" The crowd went crazy! Robert was even impressed by that! They finished up their scene and exited the stage. A few of the other GL cast members told Carrie that she did a great job as she returned to her seat.

Chapter 5: Acting with the Stars

The scene acting continued, only this time, fans were brought up on stage to act as extras along with a GL actor or two - adding much humor to the scenes. Sometimes this stole the spotlight from the main parts! After Carrie and Robert Newman's scene, Ron Raines was up to act with "Alex." Ron REALLY got into character - it was as if we were watching an episode of Guiding Light. He snapped right into the character of Alan Spaulding! Following Ron was Danny Cosgrove. For this scene, Tom Pelphrey and Gina Tognoni were brought onstage to act as mannequins in the store windows on 5^th Street. At one point in the scene, Danny unbuttoned his pants saying he wanted to try on the clothes worn by the mannequins! Jordan Clarke's scene was next, which he acted with "Vanessa." During this scene, the extras were Danny, Kim Zimmer, and a few audience members who were lying out on the beach. The man with Kim Zimmer was pretending to rub suntan lotion onto her back and all of a sudden Robert Newman leaped onto stage, crawled over to Kim, and completely taking over with the suntan lotion!

The scenes were about to get even hotter! Grant Aleksander was up next, acting with "Alan" - who at one point shouted out "I can't act like this!" Jeff Branson was the extra in charge of the audience extras who were maids polishing silver at the Spaulding mansion. Jeff was supposed to be strict and at one point he took off his belt and pretended to whip the girls! Frank DiCopoulos' scene with "Harley" was up next! It took place at Company. I was one of the audience members picked to be an extra while Bradley Cole took on the role of "Buzz." I didn't get to act out a big part like Carrie - but it was better than nothing! Gina Tognoni's scene was with "Shayne" and they were to be walking along 5^th Street. Audience members were brought onto stage to act as mannequins while Danny Cosgrove was the one to dress and pose them. This became rather humorous as Danny did his part in a #+%!# manner.

Tom Pelphrey acted out his scene with "Tammy" at Towers while trying to get onto the elevator - whose doors were played by Jeff Branson and Gina Tognoni! Other extras acted as those in the elevator as well as those waiting to get into it. Tom also got into the character of Jonathan rather well! Jeff Branson's scene with "Dinah" was next and they were discussing sex and her attempting to become a good person. The extras behind them were sitting at a Steelers game. All of a sudden Jeff got up and sat on top of the lady playing "Dinah!" And then one of the extras came and dry-humped Jeff! She was indeed a trashy lady. Kim Zimmer's eyes got big and you could tell she was disgusted by it! The last scene was Kim with "Josh." They acted out the very last scene from the final episode. When it came time for the 'Jeva' kiss, Kim asked Robert to come onto stage to show the man playing "Josh" how she liked to be kissed! After quite a few seconds of locking lips, he lifted her up and threw her onto the floor - still going at it! The entire crowd was hooting and hollering!

With the skits coming to an end, it was time for the entire cast to gather on stage and get close to pose for a group photo shoot! I thought a picture of all of them together would be neat but with being so close we weren't able to get a shot of all 11 cast members without cutting someone off! Sitting in the front row really sucked! Once the group photo shoot was over, so was the afternoon session of So Long Springfield.

Chapter 6: Restless and Hungry!

We had two hours to waste until the start of the evening session and I was feeling a bit mischievous again! When the stars left the room we were in, they exited through a back door. At this point, just about everyone from the crowd was gone. I really wanted to go through those doors and try to find the cast but Carrie was afraid we would get kicked out! There were a few hotel workers in the room, so I asked the one if the stars were back there and if there was security back there as well. He answered yes to both of my questions. I still wanted to go back there! I told Carrie that if we got caught, all we had to say was 'sorry, we are lost!' - no big deal! She was still worried - we opened the door anyways and it wasn't even the backstage - it was like a kitchen or something! The stars just used this back exit to sneak up to their rooms! With this plan failing, we set out to find some food!

After snacking on some expensive chips and soda, we met up with our friend Michael from Atlanta and talked while we waited in the mob of a line to get back to our seats! Once back in our seats we continued the waiting process. At this point, the "light, strolling dinner" began… kind of. There were about a half dozen waiters who walked around with trays of appetizers that never came to the section we were sitting in! Michael got up for some, and told us they weren't even any good. I was so thankful I splurged for that 3 dollar mini-bag of pretzels! During our "dinner" videos were playing - a collaboration of all of the Guiding Light theme songs (to which just about everyone cried to!), and clips of the good ol' days and favorite past times. A quick shot of Nicole Forester as Cassie was shown and the entire crowd booed! The scene where Rodger raped Holly was shown and everyone gasped! We were waiting so long for the cast to come back out onto stage that the videos were shown TWICE! My stomach was beyond empty and my bladder was beyond full, but I surely wasn't about to get out of my seat and miss a single thing! It wasn't until a bit after 8pm that Peace Belt dude brought the cast out for the night of music and a walk down memory lane to begin!

Day One - Saturday, October 24, 2009: Session Two (7pm-10pm)

Chapter 7: Our Celebration

Once the strolling dinner was over, Peace Belt Dude brought the cast back out onto the stage for the musical portion of the evening session to begin. To kick things off, Adam Reist, the director, sang John Denver's "Country Road." The entire room full of fans were singing along as well as the cast. "Country roads, take me home / To the place I belong / West Virginia, Mountain Mama / Take me home, country roads." Just thinking of those lyrics takes me back to that moment in time - being in that room with the cast and all of the fans, mourning the loss of The Guiding Light.

Next to perform was Bradley Cole, who reminded us that we should also be celebrating the 72 years of history Guiding Light has brought us. He did so with his original song, "Our Celebration" from his latest album. "We're through another place and we're through another door / Our love stood the end of time, it's in the air. / This is our celebration." Bradley continued with his guitar while inviting Kim Zimmer up to the mic to sing Paul Simon's "Me and Julio." Once again, the crowd sang along!

Giving their pipes a break, Ron Raines then took control of the stage. We already knew he could sing since he has various Broadway albums out, but wow! Does he have an amazing voice! His rendition of a Gershwin song blew us away! Up next was Robert Newman, who dedicated the song he sang to both Kim and "Reva." Also mixed into the musical segment was funny man Danny Cosgrove with a made up rap. He definitely had the crowd laughing!

Chapter 8: A Walk Down Memory Lane

Once the singing was over and done with, it was time for us all to take a walk down memory lane. Each cast member shared with the audience some of their favorite memories of scenes they did as well as times spent with other cast members. To start it off, each cast member told the story about their first day. Jeff Branson told us how he almost did not take the part of Shayne after reviewing the tapes of the previous actors who played the character! He decided to go to the screen test anyway and had in his mind how he was going to play the role. He walked in and began to act with Kim Zimmer, and upon looking into her eyes he said he just completely lost everything - all of his ideas were gone! He was so amazed by Kim's acting. Grant Aleksander's first day story was about the time Jordan Clarke told Grant he was sorry he had to share a dressing room with Michael O'Leary (Rick) since it was so messy. Other cast members thought that was funny and interrupted saying it must have been pretty messy for Jordan to say something because Jordan had a really messy dressing room, too! Grant and Michael's friendship was discussed and Grant shared with us how there was a wet bar set up in the dressing room with Margaritas as the specialty drink!

The first day stories continued when Tom Pelphrey shared with us about his first day when he screen tested with Kim Zimmer. After the screen test Kim told Tom she wanted to take him out for a drink, Tom thought to himself "how cool is this? Kim Zimmer's taking me out for a beer!" Kim told him however, that she didn't want him to get the part - he wasn't right for it and he pretty much sucked. The rest of the cast couldn't believe Kim had said such things to him and Kim couldn't believe that he was picked for the part! Kim was becoming embarrassed and Tom continued with his story. She thought this because during the screen test she had looked into his eyes and she saw nothing. However, he was told to play the part like that because the character had an empty life growing up. Tom learned that there was no going behind anyone's back at Guiding Light - that it was all right to your face what people thought of you. Tom thanked Kim for what she taught him as an actor, to which Kim returned the thanks - saying that he had brought life back into her acting.

Ron Raines told us what it was like to act with Marj Dusay (Alexandra). He said she was full of spitfire and would always go off on these tangents with her lines and sometimes he wouldn't even know where she was going! But it was always going somewhere! Jordan Clarke discussed how he would always go home with tons of bruises and his wife would ask what they were from. He explained they were from Kim Zimmer and Maeve Kinkead (Vanessa) who were always hitting him off scene!

Bradley Cole talked about his time as Prince Richard - how he was shot by Edmund and the next day was to film a scene where he sees Cassie on the beach. He was riding in on the white horse and was supposed scoop her up. Laura Wright refused to get onto the horse so he was to just ride it along the beach. He was acting as though he was injured from the shooting but then he was told to act more graceful! He shared with us how the horse was rented and did not like the water (on the shore of San Cristobel). Also, this horse wasn't even white, they had to paint the horse for the scenes. Mid-way through the evening's discussion, Grant Aleksander brought out a tray of drinks for everyone to which Frankie said "Finally! A Spaulding who knows his place in life!" The entire crowd was full of laughter.

The cast then shared stories with us about Larry Gates (H.B.) and other older cast members, such as Justin Deas (Buzz). Kim shared the story of when Reva and Buzz were together and they had a kissing scene. Justin would throw her down for the kiss and he kissed her so hard she was bleeding! Larry Gates was talked about by Robert Newman, Jordan Clarke, and Kim Zimmer. Kim shared with us a time when Larry Gates was putting his pants on and he accidentally ripped the crotch out of them! He was having them sewn back together when they kept calling him out to the set. He finally came out with his cowboy hat, boots, shirt, and boxer shorts on. He said he'd have to be filmed from his waste up. Kim said she laughed so hard that day and that she and Larry always laughed so hard that they would literally pee their pants. Robert Newman discussed when Larry Gates had passed in real life the writers didn't decided to have H.B. die until a few years later. When that story took place, the three of them (Reva, Josh, and Billy) went back to Reva's house after the funeral. They sat there and talked about both H.B. and Larry Gates and cried as they discussed the impact he had on their lives.

Jordan Clarke shared with us a story about how some of the actors would stand around and watch others' scenes. He remembered watching Tammy Blanchard (Drew) act and how he was so amazed by her and thought to himself that she doesn't even know that she's got it. With this, all of us fans agreed that Guiding Light really does have the best actors in daytime.

One of the final stories shared with us was from Kim Zimmer. She talked about her last day in 1990 and she had just met the director since it was his first day. They were about to film the scene where Reva drove off the bridge. She saw all of the ambulances and everything for the scene and realized how much was put into it. She still wasn't sure if she really should be leaving Guiding Light or not. She said to the director "Guess it's too late to change my mind" to which he replied, "Yup. Pretty much."

Chapter 9: Spending Some Time with Our New Friends

The time had come for the night's session to draw to an end, and Frank DiCopoulos made a comment that it was so quiet in the room that you could hear a pin drop. And that was so true, other than some laughing and the sounds of sniffling; everyone was so into listening what the cast members had to share with us. It was like there was no outside world - just us and our memories of Guiding Light. To cap off the evening session, the cast gathered together again for a group photo shoot. After snapping some pictures and watching the cast walk out, we packed up our belongings and headed out of the room as well.

In attempt to meet some of the GL stars, we headed to the bar/restaurant in the Hyatt Hotel. We bumped into some fans that live a bit north of us along with the ladies from Ohio and Florida we met in the wee hours of the morning! We hung out chatting about our memories of GL, sharing the times we remember crying - like when Jenna died - or how we were all so glad Reva ended up with Josh! (Thank the Lord!) After a few hours, we snapped a picture with the friends we made, which we'll never forget - after all, they were right there with us during the best day of our life! We arrived home late at night, sometime after 1am. After preparing for Sunday, I headed to bed to catch just a few short hours of sleep.

Day Two - Sunday, October 25, 2009: Session Three (1pm-5pm)

Chapter 10: Tired and Angry

Sunday wasn't off to too great of a start, I woke up REALLY late - with only 15 minutes to get ready! Crap! With about four hours of sleep I was beyond tired, and still in a bad mood from how the Meet and Greet went the day before, on top of the rumor that the Meet and Greet was canceled for Sunday! We arrived at the Hyatt at 7:30am - and were the first ones there (talk about dedication!). As fans began to trickle in around 8:15am we chatted about favorite memories just as we had the day before, but we also discussed the unfairness in how Guiding Light was cancelled and our extreme dislike for Michael Gold, the man in charge who we all nicknamed "peace belt dude" due to his large peace belt he had on the day before. Peace belt dude was very arrogant, rude, and egotistical the day prior, and he walked in Sunday morning the same exact way chanting "CBS has a new show - it's called the light is out." We all rolled our eyes and went back to talking smack on the man who has successfully ruined our weekend - especially if he decided to cancel the meet and greet! Not only was I tired, I was also angry, was it even worth coming back for day number two? But was I ever glad that I did… but more about why later!

Finally, after a few hours of waiting, we were able to form our lines. One line was for the orange bracelets (for those who purchased tickets for Saturday night and Sunday, and another line for those who purchased tickets for just Sunday.) Since we bought our Sunday tickets on a different date than our Saturday tickets, we were not given an orange bracelet (also because we were there Saturday afternoon, too!). We were the first in line to check in to get our Sunday bracelets. While waiting, the lady advertising the Soap Cruise came up to us and asked if we knew about the 2010 Soap Cruise, Carrie said ''yeah'' and I added "yeah, we were here all morning yesterday waiting." The lady actually recognized us! She asked why we were waiting in that line. I explained the whole colored bracelet ordeal and she told us to hold on a minute because that wasn't right we had to wait in that line and she would try to go do something about it. A few moments later, Judi (the lady who yelled at Carrie for video taping/the assistant to peace belt dude) came up to us, told us to get out of line because we didn't belong there! She gave orange bracelets to the Soap Cruise lady who then put them on us and took us to the orange bracelet line! Upon arriving our new friends we chatted with earlier remembered us and welcomed us back! Mikey from Vegas shouted "YAY! I'm so happy you girls are back!!" The soap cruise lady told them they had to let us in the very front of the line since we were the first ones to arrive at the hotel! Sweet! One lady was pissed we 'cut' in front of her, but oh well! Guess she should have been a bit more dedicated and showed up earlier! Those around us were asking us questions about how the afternoon session went the day before. Once we were allowed into the room we were able to snag our front and center seats again! Score!

After we claimed our seats we still had a few hours of waiting to do! Unable to take a nap, we chatted with those sitting around us - some from Nebraska, Vermont, and Nevada! Mikey actually won Frank Cooper's shirt from the night prior's silent auction! He was nice to everyone and called everyone hookers! The Nebraska ladies told him they were offended to which he explained that where he comes from being called a %$%%$$ is a compliment! (I wonder what they call actual hookers out there?!) After splitting a four dollar muffin, it was finally time for the show to begin!

Chapter 11: Chatting with the Cast

Sunday's afternoon session began like Saturday's, with a Question and Answer session. Once again, Frank DiCopoulos and Danny Cosgrove roamed the crowd and picked audience members to ask questions to the cast. The majority of the questions were similar to those asked during Saturday's Question and Answer session. Also, just like the day prior, a lady demanded to know why "Jeffrey" never came back to Reva at the end knowing he had a child with her! Kim replied with the same answer, that "Jeffrey" was chasing after his true love, "Edmund." One audience member simply asked "what are we going to do without you?" causing Ms. Zimmer to have tears rolling down her cheek.

An interesting question was asked that since we all know the characters and their lives, to tell us a bit about their personal lives. The cast members went down the line and said how long they've been married, how old their kids were and what they were up to. Gina Tognoni mentioned she recently got married! Grant Aleksander mentioned the four-legged kids he and his wife have. Tom Pelphrey admitted he was single (which gained him cheers from the crowd) but said he did have a dog, though! He added he recently got his dog, Sasha, and that she was feisty! Kim Zimmer talked about how her storylines were at times unrealistic - she came back from the dead, was a princess, was Amish, a psychic, a time traveler, and had a baby post-menopausal. She thought "Reva's" most unrealistic storyline was when she had cancer; she flat-lined on a Friday, woke up on a Monday, and was released from the hospital on a Tuesday!

At one point during the Question and Answer session someone asked if Kim and Robert would mind demonstrating us a kiss the way "Jeva" always kiss. And, long and behold! - Kim and Robert got up from their seats and came to center stage. Robert explained how he always cupped her face with his hands and he did so, just like he always does. They leaned in for the big smooch and the entire crowd cheered while their fellow cast mates looked on! Throughout this portion of the session, Kim, Robert, Jeff, and Tom had all recognized us two from the day prior! Robert Newman and Tom Pelphrey acknowledged us with smiles while Kim Zimmer said "hi" with a lit up face and Jeff Branson said "you're back!" How neat! This definitely made our extreme lack of sleep totally worth it!

Chapter 12: Floating on Cloud Nine!

To ensure there was more time for the Meet and Greet session, the scene acting was done next, without the director sharing any of his videos or stories. First up was Tom Pelphrey's scene. Bradley Cole said he wanted to pick a Steelers fan to act as "Tammy." I, with my Reed jersey on, eagerly raised my hand like a little kid. Carrie's arm was part way up because she was attempting to take a picture of Bradley. She never got the chance to take that picture. Before we knew it, he took her hand and had her pulled half way up onto the stage. And, without even thinking, I blurted out "OH MY GOD! CARRIE GOT PICKED A SECOND TIME!!!!!!!!!" Bradley asked Carrie if she had already acted, she told him she had, and they agreed to pick someone else. That someone else was ME!!!!!!! At this point in time all I could think was "OH MY GOD." Bradley Cole clipped a mic on me and Carrie took my picture with Tom Pelphrey. As extras were being picked out I quickly glanced at the skit and totally remembered when Tom and Stephanie Gatschet (Tammy) did that scene! Tom went behind me and brushed my hair off my back and asked whose jersey I was wearing. I replied "Jeff Reed, the kicker. He's who scored the only three points we have so far!"

The scene began and I was nervous! I could see the paper in my hand shaking! The extras included Frank, Grant, and Danny. Before Tom even said his first line he shouted out something about a play in the Steelers game! Every few lines we said the extras would act up! Grant shouted about a Steelers player while Frankie went to the few ladies standing next to him, put his arms around them and pretended to make out with them! The entire crowd was busting out with laughter and obviously paying more attention to the extras than Tom and I! Which was a good thing - I'm certainly not as talented as Stephanie! The scene ended with Tammy saying she wanted Jonathan and only Jonathan. Tom hooked my arm and said we should go back to his luxury suit! I returned to my seat and the lady sitting next to me from Nebraska had used my camera the whole time I was on stage to take pictures for me! How nice!!! I thanked her a dozen times.

During the next skit a professionally dressed man came up to me, told me he was with KDKA and wanted to interview me. WOWZERS! I scurried away. I had to spell out my name and tell them the name of my hometown. I was asked what it was like to act on stage with the Guiding Light actors. I replied with some gibberish about how it was so exciting since they are so talented and rambled on with another sentence or two. The man asked the same question again in different wording. I answered it was "beyond amazing, exhilarating!" I thought there would be more questions so I didn't think to add in anything about how it was wrong for Guiding Light to be canceled, et cetera, et cetera. I asked when the interview would air, returned to my seat and texted the crap out of my family and friends! It was officially the best day of my life!

Needless to say, my interview was crap, and never made air! However, during the 30 second Guiding Light clip KDKA showed did include me acting on stage with Tom Pelphrey for a grand total of three seconds!

Chapter 13: Laughter and Cheer

With more effort to make the Meet and Greet more successful, the number of skits acted out was cut in half from Saturday's amount. During Ron Raines scene (with "Alex"), one of our new friends was picked to be an extra along with Tom Pelphrey and Frank DiCopoulos! They were at the Spaulding mansion serving drinks, but Frank had the extras continuously circle around Ron and "Alex"! Gina Tognoni did her scene again with "Shayne" - including Danny Cosgrove as the mannequin dresser. He provided the audience with multiple antics to laugh at. During the next scene, there were numerous extras pulled from the crowd, all decked out in their Steelers attire. Kim Zimmer, Jeff Branson, Tom Pelphrey, Gina Tognoni, and Danny Cosgrove also acted as extras - someone even passed out Terrible Towels for them! While Jordan Clarke was to act out his scene, the extras were pretending to be at a Steelers game - shouting to Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, and the refs included!

The last scene acted out was once again "Jeva's" last scene from the final episode. While Kim Zimmer looked over the skit, an audience member was being picked to play the role of "Josh." To the surprise of us all, Robert Newman was planted in the crowd and was picked to play the role! He came onto stage saying his name was "Bob" and had acted for twenty-some years. Kim and Robert acted out the scene with such emotion the audience had tears. They changed up a few of the lines to add in some humor, making us laugh amongst our tears. When it came time for them to kiss, they did so, and it was a powerful one! In the scene where "Reva" and "Josh" ask each other what they want, Kim started to tear up. The entire room was silent. It was as though we were all seeing the scene for the very first time. Towards the end of the scene when "Jeva" decided to go off together with "you, me, and Jeffrey's kid" Bradley Cole scurried onto the stage, on his knees, to play the part of Colin! This caused the audience to burst with laughter, but tears continued to flow as the trio walked off of the stage. Having the last scene to be acted out during the last session of So Long Springfield to also be the last scene of the entire show of The Guiding Light sure did make it official that the 'Light' had been extinguished. In the heads of everyone in the room, the lyrics of "We Belong Together" popped into our minds along with the picture of "Jeva" driving off together with the words "The End" appearing on the screen, thus causing all the more tears to flow.

Chapter 14: A Bittersweet Ending

Once the scenes were all acted out and the crowd had calmed down from the laughter and tears from Kim and Robert's acting, it was time to disperse into the Meet and Greet Lines. With all of the rumors we heard earlier in the day that it was canceled, we were glad there was actually going to be a meet and greet session, no matter how chaotic it would be! Peace belt dude explained how the cast would be split into two groups and we could pick the line we wanted to get into. Once again he let the back ten rows get into line first, followed by the rest of the audience. Needless to say, we ended up being at the very tail end of the longer line! The line was so long we went all the way through the halls, past the hotel lobby and just about into the airport! The line also barely moved and we thought of how unfair it was to us since we arrived how early for the event! After about an hour and a half of waiting in line, peace belt dude came and had all of us go back into the room for the group photo shoot of the cast.

Once back in the room, Carrie chose a seat towards the middle of the room to enable us to get a good group photo of them all together without cutting off anyone's head! While Carrie sat and waited I went around with my camera to the two different tables the cast members were sitting at signing stuff. During today's Meet and Greet photos with the stars were not allowed, autographs only. However, a lot of people would stand behind the line of fans getting autographs and take pictures of the stars - myself included! This really pissed of peace belt dude, but due to his arrogance, none of us cared! He even tried to get the security involved to get us to sit down, but nothing would stop us die-hard fans!

Once the cast began to gather on stage I returned to Carrie. A little girl went up to Daniel Cosgrove to get her picture with him and he picked her up and put her on stage - and long and behold over half of the cast gathered around her for a picture! I was really jealous of that little girl (as was most of the audience, I assume)! Once the cast was all together we took our pictures - which actually came out well in the sense that we got everyone into the picture. Unfortunately, sitting further back really messed with the flash of the camera, whether the flash was on or off the lighting in our pictures turned out horrible! Once the cast walked out of the room, so did we. We stopped to talk to a few of our friends and then we headed on our way.

Chapter 15: Star Struck

Carrie had the idea of going to the airport to try and see if we could catch the cast going to their flights. I suggested we wait in the hotel lobby instead, not knowing which way they would go once they were in the airport. Once in the lobby, we talked with one lady about how much we were disgusted with peace belt dude. After she left we chatted with two other ladies for a while and heard that Tom Pelphrey was still in the big room signing autographs and taking pictures with fans! Carrie and I rushed back to the room to see Tom walk out the back door! Darn! We just missed him! We headed back to the lobby and continued our talk about Guiding Light memories with the two ladies. Moments later we saw Jeff Branson rush past, hurrying to catch his plane! We said "hi!" and he replied with "thanks for coming ladies." And he was gone.

We went back to our conversation for a bit and then we saw Ron Raines and Daniel Cosgrove rush past us towards the airport! How neat! Before we knew it we saw Grant Aleksander and Jordan Clarke at the front desk checking out! We went up and asked Grant for a picture with him. Jordan had told a few other ladies he didn't have time for pictures so Carrie and I didn't bother to ask him either. We returned to our seats, shared our pictures with each other, talked some more with the ladies and saw Bradley Cole rush past! We thanked him for coming to Pittsburgh and he thanked us as well. Once again, we returned to our conversation and before we knew it Robert Newman was checking out of the hotel! We scurried up to the front desk and asked him for a picture! He was in a rush but stopped anyways! At this point there were only a half dozen of us fans hanging around the lobby!

While back at our conversation, we saw the director, Adam Reist leave as well. Even though he wasn't bothered by the other fans, we still thanked him for coming to Pittsburgh. At this point, we decided we might as well continue to wait in the lobby to see if the rest of the cast would be checking out as well because peace belt dude told us they had a 5 o'clock flight. Moments later Frankie DiCopoulos was in the lobby! He was rushing past but still stopped to take pictures with us few remaining fans. Even though they were rushing to catch their flights, it was nice that they cared enough about the fans to stop for a picture. I think they were also understanding due to the meet and greet chaotic situation that happened both days. We went back to our discussion and when we looked up we saw Tom Pelphrey checking out! Once again we scurried up to the front desk area of the lobby and asked for a picture. He remembered me from earlier in the day when we acted on stage together! Woo-hoo!

We talked for quite a while longer and deciding to head out. The two ladies we were talking to the whole time left. We didn't leave with them because we wanted to pee before hitting the road. On the way to the restroom, we talked to a lady and her husband from California. He thought we were so crazy to hang out in a hotel lobby just to get a picture with a TV actor! While chatting we heard the infamous and distinctive laugh of Tom Pelphrey! We turn and see him and Gina Tognoni! She checked out and was rushing to the airport, but posed for a picture with only a few of us! After we talked with the Californians for a while, we thought about the chances of Kim Zimmer coming through the lobby. Did we miss her? Why hasn't she come down yet? What would be taking her so long? We decided to go to the restroom and leave. While leaving the restroom the lady from California came and told us that Kim Zimmer was in the lobby checking out! Sweet! We rushed back to the lobby to see Kim talking with the lady's husband about football! Once Kim was done checking out she didn't have time for pictures, for she was really rushing to catch her flight!

We couldn't believe we saw all 11 cast members (and the director) check out and rush past us to catch their flights. How amazing! I was completely star struck! The best day of my life just got even better! It was official - what I warned Carrie about was about to happen - I was going to talk non-stop about what just happened! I wouldn't be able to ever shut up! We met them! We acted on stage with them! We were two very excited Guiding Light fans!

We decided to finally leave the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Pittsburgh International Airport and head home. Realizing we hadn't eaten a single thing since the muffin we split in the morning, we decided to stop at Max and Erma's on the way home. While waiting for our food, we called our friends to brag about what just happened, even though we knew they wouldn't understand completely since they were not avid Guiding Light fans like us! Carrie teased me about how I stole her lime light when she was picked to act on stage. It wasn't until then that we realized I had also acted on stage twice - we both forgot I was an extra on Saturday! We continued to be star struck and in complete aw while we traveled back home. We realized we would never be the same again, we had experienced one of those "once in a life time opportunities'' and would remember it - and the new friends we had made - for the rest of our lives.

Once we were finally home we told my parents all about what happened the past two days! We transferred our pics and Carrie went home. It was past 10pm at this point! Another really long day! We hadn't seen a single glimpse of daylight since Friday evening and we weren't going to until we woke up on Monday! I stayed up until after 4am going through my photos and uploading them to the internet. Let's face it though; I was way too excited to sleep! However, even amongst all of the excitement, every last one of us fans realized that now that this So Long Springfield event in which we were looking forward to for months was finally over, that the 'light' was now officially out.

RIP the Longest Running Show in Broadcast History

The Guiding Light ~ Jan. 25, 1937 - Sept. 18, 2009

72 Years, Over 4,000 Radio Shows, 15,762 TV Episodes

"And so we end our story joined together…look at the magic that's happened. Our town has become yours, and we're one community." -Ross Marler

If you ever wished to right a wrong, to say the words you wished you'd spoken, to do the things you wished you'd done… before the light fades, see how it ends.

The moments you will never forget, the faces you'll always remember, the longest running drama says good-bye before the light fades out.

"Nothing worth having is easy." -Bert Baur

"It's never winning when you lose who you are in the process." -Frank Cooper

"Reva doesn't go down memory lane, she goes down memory freeway."

"BULL FEATHERS!!!" - Reva Shayne

"Use your head. Follow your heart, but use your head." -Josh

"I just don't want to see you get hurt." -Billy "I'd rather get hurt than do nothing." -Reva

"Life is like a roller coaster, it really is. It has its up and its down. And all you can do is jump on and go for a ride." - Reva

"You know what, who knows what anyone's place is anymore. I don't even know the difference between right and wrong anymore. Right now, the whole world is just upside down. Who knows what's going on anymore? But in the big picture, the whole scheme of things, things aren't, things really aren't so bad. So, don't just beat yourself up anymore, you know, don't over think things, just do what you need to do." -Frank

"If you sell that land, you and I will both be trapped in a world that isn't any better than any other world," Reva intoned. "For what? So that you can go and find something… more? Well, let me tell you something. There isn't anything more. You have your family, your friends, your town, your life. Okay, so maybe you're not as young as you used to be. Who the hell is? Maybe your life didn't turn out the way you wanted it to. Join the frickin' club. Maybe you've had one too many heartaches. Well, you know what, Bud? That's living. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and looking everywhere but in a mirror for your answers. And do the right thing for the people that care about you." -Reva, the 15,000th episode.

"There is a destiny that makes us brothers, none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others, comes back into our own." -Reverend Rutledge

My back to a closing door, and you don't know how bad it feels to leave the only one I have ever believed in. Try to leave Light on when I'm gone, even in the day light Shine On.

You're simply the best… better than all the rest… better than anyone… anyone I ever met.

You're better than the best, I'm lucky just to linger in your Light.

"I'm just worried about the fans, there's nothing like a Soap Opera fan." - Kim Zimmer

Now it's time to go, curtains finally closing.

That was quite a show, very entertaining, but it's over now…

Don't want to believe in this ending, let the cameras role on keep pretending…

"Just remember, the light may be dim, but the afterglow will live on forever.

After all, always means always."

Thanks for the laughs, the tears, the 72 years of unforgettable memories.

Goodbye my friend.