Beyond the Lights Weekend

This past weekend I went down to San Antonio to take part in the Beyond the Lights Celebrity golf tournament that is hosted by Kyle Chandler and Brad Leland, two stars of the show Friday Night Lights.  It is a charity benefitting athletes who have suffered from spinal chord injuries. Here is more information on this wonderful event if you are interested -

Beyond the Lights Celebrity Golf Classic

I got into San Antonio Thursday evening. We left for the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort near Bastrop early Friday  morning.  It is possibly one of the nicest golf courses I have ever seen, and I have seen/played on my share of them.  After doing a few odd jobs and eating breakfast, I got assigned to a hospitality cart. I was to drive around and ask the players if they needed water or snacks and make sure everything was okay.

I had my first encounter with Kyle when I went around to the 17th hole where he and Brad Leland were hanging out and teeing off with everyone who came through there.  Kyle saw me and called me out by name.  He asked how school had been this semester, if it was over, and how Lubbock was.  The fact that he remembered my name surprised me so much that I dang near fell out of the cart.  We chatted about Texas Tech and some things, I gave him some water, he thanked me for being there and commented on the hat I was wearing. (A Texas Tech one), and I was on my way to see if anyone else needed anything.

After driving around a bit I hung out at the 8th hole where I helped pass out Vitamin water. That is where I had an encounter with Ricky Phillips, the bassist for Styx.  At first I didn't know who he was, but I knew he was a rockstar just by how he was dressed. He called me sweetie and thanked me for the water. He was a very gracious dude.  I was there for a bit and finally went back into the clubhouse around 4 to eat.  I hadn't eaten since that morning when we had breakfast.  I was then assigned to put bags together for the gala.  Later I was told that I would be a spotter for the auction and that they would come get me when it was time.  They never came back, so I continued selling photo stills from the set of FNL.

I had my second encounter then.  Josy, a lovely girl from France who had flown there for the event wanted to meet him.  She never spotted him me, along with a friend, pointed him out.  We went up to him with her, introduced her, and took her pic with him. Kyle was so touched that she came from France that he took two pics with her.  I got a huge bear hug from him as well and took another picture with him.

The rest of the night we hung out and tried to sell more pics from the set.  We left Friday night around 10:30 back to our hotel in Bastrop.  We were so tired that when we got into the elevator to go into our room, all three of us just stood and stared at the buttons, none of us realizing we actually had to press number three to get the elevator moving.  It was a good tired though.

The next day we went back to the resort around 8:30 in the morning.  At first they had us doing odd jobs again but after I was assigned as a caddie.  We had a player's meeting and they got us caddie's together with the groups we'd be with and we got to take a picture with Kyle.  I was standing with my group and Kyle walks up with a frisbee and says to me "Gotta have a prop for the picture, you know how we actors are." and then he nudged me and winked.  He stood by me in the picture and after he looked at me and said, "Okay Jess, you tell your team to throw that frisbee straight.  Thanks for being a caddie."  And then he patted me on the back.  

I got to caddie for Jeff Rosick, aka Buddy Junior.  He's a very nice guy.  We talked about random things - from what he's working on now to what we all do when we're not hanging out at BTL.  The poor guy was suffering from some pretty bad allergies, but he was a trooper.  

After our 18 holes of frisbee golf, I tallied up the scores and we had lunch.  We sat behind Kyle.  We got to leave right after lunch and came up to him to say our goodbyes.  He actually stood up from his food and gave us monster hugs again and thanked us for helping out in so many ways.  What I really appreciate about Kyle is that he looks you straight in the eye and is very sincere.  He also introduced us to his wife Katherine.  She was very nice as well.  

It was a weekend of hard work, but definitely a weekend I will never forget. It was a weekend where the main goal was to help out this amazing charity and put something into helping those in need. 

I have been a fan of Kyle Chandler since I saw him back in the 1990's on the movie Pure Country with George Strait.  The fact that he remembered me and calls me out by name now is so surreal that it hasn't even sunk in yet.  I'm so blessed to be a part of something so great.  I can't even put it into words.  

A Weekend of EPIC Proportion!

This past Thursday, April 21, I headed down to San Antonio to attend the Friday Night Lights Red Carpet Premiere of Season Five, the final season of this amazing show.  It was benefitting the charity Gridiron Heroes, in which they help football players who have injured their spinal cord while playing.  Here is a link that has a little more information about the event and the charity:

Gridiron Heroes

19 of the show's cast members came to the premiere, including Kyle Chandler, an actor I have been following since the 1990's when I saw him in the movie Pure Country alongside George Strait.  Here is my picture with him:

Me and Kyle Chandler "Coach Eric Taylor" 

It was my second premiere to go to and sadly, the last, since this show is done with production.  I have gotten to talk to Kyle Chandler several times over the years of being an extra for the show but the timing had always been off to get a picture with him.  I told myself that I -had- to get a picture this time.  When we first got there I went to pick up our tickets at will call.  I noticed that Kyle had not arrived yet. His name had not been marked off of the list yet.  So we waited in the foyer near where the cocktail party was taking place.  About 45 minutes later, Kyle strolls in and walks right up to us.  He remembered us and shook everyone's hands.  He reached out to shake my hand and I said, "No, I'm getting a hug."  I still don't know how I got the confidence to do that.  Looking back now, I'm really shocked that I did. I was so glad that he seemed to remember us. Usually it's the fans walking up to the actors but in this situation, he saw us and came up to us. :) 

Kyle stayed and chatted for a bit longer and had to go into the cocktail party.  He was a little flustered (He mentioned he had been all over San Antonio and got lost. His GPS took him to the wrong hotel.)  I didn't want to ask for a picture and fluster him more so he told us he'd see us later and walked away with Brad Leland.  About 30 minutes later I see him walking down the hallway again, stopping to talk to several people along the way.  I knew that was my chance to get the picture.  My friend was a little reluctant but I just knew it would be my last chance of the night and I went for it.  I waited patiently as he chatted with some other people and when he was done I walked up and said "Kyle, can I get a picture with you?"  He smiled and said, "Of course you can!" almost like it was ridiculous that I even thought I had to ask. It was so sweet.  He asked us if we were going to go inside to the cocktail party and we told him no, that our budget wouldn't allow. My friend took our picture and then I took a picture of them together.  We chatted with him about the upcoming golf tournament for his and Brad Leland's charity called Beyond The Lights that will take place on May 13th in Bastrop, TX.  He was glad to hear that we would be volunteering and said that he kind of wishes it will be bad weather like last year.  He said they made more money due to everyone being cramped inside the club house.  Either way, I'm definitely looking forward to helping out this charity as well.  After our chat, he went back into the cocktail party and we found our way to the red carpet to get a good spot.

All of the actors came out and stopped to do interviews and several of them even stopped where we were and hugged us, gave autographs, and took pictures.  I felt so humbled when a few of them thanked US for being extra's and giving our time to the show.  Aaron Spivey-Sorrells gave us hugs and said we were family and that we should be giving him our autograph.  It felt so good to be appreciated.  Kathleen Griffith who plays Margaret Cafferty on FNL was SO nice.  She thanked us for being extra's as well and when I told her I was from Lubbock she mentioned how her husband attended Texas Tech.  I told her I did as well and at the end of the night her husband flashed me the gun's up so I did it back. :) 

The premiere itself was fun too.  It is so surreal to get to sit in the same room as the actors of the show and watch the first two episodes of the season with them.  Amazing.  Also, the production by Gridiron Heroes was a tear jerker.  They presented a van for a recently handicapped football player.  Not just the keys, they even had the van in the room with us.  His mother gave a speech and said that all of us who walk need to stop being so lazy! We need to enjoy our legs! As having a grandfather who was a paraplegic, I understand completely.  On campus, I refuse to take the bus. I WALK to my classes.  

It was such a great experience... an experience of a lifetime.  We all created some wonderful memories that night... one's I will never forget. 

Here's a few more pics from that night:

Derek Phillips "Billy Riggins"

Jesse Plemons "Landry Clarke"

Matt Lauria "Luke Cafferty"

Madison Burge "Becky"

Me and Connie Britton "Tami Taylor"

<<Insert Caption Here>> He was talking to someone about the logo on his cap

This picture cracks me up for some reason....