Survivor Memorabilia Part 2

How I got a shirt signed by Survivor Winners

It was the fall of 2005. I have a friend that was taking photos for Ethan Zohn’s website, and they told me about an event Ethan was having in Lancaster Pennsylvania to benefit his Grassroot Soccer foundation . Reality TV stars would be playing soccer at a local high school and signing autographs after.

I had been to a fan party in New York City for the Amazing Race called TARcon, so going to another event for reality TV did not seem that strange.

I am an amateur photographer, and the idea of going just to take photographs was appealing. Lancaster PA is a long way from Dallas Texas but I decided to do it. Sports photography was not really my thing, but I would at least know one person there. I booked my flights and hotel.

I then applied to get photo credentials for the event, and it was the first time I had ever done that. I was a photo nobody, had a Flickr account but that was it. Grassroot Soccer said I was approved, I’m sure mostly because of my friend, Beth, and I was told I could pick up my credentials at the venue.

So I flew up there to PA and checked into my hotel. Went to the venue, and OMG! These reality TV stars! I took out my Canon camera and started taking pics on slide film, this was before I got into digital.

I got to get on the sidelines, which was a thrill! All of the reality stars were wearing special jerseys. I met up there with another TARcon friend of ours. Watching the soccer game was so much fun.

Later, they set each reality star up at a station inside the school for autograph signings. My friend took the yellow Grassroot Soccer T-shirt that we all got just for attending and went room to room and had every star sign it. They auctioned the shirt off after the event to raise more money for Grassroot Soccer, a great cause, and I bought it for like $50. So I have a piece of Survivor memorabilia that is a now a framed T-shirt. It is signed by:

Richard Hatch — Survivor Winner

Tina Wesson — Survivor Winner

Ethan Zohn — Survivor Winner

Jenna Morasca — Survivor Winner

Chris Daugherty — Survivor Winner

Rupert Boneham

Chad Crittenden

Ian Rosenberger

Lex van den Berghe

Big Tom Buchanan

Chip & Kim — Amazing Race Winners

The reality stars all stayed at the same hotel I did in Lancaster, which is how at breakfast the next day I found myself at a table eating Froot Loops while Tina and Katie Collins & Big Tom were eating theirs! I was too intimidated to approach them.

My friend and I spent the day at a cool museum and just driving around the Lancaster area taking photos, very pretty! I did talk to Richard Hatch and Chris Daugherty at a banquet dinner with a silent auction that night where they raised more money for Grassroot Soccer.

Finally, I found out later the photo credentials Grassroot Soccer gave me were full access! I could have gone to the player’s locker room. I had no idea, but it proved to me that it doesn’t ever hurt to ask. I gave the foundation head a CD with my pics. So hopefully it worked out as well for them as it did for me. My friend took some amazing photos which were then featured on Ethan’s website. A really cool experience!

Related posts:

Silly little dictionary! Don’t you know acritarch can’t possibly be a word if the New York Times says it ain’t? What’s your favorite animal? It’s a typical question used by children to get to know…

CBD oil is effective in treating a wide range of medical conditions, including anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and insomnia. However, finding the right CBD product for your needs can be tricky…

In this episode of SoundNotes, Dean Stevens and Dave Prior dig into Capability Mapping, how it works and why it is such an important part of the transforming your organization. Capability Mapping is…