August 16th 2000

Baton Rouge Louisiana at the Mall of Louisiana

My minute with Hanson:

My niece Beth, two friends of mine named Sheena and Heather who are all teenagers and myself of course headed for Baton Rouge to the Mall of Louisiana for the autograph signing to meet Hanson about 10:30 that morning. We met with my new friends Alaina, and her Mom (whom I met in line for Hanson concert tickets at Southland Mall in Houma, La. I was first in line and she was second) and some friends of hers in Thibodaux around 12:30. I followed them since I have never been to Baton Rouge before.

We arrived at the Mall around 2:00 I would estimate, I really didn't notice the time. We got out of our cars and grabbed our cameras and things we wanted to get signed and made our way inside. When we got inside of the Mall the line was huge. It lead completely out of the Mall. The crowd was estimated at about 2,500 Hanson fans. Everyone was anxious for their arrival! Press and news people were waiting inside for their arrival also!

Finally it was announced that Hanson was in the building! Everyone let out a little cheer or should I say scream and we all couldn't wait to see them! Finally security guards cleared a pathway for them to enter right next to where I was standing (to the right of the stage near the stairs)! Boy, was I excited! They entered the stage surrounded by security guards for their safety. I managed somehow by raising my camera in the air and taking a few shots. Out of the four that I took, I managed to get only one shot of Taylor biting his bottom lip, because he was nervous of course.

They made their way to the stage safely and said hello to the crowd. They thanked us for having them and said a few things and started signing autographs soon after. The whole autograph session was sponsored by 102.5 out of Baton Rouge. Just wanted to throw that in!

I decided it was a good time to get some pictures and I managed to get a few of their Dad, one of Ashley Greyson and some of them at the atuograph table. After getting some pictures I decided it was time to get back in line. Alaina's Mom was nice enough to save our places in line for us. And I would also like to thank her for letting me follow her there!

We waited what seemed like an eternity in line! Then finally the moment came. I was about to meet them face to face. This was a dream come true for me to finally get to meet them. So you can imangine how excited I was. As I got closer to the autopraph table I took more pictures of them and had my Moe #2 ready for them to sign. I love the center pinup. It's the one where they have their names on their knuckles. Excitement built up inside of me, but I was much calmier when I finally seen them up close. I made a gift basket of homemade pralines (Pecan Candy) for them and I gave it to the lady standing next to the table. I would have really liked to have handed it to them, but I didn't think of it at the time. She said they would get all their gifts back at the hotel where they would be staying.

Zac was first at the table. I had already placed my Moe down in front of him and he happily signed it. I then proceeded to snap a picture of him. He then looked up at me straight into my eyes and said "Glad to meet You!" I told him I was a 40 year old fan of theirs and he said "That's great!" Then he gave me a big smile and shook my hand. He is amazing sweet and charming and has these incredible brownish gold eyes. And has grown up nicely!

Next was Ike. Zac passed my Moe to him and he signed it, but he didn't look up at me right away. I then took his picture while he was busy signing. I stood there for a few seconds until he finally looked up. He gave me a big smile and he said hello. He seemed a little out of it and a little sad about something. I wished I could have said something to him to make him happy, but we were only allowed a minute or so with them. I proceeded to tell him I was a 40 year old fan and then I said "I love you guys". I then shook his hand and smiled. I told him "Thanks" and said bye. Over all he was nice and has a great smile!

Finally Tay was next! Ike passed my Moe to him and I took a picture of him as he proceeded to sign it. I was nervous when I took the pic and my hands were shaking a bit. He then looked me directly into my eyes and said something, but I have no clue to what he said, I was too busy looking at him. He has the most incredible eyes I have ever seen, they are sort of light blue-gray in color. He must of thought I was nuts or death, but really I was in awe of his beauty! He smiled and shook my hand and we said thanks and bye to each other. I just stood their for a minute while he signed something else and then he looked up at me again and for the strangest reason I asked him for a hug! He said he would love to give everyone a hug, but there was no time. He said he still had a lot of autographs to sign. He said he was sorry and he shook my hand again and smiled at me. It was really sweet of him to be concerned about everyone there getting an autograph. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get that hug, but overall I should be lucky just having the opprotunity to meet them. I was happy with the fact that I was there. Not all of the fans that came had a chance to get an autograph so I should be greatful!

I left the autograph table numb over the entire experience! I then proceeded to take some more pictures, but I couldn't get very close. Then it was time for them to leave. At this time I managed to get more good pictures of them, because they where standing on the stage set up for them. Before they left they sang a little Acapella version of "This Time Around" which was very nice! They said their last Good Byes and then Security then lead them out the Mall and we all looked at each other with excitement of our experiences of meeting Hanson and made our way towards home!

This is an experience that I will never forget and will remain with me forever!

Thanks, goes out to Ike, Tay and Zac and everyone that was involved in making my dream come true!