THE BOSTON BAT BLAST OF '02!
(Scroll down for pics!)

Wednesday the 20th of November '02 I had e-mailed Meridel Carson (sister to "Batgirl" Yvonne Craig) to see if Yvonne would be available to make an appearance at my next movie party for the Christmas holiday. Meridel e-mailed me back saying that Yvonne would be out of town with her husband during the period of time I was having my party. She also said that she and Yvonne were joining Julie Newmar and Adam West that very weekend for a convention. So I got curious. I asked her where the convention was and for more details. She e-mailed me back a link to the 2002 Boston Super Mega Fest in Framingham, Massachusetts (near Boston) and said that they'd be there Friday through Monday. I clicked on the link and it looked like a very interesting show.

True, it featured my old friends Adam, Julie and Yvonne, but it also featured Peter Tork of "The Monkees," Walter Koenig of "Star Trek," and several Playboy Playmates. I was getting the fever to go, but with the convention only a few days away I feared the worst in regards to the cost of an airfare. As a lark, I told my travel agent about the excursion and asked if she would check on airfares for my friend Kristy and I. I braced myself as she brought the fares up on the computer. She couldn't believe her eyes, and I couldn't believe my ears...ROUNDTRIP TO BOSTON'S LOGAN AIRPORT FOR ONLY $371 ON AMERICAN! I immediately thought, "I'm going to BOSTON!" I asked her to book two right away and get back to me with the details. When she called back she said she had found even better fares on United for only $365! BONUS! So I set about calling the hotel where the convention was being held and booking rooms. I also booked shuttle service to get us there once we landed at Logan.

I called my friend James from Playboy Playmates Promotions and begged him to go along. He thought it sounded like a great idea, booked the trip and we were good to go. I booked out the day with my agent, Kristy called Warner Brothers and got the day off from work, and James took the day off from Playboy. But on Thursday evening James called with the disappointing news that, due to an emergency at Playboy, he would have to stay in L.A. to handle the situation and thus would be unable to go with us. Rats! But, we'd try and have fun anyway without him. I already knew our friend Fred (Adam's manger), Don (Julie's manager), Bat-fan and computer graphic artist -extraordinaire GDog, and Meridel (Yvonne's sister) were going as well, so it promised to be a monumental time!

I arranged a house-sitter to watch Sassie and Kristy's cat Oscar, packed up the Batman and Batgirl costumes, and headed to LAX around 10am on Friday the 22nd. I knew right away as soon as we boarded the plane that this was going to be a memorable one...the gate we boarded the plane from was the magic number...66! The year "Batman" first hit the air!

Due to the nature of the Batman and Batgirl cowls, it's been my experience to always carry them on-board, and NEVER send them with checked luggage. They would get crushed amidst the sea of suitcases. Since we were going to Logan in Boston, a funny thought hit me. If any foul-play were to break out on the flight, Kristy and I would bravely don our cowls from our carry-on bag and pummel the evil-doers! I had it all planned out in my fantasy. Evil-doer: Veee arrrrre tekkking ofer da plane!

(Voice from the back of the plane) I don't think so you foul fiend! Could you see the surprised looks on their evil faces??? Well, it played out very well in my mind anyway. Even the imaginary headline reading TERRORIST PLOT FOILED BY IN-FLIGHT BATMAN! Luckily, no such situation developed, and it was a smooth, uneventful flight to Boston.

The flight was made even more pleasant by the presence of Yvonne Craig. She walked down the aisle past us to the back and I said to Kristy, "That's Yvonne Craig!" I immediately recognized her beautiful turquoise necklace she wears. So when she made her way back down the aisle I said, "Hey Yvonne, it's Wally Wingert." She smiled and ended up sitting on the armrest of the seat across the aisle from me and chatting for about a half hour. What a great lady she is. One who truly enjoys everything life offers her!

When we landed in Boston and got into the terminal, you could tell that everyone else was thinking what I was thinking. THIS is where it all went down on 9-11. It was a creepy feeling knowing that pure evil had walked the same ground I was now walking. It was the same icky feeling I got when I saw Hitler's cap and touring car on display at an auto show in Las Vegas. They have memorial rocking chairs in the airport with engraved plates on the backs. Each one bearing the name of a United employee killed in the 9-11 tragedy.

When we got off the shuttle and went into our hotel, we immediately saw Adam and Fred getting off the elevator to go have dinner in the hotel's restaurant. I checked in and had our bags taken up to our room, while we joined the guys for a nice, late-night dinner. As always, it was a great conversation, and a great moment that I'll cherish forever. It still stuns me to think that, not only have I enjoyed many meals with my hero Adam West, but we're actually pals! After dinner, we retired to our rooms to plan for the first day of the Super Mega Fest!

Saturday the 23rd we set about our plan, which was buy all the stuff we wanted early in the day, then head to our rooms to don the Batman and Batgirl costumes and spend the final hours of the convention in full regalia. Ken Davis, the maker of Kristy's Batgirl costume had Fed-Ex'd another cowl that he felt would fit her better and look more striking. We had it delivered to our room Friday night. So that meant that we now had TWO Batgirl cowls in our possession. But we both agreed that the new cowl would probably be the one to wear.

After spending the first part of the day buying stuff, collecting autographs and browsing, we decided to grab a few hot dogs, head to the room and change. We had established contact with GDog and his friend Bill, so they knew to expect us. Now, I had been growing my mustache back for about 2 weeks, so I had some pretty good growth going on my upper lip. But the idea was to slip off to my room, shave it off, and make it more difficult for those who just saw me on the convention floor, to make the determination that it was me in the Batman costume. On our way to our room, we saw a young college-age girl in a home-made Batgirl costume which was really quite striking! She had done a great job on it and was clearly eager to win the costume contest. Kristy and I discussed that, once she saw Kristy in HER Batgirl costume, she would probably be assume that she no longer had a chance in the contest. But Kristy and I had already been disqualified from entering the contest since we were friends of the celebrities. So we decided that we would tell the young lady straightaway that we wouldn't be entering the contest so she wouldn't be nervous.

When we came down in the costumes, I walked right up behind Adam who was talking to Julie. I said nothing as I just stood there waiting for him to turn around. He and Julie were engaged in deep conversation so it took awhile for him to notice me. The longer it took him, the funnier it became. Fans were standing around taking pictures of Kristy and I behind Adam, laughing all the while. Not even Julie noticed us standing behind Adam. It must have been SOME conversation! When he finally turned I said in his voice, "You fiend!" It took him a little while to determine that it was me under the cowl (the lack of mustache threw him a little), but when he realized it he was laughing and supportive. Even going so far as to quiz me. "OK Wally, if trouble were to suddenly break out in the room behind you, how would you turn to face it?" I nervously croaked, "Gosh Adam, I didn't know there was gonna be a test!"

Yvonne was nowhere to be found. She had taken off to do her Q & A in one of the side rooms. So Adam thought it would be a funny idea for he, Kristy and I to come bursting into her room and cause a stir. Yvonne's got a great sense of humor about that kind of levity. So, acting as Adam's security, Kristy and I marched through the aisles of the convention flanking Adam. When we entered the back of the room where Yvonne was speaking Adam said, "Hold it! I've just discovered that you're a fraud! Here's the REAL Batgirl!" The audience turned and started snapping pictures. Everybody laughed and we retreated so Yvonne could finish her session. As we were leaving Adam leaned over and said, "Wally, that costume looks JUST like the one I used to wear!" That REALLY made my day!

While we were waiting for Yvonne to come back to her table, we took a lot of pictures with other convention-goers. We met some great people; Clarke and Christine who were dressed in a flawless Spider-Man costume and a wicked Queen outfit, the Batgirl girl (who was relieved to know we would be cheering her on from the), and Katherine. Little Katherine was 2 and a half years old and was on a leash. She was the most adorable little girl I had seen in a long time. She looked like a little walking doll. She was quite interested in Kristy's Batgirl costume and kept asking her questions about it. It was so cute! She loved the cape and immediately told her mom that SHE wanted wings just like Batgirl's! When I suggested to her that maybe she could be Batgirl next Halloween, she placed her tiny index finger to her chin in careful thought, almost as if she had rehearsed the look for a movie! We loved meeting Katherine and expect to see her in her OWN Batgirl costume soon!

It was our main goal of the weekend to get our picture with Adam and Yvonne together. Since they were so busy handling the lines of fans that had come to see them, the task was proving to be as difficult as waiting for the planets to align. But we got our chance! The cameras on the convention floor went crazy! GDog was snapping away with his digital camera, and his friend Bill had my camera. We got what we came for!

The costume contest happened at 5pm, and our Batgirl won first prize! She and her folks were elated. Her mom and worked two weeks straight on the costume and she did a wonderful job!

It was time to retire to the room, shower and change for dinner. By the time Don called, Julie had already eaten. We couldn't get ahold of Adam and Fred, so we figured we were on our own. But GDog had called to say that Yvonne, Meridel, his friend Bill and he were getting ready to eat in the restaurant and we could join them. We entered the restaurant just in time to be seated. Yet another great breaking-of-bread with the gang! Such a great conversation! But it got better. Soon, Julie joined us as well. Clad in her silk pajamas and long robe, she sat at the table with us daintily picking at different food from our plates, John's swordfish...Don's vegetables. It was hysterical! It was like some sort of slumber party! Soon we looked over to see Adam and Fred walk into the restaurant. I thought, "The gang's all here!" But the boys decided to have dinner at the bar and talk some business.

An old friend of Kristy's named Melissa lives in Providence, so she was being driven over to Framingham to have a quick visit with Kristy. When she arrived, she joined the fray as well and went over to the bar to meet Adam with Kristy. Upon returning to the table the breathless 21 year old Melissa said, "He's still got it!"

We had no rental car, and Melissa's car was in the shop, so we really didn't get to leave the hotel for any night-time sightseeing. So we hung out in my room for awhile, and then everyone went their separate ways.

Sunday the 24th was our final day in Boston. I wanted to get an early start buying some last-minute items, and them shipping them back to my house in L.A. via Fed Ex. I had bought so much stuff there would be virtually no way I could have packed it all in my luggage. Don asked us to stay with Julie for awhile at her table while he went to settle up their hotel bill. We stood behind Julie to collect the money from the fans who were buying her autograph. Kristy was wearing a top that showed her bare midriff, and when somebody asked to take a picture of Julie she turned to Kristy and said with a big grin, "No bare belly buttons upstaging me!" We all had a good laugh about that. I said, "Julie, it would take more than a mere belly button to upstage you!" Julie's the greatest; fun and fabulous!

Since we now had two Batgirl cowls, I decided to retire the first one to the Planet Wallywood display case. I had Yvonne autograph the top of it with the inscription, "To Wally...the 2002 Boston Bat Blast...Yvonne Craig." It will sit on a wighead in my case next to my Adam West fiberglass bust and cowl.

Playboy Playmate of the Year Julie Cialini was autographing a picture for a girl who couldn't have been much more than nine years old. After she left I said to Julie, "Watch, she'll be Miss July of 2015!"

My old pal Dave from South Dakota has since retired from teaching and now owns a local newspaper in Yankton, South Dakota called The Observer. One of the things I like to do for him is get pictures of various celebrities holding a copy of his newspaper. I got a few shots of Adam reading the Observer, which is going to make Dave virtually wet himself!

Adam said he'd like to come by Planet Wallywood the next time he's in L.A., and of course I said he's more than welcome to come see the collection. Having Adam in my house would be another exciting adventure which I may write about in a future article.

But the day was drawing to a close, and we were an hour away from our appointed pick-up time for our ride to the airport. So we said our good-byes to Julie, Yvonne and Adam. Fred, as it turned out, asked to hitch a ride with us to the airport since his flight was leaving at almost the same time. So the three of us had a pleasant ride to Logan with our driver George giving us a commentary on Boston sights along the way. It was a terrific trip!

On the flight back, I was happy to see that more celebrities were on-board. Walter Koenig was on our flight, in addition to "My Three Sons" actor Stanley "Chip" Livingston! It was a very nice flight back to L.A. and the perfect end to an incredible Boston Bat Blast!

Photos courtesy of GDog! Click on the thumbnail image to enlarge.