![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/IMG_0719.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>The Centralia Fox Theater<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Costco in Silverdale<\/p><\/div>\n
I had asked publicity to book an appearance in Corvallis, Oregon. When the printed schedule finally hit my hands, Corvallis was a no-show. In place of Corvallis, there was something listed as the Monroe Community Library in Monroe, Oregon. Excuse me? Where? When I tried Googling it, Google Maps helpfully sent me to Monroe, Washington. When I finally did find Monroe, Oregon, I could barely believe it. I called publicity and asked, \u201cAre you sure about this?\u201d \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d they said. \u201cThey\u2019re very enthusiastic.\u201d Really? Are you sure?<\/p>\n
Late Monday morning, we left the hotel in Portland and headed for Monroe. We drove as far as Corvallis and turned left. And then we drove some more. A lot more. On a nearly deserted two lane road past farm sheds and fields. By then we were so far out in the country that cows in pastures looked up to see what was going on as we passed by. The farther we went, the more I worried. My son, Bill J., is driving Miss Daisy on this tour. When we hit the Monroe city limits and saw the sign, \u201cPopulation 608!!, I hit the roof and cut loose with a very ungrandmotherly version of \u201cPlease, Mr. Custer, what am I doin\u2019 here?\u201d Fortunately, there were no \u201clittle ears\u201d present at the time.<\/p>\n
We turned into the library where someone had dutifully reserved a parking place for us, but from the number of cars I could see on the street, reserved parking seemed entirely unnecessary. A cheerful librarian came to lead us inside. I did my best to smile back at her, but it wasn\u2019t easy. She took us to the room where the booksellers were busily unpacking the books as well as to the next room over where seventy-five or so chairs had been set up facing a lectern. They had a mic. They had a sound system. So far so good. That is the point where I turned to look outside and was utterly astonished!!<\/p>\n
Do you remember that old Star-trek episode where the Starship Enterprise lands on an overpopulated planet. When they open the shades, there are hordes of people standing outside staring in at them? That was me in Monroe, Oregon. The front deck area was full of people waiting impatiently to get inside.<\/p>\n
To give the booksellers a chance to finish setting up, I went outside and did a \u201cshout it out\u201d Q and A on the front deck. When the doors finally did open and people stormed inside, the booksellers were completely overwhelmed. The seats were gone in a blink and, as it turned out, so were the books. Bill J. had to be dispatched to the Costco in Eugene (40 miles roundtrip) to buy more.<\/p>\n
By then I could see we were in big trouble. There weren\u2019t going to be nearly enough seats to go around, and that\u2019s when I made the executive decision to move the show outside. The people who had chairs brought them. One woman went to the car and returned with her own private beach chair. People sat on walls and on the grass while the librarians hurriedly moved the sound system outdoors, too.<\/p>\n
In the melee, one of my fans, took a tumble on the concrete stairs, hit her head, and eventually had to be carted off in an ambulance. (If anyone can let me know how Gwen from Albany is doing, I\u2019d really appreciate it.) At that point it was fortunate we\u2019d already moved the show outside because the Fire Marshal showed up with the EMTs. He would have shut us down for sure if we\u2019d still had all those people, and estimated crowd of 275 to 300, inside!<\/p>\n
Even with all of that, the program scheduled to start at 1:30 started only five minutes late at 1:35. The show lasted for an hour and forty-five minutes. I was determined to talk long enough for Bill to get back with the books. (I didn\u2019t want anyone who wanted a book to leave without having a chance to buy one!)<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be thinking fondly of Monroe, Oregon, for a very LONG time!<\/p>\n