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Sophomore Mackinsey Creagan posing with rock band "Panic! at the Disco."

Panic! at the Disco

How does it feel to meet the people on your posters?  “If you meet your idols, don’t cry or you’ll look crazy,” Mackinsey Creagan, sophomore, said.  “ I didn’t cry and I’m proud of myself.”

Creagan fought hard to meet the members of “Panic! at the Disco.” Hunching over a computer for hours to get the Meet and Greet Tickets. A four hour ride to Santa Barbara. A close call with the scary manager, Zach.

It was all worth it.

“I was a little scared, kind of shaken, because he is really good at what he does,” Creagan said about meeting Brendon Urie. “I told him that I loved his music, and I felt bad for his wife because his wife was getting a lot of hate at the time.”

Not only did they make an impression on her, but Creagan left her mark as well: “I gave one of them a gift – it was this poster of a guitar.” The guitarist, Dallon Weekes, frequently posts about his love for Fender guitars. “I found it at the fair and I was like, ‘I’m going to get this for Dallon!’”

By Taylor Rudman

Alton Brown

Name a place where you can simultaneously decorate cookies, consider learning to cook, and meet a surprising amount of friendly stay-at-home moms? Sur la Table. But it also turns out that it’s the place my friend Taylor Evans and I would end up meeting Alton Brown.

For those who don’t know him, Alton Brown is the maniacal host of “Cutthroat Kitchen,”  a cable TV show in which four chefs battle it out for a cash prize, all the while being sabotaged with wacky penalties meant to hinder their performance. Being Food Network junkies, when we heard Alton was coming to our local Sur la Table on a book tour, we knew we had to be there.

It was nothing short of an experience. After surviving an hour in brutal sun outside the store, and even getting into an argument with some angry chef, we made it inside.

Though only a five second interaction it was surreal. We took a picture (thanks Alton’s intern), he signed our cookbook, and… he told my friend to get a job. In a nice way, though, actually a compliment, he thought my friend’s water bottle, which she covered with emoji stickers, was cool. ”Turn that into a job maybe?” he said, referring to the bottle.

Either way you take it, I’d let Alton Brown tell me to get a job any day of the week.

By Drew Atkins

Bruce Springsteen

My mother, Carol Price, has been to over 13 Bruce Springsteen concerts, and she doesn’t even consider that to be an impressive number. Springsteen, aka “The Boss,” has been a big part of my mom’s life for years now, not for solely for his music, but also for his friendly, approachable personality, and his charismatic vibe.

She first took an interest to his music in the year 1982 when she listened to her sister’s 8-track of the album, “The River.” Eventually, she attended her first Springsteen concert at the LA Coliseum in the year 1985 and remembers every second of it. It was legendary.

Thirty-two years later, my mom and her sister met the world-renown rock star at a book signing in Chicago in 2016. “It went by so quickly. I tried to absorb every second as I knew it would be over in the matter of a minutes,” said Price. After taking a photo with Springsteen, and rambling about how amazing he was, he politely asked her, “Would you like a picture with your sister too?” My mom said, “I was so surprised because he had so many other fans to see, but I said, ‘Of course!’”

When she had to leave, all she could remember was hugging him and his “buttery, soft, leather jacket.” Although Springsteen is now 67 years old, my mom hopes to attend more of his concerts in the future. “He is a true rocker who always puts in the most time for his fans,” she said, “It isn’t for a paycheck, but for the love of the music. He is a true rock star.”

By Alexis Price

Bill Clinton

For someone who lived in Africa for three years, meeting a former president of the United States isn’t considered to be a “cool, random fact.” What I mean by “cool, random fact,” is that it’s one of the phrases you use in a game of Two Truths and a Lie to give strangers a glimpse into the quirky parts of your life and lighten up a conversation. For Dace Sandison, junior, meeting Bill Clinton is just one of many interesting stories.

He was nine, and his mother was the head of a nonprofit organization called Wrap Up Africa that made clothes for export. Letha Sandison took her son and husband with her on a trip to Turkey for a summit meeting with the Clinton Foundation. Wrap Up Africa “trains parents of children with cancer to make clothing from local textiles and pays them a wage for their work,” according to the Clinton Foundation website. The program, headed by Sandison, was appealing for money from the Clinton Foundation.

Nearly every 9 year old in 2009 had in their possession a Nintendo DS, and Sandison was no exception. When he met the ex-president, Sandison was playing Pokémon Platinum and  Clinton “asked what I was playing. I said Pokémon and he said ‘sounds like fun,’”

The interaction with former president Bill Clinton was brief but Sandison said the  whole thing was “really cool.”

By Shayna Glazer

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Snorkeling in Hawaii with family, fish, and… Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. “I was just swimming along and then I looked up and saw this massive human being,” said junior Justin Krute. “Sure enough it was the WWE superstar, actor, and all around superstar, Dwayne Johnson.”

As imaginable, Krute was pretty surprised. “I honestly thought something that large must have been a shark. Once I figured out it was a person, I looked up to the face and I realized who it was,” he said. “It’s surreal just to see someone that large and then you think about just how famous this guy is… It was insane.

Unfortunately for Krute, it is difficult to carry a conversation while snorkeling, but did share one special moment with The Rock. “Just when I started to think this experience couldn’t get cooler, a turtle swam by. Johnson and I shared this look of ‘woah, check that out!’” said Krute. “It was a pretty special moment. “

“I didn’t see him again after that, but I will always be able to say I swam with The Rock. And who knows? Celebrities run for president nowadays, so maybe I was snorkeling with a future president.”

By Ryan Cohen

Leonardo DiCaprio

On a flight to Italy, Hannah Eisenberg, only 10 years old at the time, remembers her father and mother whispering to each other about how Leonardo DiCaprio was on their flight. Being just a kid, Eisenberg had no idea who DiCaprio even was. Little did she know, years later Leonardo DiCaprio would be her favorite movie actor.

After the flight, Eisenberg went with her parents to the baggage claim. Since it was a two-week trip, her baggage was really heavy. As she saw her luggage in a carousel, Eisenberg ran over to try and retrieve it herself. As a little girl, the baggage was way too heavy for her to lift so a kind stranger came over to help her. He helped her with her bags and she thanked the stranger for helping her and he asked, “What’s your name?” to which she replied “I’m Hannah, what your name?” The stranger replied, “I’m Leonardo. It’s nice to meet you.” The two chatted for about 10 minutes before they had to say goodbye.

Eisenberg then went back to her parents who were standing awestruck that their daughter was just chatting with Leonardo DiCaprio. Eisenberg, who had no idea who the actor even was, shrugged and didn’t think about the situation until years later when she watched movies such as  “Titanic,’ “The Great Gatsby,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” “I’ll always think of him as the nice guy who helped me with my luggage. I wish I could’ve met him now but I think me being so little is what made it so special. I had no idea who he was which was probably so nice for him.”

By Leah Haverkamp

Jacob “Cubbie” Fink (Foster the People)

Many people will never get the chance to meet someone who is famous among the masses. On rare occasion, a celebrity may enter the same restaurant or you see one on the street and you will get the opportunity to speak with them.

Jacob Fink or “Cubbie” is a former bass player and backup vocalist for Foster the People. One lucky girl, junior Kylie Ade has the chance to see Fink every Tuesday night at her youth group. “He is my church youth pastor,” she said. “I think it was super cool to meet him and see him all the time. I would like to meet other famous people too, but that’s a rarity.”

When meeting a celebrity one might expect them to be selfish or standoffish, but Ade mentioned that “I have a stereotypical idea of what band members are like: super arrogant. However, he is super humble and rarely talks about his days in the band.”

Asking for an autograph can be a tough thing to do because not all celebrities love the attention. Ade said, “I didn’t ask for his autograph because he doesn’t really fancy a lot of attention. He likes to be treated as a normal person. Sometimes we tease him, though, and sing ‘Pumped Up Kicks.’”

By Che Baniadam

Tristan Prettyman

Singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman, from San Diego, was next door neighbors with SDA senior, Skyler McFarlane. Jason Mraz was Prettyman’s boyfriend at the time. Mraz was a  People’s and Teen Choice Award winner, and a two time Grammy winner.

Mcfarlane would always see Tristan, Jason, and their other singer friend Colbie Caillat in front of her house since she lived next door. Jason was going to give Skyler guitar lessons but she ended up getting too scared because she thought she would be bad.

By Grace Hurley

Michael Jordan

At a towering 6’6, Michael Jordan seems like he would be an intimidating fellow. However, it is quite the contrary. Kai Haseyama, freshman, met the retired Chicago Bulls player. “I met him at Von’s. He was buying milk and eggs. It was in Chicago,” said Haseyama.

The two talked for a bit, and Haseyama requested and received an autograph on his hand.

As one of the most well-known basketball players, you could assume MJ would be pretty skilled at jumping. Haseyama asked Jordan to jump, and he did. He described the motion as “pshew–he jumped so high.”

Haseyama described Jordan as “nice; he was polite…and respectful…and wasn’t a jerk.”

By Amelia Kaiser

Mark Hoppus (Blink-182)

One day as freshman Christina Sullivan was out for a stroll with her mom, she decided to stop by Golden Spoon; little did she know that a certain lead singer from Blink-182 would be buying some fro-yo.

As Sullivan stepped into the frozen yogurt world, she realized that Mark Hoppus, lead singer of Blink-182, was purchasing frozen yogurt for himself and his daughter. Quickly her mom began a conversation and remarked about the girls’ favorite flavors.

Sullivan soon joined in as everyone discussed the “nasty” and “weird” flavors

each daughter enjoyed. “I remember my mom discussing each and every gross flavor that I enjoyed when I was little. It was a little embarrassing but fun to talk so friendly with a well-known singer,” Sullivan said.

From that day forward, she got a nice, warm memory of a certain day spent at a local Golden Spoon. “Although I didn’t really want to go to Golden Spoon, I’m glad I went because it was a really cool experience,” she said.

By Harley Bradshaw

Paul McCartney

Energetic, polite, genius, competitive, calculated. These are all adjectives that people would use to describe Sir Paul McCartney. Many people would kill for the chance to even see multi instrumental, singer songwriter of the Beatles in person. But what would happen if you met him during a breakfast meeting in London?

Brad Packer, my cousin, was in the middle of a breakfast meeting at Cecconi’s in London, England when he noticed McCartney and his fiancée Nancy Shevell eating at the table behind to him. “The restaurant kind of cleared out, and I realized, oh my god, there’s nobody in between Paul McCartney and I… The person I had my meeting with got up to go to the bathroom and at the same time she did, his fiancée at the time got up to go to the bathroom too. In the dining room, there were two people, just me and him.”

Packer was trying to stay cool, and not stare, but in the end he and McCartney made eye contact and Packer gave McCartney and “awkward thumbs up.” To seem less of an awkward guy, Packer went over and introduced himself talking about how he works for the Four Seasons, and they started talking about where he worked., “I work in Bora Bora!” Packer said.

McCartney responded about how interested he was in Bora Bora. As McCartney’s fiancée and Packer’s coworker came back, the conversation dwindled to an end, but not before Packer invited him to Bora Bora and gave McCartney his card. Although McCartney never called, Packer said it was still cool to meet him and know that he has his card.

By Skylar Masterson 

Lisa Rinna

“I do know someone famous!” sophomore Katie Hostetler exclaimed. “My grandma is her godmother.”

Who?

“Her name is Lisa Rinna,” Hostetler said. “She’s on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.’”

Rinna, who is known for her appearances in several reality TV shows and dramas, is the daughter of Hostetler’s grandmother’s best friend. According to Hostetler, her parents even attended Rinna’s wedding when she married actor Harry Hamlin in 1997.

“Well,” Hostetler said, “that’s how I know her!”

By Simmone Stearn

Drew Brees

Junior Hannah Wagner is not big on football, but she met Drew Brees, Saints quarterback, as a child. All she knew then was that he was an important football player, and two years before meeting him that he won the Super Bowl on her birthday.

Meeting him wasn’t exactly how she would have pictured it since it was at the Del Mar race track. Also, his kids Bowen, Baylen, and Callen were not on their best behavior. Wagner said, “They were cute,”  she said, but it was “way too many names that are all way too similar.”
Wagner met Brees through her dad’s best friend. Unfortunately, she was too young to form much of an impression of him.

By Taylor Gates

Khloe Kardashian

In 2012, I was sitting in LAX waiting to get my bags checked, when suddenly the doors of the airport burst open, and hundreds of people rushed into the room. Through the camera flashes and bodies I managed to catch a glimpse of none other than Khloe Kardashian, wearing massive sunglasses with about three people carrying her suitcases behind her. Crazy, right?

By Daniela Burrows

Dave Lebleu (Mercury Program)

The drummer of The Mercury Program played a small show last fall with the local band called The Album leaf. My family, friends and I attended because the trumpet player in the Album Leaf is related to my friend. Dave Lebleu was drumming and my dad and I have been following him and his drumming for a very long time and it was cool to stand so close to watch him play.

What I wasn’t expecting was when the trumpet player pulled my brother and his friend aside and went backstage and talked with the drummer for a while before the show. Sadly my dad wasn’t aware and didn’t get to join, although my brother did tell  him and that my dad and he were  huge fans. It was cool to talk  to one of his  idols and talk about his drumming, my brother said.

After the show since there was probably a total of 30 people there my dad was able to talk for a second and meet one of his idols. Overall it was a cool experience to meet a drummer as talented and go backstage to talk.

By Elise Parker

Carla Gugino

As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But sometimes, it’s hard to tell if life is handing out citrus or not, and you just ignore them. In freshman Sara Niedernhofer’s case, it meant walking past one of her favorite actresses as a child, Carla Gugino.

“My family and I were hiking in Hollywood,” said Niedernhofer, “and she was walking on the trail. We just asked her for directions…we didn’t realize it was actually her until way later.”

When Niedernhofer was in fifth grade, one of her favorite movies was “Race to Witch Mountain” (“the Disney version,” as specified by Niedernhofer.) It had been one of her favorite movies since she was little. The plot entails a Las Vegas taxi driver, a pair of extraterrestrial twins trying to get back to their ship, and a certain Dr. Alex Friedman (played by Gugino) a failed scientist who was to speak at a convention in Vegas.

“I never got a photo, but I thought I recognized her,” said Niedernhofer, “but by the time we finally put a name to the face, she was gone.”

By Joice He

Rocky Chavez and Darrell Issa

As a citizen, it is our duty to be informed and active in government. Our democracy has afforded us the rare opportunity to control our destiny through our representatives and it is essential that we take advantage of these rights. We can do this by lobbying for change, organizing civil demonstrations, or even meeting our representatives face-to-face. This is exactly what Cole Gonzales did on Memorial Day.

Cole Gonzales, junior, is a member of Boys State, a program put on by the American Legion (a veteran’s organization). Boys State is a program dedicated to activism in government, and encourages skills such as public speaking. Coincidentally, Gonzales’s local American Legion chapter holds a Memorial Day celebration where several speakers lecture on issues concerning our fallen soldiers. Since they felt Gonzales was a decent public speaker, they invited him to speak at this year’s Memorial Day event. Lucky for Gonzales, two of the other speakers were very important officials in California politics, Rocky Chavez and Darrell Issa.

Rocky Chavez is the State Assemblyman for the 76th district. Chavez, a former marine, was there to honor his fellow brothers and sisters in arms. On meeting Chavez, Gonzales said, “Rocky Chavez is, truthfully, one of the nicest politicians I have met. We really connected because we are both Hispanic conservatives.” After hearing Gonzales’s speech, Chavez joked that he will “term out in eight years,” and that Cole should replace him as State Assemblyman. “I’ve never met someone more intelligent and friendly in my life,” Gonzales added.

Darrell Issa is the member of the House of Representatives from California’s 49th District.  Issa is also a veteran, a former captain in the US Army. Gonzales, who had previously campaigned for Issa’s Democratic opponent Doug Applegate, said, “He is legitimately a friendly man. He also had a lot of fans there, which I thought was surprising for Encinitas.” Gonzales, who had previously received a US flag from Issa on his 16th birthday, thanked him for that flag. According to Gonzales, Issa (a former member of the Army) joked about his colleagues in the Air Force, calling it “the Second Army.”
“Overall, I enjoyed the experience,” Gonzales said.

By Tate H. Oien

Shaun Thompson

In order to improve, athletes must compete against others that perform at a higher level than themselves. This provides a better level of competition in order to prepare for games, matches, etc.

For varsity tennis player Jacob Bear, sophomore, playing against someone of a higher ranking is necessary in order to be successful. Bear’s coach was determined to find someone who could meet his standards.

In late December of 2015, while taking a private lesson from his coach, Shaun Thompson walked onto the tennis court and introduced himself to Bear. His coach and Thompson have known each other for a while and Thompson was visiting from Arizona with his husband Scott Blokker.

Thompson is a professional fitness trainer who records home fitness programs. In college, he changed his major to sports science and later became interested in dance workouts. Thompson is also a tennis player and sells workout clothing.

Bear and Thompson played a few sets together, and now are  friends. Bear said, “He wants me to come out to Arizona for a few days with him. He posted a picture of me on his Instagram so I guess you could say I’m famous too.”

By Makenzie Moe

Ryan Reynolds

College student Katrina Thulin was working for MCAS Miramar as a VIP flight coordinator when she saw actor Ryan Reynolds walking in. Thulin was surprised by both his appearance and his height. “He’s 6’2 by the way. Doesn’t seem like it in his movies, but he’s a giant,” she said.  Reynolds was flying in to promote the film “The Green Lantern” back when it was coming out.

“His [flight] landed and he walked in and smiled and talked to everyone,” Thulin said. And he wasn’t alone. “Behind his gigantic handsome self was this tiny woman who looked like she could be his mother,” she said.  And she was. She was pleasant to the staff: “She had baked three dozen snickerdoodle cookies to say thank you for us working with him.”

Thulin was unable to eat the snickerdoodles as she was badly allergic to cinnamon, so she passed on eating one. Ryan Reynolds noticed she wasn’t eating a cookie and asked her, “Don’t like snickerdoodles?”

“No sir,” she said.

“He sighed and said ‘me neither’ then walked away.”

“It was weird and awesome,” she said.

By Nohemia Rosales

David Duchovny

David Duchovny, the protagonist of the original “X Files” series and the hand model in “Zoolander,”  was also once a student at Yale. My mother, Laura Kohn, had him as a TA in her Modern English Literature class in the spring semester of 1987.

“My friends who were English majors convinced me to join them and get into this one T.A.’s section,” Kohn said. “They said we should sign up for this guy David Duchovny because he’s really cute! It wasn’t specifically because he was cute. But I did think it was a good opportunity to analyze poetry, which I’d never done before, and required special sessions with him meeting in this common room area beneath cross campus library.”

In addition to acting, Duchovny is also an author and singer/songwriter. “He gave me an A on my paper!” Kohn said.

By Lila Schief

Oprah

Running a marathon is challenging enough. Meeting a famous celebrity during one? Not enough to faze Sally Byram, two-time Ironman runner and my grandmother.

Byram met Oprah in the late ‘80s before the TV celebrity had her own show. “I didn’t even know who she was”, she said.  Byram was a participant in the 26.2 mile marathon that takes place every year on Catalina Island.

Once they introduced themselves to each other, Oprah asked her a couple questions, similar to an interview, and then Byram continued on with her run, like it was nothing. Only years later did Byram find out who she had met when Oprah had her first big show.

My grandmother likes meeting people and she remembers these fine details about them. The only reason Byram remembered her was that Oprah stopped her at the end of the race and asked her questions about how long she had been running.

By Tristan Price

Harlem Globetrotters

“They were all super cool, but there was one problem. I kept having to crane my neck way back just to look them in the face, ‘cause they were all over six feet tall!” In 1987, the Rolling Hills High School held a fundraiser created by the ASB committee, which Nancy Lee, my mother, happened to be on. The fundraiser took place in the gym, where the Harlem Globetrotters, a famous basketball team known for doing on-court comedy routines, came and showed off their  skills. Because she volunteered her time to help her school, Nancy got to meet all of the players on the team and received all of their signatures. Nancy said, “They all had big afros, some had grey hair, and they dressed in red, white, and blue, which was their signature American flag uniforms. They got the whole audience laughing ‘cause of their liveliness and tricks.”

The Globetrotters are a very unique team, because the players are all retired basketball players from professional NBA teams. They were all in their 30s and 40s when they played at Nancy’s school, but still played incredibly well. The Globetrotters are loved around the world for being a representation of the saying, “Hard work pays off.” The team was started by people in Harlem (one of the poorest parts of New York) to earn money, and they eventually expanded their horizons and started playing games, volunteering at fundraisers, and traveling around the world to perform their legendary tricks.

Living up to their reputation, the Globetrotters did not disappoint when they came to Nancy’s high school. Nancy said, “The team did a ton of cool tricks that totally awed the crowd. They made super high jumps to dunk the ball, which was cool, like they would jump over 2-3 stacked people to dunk a shot.” The team is known for their crazy trick shots, the pranks they pull on the other team, the way that they include the audience in their show, and their ability to turn a basketball game into a fun experience for everybody. Nancy said, “You didn’t even have to know the rules behind the game; everyone just came because of their jokes and tricks. At the end of the show, not one person left unhappy with the performance. The Globetrotters put on quite a unique show, don’t they!”

One of Nancy’s favorite memories of the game was when the players gave an inspirational “speech” to the audience. “They said a lot of great stuff, but one quote I can remember was when this guy named Meadowlark Lemon said, ‘Trust your next shot.’ That’s like super deep, you know.”

At the end of the day, Nancy’s school raised enough money to buy two new projectors for their teachers. Not only did the Globetrotters put on an entertaining show that everyone would remember, but they also helped Nancy’s school achieve their goals. Nancy said, “I am not a big basketball fan, but the Harlem Globetrotters made me into a fan. I didn’t understand anything about the game ‘cause of their pranks, but everyone was mostly there for the comedy and entertainment aspect of it, ‘cause they did flips and awesome tricks with the ball.”

By Victoria Lee

Prince Philip

In 1984, the Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles and the equestrian events were held in Rancho Santa Fe. My mother, Julie Whitlam, worked at a country club named Whispering Palms (now Morgan Run) as a bartender.

The front desk of the hotel there received a phone call saying that Prince Philip from England wanted to stop by for lunch. He showed up at the bar where Whitlam was working and they had set up a private room for him and his entourage of about 20 people. She had to get everyone’s orders.

She said that Prince Philip was very proper and polite and he ordered a BLT and a Miller Light. She was very nervous about serving him because he was royalty and she didn’t want to mess up on anything that he might find impolite or improper.

By Joe Whitlam 

Burt Reynolds

My mom, Randi Joelson, met Burt Reynolds at a fundraiser to raise money for cancer when she was a teenager. It was a dinner to raise money for cancer that her dad took her to and they sat at the same table as he did for dinner. My mom, her best friend and her dad and Reynolds talked for a long time all through dinner.

He said that if she was 10 years older he would have married her. He told her to call him in 10 years and my mom just laughed and got really embarrassed. She even has a picture with her together with Reynolds at her dad’s house on the wall. “Burt Reynolds….  he asked me to marry him when I was a teenager!!!” she said. “My first marriage proposal ever!”

By Ally Joelson

Peter Frampton

At a Humphrey’s concert, about 10 years ago, Mike Downs (my father) had the privilege of meeting  his idol, Peter Frampton. “I had become a fan of Frampton because my roommate in Tahoe City had an album that we listened to nonstop, and the following year, I was working in Europe.  While I was in the Zurich train station one evening, I found out Frampton was performing at the Festhalle from a fellow traveler who was at the tourist office.”

“The concert was starting within 30 minutes. It was roughly a mile from the station, so instead of trying to catch the correct streetcars, I literally ran with my backpack to the venue. The theater was packed; I couldn’t even get a seat, so I ended up sitting in the aisle way. But I was so excited because the venue was small.” Little did he know that in about 30 years, he would be able to come face to face with the man.

Downs was a huge fan of Frampton all throughout his career, and still listens to him daily (I live in the same house and can vouch for that). “I knew he had ups and downs (no pun intended) and that he was rebounding from a dormant career,” says Downs.

By a stroke of luck, Downs got to meet the man he had always listened to. Downs’s wife’s friend Maureen happened to have some intricate connections. “One of the members of the band was an avid golfer, and was supplied golf clubs by Maureen’s brother who worked at Callaway golf. Therefore, Maureen, your mother’s girlfriend told us she could get us backstage passes, and we were offered them, and I, who had been a huge fan of Peter Frampton since 1975, jumped at this opportunity.”

With a distant gaze and a surprisingly attentive attitude for a superstar, Frampton listened as Downs had the opportunity to speak to his idol. “I learned that he was very down to earth, receptive, not jaded by his fans, and very interested.” Unlike other typical rock and rollers or musicians, Frampton had a genuine interest in what Downs had to say.

“Roughly 30 years later, in San Diego, I have the opportunity to chat with him backstage, and I recount this story to him. I recall vividly that he was gazing off into space and I’m thinking, ‘Is he even listening to me?’. And then he immediately replied, “Yes! That was our first European tour. I remember it well.” I have to admit I was nervous speaking to him. My upper lip was perspiring, but  he was sincerely interested in what I had to say. What an exciting moment.”

However, all good things must end. After his brief backstage meeting with the star, Downs had to bid his idol farewell, but that meeting and experience will remain forever with him.

By Bram Downs

Neil McDonough

My dad, Joe Rudman, knows actor Neil McDonough from high school

In the back of everyone’s heads is the thought that they might be famous one day. Or know someone who will be famous someday. Someone that may even go to SDA.

All those famous Hollywood actors went to high school; they all had lives before their fame. Lives, for example, in the 1984 graduating class of Barnstable High School in Cape Cod.

Neil McDonough is one of these people. He is known for his roles in “Captain America,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “Minority Report.” (Known by me for his role as the-bad-guy-art-dealer-with-different-colored-eyes in “Mall Cop 2.”)

My dad, Joe Rudman, was in the same class as McDonough, and knew him through the theater program. “We hung out at the same high school parties, and we were in plays together and stuff,” Rudman said.

Turns out, some of those “theater geeks” actually make it to the big screen. Rudman said, “He was always very theatrical.”

By Taylor Rudman