All of our volunteers knew what we were up against.  21 of them confirmed that they would be there, and all 21 showed up!!  It was so cool to actually be standing in a group of people who I’d come to know well as screen presences, and now here we all are, live and in person.  That was at trip.  Plus, we had three more Kat fans report in later (fortunately there were a few extra shirts for them) -- more about our amazing Canadian contingent later.

The group of fans that all came together to show their love and support for Katharine with a special glowsticks homecoming tribute is really amazing.  I really need to share with you how Kat's fans came together over this project.  Not only did 24 people show up to hand out the glowsticks knowing that there might be issues with security, etc., but there were others as well.  (Note:  Chad and I tried desperately over the entire 2 weeks, even with help from people close to Katharine, to get the go-ahead from 19 mgmt, but it never came.  We chose not to share this with people online because I didn’t want you all to worry.  I hope you don’t mind.)

Here are the heroes of this homecoming effort for our beloved Katharine:  Of course, there’s Chad who came up with the idea and worked with me on the planning and legwork.  And there were all the fans who so generously donated toward glowsticks and shirts.  There were those who designed the awesome volunteer T-shirts. Plus, a Kat fan from Canada who came out of the woodwork and insisted on buying me tickets to the show. (Thank you!!)  One of those tickets went to our volunteer Roseselavy, who had also offered to help without a ticket.  She sat next to me at the show and ended up being the most awesome second in command ever.  Her video of Katharine & the glowsticks is phenomenal.  An anonymous fan also contacted me saying s/he really wanted to contribute to the project but had missed the window for contributing on KMF.  I told him/her about Maddie, who was driving hundreds of miles from Stockton to help out, so this anonymous Kat fan bought Maddie a ticket!  Maddie, I know you don’t mind me sharing that this kind gesture came at a troubling time, and I know how grateful you were for the kindness.  I have to tell you that when Maddie found out about about the offer she was SO thankful … but added: “Do I still get to pass out glowsticks?!” 

Okay, so Puyatboys got a little tied up with work & traffic, so when the glow sticks finally(!) arrived at the venue, we pulled out the boxes in the parking structure & were surprised to find that within the boxes there were 120 separate bundles of glow sticks all tightly sealed in aluminum bags, like film wraps. So here we are in the parking structure, trying to hide from security and rip open all these bags so we could take all the glow sticks out w/us.   Some of us were even using our teeth … haha, until Cherryblossom intelligently reminded us to use the convenient tear strip that was already on the bag!  We were frantic .. hadn’t noticed it.

Once we all had our glow sticks, all 24 or so of the volunteers surrounded the venue (which is HUGE, like a small city, it felt like at the time), carefully avoiding security & bicycle police.  Within a short time, onenicholl came up and told me he had been told by security not to hand out glow sticks.  It was just so early in the game that I said, “Go somewhere out of sight, then, because the rest of us are going to keep going.”  We had a good ½ hour after that, during which time a couple more volunteers called in saying that security was taking away their glow sticks.  The rest of us kept going.  It wasn’t until the following incident that I finally decided to call off the operation. . .

Yes, it is true that Katidol did get chased by a police officer.  Katidol was wearing his orange volunteer T-shirt over another collared shirt, and as he ran, he was pulling off his orange shirt & ducking around the corner to go incognito. hahaha

Oh, here's something I want to tell you!  Every single volunteer said that, as they were passing out glow sticks, EVERYONE we handed them to were VERY receptive (alright, well, maybe except for a couple of snotty teenage Taylor fans).  A huge number of concertgoers said, "Oh, we love Katharine.  She was our favorite” or “Yay, Katharine is our hometown girl.”   And most were happy to even take in extras to pass around to people around them.  I honestly think that the people who cheer for Katharine are just not as crazy loud as the whacky teenage girls who scream for the boys.  At one point, I ran across a Katharine fan who said she had donated toward the glowsticks and was happy to see us handing them out!

It was so funny when people kept coming up to us before the concert and going, "Are you the 'orange shirts'?  Where do I get my extra glowsticks to bring in?" Haha..it was like a code or something.  The Kat Pack was SO on the move.  And then we would give them their glow sticks to deposit somewhere on their person.  Three of the people who came up to us "orange shirts" ended up being wearing them and becoming our heroic “Canadian contingent” – two young ladies and their mother (who took a bunch of photos of the volunteers - if you're out there, please post them or email them to me at earlynr@aol.com.)  They snuck SO many glowticks into the venue.  Their section lit up like a Christmas tree.  One of the Canadian girls had 150 glowsticks hidden all over her body.  Haha, she was walking like a robot, and just before she went in, a glowstick dropped, but she could n't bend over to pick it up because the glowsticks would’ve bent and she would have started to glow! 

All the volunteers knew to bring satchels & bags to carry their glow sticks in.  A couple of people forgot, or weren't able to, but fortunately "Cherryblossom" from IDF had brought extra carrying bags.  Cherryblossom is so on top of things.  She even brought sodas for everyone, and I so loved her at the concert.  You should have seen her at intermission full-on handing out a bunch of glow sticks to the middle floor section, handing them out so sweetly and efficiently, too, like a teacher giving out treats to her class. Our Hawaiian contingent, GimmeAHSherry & her sister, brought macadamia nut treats for all the volunteers. And Maddie handed out the T-shirts.  Thank you to all the volunteers!

It was Peisha McPhee!

She was sitting a little to the right and behind from where I was sitting. I had promised to help the Kat fans pass out orange glow sticks, and I saw a golden opportunity right there!

So, with a little encouragement from my sister, I headed over to Peisha, and asked her if she’d like a Katharine glow stick. She very delightedly said yes, and then asked exactly what it was for. I explained that it was to light up for Katharine as a welcome home, and that we were handing them out to as many people as possible. She seemed even more delighted.

She then asked who was doing this for her, and I said that it was all of Katharine’s fans.

After that she asked exactly how to light it up, and once that was explained, she looked down her row (to who I now think were more McPhees), and she very eagerly asked if I had any more. I did, and I gave her as many as she needed. I can't convey just how excited she was. But with each question I answered she seemed more and more in love with the whole idea!

From what Kat said on stage, I'm pretty sure she appreciated the effort. And from how Peisha was behaving, I think she really appreciated it!

Good job guys!

So many Kat Pack McPhans had stories to tell about bringing in glowsticks to Katharine’s homecoming concert. These are just the ones who posted about it on the 'net. (Thanks to someone here on the boards for the "glowsticks in my pants" title.)

The concert was great... I'm sure kat felt the love from the crowd. yes, they were taking away the glowsticks, but my friends and I managed to sneak some in...You couldn't hide them in your purses because they would just take them away. We had our guy friends put them in their pockets..haha…….and1chick

Before the show, I grabbed about 50 glowsticks or so and stuffed them in my windbreaker pockets. My friend also put some in her purse and we headed for the entrance. The ORANGE shirts were really colorful and stood out. We met a few more KAT fans along the way. People were really excited about the concert! I just want to say that I told EVERY SINGLE PERSON I handed out a glowstick to that they were for KAT.... and about 90% of them said "she's my favorite"……KoolKat

Anything to re-pay Kat for sharing her talents with us!……..Erica from Long Beach

There were some little girls who were so psyched and happy to see the glowsticks. They kept saying the words "Kat is no. 1" lol.. It was so cute. Their eyes were all Lit Up and some even called on their friends to get some too. We managed to sneak in some glowsticks and distributed them inside. (it's a good thing I brought a backpack with me, so I was able to hide them under my aunts jacket) This is truly the most amazing experience I have ever had! To tell you the truth, it was my first time interacting with people for almost a year. Ever since I got here, I never really went out of the house and I'm not that comfortable speaking in english as of yet. So I'm really thankful for this experience cause it kinda boosted my confidence……..Czarina

I didn't even realize they were confiscating them... I put the two given to me in my back pocket so security could look through my purse, so I didn't get caught!! lol ……..Ilovecowboys

Oh so i went to get a glow stick and the person gave me and Amanda like 3 big bundles of glowsticks. Our security guard lady was nice and like...didn't even notice them at the bottom of my purse. So we went in and gave out about 3 and then Amanda's all 'i gotta go to the bathroom' so we went to the bathroom and while i was waiting for Amanda to finish, this woman and little girl came up to me and was all 'you didn't get your glowsticks taken away from you??' and so i gave her like 3 and then more people came up to me and i got rid of like a bundle and a half right there in the bathroom…... Mysticwaters

We got there by 4:30pm to help hand out the glowsticks. We really wanted this to be special for Kat. She's done so much for us, you know? ….Carol

After the glow sticks started being confiscated we knew we had to sneak in as much as we could. I had glow sticks in my pants, in my shirt, hidden in spots in my bag, and hidden in my sweater that i had over my arm. My sister managed to get fifty glow sticks alone in her shirt. Every time we moved glow sticks would fall out of us somewhere. Everyone around us couldn't stop laughing. Oh, and about security... my mom talked to two different security guards and she was given two different reasons. The first one was because they were selling glow sticks inside, and the second one was because they were worried glow sticks would be thrown at the stage…….Montauk, a girl from Canada

i got mine taken away but i found the canadian volunteers but didn't know it was them, they just had the shirt on so i asked for some glowsticks and they said no cause they thought i was security but gave me some when they realized i wasn't and i think one of them recognized me……….Dragondawg

Just hearing her say, "I see the orange things...Aww" That was worth my $50...totally. Because of course...the 250 glowsticks I contributed made it inside...they weren't among the 8,000 confiscated...I just know it!…….sjwolves

I had promised to help the Kat fans pass out orange glow sticks, and I saw a golden opportunity right there! So, with a little encouragement from my sister, I headed over to Peisha, and asked her if she’d like a Katharine glow stick. She very delightedly said yes, and then asked exactly what it was for. I explained that it was to light up for Katharine as a welcome home, and that we were handing them out to as many people as possible. She seemed even more delighted………...MsCabbit

Not only did Kat's fans have to fight harder to give her that hometown welcome, it reminded me that kat herself had to fight that much harder all season long. so the two definitely go together Kat and her Kat Pack fans.................maddie

Most of the people we approached were quite positive and willing to take the glowsticks. Kids love the glowsticks and kept coming back asking for more. I gave them 5 to 8 pieces and asked them to give to their friends. While I was cheerfully handing the sticks, I heard some people from the front of the line saying they were confiscating all of them at the entrance. They searched bags and purses and even took away those that people hung on their neck. . . Nevertheless, I kept doing it hoping that enough can still be sneaked in…... Michael/Katidol

We decided we’d done as much as we could and stopped handing out glowsticks when Katidol ended up getting chased by a police officer. He was wearing his orange volunteer T-shirt over another collared shirt, and as he ran, he was pulling off his orange shirt & ducking around the corner to go incognito! ……Vadia

With hindsight being 20/20, I wish we had all rigged ourselves up with McPhake hollow pregnancy pillows with glowsticks filled to the gills. As it was, we were laden down with so many glowsticks on our bodies, we were unable to bend down. They had wands at Anaheim. Thank God they didn't in L.A. That would have been even worse than being chased down. I, too, ran from the Glowstick Police and tried to drop my stash. It looks easier on T.V…….Valerie and Melanie, twin sisters from Mission Viejo

I braved the 90F heat and shoved glowsticks into the hands of innocent big and little fans entering the Staples Center. The fans seemed genuinely happy and excited about receiving the glow sticks. And one of the security folks even accepted one with a smile…….Mary Ann from Palo Alto

Michelle [a Taylor fan co-worker who I had begged to go for me because I couldn’t be there] hung out at the main entrance (Star Plaza) and noted that the people going in were very eager to take a free glowstick for Katharine. She then learned that the Staples staff were confiscating the sticks if you had them in your hand or wore one around your neck. (This is presumably because they were selling glowsticks inside.) So Michelle and her son stuffed a ton of glowsticks in their pockets and some in her purse. The staff let them inside and did not check her purse or pockets. Inside, she handed out the glowsticks to everyone in her section……AIfanatic

I went to the concert. Someone wearing an orange shirt gave me and my friend about 30 glowsticks and we got through just fine with them!!! We handed them out inside to a lot of people who got theirs taken away but yes Kat was so cute when she said "I see all the orange!"……Thompsonsrock222

Throughout the concert, all of us were so nervous, watching the crowd to see how many orange glowsticks had actually made it in. By the time Katharine came on, there were about 2,000 orange glowsticks sprinkling every section of the arena from top to bottom. Seeing how happy Katharine was and hearing her say “I see all the orange…things. I’m your hometown girl” made us all feel so good. There was a lot of love for Katharine in the audience that night…Vadia

My sister and I were able to sneak some glow sticks into the concert to pass out to people around us and everyone took them especially the young ones. There was a family that sat behind us and they were Kat fans. The Mom was wearing orange …at the end of the concert one of her daughters looked pretty sad like she had been crying so I thought it would be nice to give her my sister’s orange volunteer Kat shirt that I had been holding in the air for Kat to see. Her daughter was so happy to get the shirt and her mom was so surprised that she immediately offered to pay for it and of course I said it was totally fine…..Lani from Hawaii

I thought Kat got a lot of cheers especially when she started SOTR. You could hear people yelling. There was lots of love for Kat. Lots of love. And Kat on the screen looks like such a glamorous movie star……smittenKat

I definitely wanted to do anything I could to help….Rebecca from Sherman Oaks

Can you believe the night we had? lol. I still can't believe I got away with all those glowsticks in my pants!!! I snuck in about 100-150 glowsticks in my pockets, pants, bra (lol), and then I even tore a hole in the inseam of my purse and snuck in like 70 in there…… Nicole from Lake Elsinore

I did sneak in some glowsticks and also stalked a gentleman [in an orange shirt] and his daughter and asked them if they had more once I got inside. My whole section was full of Kat fans so we had a good 20 or so sticks going strong. The concert was fabulous and all the more special because of all the Kat comradery going on. I took my brother who was a casual viewer and he was blown away by the network! … It was a fantastic showing and made me so proud to be a Kat fan! … alegre

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