This was the first time I didn't know months in advance that Bryan was coming. K*102 announced this "White Christmas" with Bryan White Thanksgiving Weekend. It was sponsored by K*102 and the American Dairy Association. It was to be an intimate gathering at an undisclosed location December 14th. The only way for listeners to go was to find the "Behold the Power of Cheese" displays at Cub Foods. Then fill out the entry forms and send them in to K*102 with a Cheese Proof of Purchase by December 10th. Then 102 winners would be chosen to attend this party. Sounded simple enough, right? Well, that weekend we called about five different Cub Foods trying to find these Bryan White entry forms, none of them knew what we were talking about. We called K*102 and they told us Cub should have the displays, they delivered the materials themselves! After a lot more calling around, we finally figured out the entry forms had nothing to do with Bryan, they were for the Judds concert on New Years Eve. (Why they wouldn't tell us that on the radio, I don't know.) When we asked the Cub stores for the Judds entry forms they knew what we were talking about. On these displays it did say in small print that 102 people will be picked to go to a private concert (didn't say who) at the Metropolitan Ballroom, December 14th. Then one of those 102 will be chosen to go to Phoenix to see the Judds New Years Eve. I couldn't care less about the Judds, I just wanted to see Bryan! I grab about 200 forms, you could enter as many times as you wanted, I was going to do just that! I had everyone I knew collecting Cheese Proof of Purchases for me. I sent in a bunch each day over the next 2 weeks. By December 9th I had sent in 151!!! If my name didn't get drawn, something was seriously wrong! My friend Heather sent in about 30, we both wanted to go so bad!!

On the Weekends the K*102 DJ's were around the Twins Cities at different locations. My good friend, Kato, was at a Franks Craft store. My mom, Heather and me bugged him for tickets. We just got a T-shirt out of him and were put into another drawing, we didn't win that one. The next weekend, December 10th, Travis Moon was at an Air Touch Cellular Store for an hour giving away pairs of tickets every 10 minutes! Me and my mom weren't going to miss that, Heather couldn't make it though. When we pulled it to the parking lot, "God Gave Me You" came on the radio! That had to be a "sign", right? Not to many people came, maybe 10 to 15, I really thought more would be there. Oh, well that made our chances better! Travis and this new DJ, Todd Wolf (who I don't like, he was making fun of me the whole time because I was so excited about possibly getting Bryan White tickets! I'm so sorry, this was a big deal to me!) They had 6 pairs of tickets! Plus a bunch of K*102 T-shirt and a couple CDs to give away in between the ticket drawings.

The first name out of the box was mine! But just for a T-shirt, yippee! I wanted the tickets! My name went back into the box and they drew for a couple pairs of tickets, not us, bummer. If you won the tickets your name was taken out of the box. Then they drew for CD, I was picked again! It was LoneStar's "Lonely Grill". I think they did another pair of tickets, not us again, and then Todd picked me again for another T-shirt! (Well, I think he did, he looked at the slip, gave me a dirty look and threw it back in!). They were all like watch her win everything else but what she came for! (HA HA! not funny!) FINALLY, on the 4th pair they picked me!! YES!! We were in!!! then the last pair... my mom got it!!! YEA!! Now Heather and her mom could go!! We were so happy! I asked Travis if I was still eligible for the "Behold the Power of Cheese" drawing. He said we were, wouldn't that be cool if I won another pair!

Heather called me on Saturday to tell me she got a call from Marty at K*102 the she won threw the "Behold the Power of Cheese" drawing!!! I told her how we won tickets from Travis Friday night, now we had an extra pair! Here, I thought we wouldn't get in at all! Marty gave her all the details. It was at the Metropolitan Ballroom Tuesday night from 6:30 to 10:00. It was semi-formal! Hors d'oeuvres and beverages would be served! The seating was first come/first served. There would be time for a "Photo Opt" with Bryan, he wasn't sure about autographs, but we should bring something just in case. This was going to be so fun!! Heather said she asked Marty if I won because I sent in lot more than she did. He said my name was on the list too!! COOL!! Now we had 6 tickets!! Who were we going to bring with us?? The problem was you had to be 18 to get in, so that took care of most of the people I could think of.

We invited my mom's friend Char, and her daughter Carrie, they went with us to Bryan's New Years Eve show, they were very excited to go! Their neighbor, Jodi, also wanted to go, she really didn't know who Bryan was but thought it be fun anyway. And my Grandma wanted to see Bryan too! Heather's mom didn't want to go, so she invited her friend Lisa. I had my last Bryan Meet & Greet photo, the one from the Mall of America, blown up to an 8x10. Of course I had to find him another Beanie Baby! I got him the 1999 Holiday bear and I put a sticker on the back of the tag like the other 5 I gave him. I also put my web page address on the inside of the tag, I really want him to visit my page!

Tuesday finally came, it seemed like forever. It was so fun to fun to get dressed up for the show! We picked up grandma, Char, Carrie and Jodi and arrived at the Metropolitan Ballroom by 5:30. There were about 20 people already waiting in the lobby, we got in line too. Heather and Lisa came a few minutes later. The time pasted really slowly as we waited for them to let us in. A girl came threw the line and made us all put on name tags (I never did figure out what the purpose of those were). It was a little after 6:00 when they started to let us in. My mom, Grandma, Char and Jodi were aloud to go right in because they had the invitations from Travis Moon. Me, Carrie, Heather and Lisa had to check in because we were on the "Cheese list". My mom was one of the first ones in there. Kato was in there and said they could sit where ever she wanted. There were about 8 little round tables on the floor right in front of the stage, a few were reserved for the American Dairy Association. She grabed a couple and waited for us to come in. I was so glad we had those invitations, our seats were awesome!! Mom, Grandma, Char, Carrie and Jodi sat at a table that was in the middle of the floor and me, Heather and Lisa had one over by the right side of the stage. They were perfect!! This was such a different atmosphere than any other Bryan concert. There were only about 250 people there. Everyone was all dressed up, and there wasn't anyone under 18. We were sitting at little round tables with white tablecloths and candles. The stage was small, there was just a stool, a keyboard and a couple guitars. So we were guessing it was just going to be Bryan, Tom and probably Brinson. On the wall there was a huge banner that said K*102 welcomes Bryan White. I never thought I'd see that! For the last year or so K*102 has not been playing Bryan's music or really supporting him at all. Now they were putting on this show and playing his new song, I don't know what changed, but I like it!! We went to get some of the free Hors d'oeuvres, that's when Brinson came out, by the time we got back he was gone, I wanted to talk to him. Eventually he came back out and he seem to recognize us. I showed him the fan club newsletter again and reminded him how he "promised" to come see it and sign the GuestBook. He said remembered and thought he did, but he asked me to write it down again and he check it out tonight.

At about 7:30 John Hines got on stage and welcomed everyone. There were people from the American Dairy Association, We Fest, Winstock and other clients of K*102. John had a box of the 102 winners and he picked one for the to go see the Judds. It wasn't us, oh, well I just wanted BRYAN!! John babbled for a few more minutes and then finally announced "ASYLUM RECORDING ARTIST BRYAN WHITE!!!" YEA!! Bryan came running out, looking mighty nice! Tom was on the keyboards and Brinson was just watching from the back of the room. They started with "Love is the Right Place", "Sittin' On Go" and then "Rebecca Lynn". He talked about the new Christmas CD and the tour they just finished. Then Brinson joined them on stage. They did a couple Christmas songs, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Let it Snow". He talked about how much he likes it here and that more people come to see him here than when he plays at home. He asked who saw him at the Minnesota State Fair this year, last year and the year before. We all were!! He forgot he was there 4 years ago too, we were at that one too! Next he played "I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore" and "Winter Wonderland". Then he sang "From This Moment On", the whole room was singing along, it was so cool! Then he did "Someone Else's Star" and "So Much For Pretending", everyone was singing along on those too. He finished the show with Steve Wariner's "Our Savior is Born" and "The Christmas Song". It was a great show, about an hour long. I took a bunch of pictures because we were so close! I hope I didn't blind him.

Now it was time for the Meet and Greet or the "Photo Opt" as it was being called at this show. I think just about everyone got in line, we were at the end. While we were waiting I found a piece of paper and wrote down my web page address. Brinson came out just as I finished and I gave it to him. He said he had his computer at the motel all ready to go and he promised to check it out tonight and sign the GuestBook. I asked if he could get Bryan to look at it too, he said Bryan would be sleeping by then. That's ok, I really don't expect Bryan to look at it, but Brinson, the way he kept promising me, I'll be really disappointed if he doesn't. Me and Heather talk with him for a few minutes he told us the rest of the band was back home, they just finished 17 shows in a row!! He told us on Saturday they would all be on the Grand Ole Opry and that would be on TV and it would re-air Christmas Day. We asked if we could get a picture with him, that was no problem. Brinson had to go, then we saw Tom and had to go say hi and get picture with him too.

We got back in line and waited for our turn to meet Bryan. I had the '99 Holiday Beanie for him, my newsletter and the picture of us at the Mall of America. He wasn't doing autographs but I thought I'd just show it to him anyway. It seemed like forever, but we finally got up there. I went first. Bryan saw the Beanie Baby, and said "what's this!?". I told him it was another Beanie from me, the 6th one! He said he still has the two "white ones" I gave him (He remembered!! Cool!). I showed him the picture and the newsletter, he remembered that and I asked again if he would visit my web site and sign the GuestBook. He seemed real confused on how he was supposed to do that. I tried to explain it to him, but I think I just confused him more! I told him Brinson could show him. Then we took our picture, a K*102 intern was taking the pictures, I think she took two. I wanted her to take a couple while I was talking with Bryan, but I don't think she did, (Brinson would of!) Then it was my moms turn and she talked with him some more and got a picture then we took one with all three of us. Then my mom introduce Grandma to Bryan. Bryan said she was "cute enough to hang on his Christmas Tree". Isn't he just so sweet!? Then we took a picture of all 4 of us! Then Heather, Lisa, Carrie, Char and Jodi met Bryan and had pictures taken. Jodi told him that she had never seen him before and really enjoyed the show and how we had brought her. Bryan looked over at us and gave us the "Thumbs-up" and said "I need more fans like you!" Then we had to have a group photo taken!

When our turn was over we hung around until Bryan was done with the rest of the line. I still had a couple pictures left and asked Brinson if I could get a picture with him and Bryan, he said that would be ok. I asked Bryan to hold the Beanie for that one. Then just about everyone was gone and I asked Brinson if Bryan could sign my picture. He said, no, he didn't sign autographs for anyone else.

Which was fine, I just thought I'd asked. Then like two seconds later two girls were on stage having Bryan sign a couple CD's. No autographs my foot!! I went back up to Brinson with my picture and he gave it to Bryan who quick signed it, then he had to go. Once Bryan left I could go too. Tom was out in the lobby on the phone, there was about 10-15 people out there and he held up the phone and told us all to say hello! I think he was talking to his wife.

What a fun show!! I used three rolls of film, all the pictures turn out great! Check them out in my Photo Album! The rest of the Meet & Greet photos are there too.

Brinson kept his promise!! He signed my GuestBook!! He wrote: "Probably the most comprehensive and well executed Bryan site I have seen...." How cool is that!?!?! I wonder if he showed it to Bryan? or at least told him about it!!