My Encounter with the Bradys
at Roosevelt Field Mall
By Karen Renee

Hi Everyone, I noticed that someone else already wrote about meeting Florence Henderson, Susan Olsen, Mike Lookinland and Christopher Knight at Roosevelt Field Mall in NY but here is my story from a different perspective. Let's put it this way - it was a dream come true and not one of them let me down. They were all sincere, sweet, genuinely nice and very funny. I got to the mall about 5:45 with a friend and ran straight to the Nickelodian store where they were scheduled to appear at 6:30 (Though they came at 7:00 due to a terrible rain storm). My friend and I waited a long time but it was worth it and it went fast. A local news channel was there and Since I was lucky enough to be so close in line, close enough to see the table where they would be sitting from where I was standing, I got to see Channel 12 News interview people all around me, thought I wasn't interviewed, myself. Oh well. Anyway, finally they arrived to cheers and screams, and I waited until finally it was my turn to face them in person. I had noticed that the staff of the store were very courteous to the fans and let everyone take the time to take pictures with Florence, Susan, Mike and Christopher. We were allowed to get autographs, take pictures and talk with them and no one felt rushed. Florence was first and I told her that I'd seen her Country Kitchen show and especially liked the one that Davy Jones guested on since I thought that was a very cool reunion. She said he was charming and very talented and I agreed, being a die-hard Monkees fan. I told her she had a great singing voice and she said that sometimes she performs at Westbury Music Fair, a local venue. I was impressed that she remembered a relatively small theater's name and I told her that if she ever performed there again, I would go see it. She signed my Brady Bunch book that I brought - I had turned it to an old pic of her in the "Song of Norway" and she commented how young she looked. I got news for all of you - she looks fabulous now. Susan Olsen was next and I adore her - I knew she was nice and had a great sense of humor from all the interviews I'd seen her on and she didn't let me down. I congratulated her on her new baby and Florence leaned over and said he (Michael is his name) was adorable. I asked her how old he was and she said 21 months. She signed her autograph on a page in my book that had a pic of them from the Variety show and she commented on the book, she wrote my name in her autograph which was a nice touch (Florence had done that too) and then I went to Mike Lookinland, who is so incredibly cute in person. He had on glasses and he looked great - all four seemed smaller to me than I always thought. Anyway, I told him I was a big fan of his, I asked if he still lived in Utah and he said he lives in Salt Lake City and had just flown in to NY that morning. I thought that was cool. When he signed my book, the same page as Susan, he looked at his picture and wondered out loud why he wasn't smiling. I laughed and thanked him and then I went to Chris Knight, who commented on the book right away and said "Wow, I never saw this book" and I felt proud to be the first one to have shown it to him. After I met them all,. My friend took a picture of me standing behind Mike and Susan, since there was only time for one picture since the line was so long and I didn't want to hold them up, the two of them stopped what they were doing for a minute to pose with me and I was in heaven. I was smack in the middle between Bobby and Cindy, whom I've watched on television since I was two years old. When it was time to go, I was sad because I knew that that was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Once at home, I got to re-live it though, on the 10:00 news, where I saw myself and my friend in the background and got to see interviews the stars did for a few moments when they first sat down. I'll never forget May 5, 1998. the day I met the Bradys.