Aloha all. I frequent the board to read up on what's happening with Andy and Tessa. Recently though, the board has other stuff that one has to weed through....Anyway, I'm glad I stuck with the board because that's how I found out about the Windward Mall grandopening. Went to their website and the events scheduled goes through Sunday afternoon. Andy Baldwin was one of the events and I drove out to Kaneohe from the Leeward side to check out the event.
I thought I was going to be late for the 12:00 event. I arrived at the mall and the parking lot was pretty full to the edges. Walked into the middle of the mall where the stage was located and they had seats for an audience and by that time (11:30 a.m.) more than half the seats were filled. There was a roped off area and a small sign that read, "Autograph line for Andy Baldwin starts here" or something like that. I was the 5th person in line and those of us in line were wondering where all the people were. Just about the time 12:00 noon rolls around, the line began to get longer and then there was some commotion....but looking over one wouldn't have immediately noticed Andy. The fan in front of me kept asking me "where" "where"...he was dressed very casual and blended right in with the folks had it not been for the purple orchid lei he was wearing. Security was pretty tight, with at least five in the immediate vicinity of the autograph table.
The first 100 people would get to have a black and white of Andy and the people in the autograph line were given 3 x 5 cards to write down what they wanted Andy to write on the photo. And, who was first in line....a male fan! That was pretty ironic as behind me outside the stantion cord was a husband of the gal behind me, rolling his eyes, watching all of this play out. The area in front of and around the stage began to fill with people as Leena Girl and Pippy began to announce that it was Andy Baldwin signing autographs.
The line was filled with all kinds of people and various ages from little girls and boys to grandmas and grandpas and all of us in between. It seemed pretty laid back and fun, similar to any Hawaiian-style event. Andy was very accommodating; signing the black and white photo and then stopping to get out of his seat to be in photos taken by relatives of the people who were standing in line to get autographs. Even Andy's handler, a pretty black gal, took photos to help people out.
When it was my turn....I stuck my hand out and shook Andy's hand; introduced myself and said that I had a joke for him! He laughed and his eyes shined and he replied, "it's not another muffin joke is it?" He proceeded to share that Tessa always has a joke for him, almost everyday and she always makes him laugh. We talked about how his eyebows went upwards when he showed interest in something or someone and he asked if I had seen the new bachelor. He commented that the new bach had bushy eyebrows.....we laughed and then I thanked him. Andy comes across so easily like we could have talked story all afternoon.
My girlfriends were watching from the second floor and I called them down and they arrived just in time to be in the photo with me and Andy. I was a very nice, geniune experience. Anything negative for the rest of the day couldn't and didn't bother me!