The North Carolina Contingent of The Fellowship of The Wee Scarvies set out in PIPPIN T (my Toyota Echo with that on the license plate) about 6 AM on Friday, April 19, 2002. We got a quick breakfast on the way out of town and stopped a couple of times on the way north to buy refreshments, film for Rayvah's camera, a new backpack for Stef, another tank of gas, a new camera for Rayvah, and more refreshments. Things were going well until we hit a bad storm on the New Jersey Turnpike in the mid-afternoon. The storm along with traffic and rubber-neckers in traffic caused us to slow down considerably as we traveled along the turnpike. The three trips through the Lincoln Tunnel was an adventure of which we shared a few collective curses, though PippinT maneuvered through the traffic and narrow streets of Manhattan with apparent ease. By the time we got through the 45-minute wait to enter the tunnel the first time, we knew we were late, and another hour later we finally were in Long Island and on our way straight to John Harvard's Brew & Pub.

We stopped at a Burger King to freshen up since we had no time to stop at the hotel without missing the entire Pub Moot. We really enjoyed meeting everyone, and I think all were thankful for the arrival of the name badges to accompany Jennie's lovingly-made "wee scarvies." Indeed I have to admit it was myself that created our title, "The Fellowship of The Wee Scarvies," and was so gracious as to give Billy & Stewart badges and wee scarvies during the Q&A session the next day. As we met and got to know each other in person, I had to admit it was finally good to see everyone there and I was looking forward to our weekend events. The nachos were great, the Lemon Drop helped relax my nerves from traveling through the storm and traffic, the sparkly hat faced the peril of Cheese (who herself had been given a cheese-head hat to wear that sat beside her chair on the floor), everyone was wonderful and we had a great time putting friendships to faces! Horray for BillyBoyd.net and the friendships we have made there!

The next morning, Rayvah, Sammie, and Meadowlark talked me into wearing Ray's hobbit-lass costume, and I became Estella for a few hours. I enjoy acting, but I was a wee bit apprehensive about dressing up in a group of others who were not in costume. Ray took hers, though, and donned the Ringwraith costume at the Cyberbar just after Yui arrived with her own wraith costume, complete with sword and "horse." I somehow got recruited into a reenactment of the famous Weathertop scene, though I am not too sure Frodo was wearing a dress when he was being stabbed by the Morgul blade. It was hard to control the giggling watching Yui make herself taller than me by standing in a chair and myself on my knees to make myself shorter. After Meadowlark reminded me to do the "Frodo sex face" I think I about died laughing, but I turned the laughter into a chance to make Frodo faces, so I am sure people got many great photos. I do believe I still see purple and yellow dots from all the flashes.

The Cyberbar meeting, then the Q&A session, then the autograph signing, then the actors' panel... so many events packed into one day. I know many of us who were enjoying the convention were pretty worn out, so I can't imagine how exhausted Billy must have been by the end of the day. Perhaps the most memorable moment for me was the four Stormtroopers escorting Billy into the Q&A session; fond memories of Star Wars and my early swoons over young Luke Skywalker came flooding back to me. This time, though, it was Billy Boyd, and I have to say that Billy in black shirt, jeans, and the scruffy beard was looking quite (fill in choice word to describe hot Scottish lad here). Also at the Q&A we got our first glimpse of Stewart, who we at BillyBoyd.net have affectionately named "The Big Biscuit" and "Keeper Of Billy" among other things. There was much "buzz" about Stewart's hair, but I have to admit that it was quite unique and not at all bad.

Hugs... always hugs... and Billy admitted he would not say no to a hug... perhaps we should have worked in a BillyBoyd.net meet and greet hugging and photo op session in place of the Q&A. I am not going to get into things that were going on in my own mind at the time, but I was way too modest to disrespect the purpose of the Q&A by asking for a hug at that time. Gosh darn, though, I sure wanted to hug him, but I also just wanted to talk with him and get to know him on a more personal level. I guess he is just the kind of guy I want to get to know like that and have as a good friend. I must also add that Stewart was wonderful and I am sure Billy must really appreciate his companionship and support.

After the Q&A, I made the switch from the hobbit lass garb to the BillyBoyd.net trike T-shirt and khaki capri pants. It felt good to have the outfit off, though I enjoyed being in character for a little while there. After a while, we were in a long line for autographs and ICON volunteers were adamantly walking around reminding us to keep it brief and not request any posed photographs. Oh, well. I held out hope there would be other opportunities for the posing later. Meadowlark and I presented Billy with Cheerwine, a drink that is made in Salisbury, in our state of North Carolina, and is marketed and sold throughout the surrounding states. Had we some of our good North Carolina pork barbecue, I am sure that would have been part of our North Carolina heritage gift. Perhaps Billy and Stewart will one day come to NC and enjoy a "pint" of it with us! (Yes, is does come in pints. Would you like slaw with that?) Stewart got a bottle of our Cheerwine, too, but he seemed less enthusiastic after asking its alcohol content and getting our response of "none." We encouraged him to bring it with him to drink with us that evening and we would be sure to mix it up with something harder for him.

The evening panel of actors was a riot! I laughed until I cried at some points, and I enjoyed hearing from each of the actors that participated. Our dear Billy was made most welcome, though he appeared more and more exhausted as time went on. I know the look, which is much like myself when facing fatigue. However, he stayed alert to the questions and continued to deliver great answers. Perhaps we were all a bit more intrigued by him after that... perhaps we were all a bit smitten, even more so than before.

After the panel we met at the Cyberbar area again for a quick "Where are we going?" moment. Stewart actually came down to meet us there, too, as we tried to coordinate who was going where and how. Fortunately, Stewart helped us decide with his own announcement of stopping at the bar at the Holiday Inn Ronkonoma. After deciding to go there our own selves, we headed back to the hotel and freshened up a bit. We enjoyed hanging with everyone there, but we were a bit disappointed to find out that Stewart had been and left, informing Jennie about his and Billy's need to rest for the evening. I wholeheartedly agreed that was their best decision, though I still longed for more socializing with the two of them. A grand evening was had by all, especially with the free beer in room 136. After enjoying company, being warned by security officers about the noise, being attacked by Cheese, then deciding to turn in for the evening, I was ready to rest off the long day and prepare for the next.

Sunday was nearly the same routine except the Q&A and signing were both in the afternoon. We took our time in the morning getting ready to go over there and getting checked out of the hotel. I decided I would finally actually ask one of my own questions during the Q&A this time, and though I was shaking and tripped over one of my words near the end, I successfully got out, "Greetings and warm thank yous from the North Carolina Contingent of The Fellowship of The Wee Scarvies. (paraphrasing here) Peter Jackson has made it clear in interviews that his original vision for the four hobbits was to have all British actors portray them. However, two Americans got mixed in the bunch and consequently had to have language coaching. Have you, either in this movie or any of your other work, been asked to soften or change or intensify your own dialect?" I was thrilled at his answer! He admitted that he had changed his voice in the past for plays and for radio, but he went on to add that he felt that it was important for individuals to embrace their dialect and consider it a part of who they are as a person and not try to intentionally change it. Many more memorable questions and answers were given, and I do not have time or accurate-enough information to recall them all here. Be sure to check out BillyBoyd.net for more, though! Be sure to find the account of the antics of the boys with their intercoms on the helicopters, a story I could totally identify with and enjoy thinking about. Look also for the story about Dom and his Gibson guitar; it was almost sad, but yet quite amusing.

The second autograph line formed about 4:30 PM, and Meadowlark and I decided that even though we got the signatures the day before, we were determined to get our hugs today. We had been so pushover nice by following the rules and being respectful of Billy and of other people. We had not yet pushed our way to Billy or interrupted a Q&A session to get a hug or request a photo opportunity. This Southern girl had been raised to be respectful and courteous and follow the rules, but the old saying "nice guys finish past" was starting to scream at me. With some encouragement from Alison and others, we agreed we would disguise our request for hugs as an opportunity for getting our programs signed. We agreed to kneel down to eye level with Billy, explain our situation, then ask for the hugs. We handed my camera to the girl behind us who walked up with us to the table in a group of four. When we carried out our little mission, quest, thing, Billy was very attentive to listening to what we had to say, then said something so adorable about thinking we would get in trouble. I told him I would vouch for him, and he smiled and stood up for hugs to each of us in turn. Leaning across the table, he gave Meadowlark a hug, then me (who stupidly left my pack over my right shoulder), then we thanked him and bid him a safe trip home. (I found out later the photos didn't take, perhaps because my camera can be a bit annoying at times to those unfamiliar with it.) We tried to speak with Stewart for a bit before we left the signing area, but after a few moments of speaking with him we were asked to move on and leave the room to keep the flow of traffic moving. Stewart asked if we were going to dinner, and we said yes, even though we weren't sure how long we would be able to stay. I figured he and Billy were going to be too exhausted to go, but his asking to confirm we were going signaled he was at least aware of our presence and willing to take it into consideration. For that we are eternally grateful.

Not much else to tell except that the drive home was smooth, though long. We traveled roughly from 9 PM to 8 AM, including a couple of rest stops to refuel the car and our bodies. I drove most of the way down, then handed driving over to Ray when we got into Virginia. Meadowlark was exhausted and ready to be home, and Ray was thinking about the implications of being late to classes for Monday morning. I simply decided that with my unusually-queasy stomach and overwhelming lack of sleep, I needed to go ahead and call in sick to work and hope for the best in terms of recovery.

Summary statement from Stef:
"I didn't really 'meet' him. When you 'meet' someone, you have the opportunity to connect on a personal level in such a way that both parties come away with more knowledge of each other and, hopefully, more willingness to spend time with each other. Perhaps, then, we 'met' Billy, but he really has yet to meet us. I look forward to the day we have a chance to connect on a more personal level and perhaps form a new friendship."

LINKS TO OTHER I-CON DIARIES AND PHOTOS:

The Michiganders group tale and photos:
http://www.vinelanguage.eshire.net/

Lilith/Emma's I-CON blog and photos:
http://www.lilithofsherwood.com/Lij/

Pat's photos:
http://communities.msn.com/PatsHeadspace/shoebox.msnw?albumlist=1

Jennie's summary and photos:
http://jennie.8k.com/custom.html http://jennie.8k.com/custom2.html http://jennie.8k.com/custom3.html

LizontheAttack's summary and photos:
http://lizbaggins.tripod.com/

Yui's summary and photos:
http://yuidiot.tripod.com/icon/index.html

Pluisje/Loanshark's Live Journal and photos:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ratauvan

Gonzai's Fan Art and photos:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LotR_FanArt

Dij's account and photos:
http://www.geocities.com/nautnee/
http://www.geocities.com/moviegirlbuff/ICON.html

JadeHawk's summary and photos:
http://www.angelfire.com/anime/JadeHawke/icon/index.html

LadyofMirkwood's photos:
http://www.angelfire.com/film/lotrfansite/icon.html

Legend_Winterterhawk's photos:
http://communities.msn.com/LegendWinterhawk/shoebox.msnw

Lindsay's photos:
http://communities.msn.com/LindsayLu/icontomeetbillyboyd.msnw?Page=1

Elrithiel's photos:
http://elrithiel.tripod.com/

Lavagrrrl's photos:
http://communities.msn.com/lavagrrrl/

Carlita's group for I-CON accounts and photos:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iconmedia/